WEBQUEST
LOW GRADUATION RATES
OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
CONTINUE TO PLAGUE
THE NYC
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
By
Ruth Stevens
INTRODUCTION:
You are a parent of a student who several years
before entering high school was classified by the New York City Department of
Education as a Special Education student.
Now that your child is about to enter high school, you are becoming
increasingly concerned that he is being set up for failure, given the
alarmingly low graduation rate of this class of students from Bronx high
schools. You have tried everything in
your power to get your son out of the Special Education track, but Department
of Education officials have turned a deaf ear to your complaints.
Because of your situation, you have decided to
become an activist on behalf of all Bronx Special Education students. You want something done about the Special
Education program in
TASK:
You will use the websites provided below as well
as the TIPS six-step Public Policy Analyst to research the problem of Special
Education graduation rates in the
PROCESS:
I. Use the TIPS six-step Public Policy
Analyst (and summarize your research and ideas on the accompanying worksheets)
to do the following:
1. Define the Problem
(Worksheet 1)
2. Gather Evidence of
the Problem (Worksheet 2)
3. Determine the
Causes of the Problem (Worksheet 3)
4. Examine Existing
Public Policy (Worksheet 4)
5. Develop Original
Public Policy Solutions (Worksheet 5)
6. Choose the Best
Public Policy Solution (Worksheet 6)
II. Use the websites provided below to help you
find information relevant to your research.
III. Prepare your speech from the information you
have gathered and then summarized on Worksheets 1-6.
IV. Working in groups of 2-3, practice your
speech in front of your peers, improve it by listening to their constructive
criticism, and do the same for your peers' speeches.
V. Extra Credit: Prepare a visual (e.g., oak
tag chart, 1-3 PowerPoint slides) that will reinforce your argument during your
presentation.
RESOURCES:
Use the following Websites to help you in your
research:
NYC
Worst Graduation Rates (NY Times)
Graduation
Rates NYC (NY Daily News)
Graduation Rates outside
New York
Graduation Rates
Small High Schools NYC
Academic
Progress for NYC Special Ed Students
Drop in
Graduation Rates for Kids with Disabilities in NYC
http://www.nycenet.edu/daa/schoolreports/02asr/272475.pdf?(annual school report card - NYC)
Increase
in High School Dropout Rate NYC
New York Daily News
New York State Education Department Comprehensive
Educational Plan (CEP) for
EVALUATION:
RESEARCH PAPER RUBICS
POINT VALUE |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Heading |
|
|
|
Definition |
Writes the problem thoroughly. |
Good definition of the problem |
Writes the problem poorly. |
Problem |
Thoroughly explains why there is a
problem. |
Good explanation of why there is a
problem. |
Poor explanation of why there is a problem. |
Gathering evidence |
Gathers evidence from 5 internet
sites. |
Gathers evidence from 3 or 4
internet sites. |
Gathers evidence from 2 or less
internet sites. |
Explains evidence |
Thoroughly explains why the evidence is
related to the problem |
Good explanation. Understands how
most of the evidence is related to the problem. |
Poor explanation. Understands why
some of the evidence is related to the problem. |
Identifies causes |
Identifies all causes |
Identifies most causes |
Identifies some causes |
Explains causes |
Explains how each cause is related
to the problem |
Explains how most causes are
related to the problem |
Explains how some causes are
related to the problem |
Identifies solutions |
Identifies all solutions |
Identifies most solutions |
Identifies some solutions |
Explanation of solutions |
Explains how each solution will
solve the problem. |
Explains how most of the solutions
will solve the problem. |
Explains how some of the solutions
will solve the problem. |
Paper |
4-6 page
were written. Each section was titled. There was excellent use of English |
4-6 pages were written. Each
section was titled. There was good use of English |
Less than 4 pages were written.
Sections were not titled. There was poor use of English |
Questions |
Writes two questions for each of
the following steps in the public policy analyst format: evidence, causes,
evaluation, and solution, that will help determine if students understand
what is being presented. |
Writes two questions for 3 of the
following steps in the public policy analyst format: evidence, causes,
evaluation, and solution, that will help determine if students understand
what is being presented. |
Writes two questions for 2 of the
following steps in the public policy analyst format: evidence, causes,
evaluation, and solution, that will help determine if students understand
what is being presented. |
Visual Aids |
Imports three visual aids from the
internet such as pictures, charts or graphs. |
Imports two visual aids from the
internet such as pictures, charts or graphs. |
Imports one visual aid from the
internet such as pictures, charts or graphs. |
Explanation of points
A-36-34 points
B-33-30 points
C-29-26 points
ORAL PRESENTATION RUBICS
POINT VALUE |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Heading |
|
|
|
Problem |
Thoroughly explains why there is a
problem. |
Good explanation of the problem. |
Explains the problem poorly. |
Gathering evidence |
Gathers evidence from 5 internet
sites |
Gathers evidence from 3 or 4
internet sites |
Gathers evidence from 2 or less
internet sites |
Explains evidence |
Thoroughly explains why the evidence is
related to the problem |
Good explanation. Understands how
most of the evidence is related to the problem. |
Poor explanation. Understands why
some of the evidence is related to the problem. |
Identifies causes |
Identifies all causes |
Identifies most causes |
Identifies some causes |
Explains causes |
Explains how each cause is related
to the problem. |
Explains how most causes are
related to the problem. |
Explains how some causes are
related to the problem. |
Identifies solutions |
Identifies all solutions |
Identifies most solutions |
Identifies some solutions |
Explanation of solutions |
Explains how each solution will
solve the problem. |
Explains how most of the solutions
will solve the problem. |
Explains how some of the solutions
will solve the problem. |
Presentation Visual aids |
Uses two visual aids such as
pictures to help in their presentation. Asks at least two questions about the
pictures or visual aids to show how they are related to the report. |
Uses one visual aid such as
pictures to help in their presentation. Asks at least two questions about the
pictures or visual aids to show how they are related to the report. |
Uses visual aids such as pictures
to help in their presentation. Doesn’t ask at least two questions about the
pictures or visual aids to show how they are related to the report. |
Discussion of Questions related to Public Policy Steps |
Discusses two questions for each
of the following steps in the public policy analyst format: evidence, causes,
evaluation, and solution that will help determine if students understand what
is being presented. |
Discusses two questions for three
of the following steps in the public policy analyst format: evidence, causes,
evaluation, and solution that will help determine if students understand what
is being presented. |
Discusses two questions for one or
two of the following steps in the public policy analyst format: evidence,
causes, evaluation, and solution, that will help determine if students
understand what is being presented. |
Explanation of points
A-30 28 points
B-27-24 points
C-23-20 points
http://www.nysatl.nysed.gov/standards.html
English Standard 1
Students will read, write, listen, and speak for
information and understanding.
As listeners and readers, students will collect
data, facts, and ideas, discover relationships,
concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written,
and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral
and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information
Social
Studies Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental
system of the
CONCLUSION:
You are now an expert on the problem of low
graduation rates for Special Education students in the
Having become an expert on the problem, you are
now ready to take the next step: you will work to identify the resources in
your community, city, and state to begin alleviating this inequity.