Classroom at the Workplace Workplace Learning as an Alternative Model for Student Engagement

Making the Workplace a Learning Place Boston Public Schools + Employers Pair academic learning and MCAS remediation with professional skills development to reinforce the connections between academic and workplace success.

Partnership Roles The PIC… Recruits, trains, and mediates relationships among program participants (employers, BPS teachers, BPS students yet to pass MCAS) Coordinates program logistics and funding Employers… Hire and supervise students Provide paid release time and classroom space

Partnership Roles (cont.) Boston Public Schools… BPS teachers teach daily (Mon-Fri) 90-minute math or English/language arts (ELA) classes at the worksite Teachers Attend trainings and bi-weekly debriefings BPS helps identify, enroll, and make students job-ready BPS students yet to pass MCAS… Work fulltime for an employer for real wages Attend 90-minute class every week day Develop academic competencies and professional skills simultaneously, connecting academic and workplace success.

Key Components: Model Students earn real wages Comprehensive student support network 1½ hours per day, 5 days per week, 7 weeks: 52.5 learning hours. Mutual reinforcement of professional and academic skills Exposure and experience

Key Components: Curricula Age Appropriate Incorporates Technology Sectional pre and post tests Test item analyses

Classroom Curricula English/Language Arts Reading is FAME: Mastery of Meaning Expand vocabulary and comprehension through activities using higher order thinking skills. Reader’s & Writer’s Workshop Emphasizes process and ownership of opinions and expression Individualized student- teacher conferences and open discussion. Mathematics Summit Educational Group’s MCAS Mathematics Course Book A Five MCAS content areas: Number Sense & Operations; Patterns, Relations, and Algebra; Geometry; Measurement; and Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability. MCAS Test Item Analyses for each student Assess students’ strengths and weaknesses within these five content areas.

Key Components: Measurement Academic: Pre and post test scores Track MCAS scores and passing rates Program attendance rates (High school graduation and college-going rates) Attitudinal and Professional: Work-based learning plans Survey students, teachers, employers on Classroom at the Workplace and employment experience.

Preliminary Results: Program Attendance Rates 800 students have participated in Classroom at the Workplace over 5 years 81% average student attendance rate. Over 73% of students had an 80% attendance rate or higher.

Preliminary Results: Pre and Post Tests

Pre and Post Tests Average of 17 percentage point increase from math pre to post tests Average of 33 percentage point increase from ELA pre to post tests

Preliminary Results: MCAS Passing Rates

MCAS Passing Rates Over the past 5 years, over 73% of Classroom at the Workplace students passed both MCAS tests, earning their competency requirement