EDU 505 Assignment 4 Final Scott McKee

8/13/2019 EDU 505 Assignment 4 Final Scott McKee

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Running head: VISION 2016 VCS, JH 1

Vision 2016

Valley Community School, Juvenile Hall

Scott A. McKee

EDU 505 Future of Education

Professor Jennifer Bouchard

Post University


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VISION 2016 VCS, JH 2

Introduction

Merced County Office of Education (MCOE) provides the education services for the

Merced County Probation Department (MCP). The MCOE department that oversees these

services is the Career and Alternative Education Department (CAE). CAE is responsible for

Merced Counties Regional Occupational Program (ROP) and Alternative Education Program

(AEP). The AEP is a multiple site program called Valley Community School (VCS) with

locations in Merced, Atwater, Los Banos, and Juvenile Hall (VCSJH). VCS provides an

education to at-risk youth who have been expelled from the other county comprehensive schools.

Current State of Education

Juvenile Hall has two separate buildings. Building one houses minors that are still going

through court or awaiting placement at a group home or California Youth Authorities to serve

their time for violent crimes. Building two, houses minors who have received their sentence

from court or have violated the conditions of their probation. The minors in building two can be

incarcerated for up to eighteen months, depending on their prior record or the severity of their

crimes.

Each building has educational services provided by VCSJH and has separate educational

teams. Each building can house up to sixty minors and is broken up into four separate units,

each unit holds a maximum of fifteen minors. Each unit has a classroom and the minors attend

school in that same classroom all day. The education team rotates around the building

throughout the day spending time with each classroom teaching their subject area content. The

educator is alone in the room with the students, there are no guards placed in the room.

Each educator is responsible for instruction, counseling, and discipline in their classes.

Surprisingly, there are very little disciplinary issues. Most of the students look forward to going


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to school and are subject to being removed from class for disruptive behavior at the teachers

discretion for up to five days. In building two, when a minor is removed or refuses school they

lose points and lengthen their stay in the facility.

VCSJH has a site principal who oversees the educational program and is there for

educator support, student advocate, liaison to MCP, creating and implementing district and

probation policies, and a variety of other duties.

In 2011, VCSJH had an Academic Performance Index (API) of 595. Low when

compared to comprehensive schools, but high when compared to other similar schools. VCSJH

was ranked fourth in the state when compared to thirty-eight other similar juvenile hall court

schools in California. VCSJH has Made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the last five years.

However, VCSJH is currently in stage 1 of 5 in Program Improvement (PI). This is due to the

graduation rate being too low. With the high mobility of students coming and going it is hard to

retain students long enough to graduate through VCSJH programs prior to being released to

another VCS site.

Each Building has a separate VCSJH educational team. Each educational team consists

of educators who are fully credentialed by the State of California in the appropriate subject areas.

There are some differences in each buildings educational program, but each program offers

English, Social Studies, Math, and Science. In building one Physical Education is provided and

in Building two there are two ROP classes provided Construction / Landscaping and Retail Sales

and Marketing.

In order to move about the building each educator has a mobile cart that carries district

adopted textbooks and supplemental resources in the appropriate subject areas. Each student is

provided instruction and resources in the subject areas they need for grade level requirements


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and supplemental resources for areas needed for credit recovery.

Each classroom is equipped with seven personal computers for student use. These

computers are loaded with a variety of software to provide research and project building for

assignments. These computers are stand alonepcs and do not have internet access due to

current probation restrictions and policies. Each classroom is also equipped with a Smartboard

for instructional purposes and internet access attached to the MCOE network. The Smartboard is

driven by a laptop on the educatorsmobile cart as well as internet access. Educators use these

resources and technologies in different manners and had had little or no training in there use.

Current State vs. 2016 Vision

The VCSJH Principal was quoted as saying, The student has changed and the methods

of instruction have notperiod. The students at VCSJH are amongst the most disenfranchised

from the school process, the willingness to tackle difficult classroom tasks is meager at best (R.

Baptie, personal communication, December 16, 2011).

The primary method of instruction at VCSJH currently is mostly text book driven. The

educator walks in the room, passes out textbooks and the other materials needed for the days

lesson. The educator proceeds to give a short discussion or lecture, gives instructions, and then

the students get to work. The educator may decide to also show a related video, provide a

demonstration, and/or show some examples of desired results. The technology in the classroom

is primarily used to as part of the lecture, access online information, show videos or give

instruction. Rarely is the student invited to come up and interact.

According to Rocky View Schools (2011), No longer are students engaged in textbook

driven lesson plans, where the teacher lectures on a subject or writes notes on the board. Rather,

todays contemporary learner thrives in environments where multi-tasking is the norm; lessons


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are relevant to the world in which they live; and a multitude of resources are at their fingertips,

allowing them to explore at a pace that suits their needs (p.2).

The Vision of 2016 for VCSJH would have the educator walk into the room. Students

would be waiting with a laptop in front of them. Educator would put the days standard related

objective on the Smartboard and begin a short discussion about the objective and options how to

accomplish the objective. The students would then get to work researching, collaborating,

sharing, communicating, and producing a product that maybe completed in a class period or

multiple days depending on the objective. The teacher would interact, collaborate, share,

communicate, provide direction, give advice, and critique the students as the work. In the end

the student would send the educator their product for assessment via the computer.

Weimer (n.d.) explains that in order to be learner-centered, instructional practice needs to

change in five key areas: the balance of power, the function of content, the role of the teacher, the

responsibility for learning, and the purpose and processes of evaluation. In this, however, she

assumes that student-centered pedagogy is the most appropriate. Maybe it is. Maybe it isnt.

Many variables come into play when we try to determine which teaching style is best (Hara, B.

2009). These variables will be discussed in Challenges to the Vision.

Currently, the balance of power in learning resides in the educator, the function of content

is directed by the educator, the educator is the expert, the responsibility of learning is on the

educator, and the purpose and process of evaluation is limited to worksheets and tests.

In the 2016 vision the teacher will share the balance of power in learning, the students

will be allowed to explore and create different ways to attack the material and have some input as

to the function of the content. The responsibility of learning will lean towards the student and

the purpose and process of assessment will be primarily on projects and work products.


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Research indicates that when students share the responsibility and have input in the

process of learning they establish ownership in the knowledge and become more engaged.

Methods of instruction using technology are more attractive to digital native learners and

students will be more engaged and thus more learning will take place.

When students ask questions and find the answers for themselves, they get involved in

their own learning. Educational Dividends knows how powerful that can be for the student and

the teacher. Educational Dividends also knows that creating a facilitative learning environment

brings challenges for teachers (Educational Dividends, n.d.). After the educator is accepting of

being a facilitator there are challenges to making it work; managing learning through discovery,

motivating students to do the work, and applying whats learned across multiple subjects which

requires collaboration with colleagues in other subject areas.

The Goal of VCSJH is to raise the current API of 595 to over 650 in the coming years.

To make this happen student performance must increase as well. More students need to pass the

CAHSEE and be proficient or better in core subject areas on standardized tests. Vision 2016 has

the potential to make this happen. If the challenges are overcome and the educators buy in to the

idea, it is a realistic goal.

Vision 2016 will become a reality. VCSJH has support from MCOE and all its sites. The

districtsEducation Technology Planhas a five year plan which outlines a similar vision as put

forth in Vision 2016 VCS, JH. With visionary leadership in place that is supportive of change,

the time is now to get the plan moving forward. Despite budget strains the district is

encouraging educational leaders to move forward. VCSJH is fortunate because it is a court

school has additional funding available that many other school dont have; Title 1, Improving the

Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged and Economic Impact Aid. The need for change is


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evident, the leadership is visionary, and the funding should be available.

Challenges and Preparation

There will be challenges to overcome to make Vision 2016a reality. Once the vision is

completely planned out and approved by MCOE Technology Committee the real work will

begin. The first challenge will be establishing policy in conjunction with MCP. Currently the

students are not allowed personal internet access. Internet access is provided through the

educators laptop through the Smartboard in each classroom. It isthe educators responsibility to

subjectively bring out appropriate content to their subject area. Policies will need to be

established that is agreed upon by all stakeholders.

The second challenge will be preparing the facilities ability to operate at a much larger

band width for a larger population of users. The current band width for internet access is

stressed by the current population of users. In response to a foreseen need, the VCSJH Principal

has already put in a work order to have a T1 line installed in anticipation of an increased use of

technology in the years to come.

The third challenge will be securing the funding and allocating potions of the different

sources to determine a budget for the vision. Grants may be necessary to make up any deficits

that could result from allocation. Once a budget is determined, evaluation of technology and

putting the order out to bidding from various venders to get the most cost effective purchase for

the approved technology.

A fourth challenge would be educator personality and acceptance. It would be expected

that not all educators would be able to accommodate a learner centric approach to teaching.

Some educators might not have the personality to feel comfortable letting go of some of the

balance of power in learning. Therefore not accepting the change and not utilizing the


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technology effectively.

A fifth challenge would be professional development as to learn how to effectively use

and feel comfortable with the use of technology. Professional development would have to be on-

going in order to be effective. Overcoming these challenges will be the first steps in preparation

for Vision 2016 VCS, JH.

What if the Vision Fails?

If the vision is not achieved it will result in a cascade of negative outcomes. Student

engagement will continue to decline which will result in an increase in classroom management

and discipline, the development and learning of the student will be impeded and never reach its

fullest potential. As a result, student performance and school API will decrease. AYPs will not

be met and the school will continue down the road of PI. If the goal of VCSJH is to become a

leader in court school education and raise its API to above 650, Failure is not an option

(Williams, J., 2008).

Call to Action

Its time to get moving forward. To the administrators and visionary leaders its time to

start planning and establishing policies. For the educators its time to start using what you have

already available to find new methods of instruction that allow the students to become actively

involved in their learning.

Final words from futurist Marc Prensky (n.d.), Digital Natives are used to receiving

information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics

before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They

function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They

prefer games to serious work.


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References:

Merced County Office of Education. (2011). Home page. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mcoe.org/

Valley Community School. (2011). Home page. Retrieved fromhttp://vcs.mercedlearn.org/

Merced County California. (2011). Probation. Retrieved from

http://www.co.merced.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=80

California Department of Education. (2011). School summary 2010-2011 accountability progress

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Rocky View Schools. (2011). On track. Retrieved from

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EDU 505 Assignment 4 Final Scott McKee