Voices From the Field Literacy and Learning in the Web Based Environment

Winston Churchill P ACE High School is an inner city community-based charter school for at risk students in the Cincin­ nati, Ohio area. As such, it is part of the Ohio public school structure and receives its money directly from the Ohio Department of Education. The school, now in its third year of operation, has an enrollment of 400 students. Students at­ tending PACE High School are at risk in­ ner city youth; most "thrown away" from the surrounding traditional public high schools. Students range in age from 14-22; the majority are 2 years older than they should be for their grade placement. Al­ most half the population at PACE have only enough credits to be classified as 9 graders; however, many believe. because they have been in high school for 3-4 years, that they are juniors or seniors. Entering students in 2004-2005 were given the Nelson Denny Reading Test for high school students. The test results ranged from below 4th grade level to a few students at 9 grade or higher. The major­ ity of students were reading below their grade level placement. In fall 2006, all students were given the North West Educa­ tion Assessment (NWEA) test. This test indicated that over half the students had reading and literacy skills equivalent to third and fourth grade levels. Mathematics skills were slightly higher at upper elemen­ tary levels, fifth and sixth grade. Writing skills were also at the mid-elementary lev­ els. The reality at PACE is that literacy skill development needs to be a primary focus of the school while teachers try to prepare students to learn the content meas­ ured on the Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT). Students who do not pass the OGT in Eng­ lish, mathematics, science and social stud­ ies will not graduate from high school. Students may begin testing in grade 10. They have two chances per year to pass the tests. Because PACE is an Ohio community charter school and offers web-based classes, it is important that the courses are designed to meet the curriculum bench­ marks required by the state to prepare stu­ dents for the OGTs. Students must learn from well organized, succinct and compre­ hensible materials. The faculty at PACE High School consists of the following persons. Two fully certified English teachers. Two fully certified science teachers. Two mathemat­ ics teachers with master's degrees who are working on certification. Two social stud­ ies teachers, one fully certified, one with a masters degree completing certification. Two fully certified special education teach­ ers and three intervention specialists: one