Linked Learning: Pathways to College and Career Success

ConnectEd and Long Beach Unified

The State of Education…

“The best employers the world over will be looking for the most competent, most creative, and most innovative people on the face of the earth and will be willing to pay them top dollar for their services… Beyond [strong skills in English, mathematics, technology, and science], candidates will have to be comfortable with ideas and abstractions, good at both analysis and synthesis, creative and innovative, self-disciplined and well organized, able to learn very quickly and work well as a member of a team and have flexibility to adapt quickly to frequent changes in the labor market as the shifts in the economy become even faster and more dramatic.”

The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, 2007

So how do we fare academically on the international landscape compared to other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)?

The State of Education…

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

US ranks :14th in Reading25th in Math17th in Science

But this is only one measure…

“…. So, the big picture from PISA is one of education stagnation at a time of fast-rising demand for highly-educated workers. The mediocre performance of America’s students is a problem we cannot afford to accept and cannot afford to ignore.”

Secretary Arne DuncanDecember 7, 2010

State of the Economy and Education (National Trends)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

“So What Now?”Consensogram Activity

1. To what degree are you familiar with the Rigor and Relevance Framework?

2. To what degree does my SLC integrate real-world applications into the academic core?

3. To what degree does my SLC team know what our local workforce requires of a graduating senior?

4. To what degree does your SLC team use problem- and/or project-based learning to drive the curriculum?

5. To what degree do you believe that ALL students can be college and career ready upon graduation from your SLC?

Let me tell you a story...

What is Linked Learning?

The Linked Learning approach offers students a choice among several different multi-year programs of study, which combine academic and technical skills, organized around broad industry themes (i.e., biomedical science; engineering; arts, media, entertainment) and prepare students for a full range of postsecondary options, including:

– 2- and 4- year college/university admission– Apprenticeships– Military– Formal employment training– Careers

Organizing PrinciplesOrganizing Principles

• Prepare students for both college and career

• Connect academics to real-world applications

• Lead to the full range of postsecondary options

• Improve student achievement

Pathway Components

• A Challenging Academic Component• A Demanding Technical Component• A Work-based Learning Component• Support Services

Math Science Social Studies

English

Technical Core/Work-based LearningTechnical Core/Work-based Learning

Prepared for

Collegeand

Careers

SocialStudies

Science

English

Math

SocialStudies

Science

English

Math

SocialStudies

Science

English

Math

SocialStudies

Science

English

Math

Technical Core

Middle SchoolArticulation Multiple

Post-SecondaryOpportunities

Post-Secondary ArticulationCollege and Career Plan----------college Tours----------Applications ------------Courses

Technical Core

Technical Core

Technical Core

SupportServices

SupportServices

SupportServices

SupportServices

Introductory

Level

Intermediate

Level

Capstone

Level

Work-based Learning Opportunities Company Tours ----------------------------Job Shadowing------------------------------ Internships

Reflection: Linked Learning

• How does your SLC reflect these guiding principles?

• How does your SLC integrate the four core components?

Example

• Health Professions High School in Sacramento

Pathways…

Bring real world relevance to the college preparatory curriculum.Promote project-based teaching and learning.Use more authentic assessment methods.

Alignment: Foundations for Engaging Every Learner, Every Day

Classroom

Instructional Practices

Department/SLC

PD Evolution/Action Plans

Site-Level

School Improvement Plan (WASC)

High School Office Goals2010 – 2011

Prepare all students for postsecondary education & careers through linked learning.

Provide support services within each pathway.Enroll and support students in a coherent sequence of

rigorous courses aligned to student outcomes.

High School Office

High School Reform Initiative/District Initiative for Expanding Pathways

LBUSD Board of Education/Superintendent’s Office

Academic and Career Success Initiative

High School Reform Initiative 2009-2014

1. Implement a rigorous and relevant multidisciplinary curriculum in the academic core to increase student achievement.

2. Provide all students with a sequenced and aligned technical curriculum, including work-based learning and CTE experiences, for career exploration.

3. Provide for consistent and sustained support, including prevention and intervention, to ensure that all students achieve their maximum potential.

4. Create a holistic campus climate where relationships, social behavior, and positive professional interactions lead to academic success.

Instructional practices that support the ACSI, HSRI, and HSO Goals:

• RR Framework (Quadrant D)• Linked Learning Strategies•Performance Mapping: Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning

Quadrant A ⎯ AcquisitionStudents gather and store bits

of knowledge and information. Students are

primarily expected to remember or understand

this acquired knowledge.

Quadrant B ⎯ ApplicationStudents use acquired

knowledge to solve problems, design solutions, and complete

work. The highest level of application is to apply

appropriate knowledge to new and unpredictable situations.

Quadrant C Assimilation⎯Students extend and refine their acquired knowledge to be able

to use that knowledge automatically and routinely to

analyze and solve problems and create unique solutions.

Quadrant D ⎯ AdaptationStudents have the competence to

think in complex ways and also apply knowledge and skills they

have acquired. Even when confronted with perplexing

unknowns, students are able to use extensive knowledge and skill to

create solutions and take action that further develops their skills and

knowledge.

Rigor Relevance Framework 2008 International Center for Leadership in Education

• SLC structures and themes give us a context for the “Application” axis on the Rigor and Relevance Framework.– i.e., business academy students can

learn the historical context of To Kill A Mockingbird by studying the Stock Market Crash, while arts academy students can accomplish the same task by analyzing Billy Holiday’s Strange Fruit and pictures of the “Dust Bowl”

Past:

Student Experience was not coordinated for student engagement or real-world connections.

But how can we organize our work between the disciplines to ensure a coherent experience for the students?

Linked Learning:

Student Experience IS now coordinated for student engagement and real-world connections.

Industry Sectors and Organizing Themes

Why Themes?

• Context and purpose• Provides relevance and connections

for the students• Provides a common ground for content

specific teachers to talk and plan• Connection for business/community

Determining Themes: Factors to Consider

• Successful programs• Student interest• Labor market demands• Community resources• College connections • Partnerships • Facilities • Staff interest

From Student Learning Outcomes to Student Outcome Charts

• Opportunity for expert practitioners to work in interdisciplinary communities to define what students should know and be able to do within a particular themed course of study.

• Process that empowers a pathway to define its own identity around key industry themes.

Why Define Student Learning Outcomes?

• “Clarity of desired ‘end’ provides the framework for designing ALL student experiences.”

• Ensures a rigorous and RELEVANT experience for all students within a pathway.

Student Outcome Charts

Student Outcome charts are a tool that provides a blueprint for a coherent, engaging four year educational experience above and beyond the academic standards all students take.

Alignment to an Industry Sector and then a subsequent Pathway is critical to focusing our work and making sure that students have a coherent educational experience.

Recognize that certain sectors (& even pathways) may NATURALLY overlap:

– Engineering & Construction– Arts, Media, Entertainment & Fashion/Interior

Design– Finance/Business & Marketing, Sales, Services– Etc.

PEACE Academy

• Industry Sector: Public Services

• Pathway: Legal/Government Services

VISION MISSION

GOALS AND OUTCOMES

Process

More broad and future oriented… “what” we hope to be about.

More specific and defines “why/how” we will get there.

Why this common language is so important…

• Finish each of the following proverbs/aphorisms…

– People in glass houses shouldn’t…– You can lead a horse to water, but…– Don’t bite the hand that…– You can’t teach an old dog…– A penny saved is…– None as so blind as…– When the blind lead the blind…

PEACE Academy

• Vision:

“Enter to Learn, Exit to Serve”

• Mission:

“The PEACE Academy is an international negotiations and leadership academy that promotes critical thinking, community-minded students to advocate for social justice through philosophical debates, service learning projects, international negotiations, and complex instruction.”

Student Outcomes….

focus on those skills and abilities most critical to success within your career theme.

So where do these come from?

Foundation Standards

They cover the 11 areas essential to all students’ success:

• 1.0 Academics• 2.0 Communications• 3.0 Career Planning and Management• 4.0 Technology• 5.0 Problem Solving and Critical Thinking• 6.0 Health and Safety• 7.0 Responsibility and Flexibility• 8.0 Ethics and Legal Responsibilities• 9.0 Leadership and Teamwork• 10.0 Technical Knowledge and Skills• 11.0 Demonstration and Application

Framework – pages xvi - xvii

Pathway Standards

• The pathway standards are concise statements that reflect the essential knowledge and skills students are expected to master to be successful in the career pathway.

• Each career pathway comprises 3 to 12 standards with 2 to 6 subcomponents per standard.

Framework – pages xvi - xvii

Define Attributes of Students in this Pathway…

Strategy:– Take the Pathway Standards assigned.– Informally unpack the standards to see:

• What students should be able to do? VERB - circle– Consider the level of rigor (Bloom’s Taxonomy)– Skills that students might need to master to meet/exceed

the standard• What content do students need to know? NOUN - underline

– Discuss themes & patterns that emerge from this process and use those to define your students’ 3-5 attributes (adjective to describe a student in this pathway). Attributes can also be known as the broad pathway outcomes.

Student Outcomes (Deep Dive)…

Are observable, measurable results or evidence of the educational experience. They may be things the program wants:

– students to know (cognitive),

– ways students think (affective/ attitudinal), or

– things students should be able to do (behavioral, performance, psychomotor).

They are detailed & meaningful enough to guide decisions in program planning & improvement, & decisions about pedagogy & practice. NOT ACTIVITIES.

These statements use active verbs, such as create, compose, calculate, develop, build, evaluate, translate, etc.From CUPR Common Language doc

Course (Program) of Study

Integrated Curriculum and Linked Learning:

Performance Mapping

Integrated Curriculum Institute

• Process driven: Performance Mapping

• Product driven: Integrated Project

This professional development is

The goal of performance mapping is to use content area

standards and pacing guides to discover cross-subject area connections from which to build an authentic integrated

project.47

Integrated Curriculum Institute

BASIC BASIC INTERMEDIATE COMPLEX INTERMEDIATE COMPLEX

Integration Continuum

Math

ELA

ARTS

ForLang

SOC

SCI

CTE

Theme-basedReal-WorldApplication

Single Subject Paired Interrelated Conceptual

48

Integrated Curriculum Design

1. Student Outcomes2. Curriculum/Performance Mapping3. Share Curriculum and Find

Connections4. Topic Selection5. Essential Question6. Establish Performance

Tasks/Assessments7. Lesson Plans8. Reflection and Revision

Industry and post-secondary partners advise in:

•Curriculum Development

•Instruction and Implementation

•Student Assessment

Unpacking the standards

Uncover to determine:

• Standard Identification:• Content: what students know…• Skills: what students are able to…

(performances)

• Performance Standard Measures and Criteria: • How students demonstrate mastery of

knowledge and skill

Unpacking the Standards

Active Verbs matter!

Verbs establish the level of learning and drive the assessment methods

Performance measures and activities in the project must allow students to do the VERB!

51

Place your post-it notes in chronological order on the butcher paper

Take turns explaining the details of your content to the team.

Connections across subjects come from both verbs (skills = what students should be able to do) AND/OR nouns (content =

what students should know)

54

Make Connections

Your Turn

• Practice making connections with a partner

• Share and discuss your findings at your table

Find information on the topic using a minimum of five sources

Evaluate the credibility and

reliability of resources.

Paraphrase the research into your own words.

Formulate a preliminary thesis statement to reveal the specific point of the paper.

Prepare a formal outline using proper

outlining form.

Analyze structural

differences between cells

and viruses

Demonstrate proper experimental procedure

Draw conclusions from data regarding prevalence of bacterial contamination

Explain how different factors

influence the spread of disease

Identify various modes of transmission for common pathogens

Analyze and evaluate

symptoms to determine

patient health status

57

Topic Selection

• Reflects focus of your SLC

• Relevant to students’ lives and interests

• Includes student investigation and research

• Addressed through multi-disciplinary perspectives

• Includes industry & college professionals

58

Integrated Planning in Action

Video: San Diego Teachers

59

Four Major Characteristics of Integrated Projects

1. Standards driven – timely and identifies level of mastery

2. Inquiry driven – becomes the students’ problem

3. Authentic – product, performance, service or solution

4. Personalized – differentiated based on students’ motivation and skills

60

Let’s Take a Closer Look

Integrated Project Quality Criteria

Project Title: Forensic Investigation

Integrated Curriculum Design

1. Student Outcomes2. Curriculum/Performance Mapping3. Share Curriculum and Find Connections4. Topic Selection5. Essential Question

6. Establish Performance Tasks/Assessments

7. Lesson Plans8. Reflection and Revision

Industry and post-secondary partners advise in:

•Curriculum Development

•Instruction and Implementation

•Student Assessment

• Video Example

Integrated Curriculum Design

1. Student Outcomes2. Curriculum/Performance Mapping3. Share Curriculum and Find Connections4. Topic Selection5. Essential Question6. Establish Performance Tasks/Assessments

7. Lesson Plans8. Reflection and Revision

Industry and post-secondary partners advise in:

•Curriculum Development

•Instruction and Implementation

•Student Assessment

Integrated Problem-Based Projects

Topic Essential Question

SLC:Industry Sector

World Hunger:Heifer International

How can I impact the world by thinking globally and acting locally?

PEACE 10th grade:Public Services

Environmental Issues:Long Beach Breakwater

Can we change our environment?

PEACE 9th grade:Public Services

Port of Long Beach How do efficiency and innovation affect ethics?

CAMS 10th grade:Engineering Technology

Improving Community Health

How can you make your community healthier with $1 million?

CAMS 9th grade:Biotechnology/Health

Water Conservation:Design a “Blue” house

How can we develop a system that will deliver sustainable, clean water?

ACE 10th grade:Architecture, Construction, and Engineering

ConnectEd Resources

• Tools and manuals• Video examples• Self Assessment Rubrics• Certification Criteria• Online collaboration spaces• District framework for support

What I didn’t tell you was...

• High academic rigor• Technical core was college level• There was an internship connected• The theme was integrated in all courses• Multidisciplinary • Exhibition of the work was primary• Who was the student?

Team Debrief: Force Field Diagram

DRIVERS PREVENTERS

• Funding available for training.

• Teachers will be comforted by the fact that they do not have to abandon standards and pacing guides.

• Student-focused, teacher-friendly approach that respects a teacher’s expertise

• Master schedule will have to support collaboration between grade-level teams within the school day.

• Getting our Curriculum Office in the district to support this work.

• Going to scale seems daunting.

• People may not know how to collaborate.

Action Steps:

• Schedule a meeting with the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction to introduce this approach.

• Create a needs assessment to make sure the professional development is needs-driven and presumptive.

• Pilot the training with one SLC to determine how to tailor the approach to our district.

SAMPLE: All teachers use performance mapping to integrate academic content with relevant real-world competencies resulting in students who are college and career ready [SLC Cohort 10 Goal 1 &3].

Contact Information

• Rob Atterbury, ratterbury@connectedcalifornia.org

Director of Professional Development, ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Careers

• Nader Twal, ntwal@lbschools.net

SLC Project Director, Long Beach Unified

• Veronica Evans, vevans@lbschools.net

Academic and Career Tech Ed Curriculum Leader, Long Beach Unified

Why reforms fail?

• Lack of real commitment, buy-in, and a confluence of effort

• No outside force balancing the changes in leadership and their whims

• Lack of fidelity to the model, cutting corners• Lack of a systemic approach• Involvement of everyone in the design and

development• Change the structure and never change the

instruction or culture

The Evidence

• Compared with their peers, students in pathways:

o Attend at higher rates

o Are less likely to drop out and more likely to complete high school

o Pass the California High School Exit Exam at higher rates

o Are more likely to score proficient or higher on California Standardized Tests in English, science, and social studies

o Earn more annually in the five years after high school graduation –$2,500 per year more!