KP Compass 7 Success Stories: One year of pioneering online mastery

KP Compass has been live for just over a year now.  Born from over ten years of experience creating the next digital textbook for culinary arts as a software solution, KP Compass achieves the company's dream of putting digital content with a next generation mastery system in the palms of the students' hands.  KP Compass is used in over 100 institutions. Here are a few success stories we've gathered from these early pioneers as they learn how to use this new method of reaching students that goes above and beyond the simple e-book/iBook.
Job Corps Centers FTW At the Potomac Job Corps Center, Chef William "Tee" Danley teaches a different set of youth than your standard public school.  They come in at different times and he has to teach the entire lot of them according to when they entered.  He took KP Compass's Culinary Arts curriculum and aligned the modules to the Job Corps National Standard (called TAR) and created 11 open entry modules. Students are required to complete each module before they can move on to the next. From day one, the students became engaged with the system.  Chef Tee's first problem was that he didn't have enough computers to satisfy the students in class or in their dorms.  Seeing immediate results from the system, he realized that students were completing the modules at an accelerated rate of up to 200%, which made them more knowledgeable and gave them more time for labs.  He says, "This is the most amazing program I've seen in my entire 20-year teaching career and it has truly transformed my class into what I want it to be, a dynamic and engaging system that grabs my student's attention." If you have ever been to a Job Corps Center, you know that teaching these kids out of a book is tough. Chef Tee found that using computers and having students compete in the mastery system really drives their spirit of competition.  He makes full use of the built-in leader board because it takes advantage of their competitive natures.  "I've never seen my students this wrapped up in book learning and now they come to class understanding what they are doing rather than just going through the motions.  The best part is the access to the videos. I rarely need to show them what to do. They already know it!" Chef Tee has had incredible success with KP Compass.  Feel free to contact me and I will share his contact information with you so you can hear it for yourself. Charter School Success Chef Aaron Link teaches at Vista Academy, a new charter school in Denver, Colorado.  When Aaron first called wanting some online videos, he found out about KP Compass and how it goes beyond just offering videos with a few simple quiz questions online.  He immediately noticed how the leveling system fits the model at his school by assessing levels of knowledge rather than assigning letter grades. He teaches youth on a variety of levels and loves how he can customize the content, even individualizing the instruction for a single student to help him/her through the class.  This is the level of care and attention to detail that makes Aaron's program one of the finest in the region. Watch Aaron talk about his experience in this short 3 minute video. http://youtu.be/r6qKTP38nM4	High Schools with Video Testimonials NW Career and Technical Academy is nestled in the far outskirts of Clark County in Las Vegas, Nevada.  This multi-million dollar career center was built with technology in mind.  When they adopted the Sous Chef, it became an incredible in-class resource for the students and instructors.  Clark County had visions of going one-to-one using mobile technology, and KP Compass gave them the opportunity to put the Sous Chef content and videos directly in the hands of the students. But don't take my word for it.  Watch these videos and hear what they have to say. Michael Pitman, Dept Chair http://youtu.be/bXfEwt57Bkc Shannon Kelly-Smith, Freshmen and Sophomores http://youtu.be/3oGijSsJF30 Brenda Hitchins, Baking and Pastry http://youtu.be/bQ0q75Jhp-k And from the students themselves! http://youtu.be/fVI4XLc8w6M Overcoming the Computer Hurdle Chef Henry, from Roanoke Public Schools, admits he doesn't use computers much at all and the prospect of having to use an online system would not be his first choice for an instructional aid.  Chef Henry worked at CIA for 20 years and just entered into education in the past year.  He wanted a way to engage his students, which textbooks weren't doing, so he turned to KP Compass. Despite the slight learning curve, Chef Henry learned how to use the system and got his students online in less than a week.  He saw immediate changes in student engagement with the content and got valuable feedback from the mastery system.  He admits that the online system will change the way he teaches, and he is willing to make these adjustments because of the positive student response. Jack on Leveling and Aprons Jack Aldrich has always had a dynamic class at Huot Technical Center.  Jack deals with many youths who are unmotivated in the school system.  He devised a way to encourage student participation and drive competition with a system of colored aprons that shows what "level" each student is in the class.  Students get higher level aprons by completing paper quizzes.  If they do poorly on a quiz, they will have the opportunity take it again to gain that level of achievement.  In their final year, if they make the grade they will receive their very own chef's coat. When Jack saw KP Compass' leveling system, he was amazed by how similar it was to his own classroom motivational practices. Using KP's Automatic Remediation and Mastery System, Jack no longer needs to print out paper tests and manually enter scores into a spreadsheet.  The system not only allows for students to take quizzes online but because of the mastery system, they rarely get the same questions in a row.  The students have embraced this new format and have become even more engaged in his class.  Jack takes full advantage of KP ARMS and the leader board.	Michael Riggs at a College Chef Michael Riggs, at Bowling Green Technical College in Kentucky, has always been a pioneer in instructional technology.  He started implementing digital resources using the Sous Chef back in 2004, and technology is an integral part of his growing program.  When KP Compass became available in the fall of 2011, he first tested the new system with one class to see how his students would react to online instead of using computers in the classroom.  The results have been very positive. Chef Riggs customized the modules to his course and had his students purchase KP Compass instead of a textbook for use at home.  He picked out the learning modules related to his Garde Manger class and further customized them with additional information.  When the students log in, they know what they are expected to learn for the semester and they test themselves in the mastery system prior to coming to class.  He made it a mandatory exercise to achieve at least Apprentice level to gain class participation for the work done.  He has also seen improvements in the students' research and writing skills by having the digital assets online.  As a result, his students now come to class ready to discuss topics and perform skills.  KP Compass has really maximized his time in the kitchen and labs. Now going into the Spring semester, he has fully implemented KP Compass in all five of his college courses.  Next year, they are looking at ways to implement the Kindle Fire or similar tablets to completely eliminate textbooks in his program. Rick Teaching Teachers Chef Rick Martinez teaches a different set of students.  At Middle Tennessee University he is in charge of getting teachers ready to teach culinary arts through two semester-long courses.  His students are all adult learners who intend to become educators.  He has to teach a lot of information in a very short time frame.  He found KP Compass and loved how the content could be molded to fit his two classes.  Once the course was customized, his students purchased the "books" from KP and used them to study before meeting once a week. As the semester progressed, Rick noticed that his students were more engaged and ready to go into labs, saving him a lot of instructional time.  The mastery system allows him to check on their progress through the learning modules and see how prepared they are for the final exam.  Since the class is still in action, we will ask at the end of the semester if they preferred KP Compass over the textbook / lecture style of teaching.

Can Culinary Arts Be Taught Online? Yes it Can!

Culinary Arts Online: “a success story”

Using technology to facilitate distance learning is not a new concept. Culinary arts, a hands-on career and technical education field may seem to be a different story but does not necessarily need to be so to enable students to learn practical skills for a trade, career advancement and potential for further degree attainment.

Scottsdale Community College has proven through effective use of technology using Sous Chef and KP Compass combined with designed curriculum that culinary arts can be taught online to provide an opportunity for students to obtain a certificate of completion while enabling those that are outside the usual student profile to go forward with a degree. SCC students receive the instruction on the necessary skills through computer access and produce products required to show skills established.

By adopting an online model of instruction, schools can now provide an opportunity for students who otherwise would not have access due to time or geographical constraints to learn culinary arts. The direct result of this for SCC was a significant increase in their Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE).

KP Culinary Arts with KP Compass enables post-secondary institutions to create online and hybrid classes for trades-orientated curricula. Students in this hybrid model come to class with the base skills in place and ready to refine their skills because they review content assigned by the instructor, complete assignments and take tests outside of class. Instructors then used their instructional time in the online classroom to take the student to a higher knowledge level and address any additional refinements.

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Can Culinary Arts Be Taught Online?

Yes it Can! A School Success Story.

Using technology to facilitate distance learning is not a new concept. Since the early 80s, learning over the computer has been the solution for students who lived in isolate, rural areas with limited educational resources.  Academic subjects such as science, math and language can easily be taught through a computer-based medium.  

For culinary arts, a hands-on career and technical education field, it is a different story.  Students are learning practical skills for a trade and they need to practice those techniques, often under the supervision of a master craftsperson.  In CTE fields, learners can’t just read about a subject and master it; they have to be shown the skills by a teacher. Technology has augmented education over the years and it has application even in a hands-on CTE subject. 

Scottsdale Community College (SCC), located in Scottsdale, AZ, has proven, through effective use of technology and a very thorough curriculum, that culinary arts can be taught online. SCC students received the instruction on the necessary skills at home or in a computer lab. 

For the past three years, SCC has been piloting KP Culinary Arts Online for their culinary arts courses.  Using the Sous Chef and KP Compass, instructors designed courses that fit their 101-104 class structure.  The digital “books” were custom created to fit the needs of the institution with text, video, activities, and tests. 

Karen Chalmers, Program Director for Culinary Arts at SCC envisioned classes without borders.  "By adopting an online model of instruction, we can now provide an opportunity for students who otherwise would not have access due to time or geographical constraints to learn culinary arts.  The direct result of this for SCC was a significant increase in our Full-Time Student Equivalent (FTSE).

KP Culinary Arts with KP Compass enables post-secondary institutions to create online and hybrid classes for trades-orientated curricula.  Students in this hybrid model come to class with the base skills in place and ready to refine their skills because they review content assigned by the instructor, complete assignments and take tests outside of class.  Instructors then used their instructional time in the classroom to take the student to a higher knowledge level and address any additional refinements.

Upon completing a module, the students will know which concepts they have mastered and which areas they need to work on to gain the next level of mastery.  The program can be used by any device with a web browser, such as laptops, iPads and smart phones.

“Access is key.  Providing access through technology increases the pace of skills development and helps teachers focus on taking students to the next level of understanding.  The precious time instructors have with their students can be used to create those key aha moments rather than to address material that students can and should learn on their own,” said Nai Wang, founder and president of KP Education Systems.

A New Role for CTE by Mary Horne, Editor in Chief

The Millennium Generation describes the students currently occupying middle and high school classrooms across the country--the ones that teachers repeatedly must ask to "unplug" and pay attention. This particular generation has been the subject of countless news articles highlighting their disappointing performance on international reading, math and science tests, raising doubts about their ability to compete in a world economy.

The struggle to reach the Millennium Generation is evident in the concentration of professional development courses focusing on methods of educating these high-tech students, many of whom have short attention spans and very little interest in their teachers' "antiquated" teaching practices. The ultimate goal of these seminars and inservices is to raise test scores and school ranking while attempting to prepare this generation for the adult world of work and citizenship. Are the students in the American public education system sufficiently acquiring literacy, numeracy, and technological skills to survive global competition? Will those who do not move on to higher education, as well as those who do, be prepared to meet demands of the 21st century work force? Educators in all fields feel the pressure, but more expectations are falling on career and technical education (CTE) teachers than ever before.

Two major players in improving education to meet the needs of 21st century learners are technology and CTE. According to Dr. Bill Daggett, founder and President of the International Center for Leadership in Education, "The changing American workplace is impacted by fast changing technologies. Leaders must prepare graduates for this rapidly changing world by instilling the concept of lifelong learning in a technological world." In order to motivate the Millennium Generation to appreciate lifelong learning and to adapt to ever changing educational and career demands, educators must utilize the technology that is such an integral part of their students' experience. Administrators are now expecting teachers to become proficient in technology they never had as students. CTE teachers today not only need to stay on top of the professional standards of their particular fields, but they also need to learn new technological skills, many of which their students have already mastered.

In addition to updating equipment and training staff to keep up with technology, schools are also challenged to make the core skills--reading, writing, science and math-- relevant to the students, to show them that their academic achievement is directly tied to the quality of life they will have after they leave school. CTE has been identified as the ideal setting for students to put literacy, numeracy, science/technology and critical thinking skills into meaningful practice. Dr. Daggett and staff at the International Center for Leadership in Education developed the Rigor/Relevance Framework™ , which incorporates the six cognitive levels of Bloom's Taxonomy with five levels of knowledge in action, to illustrate the ideal combination of high academic standards and real-world applications in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The Framework functions as a plan for instruction (either at the classroom, institution or community level) and the goal of this plan is for students to finish school with the ability to use the higher level thinking skills that are outlined in Bloom's Taxonomy in conjunction with knowledge of multiple disciplines (math, science, language) to create solutions to unpredictable problems and situations.

Although "Writing Across the Curriculum" and "Crosswalk to CORE" are not entirely new concepts in public education, Daggett's position is that merely reinforcing some core academic skills in the CTE classroom is not enough to prepare 21st century learners for the demands that they will face in the work force. "Career and technical education," argues Daggett, "must be seen as a primary deliverer of strong academic preparation." He proposes that schools need to restructure from a program in which core knowledge is taught in a vacuum, removed from practical applications, to an "applied academics program where vocational skills become the platform in which the academic skills are delivered." School improvement, according to Daggett, is not just a matter of raising standards, because rigor alone does not make students successful outside of the classroom. "Relevance makes rigor possible,” says Daggett. For the highest achievement, students must be able to apply the knowledge to situations they might actually encounter in their careers, rather than simply study the concepts detached from relevant contexts. While restructuring to fit the Rigor/Relevance Framework™ might not be in every school's near future, teachers can still use the basic principle of multidisciplinary knowledge in action as a guide to address the needs of their students in their curriculum and to prepare for the future. For Millennium Generation learners, and the generations that follow, career pathways are vehicles for relevance and rigor.

This new attention on career pathways might cause some anxiety for CTE teachers who are unsure of the many expectations that are being placed upon them; however, CTE educators and students benefit from this exciting shift in education that emphasizes application, rather than just acquisition, of knowledge. Courses that were once considered "elective" and of secondary importance to the core academics are now becoming center stage in 21st century learning. Students' interest in the professional field can be used as motivation to foster competence in the core skills--skills that are not separate from the profession, but are in fact integrated within it and necessary for students to achieve their highest potential. Many of these skills are reinforced (even if informally) in the CTE classroom anyway, but perhaps not enough. Taking a more holistic approach to education will be a challenge, but it is also a prime opportunity for educators to contribute in the development of a skilled, competitive, and adaptive American workforce.

"The great aim of education is not knowledge but action."
Herbert Spencer, 19th century philosopher

Mary Horne

Vegas Schools Bet on Technology

Las Vegas High Schools' Clark County School District: Leaders and innovators in culinary arts education.

Clark County School District (CCSD), located in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, is a leader in educational innovation. CCSD is answering a question that faces educators today: How do teachers and administrators reach the modern millennial learners in a multimedia driven world? Students today spend most of their time 'plugged in'. They communicate, interact, and learn differently than any other generation. CCSD used this theme as the guideline for redesigning and reinvigorating their high school culinary arts programs.

Las Vegas is home to a booming restaurant industry. The cheap all-you-can-eat buffets on the Vegas strip are being replaced by fine dining establishments that boast renowned chefs and unique cuisine. Just as the change is occurring to the Vegas facade, the educational landscape is undergoing a "makeover" as well. For Clark County, the top priority is designing curricula that will engage today's millennial learners and develop tomorrow's industry professionals.

Led by Nancy Hamilton, CCSD's forward-thinking Career & Technical Education (CTE) Director, CCSD has pioneered the integration of the latest technologies, trends, equipment and methodologies into their culinary arts classroom. With Hamilton's guidance and support, every Clark County culinary arts teacher worked together to create joint lesson plans that would be integrated at a district-wide level. These lessons were built using the same computer-based culinary arts resource.

The process was simple and ingenious. CCSD took the 28 units of study that directly correlate to Nevada’s competencies for the Hospitality and Tourism Career Cluster and distributed them among 24 of their teachers to write a complete lesson plan for their assigned unit. In less than six months, the team had completed the entire process of developing unit plans, lessons, worksheets and activities. Then, they took the information from each teacher and fully integrated them into a culinary arts computer program in less than a week.

Now CCSD has a cohesive and unified culinary curriculum. Every teacher is on the same page and is teaching the same material. Furthermore, by fully utilizing a computer-based educational framework, teachers in CCSD schools now access all of their tools and materials from one convenient location. The software integration has fostered a media-rich curriculum that is ideal for administrators, teachers, and students:

• For administrators, CCSD is presently realizing the benefits and measuring the results of a successful program.
• For teachers, the transition is a dream come true, and it has never been easier to train culinary arts professionals from a high school classroom.
• For students, the CTE classroom has never been more dynamic, enjoyable, and relevant to the needs of the food service industry.

Technology and education change as rapidly as the Las Vegas skyline. As the culture of the city, its students, and its industries evolve, it is clear that CCSD will continue to lead the charge.