WL01920198
SCHOOLS THAT CHANGE COMMUNITIES
By Bob Gliner

Schools that Change Communities profiles a diverse group of public schools that are successfully creating higher achieving students in a different way -- by turning the communities where they live into their classrooms.

The film re-imagines what education can be, visiting K-12 public schools in five states across America that are engaging students in learning by solving real-world problems in a variety of communities, from economically and environmentally challenged rural areas to poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods.

High school students in Howard, SD, build an interdisciplinary curriculum around a plan to save the town's struggling economy. In a Boston neighborhood with a high level of crime and poverty, students learn to connect the dots between what their community seems to the outside world and what it might become. In a small Appalachian town, elementary school students help clean up an adjacent stream polluted by acid mine drainage from former coal mines. In Watsonville, CA, high school students studying Roosevelt's New Deal try to come up with a New Deal for their farming community. In Cottage Grove, OR, students help create a sustainable environment, while learning valuable science, engineering and math lessons.

In the film, administrators, teachers, students and local residents discuss their projects and the value they find in place- and community-based education -- an interdisciplinary approach which emphasizes hands-on, curiosity-based investigation using surrounding neighborhoods as "living" classrooms. By confronting and solving real-world issues in their hometowns, students become more engaged in the learning process and develop a stronger sense of civic responsibility and pride. Plus, the local communities benefit, as well.

Reviews
~ "Schools That Change Communities is about schools as they should be. In this pedagogical age of 'time on task,' 'direct instruction' and a short-sighted emphasis on 'Drill, Baby, Drill,' the film shows that school improvement can be healthy, engaging and lead to significant community involvement and improvement." - David Sobel, Professor of Education, Antioch University New England, Co-Author, Place and Community-based Education in Schools

~ "We have been searching for a very long time for a film like this one that can help teachers, parents, and young people re-imagine what schools can and should be. We have used the film as a powerful professional development tool for teachers. As a teaching tool the film is perfect. It is not only inspirational but provides a range of powerful examples with enough nuance and detail to serve as guides for action." - Ethan Lowenstein, Professor, Teacher Education, Eastern Michigan University

~ "Beautifully illustrates the power of the partnership between communities and schools; clearly demonstrating the "win-win" aspect of project based, experiential learning for students from kindergarten through high school while enriching the quality of life in the students' community. When every student has the opportunity to learn through service to his/her community, drop out rates will plummet and test scores will rise!" - Susan Meyers, Former Dean, College of Education, San Jose State University
DVD (Region 1, Closed Captioned)
Grades 11-Adult
58 minutes
2012
USD 195.00
 
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