How can we help more inner-city high school students in Missouri get to college?
1
2
Normandy High School is a few blocks from here.
3
This is where students walk to school everyday. 4
5
6
67% of them are on free or reduced lunch. 7
In 2012, Normandy school district was stripped of its accreditation, along with 4 other districts in the state of Missouri.
8
Over 30,000 students still attend these schools. 9
table of contents Research Development Product
14 26 36
12
Why are Missouri schools falling behind?
13
In a national assessment of the math and reading test scores of low-income students, Missouri ranked 47th out of 51.
14
ranking 1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51
1. Massachusetts 2. Vermont 3. New Jersey 4. Colorado 5. Pennsylvania 6. Rhode Island 7. North Carolina 8. Kansas 9. New Hampshire 10. New York 11. Texas 12. Florida 13. Hawaii 14. Maine 15. Nevada 16. Montana 17. Indiana 18. Minnesota 19. Wisconsin 20. Maryland 21. Ohio 22. Delaware 23. Wyoming 24. District of Columbia 25. Washington 26. Virginia 27. Georgia 28. Illinois 29. Idaho 30. California 31. Iowa 32. Alaska 33. North Dakota 34. Alabama 35. New Mexico 36. Arizona 37. Kentucky 38. South Dakota 39. Connecticut 40. Oregon 41. Utah 42. Nebraska 43. Oklahoma 44. Tennessee 45. Arkansas 46. Michigan 47. Missouri 48. Mississippi 49.15Louisiana 50. South Carolina 51. West Virginia
Literacy scores are especially terrible.
3%
distribution of 2011 national assessments of educational progress reading scores in missouri
17%
Advanced
4th grade
48%
Proficient
Basic
32%
Below basic
1%
20%
33% 8th grade
46%
16 | research
percentage of students who passed the 2011 missouri assessment program english test in unnaccredited school districts
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
District
Normandy
Riverview Gardens
Kansas City 33 research | 17
Not to mention...
In 2012, Missouri had over
310,0 19% children living in poverty, a
increase since 2008. 18 | research
000 research | 19
What factors determine a child’s achievement? We interviewed experienced educators and mentors to find out.
Jennifer Starks Experience: Wellness Coach for College Bound in St. Louis, an organization that provides promising students from underresourced backgrounds with the academic enrichment, social supports, and life skills needed to succeed in college and careers. Insight: Students living in povertystricken neighborhoods struggle to see community as a matter of choice. Instead, it is something into which they are placed. Because of this mindset, Starks teaches the importance of figuring out one’s role within the community and the role community can play in return.
Geoff Healy Experience: Worked for City Year, part of the AmeriCorps, at a middle school in Harlem, NYC. Program was centered around increasing attendance and retention for kids in 7-8th grade. Insight: Goal setting and instant gratification are two of the most useful tactics for middle schoolers to become motivated and focused on their futures.
20 | research
moderate challenge
role models
persistance
control
positive feedback
curiosity
confidence
support encouragement
incentive
motivation
community goal setting
opportunity
security research | 21
Social media can be a revolutionary educational tool. According to Baird and Fisher’s article Neomillenial User Experience Design Strategies: Utilizing Social Networking Media to Support ‘Always On’ Learning Styles, young students now learn differently because of their social media use. “The current generation of learners is ‘hardwired’ to simultaneously utilize multiple types of Web-based participatory media... They have grown up with the Web, are ‘always-on,’ and expect to utilize technology in their learning. ... Social network tools are individually complete and collectively inconsistent. Together, however, they hold the promise to enhance the user experience, dovetail with the digital learning style and expectations of the neo-millennial student, and support student learning. ...
22 | research
The key is to design courses with these new learning styles in mind, creating content that allows students the flexibility to work as an individual and as a member of a group, while embracing the ‘always on’ reality of the neomillennial student. Toward that end, an instructor’s ability to integrate social media technologies as a tool to support learning while understanding the unique learning style of the neomillennial student is vital.”
“An instructor’s ability to integrate social media technologies as a tool to support learning while understanding the unique learning style of the neomillennial student is vital.� derek e. baird, yahoo! usa mercedes fisher, national college of ireland 23
24
What should our tool be?
25
Rocket is a social media site that connects classrooms to communities. Students create their own profiles and connect to their classroom, other classrooms around the state, and mentors in their community.
inspiring STUDENTS
26 | development
empowering TEACHERS
serving ADMINISTRATORS
enabling MENTORS
development | 27
...starting with 6th grade English classes across Missouri.
28 | development
improving MISSOURI
development | 29
Meet Joshua. He is an 8th grader at Westview Middle School, one of the many schools in the unaccredited Riverview Gardens district. We created a map of his experience at school in order to better understand how our service could help these students.
30 | development
thinking “I don’t understand this material.” “I will never go to college.” “I’m not meant to succeed.” “No one is here to help me.”
hearing
seeing
“Westview is failing.” “There is no funding.” “I’m transferring to another school.” “This school is a lost cause.”
Teachers getting laid off Degradation of facilities Student violence Students dropping out
feeling Unsafe Alone & isolated Unsupported Frustrated by situation Stressed by home life
development | 31
We love to be inspired. We looked to design that utilizes bright colors, friendly typefaces, and symbolic graphics as inspiration for our visual vocabulary. We wanted our interface to be simple, precise, and intuitive to our user.
32 | development
33
34
35
Our interface is clear & simple. A clean, bright layout provides an intuitive user experience. By utilizing color coded iconography, students can instantly comprehend the large network of support available to them through Rocket.
36 | product
product | 37
Students form collaborative environments beyond the classroom. Teachers can connect with another classroom in Missouri and link their students together. Both contribute to online discussion and assignments, creating a support network beyond the local community for both teachers and students.
38 | product
product | 39
Community mentors are fully integrated into the student network. Members of the community can connect to a local classroom and participate and facilitate online discussions with their students. Students can also search the larger network to connect with mentors closely aligned with their own goals and aspirations.
40 | product
product | 41
Our brand is kid-friendly. Round, sans serif type and bright colors cater to the students we support, enforcing a positive attitude and conveying our enthusiasm towards their education.
42 | product
Knockout logotype with network
Knockout logotype
Brand applications
product | 43
44
45
46
Our goal is to improve education across Missouri by connecting students with community support. 47
hello! We are a team of senior Communication Design majors at Washington University in St. Louis. Using methods of design thinking, research, and prototyping, we have created a possible solution to one of the many issues surrounding education in Missouri.
Alyssa Celentano Identity Designer
Sarah Healy Collateral Designer
48
Shelby Lindblad Data Visualization
Alexis Turim Prototyper
49
bibliography & sources Baird, Derek E. and Fisher, Mercedes, Neomillennial User Experience Design Strategies: Utilizing Social Networking Media To Support “Always On� Learning Styles Ladner, Dr. Matthew and Myslinski, Dave, Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform, 18th Ed.
50
This book was created by Shelby Lindblad in the Fall of 2013 at Washington University in St. Louis. Typefaces used are Clarendon LT and Whitney. Special thanks to collaborators Alexis Turim, Alyssa Celentano, and Sarah Healy.
52