Gary L. Ackerman

Information Technology Teacher, Rutland (VT) Middle School

Educational Technologist, Rutland Region Education Alliance

George E. Moeckel

Technology Education Teacher & UA Team Leader, Rutland (VT) Middle School

Leadership Team, Rutland Region Education Alliance

Abstract:

            Since 1997, the Rutland Region Education Alliance, a consortium of school districts in southwestern Vermont, has promoted the use of four models for organizing learning environments. The models are described in the RREA Manual for Practitioners and are referred to as the Capstone Components: Personal Development Collections, Personal Performance Projects, Community Service Learning, and Work-Based Learning. These models are based on student-centered practices, provide opportunity for integrating technology, and encourage the development of workplace skills. This presentation introduces the models and provides examples of how the Rutland Middle School has implemented the components especially on the unified arts team.

Outline of the Presentation:

1)      Introduction to the Manual and the Components (20 minutes) ~ Moeckel

2)      A Middle School’s Practice (30 minutes) ~ Ackerman

3)      Dialogue (10 minutes)

Presentation Materials:

            The materials used for this presentation and the Manual for Practitioners is available at: email Gary L. Ackerman

The History of the Rutland Region Education Alliance:

The Capstone Initiative evolved form discussions that included Rutland region superintendents, curriculum coordinators, business leaders, and representatives from higher education, adult education, and classroom teachers. As a result, of those discussions, the participants agreed that high school graduates from the region should earn diplomas that reflected common skills and knowledge, while preserving the individuality of the seven high schools in the area.

            The Curriculum Committee of the RREA was awarded several studies and implementation grants to create a team to define experiences for all students preK-12. The group decided on four types of experiences and assessments that would be common for all students in the region; these have become known as the Capstone Components:

q       Personal Performance Projects (PPP)

q       Work-Based Learning experience (WBL)

q       Community-Service Learning experiences (CSL)

q       Personal Development Collections (PDC)

The Capstone Leadership Team first met during the summer of 1997. The monthly Leadership Team meetings have focused on two goals. The first goal was to develop guidelines for each of the Capstone Components. The second goal was to design and implement a plan for introducing the Capstone Components to the areas educators.

During the summer of 1998, a second group of educators, the Implementation Team, joined the Capstone Initiative. The group working to implement the Initiative expanded through a statewide Institute during the summer of 1999.

The Capstone Initiative has had three funding sources: Goals 2000 grants, School-to-Work grants, and local school budgets.

The Capstone Institute Manual for Practitioners is a guidebook for educators who wish to implement one or more of the Capstone Components. Each section defines the learning opportunity, identifies standards that can be addressed through each Component and suggests methods for implementing projects.

A Middle School’s Practice:

The Manual has influenced planning at the Rutland Middle School for several years; the Unified Arts team has led the efforts in the building to creating meaningful learning environments framed by the four components. All four components have been used to organize learning on the UA team; the sophistication of the projects varies according by the length of time the projects have been established and the formality of the planning.

            Personal Development Collections: At RMS, the curriculum for the Information Technology class (a 35-day course that is part of the UA rotation for 8^th graders) focuses exclusively on creating electronic PDC’s. Through this course, each student creates a multimedia presentation (that can be saved as an executable file) on which each individual illustrates and reflects on the ways he or she has demonstrated Vermont’s Vital Results in recent years. The collections of artifacts and students’ reflections on the importance of the artifacts are shared in a variety of public ways at the school.

            Community-Service Learning: A number of UA courses participate in CSL projects during the course of the school year, but none to the level of the Family and Consumer Studies students. FCS students make quilts that are donated to a number of organizations, all which provide emergency services for families. The school also has a long tradition of donating to family aid organizations; through the guidance of the Manual, teachers and students are thinking more completely about the impact of those efforts.

            Work-Based Learning: WBL activities at RMS focus on career awareness. After several months of planning in the spring of 2001, the UA team organized the school’s exploratory block around a number of activities focusing on developing workplace skills, some more formal than others.

            Personal Performance Projects: Performances and performance projects are an important part of the UA curriculum at RMS, but the current work is different from PPP’s in that choice is an important component of the PPP model. Current discussions on the UA team focus on understanding the ways that our students and we can better understand how their performances connect with Vermont’s Vital Results.