Dr. Loretta Holloway, Associate Professor of English at Framingham State University was among the few presenters to discuss the new Massachusetts Framework. Dr. Holloway discussed the role of the curriculum, pointing out that the new curriculum focuses on college and career readiness, as the harsh reality of student achievement points out that many high school graduates lack the skills necessary for entry level positions and up to 30% of students nationwide have to take remedial courses in college. Dr. Holloway also stressed the importance of the roles family members and the community have to play to ensure success. Some tips she provided to the participants included: stay informed, understand parallels between college and career readiness and help students think and apply skills.

After Dr. Holloway’s presentation, the group was divided into small breakout groups to participate in discussions led by community volunteers. The groups talked about some of the opportunities and challenges with respect to the implementation of the core. Solutions offered included: encourage active family involvement and continue to build partnerships in the community while focusing on the common core.

Participants also had an opportunity to view impressive displays set up by teachers exemplifying student work across the curriculum continuum. A tool kit including a K-6 guide for parents on the new curriculum, information about community activities, resources to compliment student classroom learning, and information about child development were distributed to all of the participants.

This gathering was distinctive in that it was the first time in our community that teachers, out-of-school learning providers, parents, and civic leaders joined together for shared learning. The success of this event will serve as a model for activities in the future.

Promise Neighborhoods is a federal initiative that recognizes and works to break the link between trans-generational poverty, low educational outcomes, and diminished long term life prospects.  Inspired by the work of Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), the goal of the initiative according to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is to “address the challenges faced by students living in communities of concentrated poverty.”   To that end, the MSPNP worked over the past year to develop a comprehensive continuum of services to improve the education and health outcomes of neighborhood residents as well as the safety and stability of the Main South neighborhood.

The last 12 months were marked by hours of research including interviews with over 100 families and young adults, with formal and informal community leaders, and others.  Weekly meetings to share information and to develop as set of actions resulted in a plan that works to assure that each young person in Main South will grow up in a safe and supportive neighborhood and graduate with the skills and habits of mind to allow them to succeed in college and career and to make a sound contribution to civic life.

The Partnership maintains the core belief that meaningful and sustainable community development and school improvement require systemic change and the coordinated action of neighborhood, community, education, faith, business, and civic organizations. That belief is reflected in the creation of a networking model of action and weaves together and fortifies existing strengths and structures in neighborhood.  It also works to build social capital in the neighborhood—engaging residents and others in committing to the future of Main South.  Key to the work is The Promise Network–the unifying strategy for integrating all solutions and programs along the continuum meant to keep all MSPNP children and youth on the pipeline to college and career.

In the document submitted to the US Department of Education for its review, the MSPNP proposed the following:

• a set of programs for expectant and new parents to provide sound pre-natal health care and to support new parents as they transition into a role and assume responsibility for a new family member
• an expansion of options and opportunities for pre-school age children
• a medical home for each young person in the neighborhood including school-based health services and
• an expansion of out of school learning and acceleration of college and career preparation programs.

At the center of the proposal are the Public Schools in Main South.  Guided over the past year by Worcester Public Schools and Clark’s Hiatt Center for Urban Education, informed by the Massachusetts State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s “essential conditions for schools success,” and building on the University Park Campus School partnership model, three of the four MSPNP schools—the Goddard Elementary School, Woodland Academy, and University Park Campus School—followed a rigorous, multi-stage planning process to become Innovation Schools.  Claremont Academy is in an early phase of this process.

The MSPNP Innovation Schools are not only among the very first to develop statewide, they are the only ones to develop as an interconnected group. They represent a distinctive, networked, and multi-school approach to increase opportunity, support, and achievement for all students.

The Innovation Schools in Main South share a common set of commitments and practices including:  shared decision-making and accountability, student-centeredness and evidence-based effective practice, integration with the MSPNP Promise Network, a new “Wraparound Coordinator” charged with linking internal and external support for students, a professional partnership and network and structured, collaborative inquiry on specific matters related to teaching and learning.

By the end of the calendar year, The Main South Promise Neighborhood Partnership will hear if its proposal will be funded by the United States Department of Education. Regardless of that outcome, the proposal is strong enough to be awarded private funds. There is much afoot in Main South—renewed  commitment to the neighborhood on behalf of both residents and institutions and genuine and systemic change occurring in the schools.  Main South is on its way to meeting its promise.

What comes to mind when you hear the term “civics”?  Government? Politicians? Honda cars?  Or maybe you’re drawing a blank?  If so, you are not alone.

Civic education incorporates many different components, and a comprehensive definition could include the study of American government, laws, and founding documents; the exploration of civic responsibilities such as voting, working to solve problems in the community, and community service; the examination of foreign institutions and how they affect the global economy; and the analysis of current events.

Americans’ civic knowledge is at an alarmingly low level.  Andrew Romano’s Newsweek article “How Dumb Are We?” analyzes the results of a recent Newsweek study in which the citizenship test was given to 1000 Americans.  Not only did 38 percent of test-takers fail, but the results revealed that 33 percent did not know when the Declaration of Independence was adopted, 86 percent did not know how many voting members are in the House of Representatives, and 70 percent did not know the name of the “supreme law of the land” (the Constitution).

Contributing to this lack of civic knowledge is the fact that civic education has been drastically reduced over the past fifty years.  After peaking in the 1950s and 60s with many high school students taking up to three courses in democracy, civics, and government (according to the Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE’s The Civic Mission of Schools), civic education has now been pushed to the back burner.  No longer seen as a priority, many civics classes have been eliminated in Massachusetts public high schools in order to make room for courses that carry more weight in today’s curriculum.

According to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s 2011 Civic Literacy Report, How Civic Knowledge Trumps a College Degree in Promoting Active Civic Engagement, civic knowledge surpasses a college degree as the leading factor in encouraging active civic engagement, such as contacting a public official, signing a petition, writing a letter to the editor, working on a campaign, or attending a political meeting or rally.   This report should be embraced by advocates of civic education as proof that the best thing that high schools can do to encourage their students to become active citizens is to provide them with a high-quality civic education.

Our country will be better prepared to solve the challenges that we face when we equip our students with the knowledge they need to participate in the democratic process.  By giving our students a quality civic education, we give them the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong duty as informed and active citizens, a duty which we should all embrace and pass down from generation to generation.

Caroline Galiatsos is a Senior at the College of the Holy Cross.  She has volunteered with the Worcester Public Schools and recently completed a thesis on the state of civic education in Massachusetts public high schools.

Or you can copy the link’s address below and paste it into the navigation bar on your web browser:

http://www.unitedwaycm.org/index.php/PromiseNeighborhoods/

In Summer 2010, Worcester participated in the formal Summer Literacy Imitative at 4 sites. Boston and Western Mass have been piloting these programs for several years with great success.  EEC (MA Department of Early Education and Care) funded 21 summer programs throughout Massachusetts in 2010 with central “hubs” providing guidance on curriculum, literacy strategies, staff training, and program quality improvement.  Worcester collaborated with the WestMOST Hub in Western Massachusetts, and also partnered with Child Care Connection in Worcester as well as the United Way of Central MA.  I learned how powerful collaboration can be when everyone has the same child-focused mission.  I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences with other agencies and summer program directors, and believe we can truly accomplish great things for Worcester.I was initially nervous about participating with fears that camp would start to feel like school.  I quickly discovered that simple literacy strategies and access to books, magazines, and ANY printed text could have a huge impact on preventing summer learning loss.  I was especially impressed with how FUN the activities were, and how relaxed and natural the program model fit into our existing summer program.  Our camp staff participated in literacy training and began to incorporate strategies such as read-alouds, buddy reading, readers’ theater and journal writing.  The camp also purchased age-appropriate books which were matched with our summer curriculum and worked to provide each age group with reading material that would allow campers to select books at his/her reading level.  We also collaborated with a public school teacher to provide ongoing support and guidance in our literacy integration.  The teacher was our “literacy coach” and helped build staff abilities and confidence in running literacy activities.  This was an extremely valuable approach and had a much larger impact compared to having the teacher providing all the direct instruction. As the old adage says…. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I was also shocked to learn about how crucial summer can be for a student’s success.  Each summer students can lose up to 3 months of reading abilities and fall further and further behind in school.  In our first summer, we helped to prevent summer learning loss throughout Worcester and are moving in the right direction to properly align student needs with programming goals.  In Massachusetts, 85% of youth involved in the Literacy and Learning Promotion avoided the typical three month learning loss described in research.  Of the 85%, 72% maintained or increased reading skills with the vast majority (68%) increasing skills and only 4% maintaining skills.  I look forward to the continued expansion of the Literacy and Learning Promotion and I am confident that Worcester will continue to be a strong partner in Massachusetts.

Casey Leary is the Director of the School Age Program for the YWCA of Central Massachusetts