Syllabus HTS 3008 HPC Urban Education

Georgia Tech Spring 2014 HTS 3008 HPC Near Peer Mentoring: An experience in urban education (listed as Class, Power and Inequality) Instructors: Mr. Christopher Burke [email protected] 404.894.5189 Office Hours: Mondays 10am‐12pm or by appointment, A. French Building, Suite 15 Dr. Carol Subiño Sullivan [email protected] 404‐894‐1355 Office Hours: Tuesdays 9‐10am and by appointment (M‐F during business hours), Clough Commons 457L (CETL Suite) Class Meetings: Tues/Thurs 12:05‐1:25pm, 104 A. French Bldg I. Course Expectations Course Description: This course challenges students to examine how race, poverty, and other socioeconomic dynamics have shaped the educational opportunities available in historically segregated and economically distressed urban communities. It further invites students to inquire how these social circumstances have influenced the possibilities that young people from these communities imagine for their futures. We will focus on two public, single‐gender schools in Atlanta’s near Westside communities: Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (CSKYWLA) for girls and BEST Academy for boys. Through direct service and intentional relationships with high school students, Tech students will seek to help students prepare for going to college and being successful there and to help students value higher education as a means of improving the quality of their life. Course Textbook: Textbooks are available at the Engineer’s Bookstore: 748 Marietta St NW, Atlanta GA 30318 All students should read: There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America. Alex Kotlowitz (1992) ISBN: 0‐385‐26556‐5 We will also read two more books, however please wait until you have received your assignment before purchasing: Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing. Jane Margolis (2008) ISBN: 0262514044 Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race. Beverly Tatum (2003) ISBN: 0465083617 1 Learning Goals: Following this course, students should be able to: 1. Define key concepts from relevant scholarship that will support their ability to analyze the context they are entering from a new perspective. 2. Explain the role that race and poverty have played in shaping the landscape of Atlanta’s communities and what legacy this history has left in the community’s current educational system. 3. Apply the techniques of listening and needs‐assessment to build a two‐way relationship between themselves and the high school students. 4. Restate what the high school students imagine for their future and analyze what factors contributed to shaping those expectations. 5. Compare and contrast the imagination of the high school students with their own dreams at that age and use the literature to explain any gaps they may identify. 6. Develop an appropriate mentoring approach that responds to the insights they gain about the high school students’ experience and expectations. 7. Reflect on how their time and interaction with the high school students allowed them to deconstruct their own assumptions about educational opportunity, access to resources, the impact of educational policy and expectations for the future. Course Organization and Environment: This Honors Program Special Topics Course is designated a CASE Study (for Connecting Academic and Societal Engagement), and as such, it does not stay only in the classroom; it will move into the community as well. We will begin by visiting the schools during our class time on January 9, 2014. Beginning in the second week, each Tech student will be paired with two students from our partner schools and will meet with them for two hours per week for a total of 24 hours over the course of the semester. During their meetings with the high school students, Tech students will facilitate a two‐way exchange, in which they learn just as much from the Academy students as they offer their expertise about succeeding in college, facilitate the high school students’ goal setting process and share their own experiences and goals regarding education. We will use what we learn from these conversations as the entry point for our academic discussions and as the basis for reflection about our own experiences. In addition to class time, students should be prepared to attend Pathways, a training program for mentors offered by the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMIC) on January 11, 2014 from 9am‐4pm, keep a mentoring journal where you chronicle your meetings with your mentees and outline your plans from week to week, and devote two hours weekly (between week 2 and week 15) to meet with Academy students. 2 Tech students will receive 3 for 1 credit in which 3 hours of mentoring service will “count” for one hour of academic class time. As such, class will not meet several times during the semester according to the schedule below. Students should arrange for their own transportation to the schools (Factor in 20‐30 minutes to get to the schools and check in. Funding is available for students to pay for gas or public transportation; carpooling is encouraged). The specific schedules of the weekly meetings will be worked out during the course of the semester in coordination with the graduation coaches from CSKYWLA and BEST Academy. In addition to the weekly mentoring, our class will also host the high school students at Georgia Tech on April 3, 2014 from 10am‐1pm. Our class will put together a program introducing the students to Georgia Tech’s campus and the opportunities available here as an example of what college life could be. We’ll also provide them additional information on the college and financial aid application process and give them a chance to ask any questions they have about college life. Address and contact info of mentoring sites: Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (CSKYWLA) 1190 Northwest Dr NW Atlanta, GA 30318 Counselor/Graduation Coach: Ms. Kinyatta Trice (primary contact) 404‐922‐1723 (cell) (404) 802‐4886 (desk) [email protected] Mr. Mark Grier (secondary contact) (404) 246‐5770 (cell) (404) 802‐4914 (desk) [email protected] BEST Academy 1890 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway Northwest Atlanta, GA 30318 Counselor/Graduation Coach: Mr. Macarthur Randolph (primary contact) 404.788.0128 cell [email protected] Mr. Luqman Abdur‐Rahman (secondary contact) (404) 964‐6676 (cell) (404) 802‐7151 (desk) [email protected] Our remaining class time will address broader academic issues that will help us to place the mentoring experiences in context. The class is organized to move from the individual mentoring experience outward to ever expanding lenses of perspective. 3 Weeks 1‐2: Mentoring Strategies and Orientation Weeks 3‐6: Atlanta Public Schools Weeks 7‐9: Race Weeks 10‐13: Urban Education Week 12 (GT Campus Visit) Weeks 13‐15: Poverty II. Logistics Instructional Technology Expectations: T‐SQUARE: T‐square will be used to give students access to readings, submit online assignments, receive back assignments, etc. Policies and Expectations: Attendance/Absences: Attendance at all scheduled mentoring appointments is mandatory. We cannot stress enough what a responsibility you are taking on in becoming a mentor to the high school students. They are counting on you and you cannot let them down. As such the penalty for missing an appointment without proper notice is severe. After the first such incident, you will be penalized an entire letter grade. After the second, you will not pass the course. If you do have an emergency and cannot make the appointment, you must contact the graduation coach at your assigned school (please see above for the contact info). Scheduling in public schools can sometimes be unpredictable, and they often experience last minute changes. The counselors and graduation coaches have committed to communicating any scheduling changes that could affect your mentoring appointments as soon as they become aware of them. We will collect everyone’s best contact info (texting is the fastest way for the counselors to get in touch) and do our best to alert you to any unexpected changes. Missed/Late Work: Assignments are due according to the schedule listed below. Late assignments will be accepted for ½ credit up to 7 days after the due date. After 1 week, late assignments will no longer receive any credit. Instructor Availability 4 Both instructors have weekly office hours, and we are always available by appointment as needed. Please do not hesitate to make an appointment. Students with Disabilities and/or in need of Special Accommodations: Georgia Tech complies with the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and offers accommodations to students with disabilities. If you are in need of a classroom accommodation, please make an appointment with the ADAPTS office to discuss the appropriate procedures. Website: http://www.adapts.gatech.edu. In addition, any student who feels that he/she may need an accommodation for any sort of disability and/or who has any condition, special need, or circumstance we should be aware of, please make an appointment to see one of the instructors. Academic Integrity You are responsible for maintaining the expectations of the Georgia Tech Honor Agreement and Code stated here: http://www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu/Honor/. III. ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING This course is graded as a letter grade, which will be determined by the amount of points achieved for each assignment. Assignment: Attendance and Participation: Your presence and active participation is expected at each and every class. Please notify us in writing if you are sick or have an emergency. We reserve the right to request documentation if absences become excessive. Reading Summaries: Each student will read two of the three textbooks for the class (plus additional articles). All students will read Alex Kotlowitz’s “There Are No Children Here.” Half the class will read Jane Margolis’ “Stuck in the shadow” and the other half will read Beverley Tatum’s “Why do all the black kids sit together in the cafeteria?” For the Margolis and Tatum books, students will be assigned chapters that they are responsible for creating summaries to share with the rest of the class (posted to T‐Square according to the class schedule below). You will all be depending on each other to provide complete and accurate information about these readings so that you can complete the assigned reflection essays (please see below). Mentoring: As this is a service‐learning course, participating in the mentoring program is a central component of the course. Students will travel to partner schools, Coretta Scott King 5 Academy and BEST Academy, for two hours a week from weeks 2‐15 of the semester (exceptions include APS testing dates, GT Spring Break, APS Spring Break, and the week we host students on campus). In addition to participating in these meetings, students should also complete the following required assignments: 
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Pathways Mentoring Training: This will be an all‐day training program in which students will receive instruction on how to mentor the high school students on college readiness. Completing this training is *required* in order to complete the mentoring component of the course. It will take place on Saturday January 11 9am‐4pm in Clough 262 Mentoring Journal: After each meeting with the high school students, our students will write up their notes about what occurred and outline their plan for the following meeting. This journal should be kept on T‐Square and we expect you to stay up to date. Entries are due before your mentoring appointment that week. Georgia Tech Visit: On April 3, 2014 from 10am‐1pm, we will host the students from CSKYWLA and BEST who participated in the Near Peer Mentoring program for a campus visit. Our class will work together to put together a program that gives the high school students a taste of college life. Options include: a motivational speaker, a workshop about applying the college and/or financial aid, campus tour, and a Q&A session with college students. Community Engagement Experience: 
Students will work in groups to complete a scavenger hunt in two selected Atlanta neighborhoods. You should document your experience visually (i.e. photography, video, drawing, collage). Following completion of the scavenger hunt, each group should submit digital story comparing your experience in the two different neighborhoods. The digital story should contain both visuals and writing. The digital story is due by March 25, 2014. Unit Projects: 
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Atlanta Public Schools: Infographic o Your group will be assigned a set of short articles about an issue facing the Atlanta Public School system. You should create an infographic that summarizes the key insights from these articles. You should highlight key statistics that illustrate important trends as well as any other salient facts. You may use Piktochart (http://piktochart.com/) or any tool you are familiar with to create the infographic. You should print your infographic and bring it to class on February 11, 2014 to share what you have learned. Urban Education and Race: Reflection Essays 6 
o Each individual student will write one 3 page essay. Students who read the Margolis text (Urban Education) will write the essay about the Tatum text (Race unit). Students who read the Tatum text (Race) will write the essay about the Margolis text (Urban Education). Choose one insight from a reading in the designated content area and one more insight either from a reading or from one of the guest lectures to discuss in the context of your mentoring experience. How have you seen these issues/insights play out in the course of your mentoring experience?  Race Essay is due on March 11, 2014 in class  Urban Education Essay is due on April 15, 2014 in class Poverty: Creative Project o Each individual student will create a project that responds to the question: How does poverty affect the educational experiences of children who grew up in that context? Students should draw at least one insight from the Kotlowitz book and one additional insight either from the reading or a guest lecture. You should also connect it to your mentoring experience this semester. Projects may take the form of creative or reflective writing, an infographic, a comic, a digital story, a video, etc. The Creative Project is due on April 29, 2014 at 11:30am (our final exam period). We will meet during our final exam period to present the creative projects to each other. Grading Break Down: Attendance and Participation: 10% Reading Summaries: 10% Mentoring (including actual mentoring, Pathways training, journal, and GT program): 40% Infographic: 10% Community Engagement Digital Story: 10% Reflection Essay: 10% Creative Project: 10% IV. Schedule Schedule will be updated throughout the term as needed. Please see separate document for the course schedule.
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