New Roots Faculty and Curriculum Development
August 3rd, 2009
For immediate release, August 3, 2009
Topic: New Roots Faculty and Curriculum Development
Contact: Tina Nilsen-Hodges, 607-339-6994
The New Roots faculty has begun professional development workshops to help make the school's mission come to life. New Roots aims to integrate expeditionary, interdisciplinary, and place-based learning into the curriculum. Expeditionary Learning Schools, along with State Education and Environment Roundtable (SEER) and the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, have collaborated with the New Roots faculty in their preparation for the school's opening in September.
"We are fortunate to be working with national leaders in education to support our faculty. The models these foundations have developed are critical tools for creating an exemplary school that supports high achievement and engagement for all students," explains principal and founder Tina Nilsen-Hodges.
The Expeditionary Learning Schools (ELS) model includes interdisciplinary, project-based "expeditions" that culminate in exhibits, performances, publications, and public service to the community. The ELS model generates an inquiry-based approach to pedagogy, support for developing a nurturing school culture and community, and structures for facilitating the active mentoring of all students.
For the duration of the Expeditionary Learning training, faculty themselves engaged in project based "expeditions" as a means to understand how to implement this model in their own classrooms.
"I have personally benefited from a background rich in experiential, interdisciplinary, place-based learning -- in fact, it is the only type of learning that has really solidified knowledge for me," claims New Roots science teacher Becca Rodomsky-Bish.
Research demonstrates that students in EL schools succeed. In a 3-year qualitative and quantitative evaluation of ten Expeditionary Learning demonstration schools located in five cities, the Academy for Educational Development found that EL students produced high quality work, often higher than they had ever attained in the past. Teachers reported that students' final products often met not only school district but also professional standards, and students demonstrated a strong level of engagement and motivation.
New Roots faculty met the challenge at the Expeditionary Learning training. The faculty collaborated and maximized each other's skills and talents, leaving a lasting impression on the trainers.
"This is one of the very best founding faculties I've ever worked with" said Marcy DeJesus, Expeditionary Learning School Designer.
In the last weeks of July, New Roots faculty attended the Advanced Curriculum Design Workshop at the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education in New York City. The Cloud Institute supports schools in developing rigorous, standards-based curricula and assessment tools that support an education for sustainability. Cloud programs focus on the development of ecological literacy, systems thinking skills, the ability to take multicultural perspectives, cultivating a sense of place, understanding sustainable economics, practicing active citizenship, and developing creativity. New Roots Charter School will use curriculum developed by the Cloud Institute for the Economics and Participation in Government courses that will be offered in the senior year. These courses are explicitly aligned to New York State Learning Standards.