Posted by Ali on 4/30/09

I'm working on revising the curriculum for 9th grade at a
school in a large urban district. Our test scores show us
to be low-performing. Demographically, we are poor and
transient.

Most English students have either tested out of ELD or are
the children of parents who don't speak English; few are
native English speakers.

On top of that, this year I began teaching in a special
program for students who would have been retained in 8th
grade, but the District has decided to socially promote
them to high school to cut costs and improve test scores
at the junior high level.

Assigning homework is usually an exercise in failure.
Because of this, my lessons never rely on homework having
been done. I reserve HW for enrichment and deepening
student knowledge.

I know that students, in theory, should find a process
piece highly relevant since they select the topic and be
driven to complete it when it's assigned in conjunction
with mini-lessons that teach them how to write.
Unfortunately, in the past, process pieces -- if
completed -- have not been strong evidence of the topic's
relevance to the student who chose it or the skills
presented and demonstrated in mini-lessons.

As you can imagine, I am trying to instill a sense of
success in students who have rarely experienced any
academically so that when they move out of this program in
the 10th grade (assuming they're successful) they will
want to work for that same success. For this reason, I
hesitate to assign anything major without allowing
significant in-class time to work on it.

This can seriously limit the amount of other information I
am able to present to them, as virtually everything we do
must be done during the class period. (We have a block
schedule wherein I see the kids 3X a week; 40 minutes on
Monday, 89 minutes 2x week.)

Currently, we are expected to complete 4 major process
pieces per year - autobiographical, analytical,
informative, and persuasive.

What would you prescribe in this situation?

I thank you in advance, esteemed colleagues, for any
recommendations you have.

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