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Pierce CountyPierce CountyEquivalency ProjectEquivalency Project

Diane Carver

Bethel School District

Washington State

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BATES TECHNICAL COLLEGEBATES TECHNICAL COLLEGE

CLOVER PARK TECHNICAL COLLEGECLOVER PARK TECHNICAL COLLEGE

TACOMA COMMUNITY COLLEGETACOMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PIERCE COLLEGEPIERCE COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, TACOMAUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, TACOMA

PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITYPACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUNDUNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND

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Higher Education in Pierce County, WA

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Pierce County area: 1,669.51 mi.

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Home Sweet HomeHome Sweet Home

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Port of Tacoma

Equivalency Project DescriptionEquivalency Project Description

Eight Pierce County school districts received an Equivalency Grant from the state to increase the quality and rigor of secondary CTE courses: Specifically to increase equivalency credits in CTE.

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Equivalency Project GoalsEquivalency Project Goals

Develop rigorous CTE curriculum for course equivalency crediting in science RCW 28A.230.097

Provide Professional Development for the academic/CTE integration team members

Collaboration on alignment to the science standards of each CTE framework

Equivalency Common Equivalency Common FrameworksFrameworks

1. AP Environmental Science

2. Natural Resources Biology

3. Biotechnology

4. Wildlife Conservation

5. Forestry

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Equivalency Grant ParticipantsEquivalency Grant Participants

8 Pierce County School Districts:

Bethel, Clover Park, Eatonville, Fife, Franklin Pierce, Puyallup, Sumner, and Tacoma

25 Teachers: 16 CTE Natural Resource & 9 Science

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Pierce County School Districts

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1000

1250

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2000

Bethel CloverPark

Eatonville Fife FranklinPierce

Puyallup Sumner Tacoma

CTE FTE

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Equivalency Project LeadershipEquivalency Project Leadership

Coordinator: CTE Educational Consultant, framework designer

CTE Director: Coordinator & Liaison

Science Directors: Professional Development

CTE Director: Grant Writer & Budget

Equivalency Project Process Equivalency Project Process

Agenda for February 11, 2010:

All participants and coordinators gather to learn about the project and

the new science standards

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Equivalency Project Process Equivalency Project Process

Leadership Team Planning Meetings

Dec 11, 2009 & Jan 4, 2010 Professional Development - all staff

Feb 11, 2010 Curriculum writing - teaching teams

3 meetings to develop each framework Teachers collaborate on courses

Leadership Team Debrief

March 16, 2010

Equivalency Project ProcessEquivalency Project Process

Meetings for each framework

1. Sharing sample syllabi, frameworks, lesson plans to determine common Units of Instruction

2. Review the Draft Framework by Unit– modify, add science standards, leadership, employability, thinking skills, relevance to work

3. Finalize framework document17

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Equivalency Framework ScheduleEquivalency Framework Schedule

February March April May

AP Environmental AP Environmental

Natural ResourcesNatural Resources

BiotechnologyBiotechnology

Conservation & Forestry

Conservation & Forestry

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Professional Development GoalsProfessional Development Goals

Navigate Science Standards for grades 9-12

Understand Equivalency Credit Process

Become familiar with the common Pierce County Curriculum Frameworks

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New Science Standards TrainingNew Science Standards Training

New symbol ~ New Emphasis

What did the teachers learn? …“A new way of looking and STUDYING the standards across K-12 that is manageable, useful, and functional”“Inquiry is the way to engage students”“Big ideas and cross-cutting concepts”

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Equivalency Training Equivalency Training

What did the teachers learn? …

“That equivalency is actually the Law”

“How to secure equivalency”

Natural Resource for Science

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Equivalency Project ResourcesEquivalency Project Resources

Resources allocated in the grant– People: CTE Consultant, Substitutes– Location: Puyallup School District– OSPI*: K-12 Science Standards– Pierce County Framework Template

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Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (WA State Education Department)

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Equivalency Project AnalysisEquivalency Project Analysis Weaknesses

~ not all districts participated

~ logistics Strengths

~ professional development

~ teacher quality Opportunities

~ collaboration

~ equivalency credit for students

Benefits of Common Framework Benefits of Common Framework

What did the teachers learn? ...

“The complexities of Frameworks being a road map for instruction”

“About the framework process from a state standpoint instead of a district one”

“How complex or straight-forward building frameworks can be, depending on the district requirements”

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Discussion:Discussion:

What does “equivalency” mean to you?

How do you determine what CTE courses count for core academic credit?

How is “cross-credit” different from equivalency?

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Questions?

Contact:

Diane Carver

Bethel School District

dcarver@bethelsd.org

(253) 683-690926