Illinois Schools Presenting Roundtables at the
CES Fall Forum '97 in San Francisco
November 6-8, 1997

Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio assessment is the final exhibition for the senior class at Malta Junior/Senior High School. The purpose of the portfolio presentation interview is for seniors to show their growth in academic skills as well as accomplishments in computer skills, exhibitions, community service and school activities. They also must write about future plans and goals they have made. Each senior is interviewed by a committee that includes an administrator, teacher, school board or steering committee member, and a teacher of his or her choice. Students' parents are invited to observe the interviews. Actual portfolios were shown, as well as the assessment rubric.

 

Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum:
Music and English Collaboration

Teachers at Paul Robeson High School are encouraged to work collaboratively. This roundtable discussion examined the incorporation of skills traditionally viewed as "English only" into music classes to enhance vocabulary development and sharpen writing skills. The discussion also included strategies for utilizing music concepts in the study of literature and poetry.

Service-Learning at Malta Junior/Senior High School

Participating in the Service-Learning class gives Malta students an advantage in fulfilling their community service requirement for their portfolio and teaches them what volunteerism means to the community. This was a clear implementation of the seventh Common Principle, which says students should be taught to be fair and honest, and to be good citizens. The primary goal of this class was to develop the desire to perform community service later in life, and to expose kids to volunteerism in community service.

Teamwork and Values: Substitutes for Leadership

The mission of the Steinmetz JROTC Career Academy Program is "to empower members of the Academy to be change agents and risk-takers through team-centered activities, professional growth and continuing network support." Critical to the success of the Career Academy in its first three years has been the emerging strength of team leadership and a shared commitment to common values. In addition to the nine Common Principles, the Academy has developed and embraced a philosophy of operation that is team-centered, with the team focused on the student and student success. This roundtable addressed the trials and tribulations associated with the development of shared values, techniques that helped and future plans for expansion of the "vision" into other areas of the school.

Increasing Student Opportunities for Success through an
Interdisciplinary Curriculum

This roundtable provided an opportunity for dialogue and reflection about how to address the lack of equity and opportunity for success in many urban classrooms. Participants were encouraged to provide democratic instruction that recognized the individuality of learning styles with emphasis on Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and integrated curriculum.

Planting with a Purpose: Teens, Horticulture and the
Nine Common Principles

At Chicago's Mather High School, a general high school with a multicultural, multi-ethnic population of 1,950 students, 65 percent of the student body speak a language other than English at home. In this setting, "urban horticulture" is thriving. Disabled and non-disabled students currently maintain four separate garden plots in and around the school and were awarded first prize in the city's School Landscaping Competition. Participants in this roundtable explored the following questions: 1) How might horticulture activities impact teens who are recent immigrants and recently engaged in subsistence farming in their country of origin? 2) How are horticulture experiences significant for students who come from troubled families? 3) How can educators address the negative stereotypes and misconceptions that many adolescents have about gardening?

All-School Exhibition: Technology in our Lives

Students discussed their spring 1997 all-school exhibition, entitled "How Computer Technology Affects Our Lives." They talked about the planning, teamwork, research, leadership, time management and presentation skills learned. Students were divided into groups, with emphasis placed on equal representation of ages, sexes and ability levels. Teams chose their own group leaders, who were responsible for keeping the team on task and ensuring that everyone was doing his or her part . Each team member research done area where technology has an impact on people's lives, and completed a research paper. The group decided on a presentation format for the final demonstration of mastery. Timelines, checklists and rubrics were shared with participants.

Restructuring the Seven-Period Day to
Utilize the Extended Period

Hononegah High School has developed two models to facilitate the use of the extended period in a traditional seven-period day. Presenters of this roundtable discussed the shared decision-making process used to develop a schedule with an extended period without adding classes to the students' schedules. The process was coordinated by Hononegah High School's Leadership Team and included a self-study identifying "where we are" and "where we want to be." This led to the development the needs of Hononegah students and to choose a recommendation for the entire family.

Coping with Academic Probation while
Promoting the Nine Common Principles

Do the nine Common Principles have a place in a school that's on academic probation? See how Paul Robeson High School utilized the nine Common Principles in its schoolwide improvement plan. Placed on academic probation at the beginning of the 1996-97 school year, Paul Robeson High School has found the Common Principles to be "essential" to its restructuring efforts. This roundtable shared methods by which all teachers have become generalists by incorporating reading, writing and math activities into all classes.

Critical Friends Groups--Are We Speaking the Same Language?
Applications to Bilingual Education

Bilingual education teachers encounter problems different from those of other teachers. As teachers, they must help their students overcome language barriers, socialization problems, and the assimilation to a new culture. This roundtable will focus on the issues that the ESL (English as a Second Language), LEP (Limited English Proficient) and bilingual teachers at Sullivan High school have encountered as they work together in a Critical Friends Group. Presenters discussed sharing practices, peer coaching, and strategies for teaching particular students within a bilingual/LEP context, as well as the collaborative strategies that have emerged as a result of the CFG.

Democracy, Responsibility and Service Learning

This roundtable presented three service learning projects done with middle and high school students at Sullivan High School. The focus of one project was global, one was problem-based, and the third established links with local service organizations while also training students for volunteer work. Participants viewed student work, including portfolios, and received handouts of grading rubrics, unit curriculum, Socratic seminars and service learning. An informal discussion focused on suggestions for projects, ways to motivate students and establishing links between the community and the school.