When students at the Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center plan and organize school events, engage in the annual PTA membership drive, and advocate for an outdoor learning center to city officials, they are not missing out on their education. In fact, these activities are considered to be the core curriculum at this elementary school. Teachers at Alice Carlson view such projects as the real work of school and design their lessons around them as part of their educational philosophy known as "applied learning."
The underlying idea at Alice Carlson is that the school is project-driven and writing-intensive. According to Sally Hampton, a former director of writing and applied learning for the Fort Worth school district, who helped establish the Alice Carlson Center in 1992, they teach content using various resources besides textbooks, such as the library and community members. Principal Maria J. Lamb, who also played a role in establishing the school, adds that they strive to make every activity meaningful for the students. For instance, in the case of the PTA drive, Nancy C. Box’s 3rd grade class was responsible for creating posters, making announcements, collecting membership dues, graphing the amounts raised, and running a contest to see which class could raise the most money. Ms. Box supervised the project, but allowed the students the freedom to choose how to accomplish the tasks. Throughout this process, the students not only enhanced their mathematics skills but also learned about responsibility, teamwork, and public speaking.
Ms. Box emphasizes that these activities are not mere side projects, but rather fully cover the curriculum. Applied learning can be interpreted differently by different people. It can refer to focusing on specific skills that are essential for survival in the adult world, such as communication or organization. Additionally, it can mean structuring lessons around specific projects and using those projects as a means to teach particular skills. This concept has long been embraced by educational theorists.
While some schools occasionally adopt the latter approach in the form of service learning, project-based learning, vocational education, or contextual learning, very few go to the extent that Alice Carlson does, according to Ms. Hampton. Willard Daggett, the president of the International Center for Leadership in Education, based in Albany, New York, believes that applied learning is more of an exception than a rule. He argues that many educators mistakenly believe they are implementing applied learning when in reality, the connections are artificial and lack authenticity. This misconception arises from the belief that involving students in real-life applications takes away valuable time from academic subjects.
However, Alice Carlson has demonstrated that its students can excel on standardized tests. The school received "recognized" status from the state education agency this year for its performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. To achieve this status, a school must have at least 85 percent of all designated subgroups, including Hispanic, African-American, and low-income students, pass the TAAS test. The student population at Alice Carlson reflects the demographics of the district as a whole. The success of the school has led to the establishment of an applied-learning middle school and another applied-learning elementary school in the Fort Worth district, driven by demand from parents.
Parent Ed Coble, whose two children graduated from Alice Carlson and one currently attends kindergarten there, expresses his satisfaction with the school’s approach and success. Alice Carlson’s impact extends beyond the district level, as it has influenced the philosophy of the New Standards reform project, initiated by the National Center on Education and the Economy based in Washington. The school played a pivotal role in piloting performance standards for New Standards and its teachers have contributed to developing curricula for the project, aligning themselves with the New Standards philosophy.
Sally Hampton, who now serves as the director of language arts for the national project, acknowledges that a significant portion of the work in applied learning of New Standards originates from Fort Worth.
Overall, the Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center has found a receptive audience at the local, provincial, and national levels due to its innovative approach and positive outcomes.
Caroline Hills, a 10-year-old student, expressed that one of the major challenges she faced during the project was conducting interviews with adults over the phone. "Initially, I felt anxious and unsure about what to expect on the call, whether the adults would be rude," shared Caroline, who is currently in the 4th grade. Caroline emphasized the significance of the school history project as it allowed them to learn about what school was like in the past.
According to Ms. Bolling, the project’s impact on class time was not a concern for her. She believed that the writing experience gained from such a project alone covers the curriculum for three years.
Promoting Confidence
When teachers are not engaged in larger projects with their students, they seek to incorporate real-world applications in smaller activities. For instance, they may have students conduct surveys on food preferences among their peers for an upcoming event and create charts displaying the percentage of each choice. Another common practice is having students create "brochures" on various topics, like the "snake museum" located in the school’s basement. This museum serves as a real-world application itself. Kindergartners work on this exhibit, crafting posters featuring snake facts and creating model snakes using materials like cardboard or clay after visiting a local museum.
To teach the concept of symmetry, Ms. Bolling asked her students to draw pictures on graph paper of symmetrical objects found in their homes. The following day, some students were discussing among themselves whether their refrigerators were symmetrical or not, depending on the position of the handle. One student even mentioned that he himself was asymmetrical because he had a mark on one foot but not the other. When teachers are unable to find a direct real-world connection for a certain lesson, they do not fret. Cherrie D. Jones, a 4th-grade teacher, explained, "Not every lesson needs to be applied learning. We study geometry, but these kids aren’t going to go out and construct a building." Nevertheless, once teachers adopt the applied-learning mindset, ideas for real-world applications come more naturally to them. The Fort Worth district has been offering teacher training in applied learning since 1991. Mary Marsh, an applied-learning specialist for the district, estimates that 300 to 400 teachers, primarily at the elementary level, have received training in this methodology.
The lack of such training in other school districts across the country is one of the reasons why there aren’t more schools like Alice Carlson, as stated by Ms. Hampton. She explained, "In today’s world of high-stakes assessment, it’s much simpler to teach specific skills and monitor progress based on those skills. Schools that go beyond this approach are taking a risk." Ms. Box, an elementary teacher with 26 years of experience, has been implementing applied learning in her classroom for the past seven years and believes it’s a risk worth taking. She stated, "This approach empowers students to become confident learners. They start believing they can achieve anything, and indeed, they can. They are capable of accomplishing far more than people may imagine."
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