Responsiveness of the Lesson Plan to the Learners
The US education system has been working to equip all youth with quality education, knowledge, and skills that prepare them for the job market, which has grown competitive over time. Unlike their peers in traditional public schools, incarcerated youth in juvenile correctional facilities go through alternative educational programs, which, due to their nature, leave them with unmet educational needs. Although participation in the juvenile justice alternative education programs improves their reading and math skills, it does not guarantee the perfect solution to the unique challenges incarcerated youth face. This lesson plan is meant to address the unmet needs by making the education in the facilities responsive to meet incarcerated youth’s readiness, interests, and abilities for college and career readiness. It includes necessary resources and incorporates responsive instructional and assessment strategies.
Resources
The resources in the lesson plan are responsive. According to New America (n.d.), responsive resources have to answer various questions, including whether they make a connection to the learner’s experiences and whether they call on students to take action to effect changes. The first resource in the lesson plan can be found at https://bestaccreditedcolleges.org/resources/formerly-incarcerated-education-career-guide on “How to Earn Your Degree and Get Hired after Incarceration.” First, it recognizes the unique challenges faced by formerly incarcerated youth in their education and employment, implying answering the question of making connections to their experiences. It also asks the learners to take responsibility for changing their situation in the job market by doing what is necessary before applying for any jobs.
The second source by the US Department of Justice, found at https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/182787.pdf, also makes the lesson plan responsive to the learner’s needs. One of the criteria that a responsive resource has to meet, according to Muñiz (2021), is to be additive and transformative. This source is additive such that it adds the content of the programs that incarcerated youth can look for in their career exploration without changing its structure. As a transformative resource, it is written in a way that can enable the incarcerated youth to believe that despite the challenges they face, they have an opportunity to get employed if they do what is needed.
Instructional Strategies
The lesson plan is also responsive to the educational needs of incarcerated youth to ensure they are college and career-ready in the following ways. First, it makes the necessary curriculum modifications as stated in the Bloom-Banks matrix to ensure the learners understand the content to use it later in life. Trotman (2014) believes that it is a teacher’s responsibility to modify instructions to accommodate all students so that they can receive appropriate education. Because of that, the lesson is designed to use case studies to bring real-world issues into the classroom. Once the students learn of examples of the success stories of what formerly incarcerated youth did in their careers, they can learn and apply the knowledge in real life. Alternatively, mock interviews would also give similar results in ensuring the learners understand workplace skills and behavior.
The lesson plan’s responsiveness to learners’ needs can also be seen from its use of a universal design of learning to optimize teaching and learning for the students. The lesson aims to provide multiple means of engagement by guiding the learners in setting their career goals to enhance their self-regulation. Another instructional strategy utilizes social-emotional learning approaches. SEL approaches aim to help learners thrive and develop positive relationships (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, n.d.). Succeeding in careers requires thriving academically and positive relationships. Ongoing evaluations to be used after the lesson will ensure that all the learners are treated fairly and have access to a supportive environment to allow them to thrive and make positive and lasting relationships that they will need to network in their transitioning.
Assessment
Another factor that makes the lesson plan responsive is its use of a responsive assessment framework. For instance, it utilizes a formative assessment strategy of engagement by engineering effective classroom discussion to elicit evidence of learning. Engagement in the classroom is one of the most valuable commodities in learning (2021). The lesson plan aims to assess the students by engaging them in taking ownership over what learning they demonstrate to monitor how well they identify barriers they will face in their transition due to their criminal record. Similarly, the lesson will use a summative assessment strategy that involves the use of a rubric to set standards of performance. At the end of the lesson, it is expected that the learners demonstrate their understanding, and a rubric is one of the best ways. In their groups, the learners should show that they can provide feedback on what they believe are their strengths and abilities as required by different careers.
Reference
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (n.d.). How does SEL support educational equity and excellence? https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/how-does-sel-support-educational-equity-and-excellence
Evans, C. (2021, September 9). A culturally responsive classroom assessment framework. Center for Assessment. https://www.nciea.org/blog/classroom-assessment/culturally-responsive-classroom-assessment-framework
Muñiz, J. (2021, August 24). Embracing culturally responsive and sustaining instructional materials. New America. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/policy-papers/embracing-culturally-responsive-and-sustaining-instructional-materials
New America. (n.d.). Reflection guide for culturally responsive curricula. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1R0gOoM9vlu4A_TnUai9p7W5bAA88H2i1pOAXRigQlMQ/mobilepresent?slide=id.p1
Trotman, S. M. (2014). Using the Blooms-Banks matrix to develop multicultural differentiated lessons for gifted students. Gifted Child Today, 37(3), 163–168.
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