Native American Indian
Don Winter, Science Teacher, Hoopa High School writes:
PARITY gave me the opportunity to infuse my lesson plans
and class assignments with outside-the-classroom experiences.
Working with the forest service and the tribe, our science
students were able to develop a 1/4-mile science trail and
plant a one-acre forest. The forest and trail are integral
parts of our science classes now.
Although PARITY is targeted for Native American students,
the program is all inclusive and every student benefits.
Working together to build and maintain the trail built
bonds of understanding and friendship between the students,
and between the students and me. I actually get to know
them better, learn more about them, when we're working in
the field than when all in the formal classroom. My relationship
with them improves when we're out on the science trail doing
observations and experiments. The students open up more
out there.
All this has led to increased interest in natural resources
and we started a natural resources course. It was full in
no time. Now we're offering two sections and they're both
full.
The project
Located in a rural area of Humboldt county, not far from
the Oregon border, the CAPP student population of three
Native American tribes resides almost entirely on an Indian
reservation located within the 1,100-square mile Klaamath-Trinity
Joint Unified School District.
Through staff development and team approaches, faculty
partners worked together to develop courses in science,
math, social studies, and English that incorporate Native
American historical and cultural contributions.
Establishing the concept of a "school without walls," faculty
collaborated to ease student transitions between middle
school, high school, and college; and designed hand-on lesson
plans.
PARITY enhanced grade 9-12 curriculum in English, mathematics,
science, and social science to complement Native American
thinking and learning styles. A number of steps were taken
to increase student academic confidence, including: developing
new curriculum units that were relevant to Native Americans;
curriculum alignment between elementary and secondary partner
institutions and between secondary and postsecondary partners;
faculty and staff development in communication and learning
styles, cultural values and historical contributions of
Native Americans; and dissemination of project-developed
curriculum.
CAPP students' performance on standardized tests confirmed
PARITY's success. Student performance on standardized mathematics
tests increased 56 percent, science 39 percent, English/language
arts 18 percent, and reading 17 percent.
Project partners include:
- Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District
- Humboldt County Office of Education
- Hoopa Tribal Education Committee
- College of the Redwoods
- Humboldt State University
- Aetna Life and Casualty
- Pacific Bell
Dissemination goals: Included presentations
on strategies for partnership development, applying the
PARITY four-part model to other underrepresented populations,
compiling and distributing curriculum plans that demonstrate
class subject integration, and sharing the news of successes
employed with Native American populations.
During the 1993-94 dissemination year, PARITY partners
wrote and published a 253-page curriculum book. This book,
Secondary Curriculum Focused on Interrelationships in
Language Arts, Mathematics and Science, gives step-be-step
instructions on how to create classes that enhance academic
success among underrepresented groups. Examples show how
subject areas combine to increase student interest and involvement.
For example, seaside biology classes include mathematics
when students use abalone shells to calculate ratios, art
from a study of coast birds' coloring, writing and literature
when they describe what they have learned, and ecological
awareness and history as they learn the commercial importance
in the historical diet of Native Americans.
The book was distributed to more than 300 educators at
national conventions this year.
A national networking system on partnership development
has grown naturally from PARITY presentations at regional,
national, and international education conferences.
A series of presentations and discussions on partnership
development were made during the year. These presentations
discussed the concepts of inclusion, partner site infrastructure,
incremental and developmental aspects of cross-institutional
collaboration, as well as communication among partners and
within the community. Interactive case studies involving
audience member participation are an integral part of these
partnership development discussions.
In February, PARITY materials were on display at the 17th
annual state-wide American Indian Conference held in Sacramento.
That same month, a presentation, "Project PARITY," was given
at the Sharing the Vision Conference, for K-12 and higher
education professionals, held in Portland, Oregon.
In March, PARITY's video and project materials were part
of the continuously running video display area at the California
State University deans of education meeting held at Chancellor
Munitz's office in Long Beach.
In April, the video and materials were distributed at the
meeting of statewide deans of arts held at Humboldt State
University. That same month, PARITY discussed partnership
development and specifically the role of community colleges
at the State Community College Professionals meeting in
San Jose.
Two national presentations took place this year, "Diversity
Partnerships: A Global View of Ideas" at the Society of
Educators and Scholars Annual Interdisciplinary Conference
in Evansville, Indiana, and "Strategies for Enhancing Educational
Partnerships" at the Association of Teacher Educators held
in Atlanta, Georgia.
In June, PARITY partners presented "Interrelationships
Among Disciplines Through Cross-Institutional Partner Teams"
at the World CASE Study Association International Conference.
More than 100 educators from Southeast Asia, Europe, and
Africa as well as North and South America attended.
This year, Humboldt State University nominated PARITY for
one of four exemplary awards in partnership development.
PARITY received that award at the Association of University
Administrator's national conference held in Houston in June.
"In addition to all our dissemination activities, PARITY
received funding this year from Aetna Life and Casualty
for the 1994 Summer Bridge program for eighth grade students
entering at Hoopa High School," said Sheila Webb, associate
dean of teacher preparation programs at Humboldt State University
and PARITY director.
"Summer Bridge was originally funded by CAPP during PARITY's
implementation phase. We are pleased with this business
partner support in funding the bridge program this summer,
since the school personnel and parents have found that the
Summer Bridge results in high retention rates for at-risk
students."
