Strategic Design Student Internship Overview

Part I: Process OverviewPart II: Intern Responses Part III: Research & Intern ResponsePart IV: Next Steps

Part I: Process OverviewObjectivesThe goal of the Strategic Design Internship project is twofold:

Learn from our youth Cultivate an experience that has real meaning for young people in that they and their community

directly and primarily benefit from all activities

MethodologyWith that in mind, we chose Youth Participatory Action Research as the primary vehicle for the learning and activities in this project.

What is Youth Participatory Action Research? Youth Participatory Action Research, or YPAR, “is an innovative approach to positive youth and community development based in social justice principles (critical race theory, etc.) in which young people are trained to conduct systematic research to improve their lives, their communities, and the institutions intended to serve them” (yparhub.berkely.edu). Please note that this is a distinctly different process than conducting a focus group.

Key elements that distinguish YPAR from Traditional Research include: Those internal to the community (students) are the experts The project has to be first meaningful to our students, and their community Student learning and action are central to these processes

According to yparhub.berkely.edu with YPAR you can: Redefine who has expertise to produce knowledge to our world. Not just professional adult

researchers but our student interns are exercising skills to address the issues that impact them and they are living

Provides skills in inquiry, evidence, and presentation that are important to youth development as agents of positive change in their school and community

Generates findings that provides insights issues faced by young people and resources that matter in helping to solve those issues

Promotes young people’s sociopolitical development and psychological empowerment such that they understand the roots of problems facing their communities and have the skills and motivation to take action

Evaluate programs, policies, and practices that affect young people

Student Learning

Domain Learning Objectives AddressedResearch Process

- Defining Research - YPAR Overview - Research Methodologies

- Action Research vs. Traditional- Scientific Method

- Ethical Principles in Research - Analyzing Data

Implementing Research

- Developing Research Question- Developing a Survey

- Designing a Focus Group- Synthesizing Information

- Piloting Survey

Equity- Access - Opportunity

- Disparities in Data- Equality vs. Equity

Other Professional

Skills

- Collaboration- Presentation Skills - Advocacy

Session Schedule:

Date Topics DiscussedApril 23rd Introduction Research April 30th Problem Formulation, Defining Research Question, Designing Data CollectionMay 7th Analyzing Data May 14th Final Recommendations & PresentationMay 18th Board Presentation

Part II: Student Perspective *Please note, items that were contributed multiple times have been placed in bold

Observations from the Data:

Prompt: Students noted key observations from Roadmap Data on the following domains: Course Failure, Advanced Courses Taken, eligibility for 4-year institutions. Their observations are below:

Stereotypes – wondering about the potential impact stereotypes have on student’s ability to be successful 1. Negative stereotypes impact student performance 2. Stereotypes impact discipline which impacts achievement 3. Creates barriers; comfort zone 4. Placed in a box

More homeless people failed a course Highest population who applied to a four-year institution were white Only 64% graduated and met requirements for a four-year college/university (should be higher) Graduation requirements are not aligned to college requirements Disconnect between taking AP courses and actually being eligible for a four year institution Schools with more diversity (language/ethnicity) have lower percentage of students eligible to access a

4 year

Parents can play a role; Stereotype that Asian parents are typically strict when it comes to academics. Maybe parent engagement plays a role in student success

What Supports for college do You Know About? Dream Project-help from University of Washington students Career Counselor Guidance Counselor CAN: Support for 11th and 12th grade Specific requirement FRL afterschool Advisory: Resume Building and other things related to life after high school AVID: College press class requirements, not available to all students

Why aren’t more students ready/eligible for college? Not enough money Don’t know about help; financial aid Financial support Lack of information Not motivated; no one there to help motivate Thinking that they are not ready/unsuccessful; give up Overthinking and overwhelmed Didn’t get enough support early on; no support in general High school and college requirements should match They are not informed about college; degrees, tuition, scholarships, financial aid, majors Time consuming Don’t have an idea of what college really is Afraid of failure; HS counselors are there to help Question yourself and your abilities Personal and general problems Fees and tuition

Dream: College/Postsecondary Pathway Prompt: If you could create the perfect pathway that allowed you and all students

Supports come to you (ex: if programs like CAN came to Advisory) – Bridge the access gap by having more access to support during the school day for all students (i.e. not all students can stay afterschool, come to evening events, etc.)

Counselors align to college requirements – they ensure that you take the correct classes No barriers: College is free with a minimum set GPA Balance school with jobs, sports, etc. and still be on track to go to school Smaller classes – Need for personalized support Mentors: Personal, peer-to-peer—WIN One on one help/support Smaller classes Personalized support Guidance all throughout high school for college – Do not wait until 11th or 12th grade to start seriously

talking about life after high school. 9th & 10th graders want support in preparing for college Clear checklist/plan to prepare for college – There should be a clear plan

No stereotypes affecting college: Acceptance, no judgement – Address issues of stereotype and stereotype threat between students and school staff

Support from family/friends, etc.: Parent information night – We want more support from our family and we want the school to help facilitate that

Scholarships Testing out of prerequisites Motivate elementary/middle school students to love learning Counselors and teachers believe anything is possible: More informed and helpful counselors; have the

mindset that every student will go to a four-year college or equivalent; support students in accessing options,

College is FREE: Free materials, lots of scholarships Encourage more students to join athletics: Get involved in school – idea that more involvement in

extracurricular will boost academic performance Personalized support Multicultural teachers: Relate on a personal level; connection Start school later (H.S.): More sleep, more focused; more students would go to school Technology: Less technology – all learning does not have to be centered around technology, it makes

students less creative Technology: More technology is needed to support learning

What needs to change? Prompt: Think about your entire experience in school and think about, in your opinion, what needs to change

More variety for lunches – For vegan and vegetarian eating students there are few options and no variety; it’s an equity issue, it’s not fair that we have to eat the same food every day for an entire year

More diverse books (more languages) – Perhaps if there are books in different languages it may be easier for students to read; and it allows students to keep and practice their home language

More opportunities for all students, not just upper classmen – The focus is on Jr. and Sr. in terms of college knowledge, that focus should start with freshman and sophomores

More money to support other clubs (not just football) – Our school is famous for being the worst football team, but football is still being funded the most compared to other sports

Newer school buildings – Some buildings are falling apart and getting old – some buildings are really old, decaying, still being used, adding new buildings but not fixing the old ones

More language classes – Create more engagement in students if there was a different variety (Spanish, French, and Japanese). Students will perform a lot better if they are more engaged

More diverse teachers – Since we are the most diverse school in the state (Kent Meridian) we should have more diverse teachers so we can relate to the students

Better gym equipment – Still have basketballs from super long time ago, they are really worn out etc. Updated text books – Textbooks are missing pages. There is also missing information because

technology has changed More lanes to get into the school (traffic) – Every morning there is a traffic jam, there is only one lane

to get in, there are 50 cars in line, the light stays green for 5 cars School to start later – A lot of students have problems getting up early. Some are staying up late, then

not getting enough sleep Smaller class sizes – Most of our classes are large, some students are disruptive, smaller class sizes

allow teacher and student to get to know each other, and allows for more learning. Rather than having a big classroom….

Free lunch for all – The regular price is expensive, if it was free for all people would eat lunch instead of skipping lunch

Less State Test – Sometimes the state test assesses us on things we haven’t done for years. It doesn’t reflect my actual ability. (Ex. I haven’t done algebra in three years) It takes time out of our class schedule, limiting our time to complete necessary work

More variety of sports – The more variety, the more people who would do sports, could lead to higher grades due to after school involvement

Air Conditioning System in School – it gets really warm, people get sweaty. It’s hard to learn if we are physically uncomfortable

More 1:1 help (student to teacher) – Ties in with smaller classes – there are some students who are shy, there should be an opportunity for all students to have a one on one session with their teacher to make sure that they are doing well

More Counselors - Because we need more support 1:1 support preparing for college, navigating problems at home,

Part III: Research & Intern ResponsePreparing for Research:Following a period of exploration, Interns worked together to agree on a research question that addressed some of the pertinent issues that arose for them, particularly around access to support to prepare for college/postsecondary.

Research Question: How does the type of support that a student receives in school impact their readiness for college (postsecondary)?

Collecting DataWith that research question in mind, interns designed a survey and prepared to lead focus groups. Please note, that due to issues of informed consent, we will not be entering information gathered from focus groups into the record.

Survey Design and Results:

Survey Analysis by Interns- Most people who receive support, indicated that it was coming from a parent, while those who were

not receiving support indicated that they would like support from their parent (1st tutoring, then parental support) – Shows the importance of parent involvement in education

- Question 2: Do you feel ready for college – nearly an equal distribution between yes, no, indifferent - o Some people may not know about supports o Current supports might not be enough o Ideally, most students should know enough about opportunities after high school that they feel

good about some option. Maybe could have ask a broader question about post high school opportunities

- Question 3: o Almost 30 percent said they are not receiving support at home or school for college? Why not? o Factors: There could be a barrier that is blocking them receiving support o Recommendation: To break down that barrier, there could be a program that supports parents

and students in working together to build the support system to help the student achieveo Parents who are very busy, families who are homeless can be left without support – how can

the school bridge the gap when support can’t come from home

- Question 4: o The dream project does not help that much on a broad scale (i.e. it may greatly impact those

students who are active participants, but does not impact enough students; If the dream project was directed towards everyone (it is not serving as many people as it should) – as a sophomore, no one knows what they actually do; not until they are Jr or Sr.

o Most students who are receiving help, receive that from their parents, but what about those students who are not receiving help from their parents?

- Question 5: o Students who indicated they are not receiving support indicated that they would benefit from

tutoring support and support from parents o At certain schools, there is not tutoring available, dependent upon teacher availability only –

how can we ensure that students have access to academic support? o How can schools support families who could be more helpful, to be more helpful

- Question 6: o Students need their parent’s support almost more than anything – what can schools do to help

bridge this gap? o Tutoring:

The way a student receives tutoring could impact; Quality of tutoring might matter Some students wouldn’t take advantage of tutoring; Some students don’t want to spend

time getting extra help; may not have time

Additional Comments from Interns after Survey Results: How can schools set up welcoming environments by which parents/families can support their students

in navigating pathway to high school? How can we help families that have the time to be more helpful?

Ideas: o Family Nights that support families in identifying their role in supporting their student on this

pathwayo More college knowledge for Parents

Part IV: Next StepsNext Steps for Student Interns:

This Saturday, Interns will be: o Distilling their comments and analysis down to 3-5 recommendations o Considering how they would like to hold PSESD, and other entities accountable o Preparing to present to PSESD Board on Wednesday May 18th