Strand4_Access

MSAP Grant Strand #4 – Student Access and Success

As a large urban high school with a diverse student population, Millbrook has an opportunity to build an IB programme that alludes the best intentions of so many schools. It is frequently the case that diverse high schools conduct authorized programmes that are primarily racially, ethnically, and socio-economically homogenous within those schools. Our goal in the construct and authorization of the IB programme at Millbrook is to build programme that reflects the diverse population of the school. While this is not easy task, we have a series of programs and activities outlined and ready for design and implementation to give greater numbers of students access to the programmes. Once in the programmes, the structure we are designing is intended to maximize support and enrichment opportunities for students so that they will be successful in the programmes.

Curriculum writing: We currently have at Millbrook High School a freshman class known as the Wildcat Prep. It is currently designed to support the critical freshman transition from middle to high school, with a focus on academic skills and social interaction. Being acquainted with students social and affective funtioning concerning academic concepts and peer acceptance will also aid in the students intellectual progression. The course recognizes that students in the 9th grade are faced with greater academic independence and more dominant social pressures. The Wildcat Prep is intended to address those concerns by teaching critical study skills that include research and citation, public speaking, and project presentation. Interdisciplinary instruction of this nature focuses on essential skills that endorse achievement in every educational setting and provides an initial hoistic view at the most basic level. It also pays attention to the recognition that the student’s community has grown dramatically, is more diverse, and can be more intimidating. Thus it helps students by studying and discussing social interaction and team and community building in the Millbrook setting. While the construct of the course happened long before we pursued IB authorization, the course is very much aligned with community and service and approaches to learning, two of the Areas of Interaction that form the core of the MYP. With the approach of the MYP at Millbrook, we have determined that the Wildcat Prep is an ideal vehicle to build student understanding of the IB programmes, and also to give them the academic means and confidence to embrace the MYP and prepare for the DP. In order to do so, certain changes will need to be made in the course, aligning it more closely with the IB philosophy and practice. We will need a team of curriculum writers who understand the MYP, the DP, and the Wildcat Prep curriculum who can reframe the curriculum to include the teaching and understanding of the Areas of Interaction, the Personal Profile, and International-mindedness. The course currently teaches information literacy skills that translate to all curricular areas in which students complete research projects. This piece of Wildcat Prep needs to be specifically aligned with information and technology skills that students will need when completing the personal project as sophomores in the MYP. The team that develops this part of the curriculum will be collaborative including classroom teachers and school media specialists to provide expertise in information literacy, resources and research skills that students need to develop. Media specialists will also align the course with state curriculum in information and technology skills. We will also reframe the curriculum to teach and practice a more inquiry-based approach to learning, thus allowing students to have greater control over their learning experience and the personal impact it will have on them and their studies. College Partnerships: Another program that will aid student access to the benefits of the IB programmes at Millbrook is college partnerships for 9th and 10th grade students. As such we will use the MYP as a program of support to prepare students for the benefits of the DP, as IB originally intended. Unlike the standard practice of students going for college visits in their 11th and 12th grade years, we believe such visits and exposure must happen much sooner. Students must begin building their ambitions for post-secondary work early in their high school careers. The best means of assuring success in high school is to make clear to students the value of their studies and the potential results of diligence in their coursework. Unfortunately many of our students lack the connection between high school and career goals because they lack exposure to college-level education and the careers such training can lead to. By creating a partnership with local colleges and universities, including NC State, UNC at Chapel Hill, and Duke University, students will be exposed long before the critical junior year of high school when rigor of coursework is stressed and college ambitions are articulated. In the past, we have taken different groups of students to some of these universities including juniors who completed part of an English research project with NC State librarians so that they didn't just visit but truly experienced academic work at the college. The visit was very motivating and we would like to see similar trips exist for younger students. Experiencing the college library at a younger age will also assist students using those resources when they enter the DP programme as juniors and begin work on the Extended Essay . Students in 9th and 10th grades will be able to make choices early on that will prepare them for later rigor because they are aware of the positive consequence of their choices and they have a tangible vision of how their studies will translate into opportunities. As a result of these established partnerships, 11th and 12th grade students, would have a more precise direction for educational and career oriented pathways. Creativity, Action, and Service hours could be satisfied through student pairing with local universities to solve global issues in their preferred area(s) of knowledge.

Guest speakers Another model for career exposure is to bring professionals into the school to expose students to career opportunities they might not be familiar with. As is frequently the case, students will be aware of the existence of a particular field of study or practice, but they will too often say “this is not for me” or they will simply see it as out of reach. That is due, in part, to a simple lack of understanding of the field or a perception that people from a certain background do not go into such areas of study. By bringing in professionals we will be able to a) bust the myth that a student’s background, be it racial, ethnic, or economic, is not a precursor to career choices, and b) give students a sense of accessibility by creating a conversation with an authority that can explain how such ambitions are pursued. Career focussed guest speakers as well as smaller group career fairs can bring students of all levels into more contact with professionals in 21st Century jobs. We know that all of our students need to be prepared for college and the IB programme is crucial to that preparation; however, we also need them motivated to enroll and succeed in college. Five students sitting at a table with a genetic counselor, IT professional, or chemist can lead to more in depth conversations and resulting motivation for pursuit of those careers and the course work necessary to achieve that success.  During the MYP years, students will be required to take a technology course. In these courses, students will not only learn school to career skills, but also come in contact with many professionals in the job industry. Students will have the opportunity to speak with these professionals as they visit classrooms to discuss various topics. Students will meet professionals from various ethical and socioeconomic backgrounds, which will lead to more motivation to pursue certain careers. Student support In line with building a Diploma Programme that reflects the diversity of Millbrook High School, it is imperative that we reach out to students who would under other circumstances not consider themselves “IB worthy.” These might be students who are academically and intellectually prepared for the programme, but who lack the outside encouragement and support that might compel them to take on greater risk and rigor in their academic choices. It might be students who have not had the academic support at home, for a myriad of reasons, who are intellectually capable of meeting the demands of the programme with an increased level of academic support and personal encouragement. Encouragement can be provided via presentation of the program as one that supports the motivated student as well as the academically gifted. Providing this type of support requires every teacher of both the MYP and DP to have an adequate amount of understanding of the expectations of each course in both programs. Understanding the nature of both programs is essential to the successful pursuit of interdisciplinary relatedness and international mindedness of both the learner and teacher. An IB education can be pursued and achieved if teachers meet and exceed MYP expectations. Understanding the components and rigor of the DP program will promote the aforementioned. With certain expectations met in MYP, a DP program will be successful. DP teachers also need to know what is expected by instructors at the college university level to ensure that those expectations are met as well.

As a means of offering the encouragement students need to help them understand and appreciate their academic potential, and in keeping with the IB philosophy of celebrating what students know, as opposed to focusing on what they don’t, we will build into both the MYP and DP ceremonies and protocols that celebrate the achievements of all students who successfully navigate the programmes. At the MYP level there are milestones along the way that will be recognized as a means of reward and encouragement. These milestones include completion of the MYP year 4 and the transition into the final year, the conduct and completion of community service requirements, the completion of the MYP Personal Project, and, of course, the completion of the MYP programme and awarding of an MYP certificate. By creating and conducting activities that recognize these achievements along the way, we will validate the academic and personal growth the students have experienced and give them the encouragement to pursue greater ambition and more rigorous coursework. Ultimately, the objective is to encourage more students to enter the IB DP.

DP Support At the DP level the critical element to student success throughout the programme will be academic support. For such a goal to become reality we will need to build a structure into the school schedule that will allow teachers to provide reasonable opportunity within the school day for students to access them and seek the support necessary for success in those classes. The programme we have outlined is to create a class, call it Advisory Period if you like, that will give ALL DP teachers and students a release time where they will assemble in a designated classroom(s). During this class period students will have open access to work with DP teachers on course content, extended essay writing, and construction of internal assessment.  The library media centre will also be open and professionals will offer workshops and mini-sessions in skills specific to the Extended Essay and other projects students are working on; for example, a 15 minute workshop on accessing and citing the JSTOR database from the media specialists wtih student time to work on the Extended Essay. Students would be able to choose this workshop or meeting one-on-one with one of their DP instructors, or utilizing other IB resources. The implementation of such an advisory class will be dependent on two specific factors – resources and training. To enable 15 or more teachers to assemble with 100 or more students at a single time will require a space that is appropriately equipped with the resources to necessary to maximize the support time. The first of these resources must be the space. We will need three to four rooms that will accommodate a large group that will move around from teacher to teacher, working individually and in small groups. The space must be structured to allow for flexibility of group sizes and potential temporary partitioning. The second resource needed for this support class will be the technological resources needed to accommodate teacher/student interaction in a support setting and in a student-centered research environment. The room will need support for and provision of multiple computers (laptops seem better if you're talking about small group work sometimes, indendent work other times, etc.)  for group investigation and smart boards for teacher-led support sessions. Other technology needed for this support framework will be…webcams and videoconferencing materials for students to conduct primary research, a laptop cart so that students can work in small groups or move to more isolated areas for quiet work, a printer, and a scanner. The laptops will also be able to be checked out overnight so that students can continue working on what they develop in the resource period. Right now, Millbrook on average has a ratio for computers to students of 1:3. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The third resource needed will be office supplies ranging from permanent to perishable. NEED TO FLESH OUT No student should feel left out of the process due to an inability to print out a paper or complete an assignment due to "stuff" - the DP resource area will be equipped to supply these materials so students can have stress removed from the materials aspect of completing work.