Betsy Hrabe, Valerie Larsen, & Mable Kinzie
Copyright 1996
Betsy Hrabe, Valerie Larsen, & Mable Kinzie
Copyright 1996
Scene 1
Terry Kirkland, instructional designer, has her first meeting
with the Workplace Readiness Project Committee at Dundee High
School.
Scene 2
Two weeks later, immediately following Thanksgiving holidays,
the project committee reconvenes.
Scene 3
On February 12th, the project committee holds an emergency
meeting.
Scene 4
A formative evaluation session takes place in Len Gold's
classroom, February 27th-29th.
Scene 5
The workshop is presented in Dundee High School's large
confence room on March 14th.
SCENE 1
Terry Kirkland, instructional designer, has her first meeting
with the Workplace Reading Project Committee at Dundee High
School. The committee is meeting in a small conference room
off principal's office. The time is 3:30 p.m., November 3.
School committee members are teachers Jane Pruitt, Leonard
Gold, Suzanne Fuentes, and Dwight Harris, and the assistant
principal Mavis Barrett.
"Needs analysis! Why should we want a needs analysis? We
already know what we want to do!"
Five heads nodded in agreement as I looked around the table. I
tried to read the expressions on the faces of the members of
the Workplace Readiness Project Committee: irritation?
speculation? boredom? hostility? This was my first meeting
with the committee and my hopes for it going well were rapidly
collapsing.
No sooner had I arrived at Dundee High School on that early November
afternoon to attend the first project meeting, when I
learned from Mavis Barrett, the assistant principal, that Dr.
Cranston had called earlier to say he'd be unable to attend
this initial meeting. He was to have introduced me and
explained my role to the other members of the committee.
I had been hired as an instructional designer exactly one week
before by Dr. Jim Cranston, Assistant Superintendent for
Instruction and Vocational services.
[Click here to see Terry Kirkland's
credentials.] The school system had obtained a small grant
for the development of a series of workshops that would
introduce teenagers to the workplace readiness skills most
desired by employers. The workshops were intended to
serve as a pilot project for later implementation in all three
of the high schools in Dundee County. The project had been "in
committee" for a year and had never gotten off the ground, and the
school board had made the decision to bring in an instructional
designer to structure the plan and ensure its successful
execution. Dr. Cranston's enthusiasm for the undertaking had
been contagious, and I had left his office looking forward
confidently to working with this committee in creating an
effective and dynamic design for instruction. Now I was not so
sure.
 |
Ms. Barrett had been pleasant enough, but appeared harried by the constant interruptions and distractions that constitute much of the job of a front-line administrator. We had had little time for coherent conversation but she did manage to give me a brief description of the teachers I would be working with in creating and implementing the project.
Jane Pruitt, lead teacher in the business department, had been highly involved with trying to get the project off the ground the year before. The rest of the committee tended to defer to her knowledge of the proposed workshop content, the authority that came naturally with a dominating personality, and twenty-five years of experience in the trenches. Suzanne Fuentes, the English teacher, and Len Gold, social studies, were holdover members of the committee and supported the concept that all students would benefit from learning skills that would make them employable in the future. Finally, Dwight Harris, the tech education teacher, had been newly assigned to the committee this year. Although, he and the others received a small stipend for the after-school work, he had been blunt in expressing his unhappiness at having been impressed into service.
When Ms. Barrett finally introduced me to the committee, I had
the feeling that they were somewhat underwhelmed by my
presence. They had only recently been told that an outside
instructional designer was being brought in to design the
workshops. I suspected I would have to prove myself.
Armed with the committee recommendations from the previous
year, I had carefully prepared my presentation. [Click here for the previous year's
committee recommendations.] I began by explaining that it
would be necessary to begin the design process with a needs
assessment. My announcement was greeted by a stony
silence...which soon gave way to a litany of denials.
 |
Jane Pruitt was vehement. "Look, Terry, didn't they tell you when they hired you? We decided on the content for our school to job workshop last year. We are going to teach students how to write resumes and fill out applications. I have done a unit which includes these skills in my Intro to Business class every year, and I know exactly how to do it."
Suzanne Fuentes added, "Also, I really don't think we have the time for such a thing. We're starting late as it is."
 |
"Yeah." chimed in Dwight Harris. "What the hell is a 'needs analysis' anyway? Sounds like a bunch of jargon!" He did not say more, but I could feel him thinking, "Is that what they're paying you for? Fancy words?"
"Whoa! Folks! Calm down." Mavis Barrett invoked her role as committee chair. "Don't bite our designer's head off. Remember, we have a mandate from above. The powers downtown think this is important and they have sent us help. Let's use it." BLEEP! BLEEP! The chirp of Mavis's ever-present beeper punctuated her observation. "Sorry, gotta go," she said, rising. She shot me an apologetic smile and then addressed the others, "Seriously, give Terry a chance to explain." And she was out the door.
 |
As I reluctantly turned back to face the lions, Len Gold laughed. "Okay, Terry. Do your thing. We'll listen."
Grabbing the friendly offering, I quickly explained the reasons for doing a needs analysis and the design process itself. As I warmed to my topic, the others seemed to be listening--with the exception of Jane, who sat leaning back from the table with arms folded across her chest.
Even when the others agreed to my conducting a needs assessment, Jane remained silent. She was not so passive when the meeting broke up, however. Speaking loudly to Dwight, she swept out of the room, "Maybe if they had given us the money they used to hire this Kirkland person, we could have gotten this project going last year!"
To return to the beginning of this case, click here
SCENE 2
Two weeks later, immediately following Thanksgiving holidays,
the project committee reconvenes.
".....and so I think that we should reconsider the objectives
for the workshop instruction. It seems clear that resumes and
employment applications, though clearly important, are not
what potential employers indicate they most want to see in
their new employees."
Surveying my fellow committee members, I
attempted to ascertain from their expressions how they felt
about the needs analysis I had just presented. I felt
confident that my report was comprehensive and the information
accurate. Even though the results conflicted with the
expectations of the group, I sensed a surge of interest in my
assertion that the employers I had interviewed had expressed a
desire to see students develop skills in conflict management,
cooperation with others, and problem solving. They had also
laid great stress on the importance of a good attendance
record. When I played excerpts from the interview tapes,
everyone in room certainly appeared to listen carefully.[Click here for excerpts from
stakeholder interviews.]
 |
"That's interesting, Terry," said Suzanne. "As teachers, we look for the same attitudes and skills in our students."
"Right," Len nodded. "And all our students, even the most academic AP students could use these skills."
"Yes, but it's the first impression that's most important." Jane was adamant. "These kids have to get the job first before they can practice 'cooperating' and 'problem solving.' And that means applications, resumes, and job interviews! That is what we should teach them."
BLEEP! Once again Mavis was summoned from our midst.
"And there's another thing to consider, Terry." Jane continued,
not missing a beat. "I know when my students can write good
resumes and fill out applications properly. It's measurable.
How can you measure such soft ideas as 'cooperation' and
'managing conflict'?"
"And second, as far as evaluation is concerned," I continued
hastily as Jane seemed to have shut down momentarily, "we don't
have to use pencil and paper tests to find out if students have
developed these abilities."
"I use observation check off lists and team evaluations with my
classes now," added Dwight, suddenly thoughtful. "Those work
pretty well."
"Yes," Len jumped in. "We can devise activities which will
allow us to observe students employing these skills in
practice--role playing, group task completion, things like that.
And then, perhaps, we teachers could have follow-up discussions
and class projects that would show how well what they learned
lasted over time."
For the next hour, we proceeded to hash out
our major goals, objectives, and assessment possibilities in
this manner. I could scarcely breathe when finally I asked,
"Then, we're all agreed?" Everyone nodded in approval except
Jane, whose impassive silence I decided to take for assent.
We spent the rest of the meeting formulating objectives,
discussing plans, and scheduling the next stages of the
project. [Click here for meeting notes
containing an overview of workshop series content together with
the goals, objectives, and evaluation plans.]
A major challenge had arisen when we decided to include all of
the junior class in our workshop. Since there were
approximately 180 students involved, we would have to schedule
the workshop to be repeated four times with about 45 students
attending each session. We agreed that each workshop would
last for 3 hours, with morning and afternoon sessions repeated
over two consecutive days. Our first workshop dates were set
for March 14-15 and a note was written for Mavis to add these
activities to the school calendar.
I spent the next few days developing the schedule of activities
we would have to complete in order to meet the March deadline.
[Click here for project management (Gantt)
chart.]
To return to the beginning of this case,
click here
SCENE 3
On February 12th, the project committee holds an emergency
meeting.
Dingy snow, heaped in grit-covered piles at the edges of the
cleared parking lot, bore frigid witness to one of the most
severe winters Dundee County had seen in years. Most school
systems in the state had been shut down for the last week and
that, together with several days missed in January, had really
pushed our work schedule on the Workshop project. However, it
was the undertone of worry in Mavis Barrett's voice when she
had called to schedule today's committee meeting that had set
of a silent alarm bell in my head. What was the matter now?
I hurried through halls festooned in red and white crepe paper,
dodged a giant free-swinging paper mache heart that announced
the upcoming Valentine's Day Dance, and entered the small
conference room. Everyone was already present--except Mavis,
who was closeted with an angry parent. Len waved hello and
Dwight shouted, "Hey, Ms. Designer! Guess what? We've got
a problem. Sorry, make that problems!"
Suzanne, who had been huddled over a paper with Jane, looked up
and said, "Hi Terry. I'm afraid Dwight's right about the
problems."
I looked at the copy of the school calendar for March. It was
crammed with activities, field trips, sports events, dances,
assemblies, pep rallies, and even state testing. When did these
kids attend class?
We discussed the difficulty and, after significant examination
of the calendar, discovered that a make-up workshop could be
held on the first of April. Fortunately, our workshop
facilitator was available for that date, as was our guest
speaker. Thus, our inaugural workshop would now take place on the afternoon of the 14th.
The other problem had to do with Jane. She had not been
able to round up a representative sample of students and a
willing facilitator to be able to carry out a formative
evaluation. "Oh, you know how kids are, they've always got too
much to do! Besides, you've done such a superior job at
designing your workshop, I'm sure it's just perfect. There's
nothing to get all bent out of shape about."
I wanted to bend Jane out of shape... but I bit my tongue.
She remained on the committee after her own plans for the
workshops had been overruled, but her contributions were casual
at best.
"Well, actually, we really do need a formative evaluation of
our materials and procedures. We have to know what works and
what doesn't," I addressed the rest of the group, ignoring
Jane. "This is a really important project, and a lot of people
are invested in it. You all know that. "
"I have a solution," offered Len. "My second period history
class would be a good test for the workshop."
"Not all of them. But, certainly, some are," Len continued, his
enthusiasm beginning to grow. "These kids are a hard audience.
You really have to sell them. If they don't like something,
they are not polite about letting you know. They would give us
a real shakedown cruise."
Thus, it was agreed to use Len's class for the formative
evaluation with Len himself acting as facilitator.
To return to the beginning of this case,
click here
SCENE 4
A formative evaluation session takes place in Len Gold's
classroom, February 27th-29th.
(Click here for a transcript of the video
clip)
No doubt about it, the workshop hummed under Len's capable
delivery. The students responded well and clearly benefited
from the concepts presented in just the ways we had planned. It
couldn't have gone better. [Click here
for results of the formative evaluation.] With just a few
minor changes in presentation order and the reformatting of two
overheads, we had it!
I was really beginning to get excited about this. In spite of
all my initial doubts, perhaps my first instructional design
for a school really was going to work! For the first time, I began to
look forward to our workshop presentation.!"
To return to the beginning of this
case, click here
SCENE 5
The workshop is presented in Dundee High School's large
confence room on March 14th.
12:10 p.m. "I can't tell you how I'm looking forward to this," said Angela
Motley, chairperson of the school board. "I understand you've
done an excellent job in pulling this program together. It will
be so important for the students in this system."
"Thank you, Mrs. Motley. I had a lot of help from the
committee." I responded with what I hoped was pure cool.
Inside stage fright had my stomach turning flip flops. "Would
you like a program?" [Click here to see
the workshop program.]
Near the door, Jane was chatting with Dundee High's principal,
Eric Fareman, and the two parent volunteers. I turned to see
that Len and Suzanne were now being interviewed by Ryan
Greenberg of Channel 47 News. A cameraman was taking their
pictures. When we had presented the full ID report including
the formative evaluation to Dr. Crandall, he had decided to
invite the press. I suggested that he might want to wait until
one of the later presentations, but he felt that good press at
the outset would help the program. "Good public relations is
worth gold, Terry." he had said.
A distinguished man in an expensive suit joined us. "I'd like
to introduce my brother-in-law, Lawrence Tuthill," said Mrs.
Motley. "Larry, this is Terry Kirkland, our instructional
designer. Terry is largely responsible for the success of this
project."
I don't know which surprised me more--the compliment or the
appearance of Lawrence Tuthill. We had wanted to include local
community leaders and business people as guest speakers within
various workshops. For this first workshop we invited F.
Lawrence Tuthill III, president of the Chamber of Commerce and
owner of three area car dealerships, to make a short address to
the students on getting along on the job.
I hardly recognized this somber and conservative executive as
"Lucky Larry, King of the highways and buy-ways." "Just give me
the high sign when you want me to speak, Terry," he said.
1:20 p.m. The workshop was well under way. Donald McKay was
doing an excellent job at engaging the students. There had
been one minor incident, early on, in which a long-haired boy
had demonstrated his dislike of the procedings by his refusal to
take off his cap when asked.
The noise level was high from the lively discussions that were
going on in the small groups all over the room. We had divided
the students up into groups, mixing gender, race, and
achievement level. The students were engaged in a group
problem-solving task and it appeared to be going well. I
glanced up and caught Suzanne's eye. She smiled and
nodded. From across the room, Len gave me the thumbs up sign.
It was then that I noticed one group in the corner in which
little interaction was occurring. Three boys were clearly
carrying on a private conversation, and the three girls were
carefully ignoring each other. When I neared them, a red-haired
girl who appeared have assumed leadership began furiously
writing on the response sheet, then triumphantly flourished it
in my face. "We're done--I hope we can take that break
soon!"
I admit that her nonchalant, bored, superior attitude annoyed
me. Later, when everyone took the planned break, I noticed her
again--now reunited with her friends. She was loud in her
complaints. "Man, that was awful! What a bunch of retards I was
with. Why have they got us in this meeting when we're going on
to college? What we need is to know how to do well on the SATs
and write the best essay on the admission form. Not this
junk!"
Was she right? Had we failed to make this workshop relevant to
the college prep students? Surely they needed the skills we
were emphasizing as much as any of the other students. When I
mentioned this to Len, he said, "Oh, don't worry. Some kids can
be insufferable when they want. Of course, this workshop is for
college bound kids, too."
"Yes. But why didn't they know it?" I thought to myself.
Now it was time for our guest speaker. This ought to wow
them--even little Miss Advanced Placement. Television conveys
celebrity on all kinds of people--and that included Lucky Larry
Tuthill. I knew the kids would get a kick out of seeing him.
There was expectancy in the air as Mr. Tuthill approached the
podium. The students didn't seem to know what to make of the
transformation that had occurred to Lucky Larry. Then someone
from the back yelled, "Have I got an auto-mo-deal for you!"
Immediately there was a roar of good natured laughter and soon
the kids had begun waving their fists in unison, chanting,
"Lar-ry! Lar-ry! Lar-ry!" Tuthill, looking up from his stack of
note cards seemed puzzled and at a loss. Quickly, he looked
back down at his notes and launched into his prepared
introduction.
I looked at my watch: 2:15 p.m. Fortunately, Tuthill was
scheduled to speak for only 10 minutes. Then we had planned a
fun activity to wrap up the workshop that would certainly
captivate the students' interest and would bring closure to the
afternoon's events. Finally, we would end with a student evaluation of
the workshop.
2:39 p.m. The stack of cards in front of Mr. Tuthill hardly
appeared to have decreased at all. The students appeared to have settled down for an afternoon nap. There would
not be time now to use our concluding activity. We would be
lucky to get the evaluation in. I kicked myself. Whose idea was
it to include Tuthill in our inaugural workshop anyway? Didn't
anyone check him out? It was then I realized-- "Lucky Larry" was a
creation of cue cards, some bizarre camera work, and outrageous
costumes. Here we had the real F. Lawrence Tuthill,
giving his standard after-dinner speech to the Chamber of
Commerce-- probably making some good points but hardly suitable
for a room full of teenagers.
2:47 p.m. Len was making frantic "cut" signals to me from the
back of the room. With each sweep of his index finger across
his throat, the gesture took on more murderous intent. I
shrugged my shoulders. What could I do? Get the hook and drag
him off? Mrs. Motley, sitting next to me, was beaming at her
brother-in-law. It was clear she thought he was doing a fine
job.
I didn't blame them... but I wondered as I watched the room
empty if I'd lost some of my hard-won credibility as an
instructional designer.
Return to the beginning of this
case
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"Good point," I admitted." Actually there are two things to be
considered here. First, we have asked representatives of the
business community what they consider most important. They have
responded and, in good faith, we need to address their
concerns--not substitute what we want simply because it is
easier and more convenient for us. Besides, as it turns out,
these are the same skills listed by employers in a national
study. I have a copy of the latest SCANS report if you'd like
to review this study in more detail."
Click here to read a summary of SCANS
recommendations.
Since we had (nearly) unanimously agreed on the content and
activities for our workshops, I went on to complete a design
which incorporated our goals and objectives.
Shoving the paper my way, Suzanne continued, "See? The band is
going to Disneyland for a national 'Battle of the Bands' meet
on the two days we have scheduled our workshops. That involves
about 38 of the kids who were to participate in the project.
Apparently our assistant principal had told her secretary to
enter the workshops on the school calendar--which was done. But
Mavis didn't realize that there was an overlap of activities
involving the same kids. We would be missing about 20% of our
targeted audience. To tell the truth, I don't think she did
more than scan the executive summary on all that paper you gave
her. It probably didn't occur to her to check the makeup of the
two groups."
"Oh, yeah. Your remedials!" This from Dwight.
I hadn't realized it before, but Len was a master teacher. He
came alive in a roomful of kids. He played a classroom like a
symphony conductor...or more accurately, part circus performer,
part actor. Now challenging smug, entrenched, teenage
certainties--next encouraging the reluctant speakers--joking
one minute, serious the next--pushing, provoking, probing,
gentle and hard nosed by turns--Len held the class in the palm
of his hand. Perhaps, many of these kids might be considered
"remedial" and "at-risk" by some, but they clearly loved being
in this class.
Click here to see a video clip (10 fps) from Len Gold's
classroom (2.5MB).
All was ready. The conference room had been set up with folding
tables and chairs according to plan. Dwight had checked and
rechecked the needed equipment: the mike in the speaker's
podium, the overhead, the television with a VCR. There were
flowers in front of the podium supplied by the invited PTA
president. Earlier I had gone over a few last minute notes with
Donald McKay, our workshop leader. Having led similar workshops
in the past, he had prepared carefully and seemed very
enthusiastic.
Tuthill, in addition to being a high profile supporter of our
project, was also known to the students as "Lucky Larry" whose
television commercials were a nightly feature on the air. We
thought the flamboyant delivery (and funny hats) he displayed
in these ads would captivate students and kick our workshop off
to a great start. In addition, he had volunteered his services
free--certainly a helpful precedent we hoped would be adopted
by future guest speakers.
Click here to hear the audio from one of Lucky Larry's TV spots (105K).
(If you are unable to listen to audio files, imagine instead a bad,
locally-produced television commercial airing late at night.)
He had been asked to leave for making a
series of loud comments to his neighbor along the lines of "Why
do I have to sit through this stuff? My uncle lets me cut logs
with him and says I can have a job any time I want." After his
departure, though, the kids had behaved well and appeared
to be "into" the activities.
I didn't understand... How could he read a canned speech after
having just received such an accolade from the kids? My
consternation grew as he continued reading his address in a
very dry monotone. He was actually lecturing them! I saw some
of the students sit back and yawn while others put their heads
down.
Click here to hear part of Mr. Tuthill's address (355K).
(If you are unable to listen to audio files, imagine instead a
speech read from index cards.)
Tuthill appeared to be winding down when suddenly, mercifully,
the agony abruptly ended as the final bell rang, signaling the
conclusion of the school day. The students didn't wait to be
dismissed. They took off in a stampede for the doors.