APPENDIX A OTHER FACTORS Staff Growth The catalytic agent in moving forward any program is the staff assigned to bring into action the suggestions culled from every source. In addition to the suggestions given in the section on staff training, the following suggestions for staff growth should be emphasized: Professional Library Each school in the program should have a professional library appropriate to the size of the staff and the diversity of their problems. Foreign Language Each school should provide opportunity on an optional, voluntary basis, for staff members to learn the language spoken by many students in the school (Italian, Spanish, French, and so on). Operation Understanding Members of the staff should have the opportunity to participate in a program similar to New York's "Operation Understanding" (the program of supervisor visitation and teacher exchange with schools in Puerto Rico). Such a program could also be extended to sections of our own country, as the South, and to other countries. Research Clearing House Provision must be made on a planned, systematic basis for relaying to members of the staff all significant findings that emerge from studies and investigations. This relay should include not only written reports but practical demonstrations and, where pertinent, actual practice in using the findings. In essence, time and resources must be provided for a carefully developed program of staff growth that not only will give every participating teacher and supervisor the information needed for more effective performance of his responsibilities, but also will challenge his professional interest. If we accept the broad definition of the curriculum as all the experience the student has inside and outside the school, then this AFT National Design for the High School is an appropriate vehicle for fulfilling this objective. APPENDIX B RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION Careful evaluation of the program as a whole from the very initiation of the program is basic to sound growth. The evaluation must be skillfully planned under the guidance of the research staff assigned and in cooperation with the school staff and trained college personnel. All resources of the Board of Education, colleges and universities, public agencies and private grants should be used to design and conduct research. In order to effectuate the research program, one school should be designated as the Research Center. It should have as consultant an "Academy of Research" composed of outstanding experts and specialists from the entire metropolitan community. The Research Center would serve as a clearing house for studies, explorations of new procedures and materials and would work in close cooperation with the departments of educational research, curriculum research and guidance. Areas of action in research with experimentation would include the following: Organization and special classes Grade unit Team Teaching Open-end grouping "Bridge" classes Involvement with groups Campus school program Special community projects School-community aides Civic agencies (health, housing, welfare) Human-relations groups Special programs Camping programs (summer, sleep-away, year-round) Summer day camp program Extended school day program Community library program Special parent-community programs Welcome program (new arrivals, orientation) Summer programs Exchange school program (teachers, parents, students) Studies and projects Approaches to teaching non-English speaking children Study of approaches to beginning and remedial reading Study of physical anomalies and the results of a correction program Studies of academic achievement in selected areas Studies of sequences in learning Studies of effectiveness of different patterns of preservice and in-service training and growth. Studies of the use of programmed materials and machines in motivating learning Studies of utilization of community resources Studies relating to motivation, human relations, the effectiveness of guidance, etc. Although each of these areas of investigation has broad implications for the whole school system, nevertheless the focus imperative here is on the values pertinent to the students in the suggested program. APPENDIX C JOHN DEWEY HIGH SCHOOL: A MODEL FOR INNOVATION At the experimental John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, interestingly enough, there are no up and down staircases. Students and teachers travel the spacious double width stairs in both directions at once without confusion, and this may well be the perfect symbol for the school's novel approaches. For example, most classrooms at Dewey have moveable walls; a period is called a module; traditional grades have been abolished; a "term" is seven weeks long; the curriculum offers over 1,750 course offerings (including sequential courses); and a student can, if he wishes, graduate in two years. The $12,000,000 school opened its doors on September 8, 1969. Both the students and teachers are recruited on a voluntary basis. Students who live in the immediate school district have first choice; the remaining places may be filled from any other area in Brooklyn. There are eight clear-cut features that set Dewey apart from the traditional high school: I. Teacher as Educational Catalyst Teachers create courses of study. Summer Institutes and time during the school year permit direct teacher involvement in curriculum development. II. 7-Week Cycles The regular school year is divided into five 7-week cycles (each approximately 36 school days). Every seven weeks students and teachers have entirely new programs. Teachers have 35 different classes in one year instead of ten. Counting major and minor subjects, students may have thirty-five to forty different teachers in a year instead of ten or twelve. The school is in operation for 12 months and includes an optional summer session which provides a possible sixth cycle. III. Programs and Records Individual programs for students are made by computer every seven weeks (five times each year instead of the traditional twice per year). In effect, all major recordkeeping is performed electronically. Report cards, attendance, lateness, admission and discharge data as well as information for use by guidance counsellors are printed out by the computer. IV. The 8-Hour Day and Modular Scheduling The 8-hour school day (8 A.M. to 4 P.M.) is divided into 22 modules (or mods) of 20-minute duration. There is one buzz every twenty minutes and no programmed time is allotted for the movement from place to place. This time system has been quite successful in moving students and teachers to their next assignments. For flexible programming, some classes meet for two mods (forty minutes), others for three mods (sixty minutes), and some for four mods (80 minutes). This reduces traffic in the halls since the entire school population does not move at the same time. V. Resource Centers Each curriculum subject area has its own resource center. For example, the glass-walled social studies center is surrounded on three sides by five social studies classrooms that are visible from the center. Its resources include private study cubicles, slide viewing machines and other audio-visual aids, books and documents and, most strikingly of all, a para-professional and teacher are in constant attendance on a rotating basis. This setup provides for tutorial help and advanced study assignments as well as for immediate research as the need occurs during a class session. VI. Individual Progress Students may take as few as six subjects and as many as eight in any 7-week cycle. In addition to classes, students may elect to do advanced work independently. Students may complete high school requirements at their own rates-some in two years, others in as much as six years if that length of time should be required. VII. Grading System Every seven weeks each student is graded for each subject programmed: M (mastery); MC (mastery with condition); MI (mastery in independent study); or R (retention). For each R or MC evaluation the teacher must prepare a prescription form in triplicate indicating specific deficiencies or weaknesses. One copy is sent to the student's parents; the second is for his counsellor's file; and the third is sent to his next teacher to serve as a guide for remedial work. VIII. Independent Study Each student's program includes independent study (I.S.) mods, or periods. More independent study mods are given to students who may need tutorial help or who are working on special projects. Less I.S. time is available for students who wish to take more class subjects. Every student has full freedom to decide what to do with his I.S. time. Some sign up for advanced work which involves a DISK (Dewey Independent Study Kit). This enables a student to do advanced material on his own. Each DISK contains a calendar of lessons, educational objectives, assignments and suggested topics for a research paper or project. At the end of seven weeks students may meet the requirements for mastery by passing a two-hour written test in addition to completing an oral comprehensive exam and/or a special project. About 500 MIs are earned each cycle. Over 100 students master ten or more DISKS each year. Students may ask for extensions on time and not take the examinations until they feel that they are ready. Some may work on a DISK for two cycles or more. There is no penalty for failure on a DISK and students are free to drop a DISK. Students may try a DISK if they have been retained in a subject and wish to repeat the unit independently rather than in a retention class. |