New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Projects replace exams in magnet school class
Metropolitan Business Academy students present their work to peers
NEW HAVEN — In Metropolitan Business Academy English teacher Stephen Staysniak’s classroom, the seats fit the occasion.
For many, a final exam in English class might evoke an image of desks in rows facing forward, with students answering timed essay questions in pencil. On Tuesday, however, Staysniak’s ninth-grade class was set into five groups of desks facing one another, which he calls a roundtable.
Instead of answering essay questions to demonstrate their mastery of language arts skills, students present a portfolio of their work in small groups to their peers to discuss how they’ve grown and areas where they can improve as demonstrated through their own work.
“If students have a knowledge of where they’re at, knowing themselves as learners helps them in high school,” Staysniak said. “If they know themselves, they can advocate and regulate in ways to make them successful.”
The roundtable final exam idea was inspired by the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a group of more than 30 New York schools that receive waivers from the New York State Department of Education to supplement standarized tests in most subjects for a presentation of student learning.
The consortium’s website explains the philosophy as “instead of basing a student’s future on a one-day (or two- or three-day) test, an assessment system should reflect a fuller picture of what students know and can do.”
Project-based learning is not a new concept in New Haven’s public schools — Staysniak said he has been using the roundtable model as a final exam for five years — but it has begun to catch on in recent years. This decade, New Haven replaced its annual “data fair,” where teachers and administrators reviewed student data, with a curriculum fair to display student projects.
At Metropolitan Business Academy, the idea of using project-based learning for a final exam has caught on, as well, as ninth-graders also present research papers for their world history class in a similar style, as do juniors in their civics class. It is also a Metropolitan Business Academy tradition for seniors to present final projects in a symposium style.
“I’ve improved a lot in my writing,” said student
Jason Colon. “I didn’t know how to put things in my own words originally.”
Jason began his portfolio presentation with a poem, which was actually his second attempt at an assignment. He said Staysniak had given students an opportunity to do an assignment over, so he took the opportunity and was pleased with the result.
Student Lesly Gonzalez shared an essay she wrote on whether it’s “right to fight,” stating her belief in pacifism.
“My argumentative essay skills have grown,” she said, assessing the final product. “I was able to support my claim very well.”
It is through strengthening her skills in crafting an argument, she said, that she realized she has the ability to take strong stances. After reading a graphic novel that explored the implications of having strong female protagonists in video games, she said she began to notice more gendered stereotypes in media.
“As a female, I believe I should talk about gender stereotypes,” she said.
In her history class, she wrote a paper in defense of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals legislation that allows for undocumented children to legally apply for deferred deportation action and apply for a work permit.
“If the program is taken away, it would affect 800,000 people in the U.S.,” Lesly said. “Undocumented residents aren’t doing anything wrong and they might be here because of conflicts in their countries.”
Through writing that history paper, she said she realized that the skills she learned in English class to craft an argument also had applications in other subjects.
Sunshine Foskey shared an assignment from the same unit on gender stereotypes as Lesly, describing a character that challenges an expectation that black women not be independent. She also shared her thoughts on Sister Souljah’s first novel, “The Coldest Winter Ever.”
“I learned it’s not easy to live on your own without an education,” Sunshine said.