In a document titled “Portrait of a Graduate,” Urban’s science department outlined the type of graduate they want to produce. “Graduates [have] a genuine curiosity about the world around them [and] can critically analyze data and identify key trends,” the science department wrote in the document in 2017.
Urban prides itself on its ability to prepare students for the challenges of the real world. Urban’s mission states, “[Urban] seeks to ignite a passion for learning, inspiring its students to become self-motivated, enthusiastic participants in their education — both in high school and beyond.” In light of a changing outside world with shifting job and technology requirements, Urban teachers work behind the scenes throughout each term and when school is not in session, experimenting with course designs to best achieve this goal.
In 2017, the science department updated its core curriculum to include more information and projects related to the environment. “We felt like in the core, it was really important that every Urban student have some exposure to information about climate change,” said Samantha Littlefox, science department chair and science teacher.
Urban now offers courses that are specifically labeled as environmental sustainability classes. One of these courses, Physical Resources, is heavily influenced by real-world technological advances. Science teacher Geoff Ruth, who developed the curriculum for Physical Resources, said, “As technology changes, I have to be changing the course. When I first came to Urban 20 years ago, the statistics on the availability, efficiency and cost of solar energy were wildly different than they are now. So clearly I needed to change the course substantially.”
Before planning a course curriculum, teachers note the elements they feel are essential for Urban students to know when they graduate. “[I removed] a whole unit on ozone-depleting chemicals as a global air pollutant to make more space for talking about the transition to a clean energy economy and talking more about climate change,” Ruth said. “I think climate change is the existential issue … for [this] generation.”
Beyond the science team, each department has its own set of qualities that it wants graduates to possess. “Urban isn’t focused on creating a particular type of student, but rather on fostering a set of behaviors and habits rooted in our mission and values,” said Danielle McReynolds-Dell, academic dean and math teacher. “We strive to nurture self-motivated, lifelong learners who actively participate in the creation of knowledge.”
The math department’s core curriculum aims to build on itself while providing essential math skills to students. This means that teachers are constantly changing lessons to find an effective sequence in which to teach different concepts. “One of the big curricular changes we made … is actually integrating [Math 2 and 3] together,” said Jessica Yen, math department chair and math teacher. “[In] the Math 2 and Math 3 curriculums, you’re learning both geometry and algebra at the same time, so you don’t really take a break from algebra.”
To help Urban students adapt to real-world problems outside of school, the math department focuses on longer, multi-step questions and more complex group work instead of a high volume of small questions. “[I] take a look at bigger problems and make it a little bit more project-based,” math teacher Kenny Daniels said.
Concepts of progressive learning, which place less importance on memorization, are found throughout the Urban math curriculum. McReynolds-Dell said, “Students are taught to recognize and apply algorithms but not rely solely on rote memorization. Instead, the emphasis is on fostering a deeper understanding of concepts and the ability to think creatively and analytically when faced with complex problems.”
Math teachers take an emphasis on SAT scores in the college admissions process into account. “All SATs are done on the computer, and furthermore, Desmos is a tool that you are supposed to use. … [We need to make sure our students] are well prepared for the SAT and know how to use Desmos as a tool to solve a range of different problems,” Daniels said.
The shift in technology prompts math teachers to expand the range of their classes. “Can we teach more things, more in-depth, more conceptual, more interesting math, because of these tools that are now widely acceptable?” Daniels said.
While the math department has adapted to accommodate new practices that will help students towards the end of their high school career, the English department has changed the structure of the ninth-grade English curriculum. “We’ve just revised [English] 1A. … We wanted the freshmen to come walk in the door with the same level of discomfort, … [and] read stories which are mostly unfamiliar to all of them,” said Cathleen Sheehan, English department chair and English teacher.
The reason for the shift is to navigate a growing base of middle schools that send students to Urban. “We’re now drawing from a whole host of different middle schools,” Sheehan said.
One key element to the English curriculum is ensuring students graduate Urban exposed to a wealth of stories from different cultures and experiences to support them in life beyond high school. Sheehan said, “We want to be able to give you a wide enough variety of stories that you just know there are more stories in the world or more perspectives, … sort of developing curiosity in students.”
The English department also emphasizes critical writing and reading skills transferable to life after high school. “We want [students] to practice [with] more short assignments, … [and to gain] the skills that will then help them, ultimately, be more self-sufficient in terms of reading and writing,” Sheehan said.
Another outside factor in the ongoing changes to Urban courses is the popularity of certain majors in college. Teachers seek to give students a launching pad for success after Urban instead of sticking to a set curriculum. “Data science is our newest course, and that’s in response to the fact that data science has become one of the most popular majors in college,” Daniels said.
While trends in higher education can prompt updates to courses, teachers also rely on their experience and observation in class. “I think it’s themes that we see from student feedback forms, but also themes that teachers are observing from how students are performing on and demonstrating understanding in class and on assessments,” Yen said.
Student feedback also plays a major role in how teachers develop courses. “[Course changes are] driven by our interests as teachers, as well as the students, as well as what’s going on in the world,” Daniels said.
Urban focuses on empowering students to shape their learning instead of always taking the course teachings as the final word. Daniels said, “[We don’t want students to assume] this is the way it works. … We want you guys to question things and come up with new, original ideas.”◼