Pure Academy Classes
Why and How?
Erin Fender and Phil Saroyan
College & Career Academy Support Network (CCASN),
UC Berkeley, Graduate School of Education
Produced for presentation at the
Educating for Careers Annual Conference
Sacramento, CA
March 2014
Erin Fender




Former whitewater rafting guide
Former high school science teacher
Former Assistant Principal
Former Small Learning Community Project
Director
 With CCASN for 5 years
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Phil Saroyan
 Former high school Principal
 Former high school science teacher
 Former UC Berkeley Principal Leadership
Institute data analysis instructor
 Mountain climber
 Grandpa
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Who is in the Room?
About CCASN
 Formed in 1998 by a group of practitioners and researchers
 A secondary school reform center based at UC, Berkeley & Irvine
 Promotes researched-based practice to improve students’
preparation for college and careers through direct technical
support to states, districts, schools and teachers
 Conducts practice-based research and documentation
 Informs local, state and national policy
 Worked in over 20 states
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http://casn.berkeley.edu
– Over 20 implementation guides
– National repository with 650+ lesson plans, units and
projects that link academic disciplines to specific
industry sectors
– Research reports
– National directory of academies
– Toolbox of downloadable materials
– Videos, and more
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Currently revising CCASN Master Scheduling Guide
On the CCASN website
Go to Resources
>>> Guides, articles,
presentations
>>>>Academy Design
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What do we mean by “pure” classes?
 100% of the students are
scheduled into the same
classes as a cohort
I have to go play on the soccer
team now. See you in the 5th
inning.
 Students have at least 3 of
the same classes – ideally
blocked together
 Teachers are a part of only 1
academy. May have “global
electives” but not other
academy courses
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Why Pure Academy Classes Matter
 Integrated Projects
 Study/Field trips – decreases disruption to
other teachers
 Creates a cohesive family atmosphere
 Students can lean on each other for help and
to figure out what they missed if absent
 Teachers know who students have for other
classes
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Why Pure Academy Classes Matter
 Teachers know when students have tests,
projects, other big assignments in other
classes
 What can you add to this list?
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As always – start with the end in mind
Master Schedule considerations:
 Program of Study
 Number of periods / bell schedule
 Cohort size
 Cohort structure
 Coding of courses
 Coding of students
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Design a Program of Study to:
 Avoid tracking
 Provide the full complement of options for
acceleration and remediation
 Promote student interest
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To Avoid Tracking
Take stock of what levels of courses do you currently offer?
What could be eliminated or combined to simplify?
 “Regular” English
 College-prep English
 Honors English
 AP Language
 AP Literature
 Expository Writing
 English Language Development Levels 1,2,3 4
 Academy themed English
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Advanced Placement
 English and social studies
 Embedded Honors/AP with zero period and/or
afterschool support
 Pre-AP in lower grades to get more students ready
 The amazing teacher that can do AP and embed a
career theme
 Double up – kids take both the themed and AP
version
 Online courses – Apex, Straighterline, etc.
 Offer courses every other year
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International Baccalaureate (IB)?
 New IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC)
 Built around three interconnected elements:
– at least two Diploma Programme courses
– an IBCC core that includes approaches to learning,
community and service, language development
and a reflective project
– an approved career-related study.
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Math
 Integrated math – supported by Common
Core
 Teacher who teaches all levels in the academy
 Not part of the academy – be careful.
Depends a lot on academy theme. Later we’ll
look at the UCCI model for innovate courses.
– DaVinci Algebra
– Algebra at Your Service
– Geometry by Design
– Business Statistics
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Brain Research says…
 When people learn in an applied context they
access many more neural networks, hooking new
knowledge more deeply into existing schema.
 Translation – students learn more and it sticks
when learning is connected and applied in
authentic contexts.
Newmann, F.M. Smith, B, & Allensworth, E (2001) Instructional
program coherence: what is it and why it should guide school
improvement policy. Educational Evaluation and Policy
Analysis, 23/4 (297-321) .
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Think about the prior slide in context of ELL
 Level 1 students need ELD courses outside the
academy-themed courses
 Level 2 & 3 students will benefit from learning
English in context and with increased
relevancy, may need additional support
 Level 4 and up should be in all academy
classes
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Integration of CTE and Academic Courses
 UC Integration Institute Courses provides a 2
for 1 in the Master Schedule
 Check out the UCCI Course Catalog on the web
 Allows for acceleration and/or remediation
courses in a students schedule
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Cohort Size and Structure
Let’s examine the effect of the number of
students in an academy/cohort and the
effect of the master schedule structure on
the academy/cohort.
Master Schedule Team Calculator – excel
sheet will be available on CCASN website
soon
Let’s look at an academy with the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
A 6 period student day
Faculty that teach 5 periods per day
An academy/cohort with 120 students
An academy with 4 teachers
A class size of 30 students
The 120 students are divided into 4 groupings of 30
each: A, B, C, D
Pathway with 120 students
(Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway)
Aspects of this structure:
• Common prep
• Teachers teach one
period out of the
academy
• Students take 4
classes in academy
and 2 out
• Students in
academy can go out
for classes during
period 1 & 6
• Academy field trips
complicated by 6th
period outside class
(students in
academy periods 36 improves the
ability to take field
trips)
Per 1 Per 2 Per 3 Per 4 Per 5 Per 6
Course 1 PREP
Course 2 PREP
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
A
Course 3 PREP
C
D
A
B
Course 4 PREP
D
A
B
C
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
Now let’s see what happens with 30 more students
Pathway with 150 students
(Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway)
Aspects of this structure:
• Common prep
• Teachers teach all 5
periods in the
academy
• Students take 4
classes in academy
and 2 out
• Students in academy
can go out for classes
during any period 1 –
6 (a student can
change group to go
out any period)
• Academy field trips
complicated by
students taking
classes outside of the
academy during all
periods of the day
Per 1 Per 2 Per 3 Per 4 Per 5 Per 6
Course 1 PREP
Course 2 PREP
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
E
A
Course 3 PREP
C
D
E
A
B
Course 4 PREP
D
E
A
B
C
A
A
B
C
D
E
B
C
D
E
Now let’s see what happens with 300 students
The 300 Student Model
The 300 student model on the next page has the following attributes:
• 8 teachers all with common prep
• Teachers teach all 5 periods in the academy
• Each teacher teaches 150 of the 300 students – internal rotation of
classes will allow all teachers to work with all students
• Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out
• Students in academy can go out for classes during any period 1 – 6
(a student can change group to go out any period)
• Academy field trips complicated by students taking classes outside
of the academy during all periods of the day
Now we will take a look at this model and follow a band student in
group A who also takes Algebra 2
Pathway with 300 students
(Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway)
Per 1
Per 2
Per 3
Per 4
Per 5
Per 6
English
Prep
English
Prep
History
Prep
A
F
B
B
G
C
C
H
D
D
I
E
E
J
F
History
Prep
Science
Prep
G
C
H
D
I
E
J
F
A
G
Science
Prep
H
I
J
A
B
Tech
Prep
Tech
Prep
D
I
E
J
F
A
G
B
H
C
All Out
E&J
A&F
B&G
C&H
D&I
Band
Alg 1
Alg 2
Geom
Chem
Physics
Alg 2
AP
Course
World
AP
Course
World
AP
Course
World
Language
Language
Language
Pathway with 300 students
Period
English Teacher 1
English Teacher 2
History Teacher 1
History Teacher 2
Science Teacher 1
Science Teacher 2
Tech Teacher 1
Tech Teacher 2
Groups able to go out
of the cohort for
classes
1
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
Common
Planning
2
Group A
English 10
Group F
English 11
Group B
World Hist 10
Group G
US Hist 11
Group C
Chemistry 10
Group H Anat &
Physiology 12
Group D Prin
Bio Med Sci 10
Group I Med
Research 12
ALL
E&J
3
4
5
Group B
Group C
Group D
English 10
English 10
English 10
Group G
Group H
Group I
English 11
English 12
English 12
Group C
Group D
Group E
World Hist 10 World Hist 10
US Hist 11
Group H
Group I
Group J
Gov/Econ 12 Gov/Econ 12 Gov/Econ 12
Group D
Group E
Group F
Chemistry 10
Physics 11
Physics 11
Group I Anat & Group J Anat &
Group A
Physiology 12 Physiology 12 Chemistry 10
Group E Med Group F Med Group G Med
Interventions 11 Interventions 11 Interventions 11
Group J Med Group A Prin Group B Prin
Research 12 Bio Med Sci 10 Bio Med Sci 10
A&F
B&G
C&H
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Group E
English 11
Group J
English 12
Group A
World Hist 10
Group F
US Hist 11
Group G
Physics 11
Group B
Chemistry 10
Group C Prin
Bio Med Sci 10
Group H Med
Research 12
D&I
Coding Courses in your SIS
 Set up separate course codes for each
academy course
Example
 English 11 Engineering = E11ENG
 English 11 Health – E11HEL
 English 11 Hospitality – E11HOS
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Course Selection Sheets
 Pre-program so students make the fewest
choices possible
– Example - A student bubbles choice of academy
this automatically triggers your SIS to enroll them
in the academy cohort courses
– Example – Students are forced to choose from a
limited menu
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Coding Students
 Students should
be “tagged” by
Academy in the
SIS
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Communication b/t Academy and Counselor
 Collaborate to figure it out together when
students need to move courses for any
number of reasons
– Beginning of year balancing
– Not a fit for student interest
– Not a fit for student needs
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Strategies to keep purity to avoid/when
students fail courses
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Communication with families/students
Standards-based grading
Afterschool options
Summer School
Independent Study
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Community College courses
Stand alone make-up courses during the
school year
 Add a “skinny” to schedule if blocked
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Communication with Families
 As an academy you have an increased ability to
communicate and with your students and their
families when students are falling short and
heading toward a D or F grade – divide and
conquer
 Provide support structures so students don’t fail
– Afterschool tutoring
– (Peer) Mentoring
– Revision and redemption
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Standards-based grading and/or partial credit
 Students pass benchmarks aligned to the
standards.
 If a student fails a benchmark they are given a
chance to remediate during the school year for
that particular standard(s)
 If students need to continue to work on a
standard during summer school or through
independent study they only have to show they
have learned the specific standard(s) – not an
entire semester that may or may not line up with
what they failed.
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Online Coursework
 BYU, Apex (AP), OdysseyWare, Pearson, etc.
 Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)
– Udemy
– iTunes U
– Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Duke, Harvard, UCLA,
Yale, Carnegie Mellon
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Coming Soon
All of this info and much, much more will be
available for free on the CCASN website in
about a month.
Sign up for Academy News Clips on the CCASN
website to be altered as to when the NEW
Master Scheduling Guide is released.
ccasn.berkely.edu
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Q&A
Thank you
Erin Fender
efender@berkeley.edu
Phil Saroyan
jp9@jps.net
http://casn.berkeley.edu
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