Jerome Scarlett

Monroe Academy for Visual Arts and Design

Scarlettenglish@cs.com

“The breakdown of the family..” “It’s the teachers..” “The schools don’t have enough money, how can they get the books they need when they have no money? Other areas have enough money.” Most people are not at a loss to explain the underperformance of schools. There is even specialized terminology: schools under regional review, underperforming, failing, schools in need, hard to staff, frequent turn-over schools, the list is endless. In New York City tabloids we can find references to “the dirty dozen,” a listing of the twelve worst schools. We can also find lists of schools which have not met the academic standards established by the state. What we can’t find however is an analysis of issues that “failing” schools face. What causes schools to fail? How can this be countered and just how does one become designated “failing”?

As a policy analyst for the Soundview section of the Bronx, it will be your job to investigate the causes and formulate some solutions for “failing” schools and present it in the form of a typed, double-spaced 3-5 page paper. You will also be responsible for presenting a shortened version of your paper to a committee made up of your peers in which you’ll present a policy that Monroe Academy for Visual Arts and Design should adopt and why. You should also come up with a list of existing resources that students, parents, guardians and teachers can turn to if they wish to be informed and armed with information to combat “failing” schools.

In order to do the task, you must first complete six (6) worksheets. These worksheets will help you organize and outline your ideas. Clicking on one of the links below (in the blue font) will bring you to a worksheet. The worksheets are in order, so you should complete worksheet one (1) before you do worksheet three (3), for example. Additionally, you will visit five websites to gather information about the problem. The websites you visit will provide information that you will use (cite) in your paper. When you use information from websites, you have to make sure your reader knows where you got the information and to give the credit where credit is due. Clicking here will tell you how to do this. We will also review this in class. I have provided some websites for you. In addition, you will be responsible for finding four (4) other websites, not given in the resources list below.

Organizing Ideas/Worksheets

1. Identifying the Problem, and Worksheet #1
2. Gathering Evidence, and Worksheet # 2
3. Identify Causes of the problem, and Worksheet # 3
4. Evaluate the Policy, and Worksheet #4
5. Develop a solution to the Problem, Worksheet #5
6. Selecting the Best Solution, and Worksheet #6

Resources

Sites about School Failures

v MAVAD’s Report Card, NYC Bd. of Ed. http://www.nycenet.edu/daa/SchoolReports/03asr/279692.pdf

v An article with some interesting facts http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/zeiger/040207

v Can this be a reason for “failing schools? Lead Poison and failing schools

v Is it money? NYC Public schools and financing http://www.cfequity.org/CourtofAppealsCoverage/wnbc6-27-03.htm

Search Tools to help you find more information

v Google, www.Google.com

v Ask Jeeves, www.AskJeeves.com

v Altavista, www.Altavista.com

v Lycos, www.Lycos.com

v Yahoo, www.Yahoo.com

You will be evaluated on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being the highest.

GRADE:	1	2	3	4
Oral Presentation	No knowledge of the uses of PPA - Presents no data to support the proposed policy	Little knowledge of the uses of PPA.-presents several sources of data in a logical format to support the proposed policy	Acceptable amount of knowledge Of the uses of PPA –presents several sources of data in a logical and organized format to support the proposed policy	Superior knowledge of the uses of PPA.-presents an exceptional amount of data to support the proposed policy
Research	Website links not relevant to support the proposed policy	Enough website links, but few support the proposed policy	Many website links that support the proposed policy	All website links support the proposed policy
Report and Worksheets	Incomplete - does not use the conventions of standard written English	Complete weak usage of the conventions of standard written English	Complete with and acceptable usage of the conventions of standard written English	Complete with superior use of the conventions of standard written English

:

1. Students will read and write for information and understanding.

2. Students will read and write for literary response and expression.

3. Students will read and write for critical analysis and evaluation.

4. Student will speak and listen for social interaction.

After faithfully following all steps in this assignment and putting in your best effort, you will be able to define, research, and critically think about a social issue in your community. You will also be able to analyze the effectiveness of policies and advocate for changes, locate community resources, be able to gather and present information both orally and in written form and link the idea of activism and involvement with social justice and effective educational institutions.