1. + The Role of Fit and Choice in High School A Developmental Perspective CD2HS

2. + Do Now (10 minutes) Skim the Eccles and Elkin articles you read for homework silently, highlighting or using post-it notes to identify the parts that: Raised questions for you Confirmed what you already believe Made you say, “Ah Ha” Conflicted with your beliefs Caused you to reconsider prior assumptions Choose two different “golden lines” that you want to share with the group. Two lines provide options in case someone else chooses the same line or shares with you similar reactions to a passage.

3. + Last Word Protocol (20 minutes) In Triads: One person shares a “golden line” from the reading, without any commentary. All other members of the group respond to the “golden line” by answering the question: How does this relate to the 8 th -9 th grade transition? The person who shared the golden line has an opportunity to explain why the line stood out to them, and reflect back to the group what they heard from others. Repeat for all members of the group.

4. + Best Practices (15 minutes) Write about what your school does to inform 8 th graders about your high school (whatever you are aware of)- 3 min. Read the “Principles of the HS Choice Process” and write about how your school’s practices match and/or don’t match these principles- 5 min. Triad discussion (ensure at least 2 schools are in triad): What does your school do to inform 8 th graders about your school? How does it match/not match the principles?

5. + Fit & Choice (10 minutes) The psychology of decision-making: There are four influential forces behind the decisions we make: Logical reasoning: our ability to organize and process the information in our head. Emotional states: how we’re feeling before during and after receiving the information. Social influences: what types of societal, familial, or peer pressures are present either physically or psychologically as we receive and process the information. Self-regulation: this allows us to modulate the other three factors to make sure they all work together to produce sound judgment.

6. + Socioemotional & Cognitive Networks There are two brain networks involved in putting this together: Socioemotional network: makes us especially sensitive to social influences and emotions and is salient in reward processing. Fully developed and assertive during early adolescence. The cognitive control network: houses our self- regulatory capacities—which allows us to manage our impulses, resist social pressures, delay gratification, regulate our emotions. This is not fully developed until around age 25. So there is a disjunction between the arousals and motivations brought on by puberty and our capacity to regulate those drives into responsible and productive means.

7. + What does this have to do with choice and fit? Hot and Cold Cognition: Because the region of our brain that sensitizes us to emotions and social influences is more mature in early adolescence than the regulatory region, emotion and social pressures tend to wield undue influence in adolescent decision-making. This however is not always the case: During Hot cognitive conditions: when emotions and social pressures are high—the socioemotional network will rule and decisions will be determined by emotional arousal and social influences (friends, parents, society etc.) During Cold cognitive conditions: when the environment is free of heightened emotions and social influences, our cognitive control network is able to exert enough control to allow for more precise and logical decision making.

8. + Analyzing the cognitive conditions of the showcase Would you consider the conditions of the high school fair to be "hot cognitive conditions" or "cold cognitive conditions"? Why? What impact do you think this environment will have on the students' ability to make a decision? What changes could be made to a showcase to make it more supportive of decision-making?

9. + Showcase Assignment (5 minutes) Consider the showcase from the perspective of families and students trying to make informed school choices. Complete the graphic organizer with notes about what currently works for families and students, and what could be improved. Answer the reflection questions about the showcase. Give the graphic organizer to Jess, Neema, Laura, Claudia, Amanda, or Habib before you leave the showcase. NOTE: This data will inform the policy memo that you to BPS about the high school choice process.