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The HERO project provided many indicators of success.
A Telecommunications
Rubric was created which documented
students' ability to communicate using the First Class E Mail system.
Twenty seven (27%) percent of the students participating in the
project scored at the "Developing" stage. Seventy three (73%)
percent of the students participating in the project scored at the
"Independent" stage. The criteria that was evaluated included
sending e mail, opening e-mail, posting to a conference and attaching
files.
ClarisWorks Slide Shows, Multi-Media Quilts, and Video Taped plays/reenactments were created which documented students ability to "retell" the stories that were read. Interactive samples of the students' work is posted on this site.
The main affective goal of the Project was
to reduce or eliminate racial, gender, and socio-cultural bias.
A pre/post attitude survey
was used to determine attitude change. As teachers discussed
the prejudice contained in many of the stories, a main point of
discussion was not to judge another person by their skin color or
gender i.e. "not all black's are 'anything'". The attitude
survey had questions like Most black students are Very easy to get
along with, Somewhat easy to get along with, Neither easy or difficult
to get along with, Somewhat difficult to get along with, Very difficult
to get along with. These questions were repeated for White,
Boys, and Girls. The post percentages changed from one end
of the spectrum to the center i.e. neither easy or difficult which
indicates students were reasoning that you could not categorize
by skin color or gender.
| |
A |
B |
Neutral |
D |
E |
|
Black pre |
23 |
38 |
19 |
14 |
6 |
|
Black post |
14 |
34 |
31 |
12 |
4 |
|
White pre |
26 |
37 |
17 |
11 |
7 |
|
White post |
22 |
33 |
26 |
10 |
6 |
|
Girl pre |
32 |
30 |
15 |
11 |
10 |
|
Girl post |
28 |
31 |
22 |
8 |
8 |
|
Boy pre |
22 |
35 |
17 |
13 |
10 |
|
Boy post |
18 |
31 |
27 |
13 |
8 |
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There were several additional indicators of success not previously anticipated. One Pattonvile teacher joined the project once she found out what her colleagues were doing. Several project teachers have indicated their desire to continue the project during the 98/99 school year.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of the HERO project was the effect it had on student writing. This is a sample of the student writing that was posted in the project
Has anyone read the book named "Sounder'? My class has been reading about Sounder. I think that Sounder is a good book for any one to read. The book of Sounder is about a novel about a black sharecropper and his family in the 19th century. The things that I do not like about the story are what happened in those days and how they treated people. One other thing I did not like about that story is that people were poor and I do not like to see people being poor. But there are some good things that I like about this is that it is a good story to me. And it seems that my class likes the story a lot and I hope that the other classes enjoy it to alot, like we do. Because that is like the best story I have ever read, out of all of the stories I have read. There is something about this story that makes me feel good. What it is is that I am not poor right now. And it some times makes other people feel good. Hope you enjoy this story.
The writing above is indicative of the great writing that was achieved in the project. This particular posting to the conference motivated many students to respond in an equally thoughtful manner.
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