IntroductionNational trends show that some Latino and African American males are at the highest risk of school failure as measured by high dropout rates, and low levels of success in high school.  These students are increasingly disengaged and disenfranchised from the high school learning experience resulting in low performance and limited career opportunities.   This problem demands a critical look at how we are teaching our underrepresented/At- risk students.

Background and NeedThe achievement gap continues to persist among White and Latino and Black males. The "school-to-prison pipeline" refers to the practices that push schoolchildren, especially our most at-risk children, out of classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.  This pipeline reflects the prioritization of incarceration over education.  Fastest growing population, but will be ill-prepared. For 21st C jobs. For a growing number of Latino and African American males, the path to incarceration includes many enablers.Some schools lack culturally responsive practices in their teaching strategies. Some teachers and administrators are not comfortable working with students due to the lack of knowledge about cultural differences that exist among the Latino and African American families .Moreover, schools may even encourage dropouts due to lack of school resources and pressure from NCLB Act of 1981.

The rates of suspension and expulsion are much higher among Latino and African American boys compared to their peers.

AcknowledgmentsI thank God, my husband and my family for supporting me and maintaining the patience for putting up with me. I especially thank NapaLearns for affording me the incredible opportunity to research this capstone project. I appreciate Napa County Unified School District and Napa County of Education for their professional development support. so I may be able to implement the learnings on campus. Together we will make it possible to impact education for students not just in Napa County, but for students all over the world.

Research and Design The teacher studied 187 sixth graders using a pre and post survey process in language objectives.  She disaggregated the data by ethnic group and gender to look for trends in engagement and academic skill level. The study looked at student engagement before and after implementing Project Based Learning units of study.  

ConclusionsThe research groups’ population will grow faster than other groups in the US. Educators need to implement enabling measures to further shrink the achievement gap among racial/ethnic groups. School administrators need to block and stop the school-to-prison pipeline and make the education of all youth a priority. They need to prepare underrepresented students in areas such as math, sciences, engineering and technology since these will be the most sought after candidates to fill 21st Century jobs. Technology-Infused PBL is an effective strategy to capture student engagement. When students are hooked into by Inquiry-Based Learning they are more connected and take ownership for their learning. The students in this research improved their reading skills after working with tech-infused, high quality PBL. They demonstrated their passion to want to experience the learning from themselves. They desired to be connected to a larger cause of which they felt a part. They made connections to the solution of the problem and culminating event. Learning through the process of inquiry, experience and discovery impacted long term learning. The students learned by creating their culminating product. Learning through discovery was purposeful, meaningful and effective. Tech-infused PBL fostered high levels of student engagement and deeper learning.

Andrea HarrisGraduate School of Education, Touro University – California

Literature citedCapps, R., McCabe, K., Fix, M. (2012). Profile of immigrants in Napa County. Washington DC: Migration

Policy Institute

Chappell, B. (2015, March 4). NPR . For US Children, minorities will be the majority by 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/03/04/390672196/for-u-s-children-minorities-will-be-the-majority-by-2020-census-says

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The Flat World and Education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Ferreira, M., & Trudel, A. (2002). The Impact of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on Student Attitudes Toward Science, Problem-Solving Skills, and Sense of Community in the Classroom. Journal of classroom interaction, 47(1), 23-30.

Goodnough, K., & Cashion, M. (2006). Exploring Problem-based Learning in the Context of High School Science: Design and Implementation Issues. School Science and Mathematics, 106 (7), 280-295.

https://echo.newtechnetwork.org/?q=ntlp/libraryhttp://www.adeccousa.com/employers/resources/Pages/infographic-stem-skills-are-

driving-innovation.aspxhttp://i1.wp.com/www.dailycal.org/assets/uploads/2013/11/GAPS-graphs_online-

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Figure 1. Students engaged in Technology -Infused Project Based Learning

Figure 6. Traditional classroom with a project vs Technology- infused PBL process

The figure on the top represents the process for a project in the traditional classroom (linear). The figure on the bottom represents components that can be researched simultaneously. One group may complete an activity then move to a discussion. Another may have a discussion then the need arises for the teacher to move to model a mini lesson for that group.

For further informationPlease visit www.harrislearningcafe.weebly.com More information on this and related projects can be obtained at www.HarrisLearningCafe.Weebly.com

A link to an online, PDF-version of the poster is nice, too.

Results or FindingsThe pre survey reflected the level of confidence the student had at the beginning of the year in the language objective areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills—cross discipline Common Core standards. The post survey reflected the level of confidence after engaging in PBL. The findings revealed that the skills of all of the groups improved; However, the Latino boys ‘confidence changed the most. Their reading and writing skills improved the most.

Figure 9 The bar chart above shows the change in confidence in skills --the impact that the PBL experience had on the group’s confidence in speaking, writing, reading and listening skills.

Impacting the world with Tech-Infused PBL

Background and Need (cont’d)

Efforts to change the learning experience include  21st Century strategies, such as technology-infused Project Based Learning (PBL) and innovative teaching practices.  This action research project looks at the question: Can tech-infused Project Based Learning increase student engagement in Latino and African American middle school males?

Figure 2. Students engaged in Project Based Learning.

ConclusionsTouro University Graduate School of Education, Innovative

Learning concludes that educators and administrators need to change their teaching practices to include tech-infused PBL and under represented minorities in the bigger piece of innovative learning.

Factors such as these and the failure to meet the needs of the students increase classroom disengagement, school dropouts, increase the risk of courtroom involvement and juvenile detention. These students are ill prepared to succeed in 21st century jobs such as in demand STEM jobs.

Figure 5 Expected Job Growth 2018-2.4 million jobs will be unfilled in the most influential occupations

Ignoring, turning a blind eye, not training boys of color, educating youth will hurt economy.

Extremelyconfident

Not confident

Averageconfidence

Pre and post survey

Improvement

Figure 8. Bar graph above represents the pre and post student survey results.

Research Data

10.8 % African American

11.4% Caucasian

33% Latino

Figure 7. Chart above represents the ethnically diverse survey population

Ethnically diverse population

33.5 % Asian American

11.4% Pacific Islander

Figure 4 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workers are highly sought after in all fields.

Figure 3 represents the Achievement Gap among race/ethnic groups.