BACKGROUND RESEARCH PROTOCOL

You need to print this out and bring to class on Monday Oct 23rd
Watch extra spacing - this should only be 6 pages
TOPIC #1 - Making Caring Common

ARTICLE #1 - Paste link to article here -

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/06/25/making_caring_common_project_study_finds_that_st
udents_value_achievement.html

Title/Author/Publisher/Date: Kids Value Achievement Over Caring Because They Think Their Parents Do Too,
Emily Bazelon, June 25,2014

What is the thesis statement of the article? They teach at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and they
want to shift the frame for kids’ moral development—away from thinking about themselves and toward caring
about others.

What problems does the author identify? ​Eighty percent chose high achievement or happiness as their top
priority. Only 20 percent picked caring for others. The teenagers tended to see self-interest as more important
than fairness. Also when kids rank their priorities this way—and think their peers do as well—they’re “at greater
risk of many forms of harmful behavior, including being cruel, disrespectful, and dishonest

What solutions does the author identify? ​Weissbourd and Jones say that kids need to practice caring for other
people, and they need role models.

ARTICLE #2 - Paste link to article here

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/16/01/turning-tide-inspiring-concern-others-and-common-good-thro
ugh-college-admissions

Title/Author/Publisher/Date: NEWS EDITOR ON JANUARY 20, 2016

What is the thesis statement of the article?

Colleges and universities join together to reshape the college admissions process and promote concern for
others and the common good.

What problems does the author identify?

The problems that the author identifies are “Too often, today’s culture sends young people messages that
emphasize personal success rather than concern for others and the common good,” said Richard Weissbourd

What solutions does the author identify?

The Launch of the Turning the Tide Report Marks the First Step in Efforts of Coalition to Inspire Concern for
Others in High School Students, Reduce Achievement Pressure, and Create Greater Equity for Economically
Diverse Students

What are the commonalities in the articles?

Both articles show how they want individuals to achieve things in a more caring manner rather than self benefit
because each individual should have the same opportunity as the next.
What are the differences in the articles? In one article the teenagers tended to see self-interest as more
important than fairness to others where as in the other article educators team up to make sure that everyone
feels as if they have gotten an equal amount of treatment as the other.

Provide five open-ended follow-up questions for further research/investigation. Your questions will drive your
journey through your Capstone Project. Think about what you will need to discover - (what/how/when/why?)
Be prepared to share.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
1. What initiative will drive students to want to be more caring for one another?

2. How does the Caring Schools program benefit my school, and how do we become a caring school?

3. What are the elements of a caring school?

4. How can we address the challenge areas we found through the survey results?

5. Will high school students start to take Making Caring Common (MCC) into consideration more than before?

What steps would you take to ​change ​or ​plan ​a course of action to take a step to correct this problem locally,
ie., service, mentoring, surveys, expert panel, interviews, innovative creation, How will you get your questions
answered?

1. A school-based data driven improvement initiative such as a survey of some sort

2. Resource and intervention to get feedback from the students.

3. Media and messaging strategy development by interviewing individuals.

4.

5.

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8.

TOPIC #2 - Teen Leadership Development in High School

ARTICLE #1 - Paste link to article here -

http://www.noomii.com/articles/774-a-teens-guide-to-leadership-3-steps-to-make-you-a-great-leader

Title/Author/Publisher/Date: A Teen’s Guide to Leadership: 3 Steps to Make You a Great Leader, Ivana
Pejakovic, February 09, 2011

What is the thesis statement of the article?

Every teen has a potential to be a leader.
What problems does the author identify?One common misconception is that leaders are rich and important
people with a great deal of power to control their followers into doing what needs to be done.

What solutions does the author identify? Good leaders gain followers out of respect and their ability to lead
people to work towards a particular goal.

ARTICLE #2 - Paste link to article here -

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/hung-vo/teen-leadership-tips_b_4232868.html

Title/Author/Publisher/Date: 18 Tips To Be a More Successful Young Leader, Hung Vo, November 7, 2013

What is the thesis statement of the article? For anyone aspiring to become a young leader or just a more
effective one.

What problems does the author identify? Be careful to not confuse confidence with arrogance, Never let
someone tell you that you cannot do anything something.

What solutions does the author identify? If something isn’t out there, go create it and never settle for less, and
know the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your team to become successful.

What are the commonalities in the articles?How individuals of many different backgrounds have the drive to
become a leader.

What are the differences in the articles? One article explains how one can become a leader and the other tell
about how they can become a better leader.

Provide five open-ended follow-up questions for further research/investigation. Your questions will drive your
journey through your Capstone Project. Think about what you will need to discover - (what/how/when/why?)
Be prepared to share.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
1.What could you bring to the individuals of this school without using outside help?

2. What defines a strong leader?

3. What motivates teens to become leaders?

4. What are some things that you can gain from becoming a leader?

5. How can you become the best leader that you can possibly be?

What steps would you take to ​change ​or ​plan ​a course of action to take a step to correct this problem locally,
ie., service, mentoring, surveys, expert panel, interviews, innovative creation, How will you get your questions
answered?

1. Interview students on how they feel about leadership

2.Set day to day goals on how to become a better leader.

3.Take initiative and locate the problem.

4.Join a Leadership Club.

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8.

TOPIC #3 - Student Connectedness in High School

ARTICLE #1 - Paste link to article here -

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/fostering-student-pconnectedness-buildin
g-relationships-classroom/

Title/Author/Publisher/Date:Fostering Student Connectedness: Building Relationships in the Classroom,

Melissa McInnis Brown, PhD, and Teresa Starrett, EdD, April 7, 2017

What is the thesis statement of the article? In general, the research literature supports a strong positive
correlation between positive student-instructor interactions—both inside the classroom and out—and student
learning and development.

What problems does the author identify?

How connected impacted their academic success, and how instructors could better foster connectedness in
the classroom.

What solutions does the author identify?

Connectedness was defined for students as “how supported you feel, how comfortable you feel in class, and
your general feeling concerning the classroom learning environment.”

ARTICLE #2 - Paste link to article

here​http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/strategies-building-school-connectedness.shtml

Title/Author/Publisher/Date: Build School Connectedness and Positive Climate: Quick-Start Tips, Celine
Provini

What is the thesis statement of the article?School connectedness is the belief by students that adults in the
school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals.

What problems does the author identify? Shows difficulties with Student-Teacher Connectedness,
School-Student Connectedness, Physical and Emotional Safety, and Academic Engagement and Flexible
Teaching Methods.

What solutions does the author identify? Students must have interpersonal connectedness with staff and
peers, a very engaging environment that is physically and emotionally safe; and an academic engagement.

What are the commonalities in the articles? They both express many different ways to get individuals from the
school connected to one another in one way or the other.

What are the differences in the articles? One article expresses different methods on how to spread
connectedness around school and the other shows how to spread connectedness in the classroom.

Provide five open-ended follow-up questions for further research/investigation. Your questions will drive your
journey through your Capstone Project. Think about what you will need to discover - (what/how/when/why?)
Be prepared to share.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
1. What does school connectedness really mean?

2. How does student connectedness impact behavior as well as education?

3. How will you get students with different interests connected in school?

4. Will student be willing to interact with people that are unknown to them?

5.Is there a specific thing that can be put into action to get more individuals involved with one another and
around school?

What steps would you take to ​change ​or ​plan ​a course of action to take a step to correct this problem locally,
ie., service, mentoring, surveys, expert panel, interviews, innovative creation, How will you get your questions
answered?

1. Demonstrate acts of kindness and empathy.

2.Model behavior that is to be expected for other.

3.Set the bar (standards) high enough so that it’s not to easy to fulfill them and it requires some effort.

4.Have one on one time with an individual in need of help.

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