Course gives Hope High teens a stake in the plan to divide the large urban school into four smaller learning communities
Three Brown students and a recent Brown graduate are helping to give Hope High School teens a voice in the public school’s redesign plans by assisting in the instruction of a new course.
The aim of "Redesigning Hope," a high school elective taught by Carole Marshall in collaboration with the Brown students and graduate, is to give the youths a stake in the planned overhaul of their large urban school into four smaller learning communities, while developing their research and presentation skills.
This year the course focuses on the issue of truancy. The teens are drafting suggestions for improving absenteeism rates within the new learning communities, planned for implementation in the fall.
Brown students Ana Almeida, Katherine Hughes and Anna Westen, and Rebecca Ostro ’00, a research assistant at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, are helping Marshall plan and lead the course.
If all goes according to schedule, at the end of the school year the high school students will present the Hope High School Improvement Team with an in-depth look at why nearly half their peers miss more than 40 days a year, said Ostro.
"My hope," said Marshall, "is that they will be able to make some recommendations for improving absenteeism rates and the recommendations will be implemented and make a difference."
The idea took root last year as a result of volunteer work performed by a former student of Nancy Hoffman, a Brown senior lecturer.
While working in the school, that student found Hope High School teens had a lot of opinions about the planned changes in their school. She met with them during lunch period last year; the program developed into an elective this year with Hoffman’s guidance and the involvement of Almeida, Hughes, Westen and Ostro.
"Our goal was both to get kids involved in this agenda and bring together a large enough group to have a voice," said Hoffman, "and to do it in a way that they would learn research skills."
Often such opportunities for student involvement in decision-making activities are not as prevalent at large urban high schools as they are at smaller suburban schools or private schools, where students are a regular presence on committees, said Hoffman.
The Hope High course is held daily and includes 20 sophomores, juniors and seniors. Many are also student leaders and officers at the school, according to Marshall.
The teens will present their data in March to the school improvement team, which consists of teachers, parents, community members and students. The presentation will likely include an analysis of statistical data, a summary of interviews with students, conclusions and suggestions, said Ostro.
The teens know best the many reasons related to peer pressure, work and family obligations that cause absenteeism, said Ostro. And "they definitely see it as a relevant issue" to the school’s redesign, she said.
Brown students expect to get as much out of their involvement in the course as they hope the high school students do, according to Hoffman.
Hughes ’01 is doing her senior thesis about the course, in particular the concept of meta-cognition — the idea of thinking about learning.
As a former high school student in the city, the course was of interest to Almeida ’01. "I understand how important it is for them to know that what they feel is valued," said Almeida, who graduated from Central High School and is concentrating in education at Brown.
"The changes are being made for them — to benefit them," said Almeida. "It’s important to know what they feel."