Vilma Mazzella Cardinal Spellman H.S. vmazzella@cardinalspellman.org STUDENTS ARE COMING INTO HIGH SCHOOL WITH POOR WRITING SKILLS: grammar and punctuation Vilma Mazzella Cardinal Spellman H.S. vmazzella@cardinalspellman.org

Select the Best Solution PPA Select the Best Solution Develop Solutions Identify the Causes Gather the Evidence Define the Problem Today, we are going to look at a problem by using the steps of the Public Policy Analyst

What is the Evidence? Poorly written notes and letters Poorly written essays and research papers Poorly written cover letters asking for a job:

Evidence in our School Poor grades in English Only ten percent of students received a mastery grade (85 and above) on English Regents in 2013 Seventy percent (the majority) of Sophomore class passed English Regents with a grade of 65-80 Twenty percent failed regents Poor results on College Entrance Exams Low PSAT scores Low SAT scores

Examples of signs with grammatical errors— Can you find the error? Circle it in red on Smartboard

WHY???? Today’s technology: Facebook Text messaging Current Music: Lyrics: e.g.-- Timbaland—”The Way I are” Kanye West, “Jesus Walks” “We at war, we at war….” What are some of the reasons to the lack of writing skills? Here are some of the possible causes to this problem:

SOLUTIONS ON IMPROVEMENT Make a school policy requiring students to use correct grammar, spelling and punctuation on essays and research papers in all subject areas Students would be held accountable for errors in their writing in all subjects Students would have as much as a 10% deduction on grade if writing is poor.

Improve? Remedial help clinic Identify students who need help and suggest they attend a remedial help clinic This would consist of Honor Society students who tutor before homeroom Students who attend would receive credit from the referring teacher

MORE WAYS TO IMPROVE Some grammar-building videos on Youtube can be shown in class or can be assigned as homework by teachers: Advantages Interesting to students Does not take time from teaching Example of video below

Determining Best Solution   EFFECTIVENESS FEASIBILITY HIGH MEDIUM LOW School Policy  Remedial Help Clinic  You Tube Videos  School Policy would be most effective but harder to implement The Remedial Help Clinic would be the best solution as it is both effective and feasible

Thanks to: Businessinsider.com Cardinal Spellman High School O'Connor, Kyrie. Houstonchronicle.com Google.com LosAngelesTimes.com Smosh.com YouTube.com Videos Sounds