Learning: Innovators
Reaching At-Risk Kids With Hope

Twin organizations help educators help kids.

Alan Blankstein knows what it's like to be an "at-risk" child. That's why his main goal today is helping educators understand and reach them. "If it hadn't been for one teacher--who took the time to get to know the real me and show me the value of education--I would have wound up on the streets of New York City, probably dead."

In tribute to that teacher, Blankstein started the National Educational Service (NES) in 1989, as well as the HOPE Foundation (Harnessing Optimism and Potential through Education), which is dedicated to helping educators enhance young people's school success.

Through NES, Blankstein publishes Reaching Today's Youth, a quarterly research journal that provides practical strategies for helping at-risk students through school and community-based efforts.

The HOPE Foundation hosts education summits and offers professional development opportunities for teachers. Its goal: to bring about change at the school and community level so all children can thrive. This reform, says Blankstein, begins with teachers.

"Some teachers feel disrespected and angered by troubled kids, and rightly so," he says. "Part of what we do is give teachers insight about the factors motivating at-risk kids and how to get to academics through the back door.

"It's important to know how to reach tough kids," says Blankstein, "because they are reachable."

For More: Visit www.communitiesofhope.org and www.nes.org or call 800/733-6786.

Good News for School Papers

Dorothy Gilliam, veteran columnist for The Washington Post, is founder and director of the Young Journalists Development Project. The model program, begun in 1997, revives high school newspapers, mentors journalism advisors, and cultivates the talents of students interested in newspaper careers.

Are student papers relevant in the Internet age?
The Internet is an extension of what's put on paper. Many stories appear online, but someone still has to develop content. The Internet offers a flood of information. But newspapers, because of a long history of gathering and organizing information, consider what's important and present it in a way that people understand. Students are so excited about having a voice, and teachers report that a newspaper enhances the whole school community.

Is having a strong school paper linked to student achievement?
A University of Indiana study found that students who studied journalism or who were on high school papers achieved in college at higher levels than those who did not.

What you learn by putting out a newspaper is to report, write, think, and analyze, and these basic skills form the foundation for any career. You can't create a paper on your own. It's very much a team effort. Yet high school newspapers are becoming an endangered species. About a quarter of schools in America have none at all.

Why journalism education in high school?
It's important for young people--particularly African American and Latino youth--to have a firm hold on a newspaper career before they go to college. An American Society of Newspaper Editors study found that young people of color make their career choices earlier than other young people, and if they don't choose a journalism career by high school, they likely won't in college.

As many African American journalists are leaving the profession as entering it, and the Latino population is very poorly represented. Racial diversity in the profession is a persistent problem.

What's available for teachers?
If we can strengthen advisors, we can give school papers the self-sufficiency they need. Our project offers workshops, monthly seminars, on-site assistance, and virtual support through E-mail and online chats. Our staff volunteer as mentors. And the American Society of Newspaper Editors offers an annual journalism education institute for 200 teachers.

For More:
E-mail Gilliam at gilliamd@washpost.com and visit www.highschooljournalism.org.

A Dramatic Revolution

Innovator:
Cornelius Rish

Job:
Social Studies teacher, Anoka High School, Minnesota, and co-founder of "Revolution"

Bright Idea:
When classroom lectures on history began to prompt discussions about real-life issues, Cornelius Rish had what he calls a "vision."

"Kids are craving to talk about respect, tolerance, and diversity," he says. "But most schools offer no forum to address the issues. We expect the kids to work through them alone."

Using his background in theater, Rish partnered with choreographer O'Calla Josyln to create "Revolution," a student-performing group that uses original skits, monologues, and music to address racism, sexism, and stereotyping and youth issues such as drinking and driving, domestic abuse, date rape, and HIV/AIDS.

Performances center around respect for self and others and responsibility for one's own actions.

"We travel to schools, sharing the message that regardless of one's race, class, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, we are all human beings and deserve to be treated as such," says Rish. "People from all walks of life have embraced us."

Last year the group earned the Minnesota Peace Prize--just one of many honors they've received since their inception six years ago.

The success, Rish finds, comes from the method of delivery: "Some kids respond to the acting, some to the singing. The situations are real and we don't sugarcoat the issues. I know teenagers, especially, appreciate that."

Impact:
Rish received a note from a young lady who wrote that a show had opened her eyes to her own racist and destructive behaviors. She credits a performance as giving her a new perspective on life. Another student says she changed her mind about committing suicide.

"We've found a way to reach out and explore the issues affecting kids."

For More:
E-mail Rish at rish@anoka.k12.mn.us or call 763/506-6355.

Designing Our Future

Innovator:
Paul Brissette

Job:
Teacher and department chair of art design and technology education, Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, Massachusetts

Bright Idea:
Brissette has created an "Imagineering" curriculum, that lets students design their futures by working to solve major architectural, transportation, industrial, and entertainment-design problems.

"My goal is to have students design and work on concepts that don't yet exist," says Brissette, the recipient of an Art@work grant from the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education. "We've built models of inverted buildings, mile-high buildings, a space junk collector, a zero-gravity bicycle, and an underwater train."

Students work through conceptual challenges and design ideas--using traditional drafting boards and computer-aided design--then produce 3-D models or artistic renderings of their products.

"We discuss real issues connected with each project," he says. "When we worked on the inverted building, we discussed how to get light and air inside and how to make it water- and earthquake proof."

Brissette believes the projects show students how art, science, and technology can work together. "It's stretching their imaginations, and shows them how difficult subjects like calculus can be used in the real world."

Next Steps:
Brissette has formed partnerships with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and the Harvard School of Design.

"I want my students in the forefront. They'll be the ones designing our future."

For More:
E-mail Brissette at Bris@massed.com, call 508/693-1033, or visit www.nfie.org.

Benchmarks for Virtual Learning

Innovator:
Barbara Stein

Job:
NEA staffer working on education technology and online education policies

Bright Idea:
Distance education--online learning--is fast becoming status quo in many schools. But what's lagging behind, says Stein, is consistent criteria for determining what makes a quality online learning experience. This is particularly true for virtual learners in high school.

"You can't apply the exact criteria you would to classroom delivery instruction to distance education," says Stein. "New issues arise when you apply a new medium."

Having issued a "Distance Education Quality Checklist" last year, NEA is now working with the Virtual High School project to develop guidelines to help policy-makers, students, and parents assess online programs. The project initially was funded by a federal Department of Education grant to provide online courses and to assess the effectiveness of online secondary education courses. NEA and the Virtual High School project now are collaborating with a number of educational and corporate partners in developing these new substantive criteria for assessing the quality and appropriateness of courses offered online.

"The only criteria being applied to online courses were content criteria," says Stein. "But with new media we also have to be concerned with how that content is being delivered." NEA is working with the project to provide concrete advice on how to do just that.

Online learners in high school are different from cyber students in college, the project has found. For example, says Stein, in high school, it's particularly important to have on-site faculty--a counselor or adult content advisor whom a teacher can contact about students having problems or not showing up online. The new guidelines should be available this summer.

For More:
E-mail Stein at bstein@nea.org or visit www.nea.org/cet/briefs/16.html.