2000-2001

Introduction

The Oakland Unified School District’s Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG), Urban Dreams, has completed its second year of implementation.  Urban Dreams targets the academic and career needs of urban secondary students in Oakland’s ethnically and linguistically diverse community while concurrently building the district’s capacity to sustain project outcomes through a more skilled, technologically proficient teaching force and an engaged parent-community partnership.

Integral to successful reform efforts, Urban Dreams is based on the following core activities:

Using Urban Dreams as an integral part of the school district, the Oakland Unified School District strives to provide equitable access to technology that enables students, parents, and community members to acquire or upgrade the skills necessary to succeed in today’s world.  The program is designed to support the work of history and English teachers, grades 9-12, by providing access to appropriate technology tools and professional development opportunities.  Professional development focuses on the teaching and learning of human and civil rights with a goal of developing students who are engaged and capable readers and writers.  Tools include computers, telephone, electrical data, video systems, software and the Internet.

Major Activities

The Center for Evaluation and Research (CER) evaluation team created both a local evaluation plan and discrepancy evaluation model (DEM).  This past year the evaluation team consisted of project staff, evaluators and a community representative.  The local evaluation plan outlined specific evaluation activities, timelines, and responsibilities.  Some major evaluation activities undertaken this last year include:

Summary

The DEM contains specific program narratives, component maps and input, process, and output (IPO) statements for each of the main program components (management, professional development, curriculum and community/parents) on three increasingly detailed levels.  This plan serves as a process evaluation instrument that provides stakeholders the means to examine the path of the project as it progresses though the five years of implementation.  Click for more information on the DEM inputs, processes, and outputs for professional development and technology access.

The 2000-2001 academic year was the first full year of implementation.  The staff and evaluators collected data on the Stanford Achievement Test-Ninth Edition (SAT/9) for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 academic years.  This initial data showed no discernible differences between students in Urban Dreams classrooms and students from the general student populace.  Student data will be compared against an equal comparison group at the end of the 2001-2002 academic year.

Professional development activities are the primary focus of project.  Strong partnerships with agencies and universities were developed to aid in the design and delivery of the professional development activities.  Professional development activities included: a) 2000 and 2001 two-week Summer Institutes; b) a one-week Expository Writing Workshop for teachers in the first cohort; and c) on-going, core curriculum and instructional workshops.  Over 80 teachers have participated in the two-week Summer Institutes during the past two summers.

An evaluation of both the 2000 and 2001 Summer Institutes reveal that participants overwhelmingly felt the Institutes worthwhile and of benefit.  Overwhelmingly, participants rated the institutes’ presenters and activities of very high quality.  Furthermore, participants thought the resources provided them were of value and transferable to their classrooms.

The Cohort 1 teachers agreed that the weeklong Expository Writing Workshop was beneficial and well executed.  They thought the time for reflection and curriculum development was needed.  The participating teachers are in various stages of curriculum development.

Teachers attended the project’s on-going professional development workshops on a voluntary basis during the 2000-2001 academic year.  Participating teachers found the workshops of interest and benefit.  Participation in the workshops varied primarily due to the demands teachers faced during the school year.  An interesting unexpected outcome is that there was only a four percent mobility rate (teachers leaving the district) among Cohort 1 teachers at the beginning of this academic year.  The district mobility rate is normally consistently above 30%.

Urban Dreams’ Computers for Families Program, in collaboration with Oakland Technology Exchange (OTX), has provided over 500 refurbished computers since the spring of 2000.  The Marcus Foster Institute provided basic technology trainings for parents receiving the computers.  Over 300 parents have attended these trainings that were offered at local high schools.

The training focused on basic computer concepts and skill development through hands-on training.  Parent responses to the trainings have been overwhelmingly positive.  There were statistically significant (p<.01) gains by parents for every competency measured by a pre- and post-assessment of basic computer competencies.

A representative cross-section of participants in the Urban Dreams’ Computers for Families Program was contacted through a telephone interview in order to evaluate the successes and limitations the program and trainings.  The results of the telephone interviews showed that adults in the families that received the computers believed Computers for Families was a good and much needed program.  Sixty-four percent of the parents interviewed indicated the training they received allowed them to be able to “go home and use the computer.”  Sixty percent of the families that received the computer had children who used it for homework.

However, there were some shortcomings in this component of the project.  If the overall purpose was to introduce a basic computer into homes of needy families in the Oakland school district, the goal was met.  However, the recipients indicated that most of these computers lacked the technology needed for it to be a helpful part of their daily lives.  Many respondents said the computers were slow, they lacked the necessary modem needed for Internet capability, and a CD-ROM was not included so they could be utilized with today’s larger programs.  Due mostly to financial considerations, 71% of the Urban Dreams recipients had no plan to purchase another computer in the near future.

The project shared the results of the telephone survey with OTX and the Marcus Foster Institute.  As a result, the Computers for Families Program will be distributing computers in the future that are much faster and that have modems.  Marcus Foster has also made arrangements for families to receive Internet services at little to no cost.

Many students and their families living in Oakland are on the wrong side of the digital divide.  Urban Dreams has made a substantial impact on this situation through the direct purchases of technology for teachers and classrooms and through the Computers for Families Program.  Urban Dreams’ classrooms now have five computers, a presentation monitor, Internet connection, printer, laptop and access to language arts and social studies software.

The attached full report provides a detailed description of the project’s progress toward meeting the stated goals and objectives.  Also included in the report, are challenges (past and present), as well as recommendations and exemplars to further aid project staff with programmatic decision-making.  Evaluation reports and accompanying documents are attached.

Evaluators with the Center for Evaluation and Research (CER) are available to answer questions regarding this report.  CER staff may be contacted via electronic mail at research@snowcrest.net or by phone at (530) 224-7704.

© Copyright 2001 Center for Evaluation and Research, LL