Business, Marketing, and Diversified Occupations

Curriculum ReviewMay 23, 2007

Presenters

• Dr. Alice M. Hirsch, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum

• Tammy Andreyko, Principal, Ingomar Middle School

• Cynthia Yingling, Department Chair

• Cynthia Lang, Teacher

• Chris Sestili, Teacher

Outline of Presentation

• History

• Curriculum Review Process

• Department Content and Vision

• Review Recommendations

History

“We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the

path which has led to the present.” Adlai Stevenson, 1952

History

• Last Business Curriculum Review

– April, 1993

– 14 years ago

History

• Business classes were thought of as vocational.

• The World Wide Web did not exist.

• The First version of Windows had yet to be introduced.

• In 1993, AOL introduced email over the Internet.

History• The European Union was in its infancy

(February, 1992).

• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was launched January, 1994.

• The word globalization was not in everyday vocabulary.

• U.S. corporations were a safe haven for workers and investors.

Curriculum Review Process

“Good process is always the key.” Michael Johanns

Curriculum Review Process

• Curriculum Management Team

• Curriculum Review Team

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

Ken Blanchard

Curriculum Review Process• Subcommittee Formation

– Identification of Key Contacts

– Empirical Research/Data Collection

– Seminars

– Exemplary Programs/Site Visits/Curriculum from Exemplary Districts/Best Practices

– Standards

– Organization

Curriculum Review Process• Identification of Key Contacts

– State and Government Officials in Business, Marketing, and Diversified Occupations

– Textbook Publishers

– Other Similar High Schools

– State and Local DECA and FBLA

– Colleges and Universities

– Researchers

– Relevant Websites

Curriculum Review Process• Empirical Research/Data Collection

– Articulation– General Business, Accounting, and Honors – Marketing– Diversified Occupations and Vocational

Education – Entrepreneurship– Keyboarding and Computer Skills– Technology– Finance– International Business

Curriculum Review Process• Seminars

– Pennsylvania Business Education Association (PBEA) Conference

November 17-18, 2005

– Twenty-Seventh Annual Pennsylvania Cooperative Education Conference

October 20-21, 2005

– Robert Morris University, Business Education Regional Conference

May 2, 2005

Curriculum Review ProcessExemplary Programs/Site Visits

• Bethel Park

• Fox Chapel

• Franklin Regional

• Mt. Lebanon

• Pine-Richland

• Seneca Valley

• Upper St. Clair

• Central Bucks

• Hampton

• Lower Moreland

• Peters Township

• South Fayette

• Tredyffrin-Easttown

• Unionville-Chadds Ford

Curriculum Review Process

• Standards- PA State Standards for Economics

- PA State Standards for Career Education and Work

- PA State Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences

- Financial and Resource Management

- Balancing Family, Work, and Community Responsibility

Curriculum Review Process

• Standards

- PA State Standards for Science and Technology

- 3 Technology Sections

- National Standards for Business Education

Survey

• 91.4% of 1179 students surveyed plan to attend a four year college.

• 43 of 1179 or less than 4% plan to move directly into the workforce.

Survey

• 808 students say that they choose a course based on personal interest.

• After personal interest, the ranked order of reasons why students select a course is:– Course content.

– Career exploration.

– Graduation requirements.

Curriculum Review Process

• Organization

- Recommendations finalized from learning

gained from curriculum review activities

Business, Marketing & Diversified Occupations

Content

Misconceptions/Myths

Incorrect Beliefs:

– Vocational/Workforce Prep Only

– Not Dynamic

– Lacks Academic Rigor

Content• Multifaceted

– Accounting

– Business Law

– Career Development

– Communication

– Computation

– Personal Finance

– Investments

– Entrepreneurship

– Information Technology

– International Business

– Management

– Marketing

– Economics

Purpose• Multifaceted

– College Preparation– Career Exploration – Real Life Application (FBLA, DECA, Co-op)– Workforce Ready

Vision

“We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one

knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.”

Margaret Mead

Vision

• To create a visionary and dynamic 21st century curriculum based on research, aligned to standards, providing opportunities for every North Allegheny student.

“Vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be.”

Inspirational Poster

Vision

• The curriculum will prepare students to succeed in the global environment in any endeavor they choose to pursue. The academic rigor will meet or exceed any that they will encounter upon leaving this program.

Vision• As technology has become a foundation in

today’s society, students will be given the opportunity to understand what technology is available and how to use it to their individual and organization’s advantage.

• Without a thorough knowledge and skill level in the use of technology, students will find it difficult to compete in a global environment.

Recommendations

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

Alan C. Kay, Veteran of Arpanet (now Internet)

Recommendation #1

• Change the Department Name to Business, Computer, and Information Technology Department (BCIT).

Recommendation #2

• Consider Keyboarding and Computer Applications as required courses prior to ninth grade.

Recommendation #2

1. Consider providing keyboarding skills and techniques by grade seven, if scheduling permits. A teacher who is certified and/or has taken a methods course of teaching typing skills should teach keyboarding.

2. Consider providing the application of intermediate skills using Word Processing, Spreadsheet, and Database software by grade seven.

Recommendation #2

3. Consider updating the content of the Keyboarding/Microsoft Word course offered to students in grades 9-12 based on current technology needs.

4. If funds become available, consider the addition of one wireless, mobile or stationary, computer lab per middle school building to support the teaching of Keyboarding and Computer Applications.

Recommendation #2

5. Any of the above potential course changes should be addressed through the Program of Studies process whereby all course additions or deletions are evaluated and recommended.

Keyboarding

• Volumes of research show that keyboarding is a vital skill, which should be taught to all students.

• School districts all around the country and in the local area are working it into their curriculum prior to grade nine.

Keyboarding• Keyboarding Skills Contribute to

Improvements in:

– Reading, spelling, and writing ability.

– Efficiency in using the computer as a tool, thereby, maximizing classroom time.

– Attitude toward writing—less frustration in looking for keys rather than entering information.

Keyboarding• Keyboarding Skill Contributes to

Improvements in:

– Motivating all students toward doing schoolwork.

– Creative thought.

– Integrating keyboarding within all subject areas.

– Preparing all students for a technological society.

Keyboarding

• Keyboarding is a psychomotor skill which requires at least 25-30 hours of instruction/practice to master.

• A teacher who is certified and/or has taken a methods course in teaching the skill should teach keyboarding.

Keyboarding• Our State Standards require all students to

demonstrate age appropriate keyboarding skills

and techniques by grade seven.

• Eleven of the thirteen school districts studied have Keyboarding as mandatory for at least nine weeks somewhere between grades four and eight. Nine of those districts require Keyboarding in grade six or seven.

Computer Applications

• Computing technology has a positive effect on learning and teaching in the primary and secondary grades. There is a range of effects such as:– Increased time on task.

– Higher test scores.

– Lower cost.

– Increased motivation.

Computer Applications

• PA State standards require that students apply intermediate skills using Word Processing, Spreadsheet, and Database software by grade seven.

Computer Applications

• Computer Applications courses are required at some point from seventh grade through tenth grade in ten different school districts studied and ranged in length from nine weeks in one year to a required semester every year from grade seven through ten.

Recommendation #3

• Consider the Addition of a Visual Basic Course through the University of Pittsburgh’s College in High School Program.

Recommendation #3 1. Consider the addition of two semesters (one year) of a Visual Basic

course to the existing curriculum at the 11th and 12th grade levels. Students in the second semester will be able to take advantage of the University of Pittsburgh’s College in High School Program and receive three college credits for completion of the course.

2. North Allegheny currently offers University of Pittsburgh’s College in High School opportunities in English (Honors Argument) and Math (Introduction to Probability and Statistics and Honors Calculus).

Recommendation #3 • Visual Basic is easy to learn, which makes it an

excellent tool for understanding elementary programming concepts.

• Visual Basic has evolved into such a powerful and popular product that skilled Visual Basic programmers are in demand in the job market.

Recommendation #3

• Franklin Regional offers a full year to grades 9-12, Deer Lakes offers one semester to students in grades 11-12, Peters Township and Upper St. Clair offer a full year to grades 10-12, Seneca Valley and South Fayette offer a full year to grades 9-12.

• Franklin Regional and Seneca Valley offer credit through the University of Pittsburgh’s College in High School Program.

Recommendation #4

• Consider Expanding Web Page Design to the Tenth Grade Level.

Recommendation #5

• Modify the Diversified Occupations Program from a two year to a one year program.

1. Eliminate the Exploring Occupations Course.

2. Eliminate the Supervision and Advancement Course.

Recommendation #6

• Consider the Addition of an Honors Finance and Investment Management Course.

Albert Einstein once declared compound

interest to be . . .

“the most powerful force in the universe.”

Honors Finance and Investment Management

• The topic and the honors rigor are both lacking in the current business curriculum.

• The course would take Personal Finance to the next level and allow students to explore the topic as it would apply to a very lucrative career.

Honors Finance and Investment Management

• The top Business Schools offer Finance as a major, including:– CMU

– NYU

– Notre Dame

– Michigan State

– Harvard (Financial Management)

– MIT (Financial Management and Financial Engineering)

• Locally: – Robert Morris University

– Duquesne University

Recommendation #7

• Consider the Addition of an Honors International Business Course.

1. In order to prepare students to interact successfully in a global environment, consider the addition of an Honors International Business course to the curriculum in place of the eliminated Exploring Occupations Course.

Honors International Business Course

• One in five jobs in the United States depends on international trade.

• Most large U.S. corporations now derive approximately half of their net income from operations outside the country compared to one-tenth in the 1950s.

Honors International Business Course

• The National Business Education Association 2001 standards outline a comprehensive set of performance standards for teaching international business. These standards focus on the following areas:

Honors International Business Course

– International trade foundations

– Global business environment

– International business communications

– Global business ethics

– Organizational structures

– Trade relations

– International management

– International marketing

– International finance

Recommendation #8• If the Budget Permits, Update

Content of Classroom Resource Materials through the Purchase of Accounting and Honors Accounting Textbooks.

Recommendation #9• Technology Needs

– Enhance instruction through the expanded use of technology through consideration of the addition of Smart Boards and Proxima projectors in all Department classrooms.

– Consider acquiring the above technology over the next five years based on availability of funds through grants and the zero based budgeting process.

Business, Computer, and Information Technology Department Curriculum

• Updated and Revised North Allegheny Standards

• Developed Learner Objectives– PA Standards

– National Standards

– NA Benchmarks

Next Steps

• Seek Approval of the Proposed Written Curriculum

• Consider the Planning of Year I of the Proposed Implementation Plan

From "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman:

"Every morning, when the sun comes up, the gazelle knows they must run faster than the fastest lion, or they will be eaten.

Every morning, when the sun comes up, the lion knows, they must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or they will starve.

It doesn't matter if you're a lion or a gazelle,when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

So tell me - have you started running yet?

Concluding Comments

“But . . .Nothing will ever be attempted, if all

possible objections must be first overcome. "

Samuel Johnson, in Rasselas, 1759

“Great Expectations…

The Best Is Yet To Come!”