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BY ROSARIO PAZ

In print | Published February 14, 2008

This semester, when preparing curriculum and activities for students of Chester, Blueprint Project tutors and mentors are bearing in mind the upcoming Pennsylvania System of School Assessments while also trying to lessen the burden of tedious test preparation.

According to Tim Sams, Assistant Dean and Director of the Black Cultural Center, although the Blueprint Project’s purpose is not to deal directly with the issue of standardized testing, it is an inevitable part of public schooling that will be addressed and incorporated into the schedule of the project. “What we realized is that there is very little way around it,” Sams said. “The curriculum has been modified to bring more of that information in … The curricular piece, the PSSA piece, is a curriculum question of concern that has been responded to by the person who wrote our curriculum for our aspect of the program.”

Charmaine Giles ’10, Head Coordinator of the Blueprint Project and the main person concerned with responding to this curriculum issue, has worked towards incorporating more PSSA material into the program.

“This semester, the mentors and myself focused and are focusing on how to actually take the PSSAs,” she said. “I took examples from previous curriculum used in the project.”

Previously, the tutors have focused on teaching the students the basics of a five-paragraph essay, brainstorming and how to organize writing ideas.

Currently, they are working upon expanding on the basic writing knowledge gained from previous semesters. Tutors are also working on having the students to solve math problems and improve upon reading comprehension.

“We don’t want to make them write essays all over again, but we want to recap what they’re already doing,” said Tigest Tamrat ’08, one of the Blueprint tutors.

“I think the literacy part and the writing part is the most challenging part for the students … That is what we tend to focus on,” Tamrat said.

According to Giles, there is awareness that not all of the students are going to be enthusiastic about upcoming test-prep or optimistic about their chances going into the test.

“Unfortunately, a lot of the things they are learning in school are not even close to what’s on the test,” Giles said. “So, you have students that are not going to know all the questions. They just kind of predict their failure before it even happens.”

Consequently, tutors and mentors alike are making efforts towards not only academically preparing Chester students to pass the PSSAs but are also integrating “self-esteem builders” to address whatever emotional distress students may be experiencing come test-taking time.

“We tell the children, ‘you know this already even though you think that you don’t know it, but now you just need to take it to the next level,’” Giles said. “I would be lying to say all the students were like ‘Yeah! Let’s learn the PSSAs!’ As long as we get some of them to feel more comfortable, and the others that are not so comfortable, at least they’re still learning.”

Tutors also try to appeal to the practical benefits that may come with putting efforts towards doing well on the test. “I just respond that this is a life skill that you need, whether you pass or don’t pass the PSSAs,” Tamrat said. “We let them know that this is going to be useful. They’ll have to take the test again when they’re in 11th grade, so if they’re studying now, they can get a good basis for later.”

Outside of testing preparation, the Blueprint Project has managed to balance the academic efforts of their initiative with the personal counseling efforts they provide for the students.

According to Giles, the project has tried to maintain a 1:1 tutor/tutee ratio in order to provide students with personalized attention that may be harder to obtain in their regular classrooms.

“Without the mentors, I don’t think this would even be possible. The mentors sometimes stay after and talk about how we can make it better, why some students are resistant about it and what we can do about it,” Giles said. The Blueprint Project also incorporates non-academic activities and opportunities for the children to participate in, including taking a visit to the African-American Museum in Philadelphia.

According to Sams, for the Blueprint Project to take on more PSSA-related material is not going to be an adverse change, particularly with the addition of field trip outings and recreational activities.

“It wouldn’t be that dramatic an issue for the students in the program, since they have to do PSSA material everyday in the school,” he said. “I guess I would be surprised that they would find it outlandish.”

The Blueprint Project meets every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday to tutor and mentor students at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s Wellness Center and Chester’s Smedly Middle School. It is funded by a Youth Empowerment Grant received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health.

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