School Type: Public	School Setting: Urban
Level: High	School Design: Vocational
Content Presented By:
The Education Alliance at Brown University

Summary

The practice: Multiple Learning Strategies
Technology-enhanced lessons and activities should represent a variety of learning strategies that include active learning strategies, constructive learning strategies, authentic learning strategies, cooperative learning strategies, and intentional/reflective learning strategies.

• One of 17 regional vocational-technical schools in Connecticut
• Grades 9-12, with 24 trade and technical areas in addition to academic instruction
• Designated a "priority school": high percentage of students needing intervention on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT)
• Instruction changed from teacher-centered style to student-centered style
• Master teachers serve as mentors to help teachers adjust their practice to the reciprocal teaching method and the apprenticeship model
• Teachers trained to write learning units that include active, cooperative, constructive, and reflective strategies
• All learning units contain dialogue center activities in which students share information, clarify their thinking on a specific project, and peer edit
• 21.6% and 19.6% of 10th graders moved out of intervention level in reading in 2002 and 2003 respectively
• 20.5% of free and reduced-price lunch students moved out of intervention level in math in 2003
• 28% jump for bilingual students from non-literate to limited literate status on the Language Assessment Scales from 2002 to 2003
• 35% decrease in detentions; 82% decrease in suspensions; 7% increase in attendance; 51% drop in failing grades

Administrators and teachers at the J.M. Wright Regional Vocational-Technical School in Stamford, Connecticut had long been concerned about their students' academic performance. Compared to their peers at the other Connecticut Vocational-Technical schools, the students of this small urban high school consistently scored at the lowest levels in reading and math on state standardized tests. After studying the eighth-grade state test scores for their incoming students, the Wright Tech staff identified reading comprehension and problem-solving skills as the areas most in need of improvement. They hypothesized that a Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) intervention using a digital classroom model would not only improve these skills but also increase students' motivation, confidence, behavior, and metacognitive awareness.

The digital classroom model incorporates the use of technology with content area material through the use of Web-based learning units. The Connecticut Regional Vocational-Technical School System (RVTSS) had already partnered with the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CTDLC) to create the template for these learning units and piloted them a year before Wright implemented the intervention. Dr. George Cicchetti of the CTDLC, who had trained the teachers involved in the pilot, trained all the remaining 10th grade teachers for the intervention and developed six learning units that included multiple learning strategies.

Teachers used the template to develop their own learning units and worked with two master teachers, Peg Sonntag and Trevor Jones, to shift their practice from teacher-centered instruction to an apprentice approach in which students watched the teacher model a process and then worked independently to complete a project using the demonstrated skills. Dr. Cicchetti also helped teachers develop reciprocal learning discussions with students in the dialogue center. These conversations, and sharing and editing with peers, allowed students to reflect on their own processes and clarify their thinking.

These multiple strategies allowed students to control their pace and take responsibility for their own learning. In a student questionnaire given during the intervention, the school found that 91% of students acknowledged cooperating with fellow students to help one another and solve problems. Approximately 91% also stated that they were learning the reflective skills necessary to become a self-directed learner.

This increased motivation and responsibility translated to 21.6% (2002) and 19.6% (2003) decreases in the students scoring at intervention level in reading on the CAPT. A more detailed 2003 study also found a 20.5% drop in the number of free and reduced-price lunch students scoring at intervention in math and significant gains for English language learners on the Language Assessment Scales. Wright also had dramatic drops in disciplinary incidents, failing grades, and absenteeism in 2002 and 2003. (See the Results section for more details.)

Wright Tech acknowledges that it took a team effort to implement the intervention. The following staff members gave their time and effort to ensure the success of the digital classroom model: Peg Sonntag and Trevor Jones, master teachers and coaches; Diane Bauby, school director; Dr. Maria Romero and Edward Kennedy, assistant directors; John Tarnuzzer, Ann Sandagata, and Mike Suntag, central office administrators; and Don Bartels, Peter Clark, Dave Cronin, Sara Gonzalez, Dr. Charbel Herayoui, Justo Karell, Phil Lepinasse, Doug Moffat, Joe Rios-Ninos, Roberta Schwartz, Karen Stabile, Shannon Winchell, and German Yanez, teachers.

• Standards
  All technology-enhanced activities should be deliberately and consciously aligned with local, state, and national standards.   
• Assessment
  Each learning activity should be accompanied with well-defined indicators of success.  

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This resource is developed and maintained by The Education Alliance at Brown University. Seed funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Send comments to: loom@alliance.brown.edu