Preparing High School Students for
College and Careers: Using a 21st
Century Curricula that Meets the
Common Core Standards
Margo Vreeburg Izzo, PhD
Izzo.1@osu.edu
Kristall J. Day, PhD, BCBA
kristall.day@osumc.edu
Sheri Ransom
sheri.ransom@ecotoh.org
OSU Nisonger Center
http://nisonger.osu.edu
OSEP Project Directors Conference, July 2012
21st Century Skills Defined
The 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
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 Curricula
EnvisionIT 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
4
4
21st Century Curricula
E-Mentoring
Common Core
Standards
Mentoring
Curriculum
5
Transition
Assessment
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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 Curricula
Information 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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Sample Transition Objectives
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
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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 and
Transition 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 Standards
and 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 Portfolio
Students create a Transition Portfolio that includes:
1. PowerPoint Presentation
2. Job or College Comparison Chart
3. Resume
4. Cover Letter
5. Career Narrative
6. Job or College Application
7. Interview with a Professional
8. Job or College Checklist
9. 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
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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 Sites
2007-10
• 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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EnvisionIT Results (N=287)
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.
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Pre-Post Mean Increase of Information Literacy
by Group, Reading Level and Setting
Results for 2007-08 (N=287)
Experimental: n=153
Control: n=134
-Statistical significance (p < .05)
for all categories except
• SwD and AIMS Intensive
• Raw data gains suggests
Experimental
that EnvisionIT increased
Control
IT literacy
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8
6
4
2
Izzo, Yurick, Nagaraja, Novak, 2010,
Effects of a 21st Century
Curriculum on Students IT and
Transition Skills.
0
Rural
Suburban
AIMS Benchmark
AIMS Strategic
AIMS Intensive
10th-12th Graders
SwoD
SwD
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Total Sample
-2
Pre-Post Mean Increase by Group
Goal 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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Pre-Post Reading Results of Students
with HI or LD using AIMSWeb
Assessment
100%
90%
80%
% Correct
70%
60%
Correct Pre
Correct Post
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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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
28.05
Percent without Disabilities
68.42
71.95
Percent Male
44.74
47.56
Percent Female
55.26
52.44
Percent African American
44.74
46.34
Percent Caucasian
50.00
43.90
Percent Hispanic
2.63
3.66
Percent Asian American
0.00
1.22
Percent 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)
12
10
8
EXP
CONT
6
4
2
0
IT LIT PRE
IT LIT POST
Conclusion: Experimental group increased IT Literacy significantly
compared to control group.
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2010-2011
Transition Knowledge (TK) Gains (N=120)
16
14
12
10
EXP
CONT
8
6
4
2
0
TK PRE
TK POST
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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2011-2012 Pilot Schools
•
•
•
•
•
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Large urban district in inclusive
classes
Virtual state charter school
School for students with ASD
Core standards addressed
Final revisions to curriculum
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 tuitionfree, 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 midyear
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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
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Specific Learning Disabilities (36)
Other Health Impairments (12)
Emotional Disturbances (7)
Cognitive Delays (5)
Autism (3)
Hearing Impaired (1), Visually Impaired
(1)
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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Sample Introduction Page
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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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 EMentoring 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/specialedtransition
• NSTTAC: http://www.nsttac.org/
• DCDT: www.dcdt.org
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