Preparing High School Students for College and Careers: Using a 21st Century Curricula that Meets the

Common Core StandardsMargo Vreeburg Izzo, PhD

Izzo.1@osu.edu

Kristall J. Day, PhD, BCBAkristall.day@osumc.edu

Sheri Ransomsheri.ransom@ecotoh.org

OSU Nisonger Centerhttp://nisonger.osu.edu

OSEP Project Directors Conference, July 2012

21st Century Skills DefinedThe skills students need to succeed in

the 21st Century:• Life and Career Skills• Learning and Innovation Skills• Information, Media, and Technology

Skills• Core Subjects with 21st Century

Themes (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, www.21stcenturyskills.org)

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Transition to College & Careers and IT Literacy

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Transition to College and Careers• 70% of students plan to pursue some type of

postsecondary education, but only 35% were enrolled one year post graduation

• Individuals who are technologically and information literate will be able to use computers effectively apply for college and employment.

• Useful for people with disabilities because IT literacy enhances communication, learning, writing, and task management.

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21st Century CurriculaEnvisionIT and E-Mentoring Curricula• Teach IT skills• Help students build a self-directed

Transition Portfolio• Match students’ interests, abilities, and

personality to career goals • Aligned with CCS • Incorporates UDL

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21st Century Curricula E-Mentoring

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What is Electronic Mentoring?

• Uses technology to connect mentors and mentees through the Internet.

• Allows mentors and mentees to communicate weekly through:• Group listserv• One-to-one e-mail• Online Conferencing

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Sample IT Objectives in CurriculaInformation Technology Objectives

1. Use rules for communicating online by sending/receiving email.

2. Retrieve information from the Internet.

3. Determine meaning of unknown words using online dictionary.

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1. Complete three online self-assessments to identify preferred learning styles, personality traits, and career interests

2. Create PowerPoint slides that describe two preferred personality traits

3. Compare four career choices that match your personality traits

4. Summarize key point in a college preparation chart such as: majors, application process, finances, student activities, campus visits and surrounding areas

Sample Transition Objectives

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Core Standards and Transition Assessment

Princeton Review: After completing the Princeton Review students will be able to analyze their Interest Color and list 4 occupations to explore

Core Standard: • Reading Strand: Cite strong and thorough textual

evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

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Core Standards andTransition Assessment

-Transition Portfolio, Activity 1a: Self Assessment: VARK - After completing the VARK students will be able to analyze their learning style and share strategies that enhance their learning

-Common Core Standards• Reading Strand: Reading for Information 2, Determine two or more

central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text.

• Writing Strand 2e, Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.

• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback.

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Core Standards and Transition Assessment

Students will be able to email their mentors and attach a PowerPoint describing their Princeton Review and VARK results

-Common Core Standards• Writing Strand 4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which

the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

• Speaking and Listening Strand 2 & 5 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media.

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Core Standardsand Transition Planning

-Transition Portfolio, Unit 10• Activity 2: Setting Annual Goals and Short-Term Objectives -Common Core Standards• Reading Strand: Reading for Information 3 Analyze a

complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

• Language Strand 1, Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

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Transition PortfolioStudents create a Transition Portfolio that includes:1. PowerPoint Presentation2. Job or College Comparison Chart3. Resume4. Cover Letter5. Career Narrative6. Job or College Application7. Interview with a Professional8. Job or College Checklist9. Bookmarks of websites visited in career search

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Portfolio PowerPoint Students include:• Results of online assessments:

• VARK, Princeton Review, Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment

– Results of Internet Research on two – four careers of interest

• Postsecondary goals – Education/Training– Employment– Independent Living

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E-Mentoring Sample: Unit 1, Section 7

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Student Feedback of UDL Supports

• Of the students who used the supports in 2006-07:–84.1% found Guided Notes either

very helpful or helpful–76.7% found Review Sheets either

very helpful or helpful–73.2% found the Glossary either

very helpful or helpful

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Transition Gains Made through the EnvisionIT Curriculum*

Knowledge of Finding Jobs• Experimental students with and without

disabilities had significant gains in knowledge in finding jobs post-test compared to control students.

Finding information about colleges• Experimental students with disabilities had

greater gains in reported ability to find college information, compared to control students with disabilities.

Izzo, Yurick, Nagaraja & Novak, (2010). Effects of a 21st Century Curriculum on Students’ IT and Transition Skills, Career Development for Exceptional individuals 17

Age Appropriate Transition Assessments

– Develop realistic and meaningful goals– Assist develop IEP postsecondary goals– Provide information for present levels of

performance– Learn about the individual student, his/her

strengths, needs, ambitions, interests, preferences

– Connect IEP with future plans– Inform the Summary of Performance

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EnvisionIT Pilot Sites2007-10

• Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB).• One Career Tech High School.• Two large urban districts.

• Ideal implementation at OSSB – integrated across 9 – 12th grades!

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Transition: • 61% of experimental students who were

undecided at pretest had a career goal posttest.• Only 5% of experimental students who had a

career goal pretest reported being undecided posttest compared to 13% of control students.

Information Literacy Results:• Experimental students performed significantly

better on the IT Literacy posttest compared to control students– F = 10.99 (272), p=.001.

EnvisionIT Results (N=287)

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Pre-Post Mean Increase of Information Literacy by Group, Reading Level and Setting

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Total Sample

SwD

SwoD

10th-12th Graders

AIMS Intensive

AIMS Strategic

AIMS Benchm

ark

Suburban

Rural

ExperimentalControl

Results for 2007-08 (N=287)Experimental: n=153Control: n=134-Statistical significance (p < .05)

for all categories except • SwD and AIMS Intensive• Raw data gains suggests

that EnvisionIT increased IT literacy

Izzo, Yurick, Nagaraja, Novak, 2010, Effects of a 21st Century Curriculum on Students IT and Transition Skills.

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Pre-Post Mean Increase by GroupGoal Setting, Finding Jobs & College Info

Results for 2007-08 (N=287)Experimental (n=153) Control (n=134)Statistical Significance (p=.05) • Goal setting for SwD• Knowledge of finding jobs

for Swd and SwoD, • Knowledge of finding

college info for SwD

Izzo et al. 2010, CDEI 33(2)

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AIMS Web Reading Results

• Six 9th graders who are deaf/HH, five 12th graders from tech program

• 8 of the 11 students moved at least 1 classification posttest.

• 3 of the 11 students moved from intensive to benchmark.

• The range of improvement was 5% to 44%.

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0%

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% C

orre

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Correct PreCorrect Post

Pre-Post Reading Results of Students with HI or LD using AIMSWeb Assessment

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2010-11 E-Mentoring Descriptive Characteristics by Group

(N=120)EXP (n=38) CONT (n=82)

Percent with Disabilities 31.58 28.05Percent without Disabilities 68.42 71.95Percent Male 44.74 47.56Percent Female 55.26 52.44Percent African American 44.74 46.34Percent Caucasian 50.00 43.90Percent Hispanic 2.63 3.66Percent Asian American 0.00 1.22Percent Other 2.63 4.88

Conclusion: Though CONT group is twice as big as EXP group, the groups are proportionately balanced in their composition.

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2010-2011 E-Mentoring IT Literacy Gains (N=120)

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IT LIT PRE IT LIT POST

EXPCONT

Conclusion: Experimental group increased IT Literacy significantly compared to control group.

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2010-2011 Transition Knowledge (TK) Gains (N=120)

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2468

101214

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TK PRE TK POST

EXPCONT

Conclusion: Students in the experimental group increased their performance significantly on the Transition Knowledge test, as compared to the control group.

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2010-2011 AIMS Web Reading Gains (N=120)

Conclusion: Intervention helps students with disabilities in reading as measured by their AIMS web score.

For EXP group change in AIM score was similar between students with and without disabilities.

For CONTROL group change in AIM score was much worse for students with disabilities.

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AIMS

(post-

pre) L

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Disability.id

CONEXP

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2011-2012 Pilot Schools• Large urban district in inclusive

classes• Virtual state charter school • School for students with ASD• Core standards addressed• Final revisions to curriculum

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ECOT- Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow

• First and largest K-12 online public school• Since beginning in 2000, ECOT, the Electronic

Classroom of Tomorrow, has provided a tuition-free, fully accredited online public school education to students throughout Ohio taught by highly qualified teachers.

• June 2012 graduated the largest class in the nation with over 2000 graduates.

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Who benefits from an ECOT education?

Students who don’t fit into the traditional classroom setting, such as:

• Students with jobs• Students with medical issues• Professional athletes and musicians• Pregnant and parenting students

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Who benefits from an ECOT education?

• Bullied students• Students wanting to eliminate the

distractions of the traditional classrooms• Advanced students needing a challenge• Students needing to change schools mid-

year

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Transition to Tomorrow• Year-long electives course that used the

E-Mentoring curriculum to prepare high school students for life after high school

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65 students with disabilities• Specific Learning Disabilities (36)• Other Health Impairments (12)• Emotional Disturbances (7)• Cognitive Delays (5)• Autism (3)• Hearing Impaired (1), Visually Impaired

(1)

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IQity• Learning Management System at ECOT• Each class has it’s own classroom in IQity

that students log into to do their schoolwork.

• Content is organized by week in the classroom. Each week has lessons, dropboxes to submit assignments, and virtual classroom session schedules

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What an IQity Classroom Looks Like

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View of Weekly Folders Where Lessons Are Housed

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What to do this week?1. Attend a LIVE session or watch a recording!  See LIVE schedule on next page.

2.  Log into E-Mentoring by clicking here (Forget your login?  Look in the login info folder)

3.  Go to UNIT 7.  Start by taking the pre-quiz.Read pages 7.2 through 7.6.Take the real-life quiz.Do the Career Narrative Outline on page 7.6  This can be tricky!!! Please come to a LIVE session to get help!

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Sample Introduction Page

Mentor Communication• All mentor/mentee communication took

place through the IQity message center.• All emails went through the teacher, who

read them, recorded them, and forwarded them on to the mentor/mentee

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Struggling Students• Students who needed additional support

to successfully complete the curriculum were invited to attend daily virtual help sessions.– Intervention strategies – Interactive review games– Videos

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Student Success Story• Joanna- 12th grade student with visual

impairments due to a traumatic brain injury as a child. She has been through some very difficult situations in her life, and has overcome them with strength and courage. She wants to be a child psychologist so that she can help kids like her have a better life.

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Quote from Joanna• “Learning about my school choices and

my career has given me the opportunity to make the best choices regarding my postsecondary goals. This will ultimately allow me to do better in school and in my career as a Clinical Child Psychologist.”

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Joanna’s Review of the Class• “I feel the class all ready does an excellent job

assisting students who are transitioning to college and real life. I cannot really think of anything that could be improved; the class covers a wide range of just about everything you need to know if you're going to college or looking for employment out of high school. This class actually helped me successfully get enrolled into a college!”

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Student Quotes about E-Mentoring Across Project Years:

• “I like having a mentor who understands me.”

• “My mentor gave me motivation, I learned about college.”

• “We taught each other things.”• “It is helpful to be encouraged.”• “My mentor gives me helpful

feedback on my coursework.”

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Mentor Quotes about E-Mentoring

• “Being blind growing up, without any blind/VI mentors around, I really felt like I wanted to contribute in some way. I think this program is great and I hope it continues.”

• “The mentor role is rewarding.” • “Teachers are reporting gains in

student progress in school and other areas.”

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Student Comments:• “Before E-Mentoring, I had no

idea what I wanted to do, I was interested in so many different things. It helped me decide what careers best suited my skills.”

• “E-Mentoring allows me to have some flexibility to change my mind in the future.”

• “Before I wasn’t searching the Internet in the right way, but E-Mentoring taught me how to search differently.”

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Discussion• E-Mentoring curriculum makes a positive difference

in the lives of students with and without disabilities.• Project utilizes experimental pretest-posttest design

in school settings. Challenges:– Randomization– Teacher fidelity– School context

• Learning supports are essential as is teacher-led instruction in gaining positive results for students.

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Additional Resources• Nisonger Center:• http://www.nisonger.osu.edu/specialed-tra

nsition• NSTTAC: http://www.nsttac.org/• DCDT: www.dcdt.org

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