DRAFT PROPOSAL
11/16/2007, 9:30:04 AM
Summary Section:
Needs Section:
Coming from Dina and WWU
Project partners and their roles/responsibilities:
A) Higher Education Institutions
1) North Seattle Community College – project lead, fiscal agent, project advisory team convener, host for summer institute, instruction during summer institute, outreach and student recruitment coordination, curriculum development, academic-year tutoring coordination, academic- year cohort convener, project evaluation coordinator with oversight by the advisory team.
2) Washington State University College of Education – project advisory team member, curriculum development, instruction during summer institute, student recruitment/outreach, partnering of institute students with WWU pre-service teachers.
B) Seattle Public Schools - project advisory team member, curriculum development, instruction during summer institute, student recruitment/outreach, SPS leadership endorses the involvement of some of their top educators in developing and implementing this project. Kathleen Vasquez, High School Literacy Program Director and Ray Williams, Equity Coach in the SPS office of Equity and Race Relations, will both be involved in curriculum development and instruction during the summer institute. High School counselors, xxx and xxx will serve as our program’s academic advisors. We also have partnerships with 2 elementary school principals to accept our students as tutors in their schools during the academic year program. The current schools are Salmon Bay K-8 and xxx.
C) Community-based Organizations
1) Seattle MESA (Math, Science & Engineering Achievement) - student recruitment, summer institute planning and participation as guest speaker, facilitate institute field trip to MESA summer math classes, facilitate tutoring placement for academic-year program, advisory team membership.
2) TAF (Technology Access Foundation) recruitment and academic year tutoring placements)
3) Campagna Quetzal-
4) Black Achievers
5) Association of Black Educators
Summer Academy Logistics:
Ø 20-24 students will be enrolled in the summer institute and academic year support programØ Summer dates and duration: 3 hours per day, 5 days per week, 4 weeks duration. Tentatively scheduled July 7 – July 31. 9am-12pm.
Ø Extra-curricular activities – Field trip to MESA summer classrooms to observe/participate in math instruction; field trip to Meadowbrooke wetlands to host ‘SCIENCE DAY” for community center summer camp students. End of program celebration (any ideas?) Anything else you can think of?
Ø Location – NSCC will host the summer institute on their campus.
Ø Food – we will provide lunch once per week to promote social time for the group to get to know one another. We will provide campus munch-mart vouchers as “prizes” and effort awards throughout the institute.
Ø Transportation – If requested on their application, students will receive a metro bus pass to commute to campus each day. We will rent two-12 person vans from the CC motor pool for field trip transportation during the institute.
Ø Liability – summer program participants will be covered under NSCC general liability insurance as students at the college. Partners participating in the institute will be covered under their respective employee policies.
Ø Tentative Daily Schedule- PAUL, NEED YOUR HELP HERE
Ø The institute is intended to introduce students to a college seminar experience. The institute’s name – “Today’s Student ~ Tomorrow’s Teacher: Exploring Issues in Urban Education” captures the approach. We will provide teaching career exploration, college readiness assessment and specific skill building in math, reading, writing & science through exploration of issues like the achievement gap, cultural competency and the high-school drop out rate. Through a partnership with the Homewaters Project, much of the focused introduction to teaching essentials will be delivered in context to prepare students for a hands-on day of science instruction with children at local elementary-age summer camps. Our team is committed to inspiring students through meaningful discussions with education professionals working in diverse classrooms and communities across Seattle. At a minimum, students will earn high school community service credit for completing the summer institute and we will facilitate the option of earning college credit for those students who qualify for Running Start (all students will test to qualify for running start during the institute).
Program components:
Recruitment: Our CBO partners will spread information and applications for the program within the communities they serve (including reaching out to parents). WWU’s High School liaison, based at the WWU satellite campus at NSCC, works full time with area high school counseling offices to recruit students of color to Western. We will leverage their work to recruit students to participate in our program as an early step towards high education. Our project academic advisor is a SPS counselor at Chief Sealth High School. He will facilitate outreach across SPS high school counseling offices to identify candidates for our program and serve as the point of contact within SPS to answer questions and assist with student applications as needed.
Information Dissemination: Beyond dissemination within the SPS HS counseling system, we expect our well-connected CBO partners to promote the program and share information about the opportunity with families in the communities they serve. We anticipate creating a brochure or one-page promotional flyer for partners to distribute about the program. We will work together to determine the best format for dissemination to ensure we’re reaching families and students from the communities we want to serve. We also plan to create a basic program website by mid-March.
Student Selection Process: Our top priority will be enrolling students from our target population (those from underrepresented communities in the teaching profession). Given our recruitment plan’s emphasis on CBO partnerships, we expect a high percentage, if not 100%, of our applicants to fit this basic criterion. In addition, a student’s personal statement, recommendation letter and academic track record will be important determinates. The project advisory team will approve of a formal set of weighted selection criteria during their first meeting in winter 2008.
Faculty recruitment –Instructor recruitment has been a key part of our initial planning effort. Not sure what to say here…can you help, Paul?
Strategies for recruiting underrepresented population students-
Our CBO partnerships are specifically designed to ensure strong ties with diverse communities across Seattle. We expect the outreach and recruitment done through partner CBOs: Technology Access Foundation, MESA, Campana Quetzal and Black Achievers to be invaluable in ensuring the target student population learns about and embraces this opportunity.
Student Incentives –
Thanks to scholarship funding from the NSCC Education Fund, we have strong financial incentives for students to participate in our program. During the summer institute, students will be able to qualify for NSCC scholarships (which would then be held for them until they graduate). WWU also has significant scholarship funding available to support students during their 3rd and 4th year of study and information about these opportunities would be made available during our program. In addition, successful program completers would have preferred acceptance into the newly developed NSCC/WWU pathway for teacher certification with an emphasis in math and science skills (an articulation agreement for cohorts of NSCC Associates of Science students to feed into Western’s teacher preparation BA program is currently being finalized between our two institutions).
As stated earlier, high school and/or college credit for the summer institute will provide additional student incentive and honor the hard work we’ll expect them to sustain! More immediate perks we’ve planned include weekly group lunches (take-out, “students’ choice”), periodic awarding of small perks like campus coffee-cart-cards, and a closing celebration -- all designed to motivate students and keep the atmosphere fun.
Parent information plan – Our CBO partners all have strong ties to the communities they serve. We can leverage these relationships to ensure parents are informed and supportive of their students’ experience in the Tomorrow’s Teacher program. Parents and students will be asked to attend an orientation session in spring 2008 (after the selection process is complete). Parents will be invited to attend a family-day during the summer institute and again during student’s senior year at a quarterly cohort meeting. In addition, parents will receive a quarterly letter describing the program’s progress and scheduled upcoming activities. Our CBO partners have a long record of success involving parents in their education programs. We are fortunate to have their expertise to help guide and strengthen our project’s parent engagement activities.
Program Design:
Summer Institute: The challenges and rewards of the teaching profession, with a focus on teaching in urban schools, will be discussed throughout the Tomorrow’s Teacher ~ Issues in Urban Education summer institute. The program will include the following:
Ø An intimate and integrated learning environment with content skill development through an exploration of current issues in urban education and the field of teaching.
Ø College readiness assessment using the COMPASS test and a newly developed Transition Math Project (TMP) college readiness diagnostic tool. Formal assessment results along with student performance on institute assignments and existing high school transcripts will form the basis of individual education plans for each student’s senior year.
Ø Adapted content from WWU’s “essentials in teaching” course including discussion of the Professional Code of Conduct and a series of self-reflection assignments to explore how each student’s own interests, strengths and experiences relate to those required for a successful career in teaching.
Ø Hands-on teaching experience in partnership with the Homewaters Project to provide science instruction to elementary age students at the Meadowbrook Community Center summer camp.
Ø Field-trips to MESA and Rainier Scholars summer math and science classrooms.
Ø Inspirational guest speakers from the education community including our current Seattle Schools superintendent and the nationally acclaimed expert on urban education, Pedro Nugera, from New York University.
Ø Opportunities to hear from a variety of community based organizations successfully serving students from diverse backgrounds with high quality education programs in the Seattle area.
Ø Partnering with current NSCC students and WWU pre-service teachers to hear about their journeys in higher education and answer our students’ questions about the process.
Ø A parent-day when families are invited to campus to discuss information about accomplishments of the summer institute, plans for the program over students’ senior year and opportunities for student entry into the NSCC/WWU pathway to teaching program after graduation.
Academic Year support program: Program students will stay connected as a cohort during their senior year through quarterly group meetings and other ongoing activities. The program will include the following components:
Ø Regular contact between students and the program’s academic advisor to ensure the goals of student’s senior year IEPs are met. The advisor will be able to refer students to support services as needed drawing on the project’s CBO partnerships and academic services offered through NSCC (such as the math and science learning lab and the LOFT writing resource center).
Ø Students will participation in at least one classroom observation. All classroom observations will be designed as field-extensions of the themes and content discussed during the T2 ~ Issues in Urban Education summer institute. WWU, through their network of placing pre-service teachers in area schools, will assist in scheduling the classroom observations for each student.
Ø Students will participate in project- sponsored tutoring placements in math and/or science within several Seattle elementary schools. This will provide students with ongoing practice of the skills and ideas introduced at the summer institute and broaden their exposure to the rewards (and challenges) of the role of the teacher. The Project Director will facilitate and oversee tutoring placements by expanding a current program he started with NSCC students and Salmon Bay K-8 school.
Ø Attendance at a Seattle area professional educators conference at which students can interact with a variety of experts and begin to see teachers as learners too, just like themselves.
Ø Assistance with college applications and financial aid forms as well as college advising.
Identify key program personnel and how their qualifications will ensure program success. Paul, I need your help here….
Paul Kurose, Project Director has xxx years experience teaching math and science at the community college and high school levels. Paul is also the current director of the Seattle Transition Math project, a collaborative effort between high school and community college teachers to better align math competencies and instruction across organizations to better serve students. He has a long-standing professional and personal commitment to meeting the needs of diverse students and is passionate about inspiring young people to succeed in the fields of math and science.
Dina – Director of the WWU Elementary Education program at NSCC
Kathleen -
Ray
Corey
Any CBO people to list here?
Overall assessment of program, including program sustainability
after funding cycle ends.
Students, parents CBOs and education partners will be asked to provide feedback via evaluation forms which the advisory team will review. Data on student performance during their senior year will be tracked by the program’s academic advisor as well as each students’ decision to peruse higher education after high school. Student’s self-reported level of interest in a career in teaching will be captured at the start of the program and compared to their attitude at the end. It is our goal that the program’s experience and support will result in the majority of students choosing an undergraduate education pathway towards a career in teaching. The number of students we are able to retain in the program and successfully transition into a college to pursue a career in education will be the ultimate determinate of program success. Do we state a goal for % of completers? Do we want to even put some kind of ‘measurable goal?’….seems like we should but how to even approach this?
Program sustainability is enhanced bt the ongoing partnership between NSCC and WWU to train math and science students to enter careers in teaching. The summer institute course “Issues in Urban Education” is something the college could easily adapt and offer as part of the partnership pathway. If the course can become a permanent fixture on campus, the opportunity to run special offerings for high school students is greatly enhanced. If the program demonstrates a record of success the ability to leverage additional private funding to keep the coordination aspect going does not seem like a hurdle.
SUMMARY SECTION: (12 points)
Describe how the plan addresses the three project goals.