{"id":3870,"date":"2015-07-14T17:28:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T21:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2016\/02\/17\/riley-institute-lays-groundwork-for-south-carolinas-new-tech-school-network\/"},"modified":"2022-11-07T14:53:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T19:53:43","slug":"riley-institute-lays-groundwork-for-south-carolinas-new-tech-school-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/riley-institute-lays-groundwork-for-south-carolinas-new-tech-school-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Riley Institute lays groundwork for New Tech schools in South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Riley<\/a><\/p>\n

South Carolina\u2019s educational system needs a push if the state is to continue to compete well in a global economy. The Riley Institute at Furman<\/a> and its partners are working toward that transformation.<\/p>\n

The innovative New Tech Network design focuses on project-based learning across multiple disciplines and a one-to-one computer ratio. It is based on a culture of trust, responsibility, and respect. This\u00a0Network currently has 160 schools in 27 states and three continents.<\/p>\n

The design was first implemented in South Carolina in 2013-2014 with two schools located in the area known as \u201cthe Corridor of Shame\u201d and has since expanded to an additional seven schools, including three in Greenville County.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting. I know it has an impact, especially in these rural counties,\u201d said Dr. Don Gordon<\/a>, executive director of the Riley Institute. \u201cIt\u2019s teaching 21st<\/sup> century learning skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Riley<\/a>, former governor of South Carolina and secretary of education in the Clinton administration, agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing experiment\u201d for South Carolina, he said, although the concept has been underway throughout the nation for 18 years. \u201cIt is innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Melissa Crosby, dean of Cougar New Tech in Colleton County, said her school became interested in the New Tech Network when the school superintendent learned about the program from the Riley Institute.<\/p>\n

Riley Institute officials approached the superintendent after a careful statewide selection process for its federal Investing in Innovation grant proposal with KnowledgeWorks. The Institute was looking for two rural, high-poverty, historically low-performing schools to partner with. Colleton County High school, a large school, and Scott\u2019s branch High School, a small school that underwent a whole-school conversion, were selected.<\/p>\n

Colleton County was interested in a \u201cschool within a school\u201d concept as the county has only one comprehensive high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt like we wouldn\u2019t be offering our children choice if we went \u2018whole school,\u2019\u201d said Cosby.<\/p>\n

According to Courtenay L. Nantz<\/a>, project coordinator with the Riley Institute,\u00a0early data in the first two schools is showing an improvement in English and math, with particular improvement in math among minority students. The schools have\u00a0also\u00a0seen a decline in suspensions and absenteeism.<\/p>\n

Prior to implementation of the new concept, a Riley Institute-sponsored study of public education in South Carolina began in 2005, the largest study of its kind in the state.\u00a0A $600,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation allowed researchers to study what the educational stakeholders\u2014school boards, administrators, teachers, parents, students and business people\u2014really want education to be. More than 100 separate meetings were held in every school district and county in the state with groups of eight to 10 people talking about what was good with education, what was not good, and how should it be fixed. Besides the discussions, participants answered a 160-question survey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for what those\u00a0groups see as essential to education in South Carolina,\u201d Gordon said. Among those essentials were early childhood programs for 3 and 4-year-olds, the recruiting and retention of highly qualified teachers, and the need to improve students\u2019 critical thinking skills.<\/p>\n

A follow-up grant of $400,000 supported a study of\u00a0how to take those expectations and make them work, he said.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0result was a partnership between the Riley Institute and KnowledgeWorks to gain a grant of $2.9 million to initiate a New Tech network in the state. Two high schools, both with a high-poverty, low-performing student body, were selected as models. Colleton County High School created Cougar New Tech, a school within a school, and Scott\u2019s Branch High School in Clarendon County underwent a whole-school conversion. The New Tech program began with ninth graders in 2013, with an additional grade added each year.<\/p>\n

The New Tech programs for those schools will become self-sustaining in the fifth year of operation.<\/p>\n

Selecting the New Tech design required a lot of research. During his tenure as U.S. secretary of education in the 1990s, Riley discovered the program in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe walked into the classroom and found what seemed to be chaos,\u201d said Nantz.\u00a0But as he hung around, he found the kids were completely engaged with each other and in their work.\u00a0Students form small teams to work on projects and teachers act as facilitators. The teacher designs quality projects and students refine them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey learn by doing,\u201d\u00a0said Riley.<\/p>\n

Initially, a New Tech school has to create a culture of respect, responsibility, and trust. That comes first.<\/p>\n

\"Don<\/a>

Don Gordon (L), executive director of the Riley Institute, and Richard Riley (R), former governor of South Carolina and secretary of education in the Clinton Administration<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re building leaders . . . students\u2019 buy-in of project-based learning has to improve the graduation rate. They don\u2019t just know what they do in class. They know what they want to do in the future,\u201d said Crosby.<\/p>\n

Students have the ability to \u201cfire\u201d a team mate who is not performing the necessary work. That fired student is kicked off the team and must start and complete the project alone.<\/p>\n

Another difference is that multiple teachers are involved in the projects. For example, a project might be based on the construction of an amusement park in an earthquake-ravaged area of Japan plus writing and selling of a book about the park. That could include math, physics, English, and geography.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other neat thing is that projects are authentic,\u201d Crosby said. \u201cThey\u2019re tied to something that is real.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outcome is they understand why they\u2019re learning what they\u2019re learning. In addition,\u00a0the students present their findings to peer groups, teachers, and business people.<\/p>\n

And implementing the program is not easy.<\/p>\n

Teachers have to be trained to become a facilitator rather than a lecturer, receiving 600 hours of professional development during the implementation process. They visit other New Tech schools and attend an annual conference as well as regional opportunities for collaboration. Also, a coach from the New Tech Network is assigned to each New Tech school, visiting about once a month and available virtually any time to assist with problems and work out any kinks.<\/p>\n

Crosby, who said Cougar New Tech is \u201chigh in terms of success,\u201d began planning and selecting faculty for the school well before the concept was implemented. When she was hiring the initial Cougar New Tech teachers, she used several strategies to find teachers who would fit\u2014she gave them information to review, asked them to write up a project-based scenario, and then interviewed the applicants. She also divided the teachers into two groups and had them work through planning a project-based unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for teachers who were creative and open to suggestion from others but able to stand up for their ideas. Teachers in New Tech must share the air, but must be able to support their own ideas,” she said.<\/p>\n

Once a month during the year prior to implementation, the faculty held staff development days, including working on developing specific skills such as writing. They also visited other New Tech schools and attended workshops and conferences.<\/p>\n

Students must apply, with a one-hour mandatory parental meeting. The first class was made up of 80 students, and the\u00a0program is working. Freshman results were strong. A student must pass six courses including math and science to be promoted, and only two of 80 students were held back after the first year while the average in this school would be 12.<\/p>\n

The school has a waiting list with\u00a080 additional freshmen added in the second year and 110 expected to enroll in Cougar New Tech next year.<\/p>\n

And when talking with Cougar students, you would not believe you\u2019re talking to 9th<\/sup> or 10th<\/sup> graders.<\/p>\n

Teachers in the traditional program visited Cougar, and \u201cwere blown away,\u201d said Crosby. \u201cThey couldn’t believe they were talking to 9th<\/sup>\u00a0or 10th<\/sup>\u00a0graders. One said, \u2018It sounds like I\u2019m talking to seniors.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby expects a move toward one-to-one computer access and project-based learning will become more prevalent in the entire high school and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids\u2014their brains function a little differently with stimulation and touch. They are inundated with technology. It takes a lot more to retain their attention\u201d than it did in the past, she said. \u201cThe kids can think deeper. They\u2019ve been conditioned to question things. They move so much faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Costs for implementing the New Tech design varies based on size of the school, geography, and other factors. The\u00a0costs are highest during the four to five-year implementation of the design, but continuation costs are very affordable. The equipment also costs money, but often businesses step in to provide that type of support.<\/p>\n

The Riley Institute helps schools connect with the New Tech Network, and with the support of the South Carolina Department of Education, the Institute has partnered with the education departments\u00a0at Furman, Winthrop, Claflin University, and the College of Charleston to develop a three-course endorsement to help teachers and prospective teachers learn to design, deliver, and assess quality project-based learning. The coursework, syllabi, and resources will be open source, available to any college of education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Carolina\u2019s educational system needs a push if the state is to continue to compete well in a global economy. The Riley Institute at Furman and its partners are working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":15050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,17,28,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-centers-and-institutes","category-education","category-riley-institute"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}