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Common Core webinar recap

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Common Core webinar recap

Following up on the release of our first issue brief of the year,  we hosted our first webinar of the year featuring three afterschool programs highlighted in the Common Core issue brief: Bridge the Gap College Prep in Marin City, California, Baltimore Urban Debate League (BUDL) in Baltimore, Maryland, and Raising Expectations in Atlanta, Georgia.  The issue brief was only able to broadly discuss the unique and interesting ways these programs are supporting learning around the Common Core, and the webinar served as a platform for the programs to expand on their work and share with the field in greater detail about how they’ve tailored their programs to be more intentional about connecting to the Common Core.

We first heard from Liz Bamberg and Kelly Matteri, teachers at Bridge the Gap College Prep, who talked about the way their organization looked at their mission, who they serve, and the format they were serving their students, and came to the agreement that they needed to build their students’ foundational skills.  Located in a public housing development and providing comprehensive support to low-income families, they serve close to 40 percent of Marin County youth.  Their program takes a student-specific and developmental approach, addressing socio-emotional skills and focusing on the whole student.  The program teaches students that making a mistake in the program is okay and that “a flop is part of the learning process and if you’re not falling, you’re not trying.”  The goal is to help students find their voice and gain skills—such as grit and perseverance—that they need to succeed in more challenging environments, as well as in college and in their future.

Jen Wheeler, teacher and learning manager at BUDL covered the variety of ways her program connects to the Common Core through debate and argumentation skills.  In the spring of 2012, through a grant with the Baltimore City Public Schools, BUDL brought in a few experienced teachers to help find ways to intentionally link the Common Core to their work.  She shared that the program has five key goals, and under each goal are three levels to mark skill scaffolding—novice, JV and varsity.  Under each level are a set of mini-goals that students need to demonstrate in order to progress.  For example, one of the overarching goals of the program is to “identify and reflect on what makes a good debater and determine ways to improve skills over time,” which aligns with the Common Core habit of mind “demonstrate independence” and “comprehend and critique.”

The program’s mini-goals also align to anchor standards in the Common Core.  “Independently interpret the judge’s ballot” aligns with CSS>ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1. —“Read closely to determine what text says explicitly and to make logical inference from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.”  As a coach, Jen shared that before aligning with the Common Core, she would have students read the judge’s ballot, but no follow up work would have resulted.  Now, coaches spend the time to make certain that students fully understand and interpret the judge’s ballot, and then students are engaged in a writing or group activity to think more in-depth about their results.

Raising Expectations’ two co-founders, Maria Armstrong and Tangee Allen, were the last set of speakers on the webinar.  They shared how their afterschool program is both a school- and community-based organization—with a very close relationship with the school, as well as a strong connection to the community that allows them to be well-versed in what is happening in their students’ lives.  Raising Expectations’ staff work closely with the principal and teachers, and have five classroom visits per student per semester to help provide hands-on learning opportunities that build on classroom lessons without looking the same.  Both Tangee and Maria meet with the school principal on a weekly basis to plan, share resources, look at data and discuss how to best tailor programing to support their students.  Parent engagement is also key to the program.  Many of their parents are unfamiliar with the Common Core, and the program helps to explain what the Common Core means for their child and for them.  In addition to employing a parent liaison who communicates with parents about what is taking place in school, they have home visits to develop a stronger rapport with families.  

It was inspiring to hear the great work taking place in these programs.  A recording of the webinar is available to help you learn more about the programs featured, as well as the PowerPoint presentation and the chat transcript.  Tune in for our next webinar on Tuesday, Feb. 18, “Activating Youth Advocates,” to hear afterschool leaders share how they prepare students to be effective program advocates.

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