Last year I created "Words On The Street” in an effort to improve literacy rates among at-risk Philadelphia high school students, specifically black boys. I was inspired to do so because I see myself in them. Having spent my teenage years in an impoverished community, I made it to college only to drop out after two semesters. For the next seven years, I learned my lessons on the streets, eventually ending up homeless. In 1993 I returned to college with a renewed sense of purpose. I graduated cum laude in 1997 and went on to write seven critically-acclaimed novels with major publishers like Random House and St. Martin’s Press. I became an award-winning columnist and an adjunct professor at Temple University. I became a leader, because writing saved my life. I’m determined to help others do the same. Through Words On The Street, I teach writing using a multifaceted approach that includes role modeling, parental involvement, experiential learning, and incentives. Students are taught from a twelve lesson curriculum. They are aided by workshops which I conduct, and a Facebook page containing writing tips. Three student stories created in the program were published by the Philadelphia Daily News last year, and three will be published by the Philadelphia Inquirer this year. The program works because of the dedication of the students, and the non-profits, for-profits, media and community organizations that back them. When we quantified the program’s impact, we found that 755 students and parents received books, 710 students heard my story, 115 students attended writing workshops, and 15 students submitted stories. More importantly, we heard from students like South Philadelphia High School’s Marvin DeVose, who said, "I really appreciated the opportunity to share my writing in this program. I feel really positive about my writing ability and would like to write a book of my own one day." Words On The Street gained widespread attention, resulting in stories like this one from Philadelphia’s CBS 3: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/brotherly-love-words-on-the-street/ My goal is to replicate the program nationwide, but to do so, we’ll need resources to purchase classroom materials, provide the curriculum to teachers, conduct professional development, travel to schools, engage community partners, run student/parent workshops, and most of all, to show students the power of writing. It turned my life around, I know it can change theirs, too.
Words On The Street addresses literacy among black males because the National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that reading scores for black male high school students are lower than those for other groups. Addressing the literacy gap is crucial to improving educational outcomes for black males. According to a Schott Foundation for Public Education study, 72 percent of black male Philadelphia high school students did not graduate on time in 2007-08. These students share a number of characteristics including few social and health services, and lack of parent and community engagement. These students are also more likely to drop out, and according to Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, the most common characteristic of young black men who are victims or perpetrators of violence in Philadelphia is that they are high school dropouts. Therefore, our focus on literacy is not more than an educational issue. It is a means of repairing our community’s most serious ills.
Facilitated by bestselling author Solomon Jones, student/parent workshops will teach participants to analyze elements of story, including plot, character and conflict. The Last Confession curriculum will reinforce these lessons while also examining the impact of life choices such as violence vs. forgiveness. Participants will create their own stories using program methods that will improve critical thinking skills for standardized testing. The best of these stories will be published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the participating school whose end-of-year reading scores improve most will be mentioned in Solomon Jones's next novel. Our strategy is to build literacy through role modeling, experiential learning, parental involvement and incentives. Students will be exposed to role models who reinforce the students' potential, an approach touted by UCLA's Robert Cooper: http://uex.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/38/4/380. For 8 weeks, we will invest 1.5 hours per week in each of five schools. That 90 minute window will allow each school to schedule workshops during one afterschool period or two in-school periods. Our goal for each session is to augment the school's curriculum while using interactive activities that are community, classroom, and internet-based. This will allow us to teach the value of writing through our program introduction, the process of writing through our workshops, the message of writing in our school-based curriculum, and the nuances of writing through our online presence. Our 8 week duration will allow us to build structures that bolster long-term results. In Week 1, Solomon Jones will do a keynote presentation in order to engage students through role modeling and create incentives for greater engagement by announcing the future publication of student stories in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Following that initial presentation, we will provide teachers with lesson plans from The Last Confession curriculum. In Weeks 2 through 5, we'll work directly with students on writing and editing their stories. In week 6, we'll select the winning stories for publication. In weeks 7 and 8, we'll publicize, plan and execute the closing awards ceremony. Using this approach, our 8 week duration will yield year-long results.
Of the 650 students who will participate in the "Words On The Street" program, 100 will show improvement in at least 2 of the following ways by April 30, 2012: - demonstrating the ability to identify three elements of story, including main character, setting, and conflict; - identifying three ways in which literacy is relevant to their lives; - writing one original 500-word story; - increasing PSSA reading score by 2 percent. Our student/parent workshops will consist of several interactive exercises. For instance, a group story plotting exercise will team workshop participants to create main character, supporting characters, setting, conflict, plot and resolution. A second exercise will require participants to write 50-word bios. A third exercise will require students to write down three ways in which literacy is relevant to their lives. At the conclusion of the workshops, the exercises will be collected, and participants will be asked to fill out evaluations. At the conclusion of the student/parent workshops, the written exercises and evaluations will indicate that 100 of the 650 participants will be able to identify three elements of story, including main character, setting, and conflict. The documents will also indicate that 100 of the 650 participants can identify three ways in which literacy is relevant to their lives. During the second phase of the program, students will submit stories that are at least 500-words in length. We estimate that at least 100 of the 650 participants will submit stories. After the completion of the program, students will take PSSA reading tests. Schools will inform us of how many participating students improved their reading scores by at least 2 points. We estimate that at least 100 of 650 participating students will improve their PSSA test scores by 2 points or more.
up to $50,000
Solomon Jones
We'll partner with parents, teachers, administrators and students in five schools. We'll also partner with four entities in addition to the Knight Foundation. St. Martins Press/Macmillan will use its public relations arm to call national attention to the program. Minotaur Books Public Relations Manager Hector DeJean will head that effort. Barnes & Noble Booksellers will coordinate the closing awards ceremony and facilitate the continuing work of Words On The Street by awarding a portion of the Knight Foundation's total contribution for book purchases to the Philadelphia School District to fund future literacy projects. B&N Center City Community Relations Manager Rosene Compaine will lead that effort. The Philadelphia Inquirer will publish student stories in connection with the project. Philadelphia Media Network's Newspapers In Education Coordinator Angie Baylock will lead that effort. Clear Channel Communications will be a media partner. News and Community Affairs Director Loraine Ballard Morrill will lead that effort.