Schools Program Pilot

OWEd Schools Program Pilot Evaluation Report

Pilot Overview:

A core component of the One World Education (OWEd) Schools Program is the OWEd Curriculum.  The OWEd Curriculum is an original peer-to-peer teaching and learning model where student authored primary sources about culture, local and global issues serve as the foundation of a curriculum used by teachers to introduce core academic subjects and 21st Century Skills.  Local middle and high school students can submit their writing, referred to as a One World Reflection, through an online application or our annual Culture & Global Issues Reflection Contest.  A committee of highly-qualified educators use the One World Reflection to create an engaging, interdisciplinary and standards aligned curriculum to improve learning, literacy, global awareness and meaningful citizenship for middle and high school students.

In the spring of 2009, One World Education piloted the OWEd Curriculum in five schools with approximately 200 students around the DC area.  A small pilot study was conducted with the following three objectives:

1. Gauge student interest in One World Education’s peer-to-peer learning model
2. Assess the classroom-readiness of the OWEd Curriculum
3. Obtain feedback about the engagement students felt when learning with OWEd resources

To ensure student diversity, two public schools, two charter schools and one private school were invited to participate.  At least one teacher from each school was asked to integrate components from a One World Experience unit, which consists of a student-authored Reflection, multiple project-based Learning Activities and comprehension-based Unit Resources.  Teachers from different subject matters including biology, English, Social Studies and model United Nations, participated in the study.

Before and after these teachers implemented the OWEd Curriculum, the piloted students were surveyed about their experience and interest learning from peer-writing, educational methods that work ‘best’ for them, and how their school utilizes technology to enhance student learning. The results suggest that One World Education’s Curriculum is aligned with the interests and learning styles of students.

Students expressed interest in learning from the writing of other student’s Reflections.
• 71% of students reported that reading material written by someone their age allows them to better understand and relate to a topic
• 75% of students felt certain they could teach other people their age through their own writing

The curriculum’s interactive Learning Activities are aligned with student learning styles.
• 89% of students reported that they liked the project-based Learning Activities better than learning from a lecture or textbook

Few websites engage students to learn from their peers about culture, local and global issues.
• Less than 6% of students knew a place online where they could learn about people their age from different cultures
• 79% of students reported that they would write about their personal learning experiences on a website dedicated to sharing student perspectives on various issues.

To assess the impact of the OWEd Curriculum, students were surveyed before and after curriculum implementation.  A total of 91 students responded to the pre-survey and 113 students responded to the post-survey.  A higher number of students reported an increased frequency of completing homework and getting along with their teacher during and after the curriculum implementation (see graph to the right).  These results suggest an increase in engagement levels.  Additional results are outlined below.

Students related to the student author, which serves as the foundation of the OWEd Curriculum.
• 93% of students reported that they found the One World Reflection interesting
• 85% of students reported that they could relate to the student author of the One World Reflection

The Learning Activities were engaging and informative. 
• 80% of students reported that they felt like they were engaged and learning new information through the OWEd Curriculum and many students reported actively participating in the lesson
• 84% of students reported that they contributed to group discussions
• 91% of students reported that they gained a better understanding of a cultural or global issue facing people their age
• 55% of the students reported that they learned more about their classmates. One student said that ‘the best thing [about One World Education Curriculum] was to hear what all of the people in the class think about the issue”

Many students expressed interest in sharing their own perspective about culture, local and global issues.
• 67% of students reported that they would be interested in writing a One World Reflection.  One student said, “I have so many things to say but I don’t know where to say it.”  Another student suggested that the exchange of ideas will help “alleviate stereotypes and miscommunication by sharing with each other.”

Summary and Next Steps:
The pilot study results confirm the value of the peer-to-peer teaching and learning model of the OWEd Curriculum.  Both teachers and students reported high levels of student engagement and interest in the Learning Activities.  Students related to the One World Reflection’s author and could find commonalities between themselves and someone from a different culture.  Many students expressed interest in the One World Education website and the ability to have their perspective posted online.  Overall, the curriculum proved to be classroom-ready and easily accessible.  Teachers were able to customize the curriculum to fit various learning objectives and found the curriculum easy to use.

The full implementation of the OWEd Curriculum is designed to improve classroom learning for all students by increasing literacy and student engagement.  A detailed evaluation should be conducted to understand both short and long-term impacts of a fuller implementation of the OWEd curriculum.