Category: Clay High School – Team A

Bottom Up Synthesis of CHS Project

Written by Tyler Prestly, Madi Purrenhage, Faisal Shariff, and Michael Yu

After the creation of our gallery wall, the next step in our innovative problem solving process was to look for insights and patterns in the information we had collected. To look for patterns, we tried to clump together insights that occurred two or more times. The following are criteria with which we tried to look at the patterns and then a list of the patterns themselves.

For Each Pattern We Asked:

• Is it a true pattern?
• What is surprising or interesting?
• Was this an unexpected or supported behavior?

 

PATTERN ANALYSIS

*** Image depicts our initial observation of patterns, further progress was made upon these.

1. Word of Mouth is essential in the HS decision making process for students and parents alike.
   • Parents begin talking about the schools when their children are at a young age
     • According to Maria C., and various discussions with current Clay students
       1. Jackson Jones, for example, was mostly influenced by his father’s fandom of Clay athletics and knew he’d attend Clay since childhood.
     • Parents are highly influenced by what their friends and colleagues do
       1. Sophia’s father worked at ND and all of his fellow ND professors sent their children to Adams, so he did too.
       2. Students will also follow where their friends go, like Jackson Jones and David Weaver.

2. Socioeconomic status is a significant variable in school choice and approach.
   • Based on discussions with Maria C., parents from each spectrum
   • High = More financially stable, more resources/wherewithal, agency -> High School Choice made EARLIER(early in a child’s life)
   • Low = Flux, fewer resources, less agency -> High school Choice is made later
     1. Based more on transportation, safety, who they know
     2. Want to be able to make the decision based on academics, but can’t always afford to do so

3. Safety: Every parent wants their children to be safe.
   • Clay has been known in the past to be unsafe do to the students who attend
   • Principal Eid himself talks about the number of expulsions, which can be seen as a positive (Commitment to safety) and a negative (high rate of expulsions = high amount of dangerous students).
   • Students themselves also care about safety:
     1. Sophia B. gave us the insight that Adams is not dramatically safer than Clay. “I was threatened my freshman and sophomore year at Adams… girls told me they were going to cut me.”
     2. Adams just has a better reputation for safety, and Clay is slowly improving theirs.
        1. Maria C.: “Fights do occur at Adams too”
     3. User survey: “I feel safe on campus” led to a score of 3.45/5
     4. In a world of instant access to media, this has become more important and more of a problem (negative press -> less students choosing Clay)

4. Community: Parents want their children to be in a supportive, familial environment with a good energy.
   • McKenna: “When I walk through the halls, I don’t want to see a bunch of students being disciplined. I want to see students and staff being able to interact, joking around, having fun, laughing.”
   • Sue: “When everything’s going smoothly you don’t have as much need for support, but when you have a couple challenges, we’ve had good support from the guidance office and the teachers.”

5. High Expectations: Parents want their children to reach their full academic potential.
   • Based on discussions with various parents and professors
     1. Parents want the school to be challenging
     2. Parents want the teachers to support and push their children to achieve
        

6. Academic Advertising is weak: People think Clay doesn’t have strong academics, and they have not adequately addressed their academic offerings in their marketing.
   • The current marketing materials that Clay has does not have much information on the AP/Dual Credit offerings
     1. SBSC, in the past, restricted them from doing focusing on anything else but the “Arts Magnet”
     2. But in reality Clay has one of the best AP/Dual credit course offerings in the area

7. Importance of College Prep – parents and students alike think it is important that a school prepare them to attend college.
   • This trends more among adults and self-motivated students
   • Adams sends people to Ivy League, Clay does not
     1. Students like Momin M. made Adams as their school of choice because of how an IB diploma would look to colleges
     2. Misconception about college acceptance from Clay (62%-> 4 year colleges)
   • The CTE program is an advantage, but parents need to see college prep too.

8. Where to find information is a complex issue.
   • Maria C. expert conducting research on school choice, believes that a big part of the problem is people don’t have the proper information/know where to find it.
   • People receive their information from a variety of places
   • There is not an established path or method that parents or students know, the process is more nebulous and flowy

9. 
   • Currently the Arts Magnet name provides value in:
     1. Students rank it as an important part of the school
     2. Potential for enhancement of school spaces
     3. It diversifies Clay’s offerings
        1. Education trend towards realizing the potential of art -> Improves outcomes in science and math.
   • Detracts value in:
     1. Weaker academics and athletics
     2. Having a hard time with the academic elements

10. Diversity is a strength of Clay High School
    • Probably one of the most ethnically diverse student bodies amongst high schools in the area
    • This is beneficial because it is a place where other minorities can feel comfortable and safe
    • Additionally, it enriches the learning environment with unique perspectives and backgrounds

11. AP vs. IB should influence the academic perceptions of both schools among the community
    • Clay’s listing of AP courses is not widely known.
      1. Not mentioned in the SBSC pamphlets to prospective students and parents
      2. Clay has the most amount of AP programs and is continuing to grow.
    • Adams may offer the IB program, but few end up with the diploma
      1. Maria, Sophia: “Many enter the IB program, but very few end up completing (only about 15 or so in their year)
      2. AP program is more valuable since having those individual credits can help their college experience more than an incomplete IB track
    • Admissions offices have noted that they value AP course credits as much as IB diplomas
12. CTE is highly successful in preparing students for full time careers.
    • CTE programs have helped students like David Weaver find their place at school in these classes, and go onto reliable jobs after graduation.
      1. Discussion with Auto Shop teacher: Students have gone onto jobs at local auto shops, with little need for job training
         • Making them more attractive candidates for the job
      2. One former student has even been able to find a position at Ford Motors, and has been a major success story for the program
    • Clay has the most diverse listing of CTE programs compared to the other three schools in the district.
      1. One of the upper hands Clay has on the others
         • Main reason why students like David W. chose Clay.
      2. Marketing these listings better to students who may not be academically minded may be able to attract students from other high schools to focus on CTEs as their priority
13. There’s significant pushback from the school district in Clay’s efforts.
    • As seen with marketing decisions, lack of help on school image, promoting Adams as the “academic school”, etc.
    • Efforts will have to rely more on Clay’s resources, rather than what the district can do for Clay.
      1. School district may not be a partner in the final solution.
14. Distance is a dealbreaker for some, but is manageable for most.
    • In the user survey, 16 students “strongly agreed” with the fact that they chose this school because of how close they live to Clay.
    • However, the survey average was a 2.35 out of 5, which suggests that distance is not a factor for most students.
    • As long as transportation is provided, students like those leaving the Clay district to attend Adams are willing to take a longer trip to go to the school of their choice.
      1. The solution should look to target a broad swath of students for the entire South Bend area, not necessarily those from the immediate neighborhood.
15. Lack of school pride and attractions makes word of mouth harder
    • Discussions with various students on campus note the community, the arts magnet as their favorite things about the school
    • User survey: “I am proud to be a Clay Student” results in a 3.6/5.
    • Immersions, however, identify that all of this is restricted to inside the classrooms, and stops in the hallways. Campus is very bland.
    • Immersion experiences point to a restrictive environment, with constant overwatch.
      1. Student to student interaction between classes highly discouraged

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

After identifying important and valid patterns, the team looked through them and prioritized the most important factors. These important factors play into the guiding principles, or the tenants that provide the highest level of direction and organization for concepting.

About Clay and What People Value:

1. I need to feel safe in my school.
   • The perception exists that CHS is a bad choice/unsafe/does not provide value.
   • This is untrue, and proving it incorrect is core to our solutions, it encompasses the whole issue we are trying to address.
   • Parents care about the safety of their children.
   • Joyce – a low income mother of 2. Said she “ain’t got time for her kids to be bullied.”
   • Prof Maria would have sent her kids there if they had wanted to go

1. 
   “But if I had a choice, I would have put them in Clay. It was the most impressive in terms of the full package – arts, athletics, caring community, and dual credits. My kids chose something different because their friends chose something different, which we respected and were fine with.”
2. I value the Arts when choosing a school.
   • Students value the arts magnet.
     • On our graffiti wall, many students noted that the magnet and the arts were important reasons for their HS decision.

• The Card Sort and User Survey also provided insight that the magnet matters.
  1. It was listed as important countless times on the user survey and in the card sort.

• The arts provide value beyond art itself.
  1. The students could create and build a school that looked like an arts magnet.
  2. Well-rounded diversified student interests.
  3. Studying art helps students to more effectively learn math and science.
• “They are very focused on them and have tons of opportunities with the Magnet” – Laura

   3. Academics are of top importance in my school choice.

• “Some of the decision was based on the fact that IB diploma would look best to colleges” – from an interview with Momin Mirza
• IB vs. AP
  1. There is currently a misconception about the value of IB and AP. This misconception leads to the perception that Clay doesn’t provide as much value.
     • “Clay isn’t known to have a lot of high academic rigor, and that was more important to me than the arts. Arts are supplemental, academics was the focus for my family.” – from the interview with Maria Caponigro 

• “The academic element is essential, and the structure for her kids to learn.” – from the interview with Professor Jenny Martin
  

• Parents want their children to be pushed to their potential

 

Appeal to me by Word of Mouth.

1. Influences on the Decision: Word of Mouth, Reputation, and School Pride
   1. In order to drive enrollment, we had to look at what influenced the High School Decision… from our research we are focusing on the three tenets listed above.
   2. Important Insights:
      • Students are choosing schools based on where friends go
      • Parents are choosing schools based on where other parents send their children (Word of Mouth).
      • “Parents pick schools based on word of mouth, based on what their friends say” “Choosing a school in South Bend is like a game of telephone” – Professor Maria McKenna
   3. In order to improve Word of Mouth, you have to influence school reputation.
   4. Marketing Matters. Recreating the Story – the marketing materials,  building bridge with middle school.
      • Specialist at IDEO recommended that when addressing marketing we try and tell a story and identify what story CHS should be telling.

DESIGN CRITERIA

Design Goal:

• What have we learned about target customers?

• Diverse needs: socioeconomic, ethnic, sexual orientation
  • Care about quality of schooling(staying on track), safety, keeping students out of trouble

• Design needs to show parents that Clay High school can provide what they are looking for, that Clay is a good choice and will benefit their children. That Clay is as good if not better than other schools in the area.

• After the analysis of our target market, we believe that our target market should be students as opposed to parents.
  • This means both high school students and middle school students and we will approach our solutions to these groups in different ways.
  • Additionally, there are smart students who currently live in the CHS neighborhood and bus to Adams, addressing those students will be a future focus.
• User Perceptions?
  • Word of mouth
  • CLAY’s identity is extremely important
    • Needs to be defined and spread throughout the school and the corporation, they need to lean on this to attract students
    • Diverse, good academics, safe, Artsy = well-rounded
  • Proposed offering is extremely important, it could benefit them by giving them piece of mind that their children are in good hands, on the right track, and receiving a quality education
  • Aesthetic attributes: Brochure needs to look nice, Clay High school facilities need to be spruced up a little (i.e. locker painting)
  • HUGE reputational aspects

Problems/Needs/Opportunities:

• Preferred outcome is that their children graduate, are on track and prepared for whatever route their future is going down(college, workforce, etc.)
• Paint points:
  • Lack of knowledge/awareness of Clay High School’s offerings, benefits, positive characteristics: about why Clay is good.

Functional Attributes:

• Does the design of the offering need to accommodate specific scenarios?
  • There are a variety of variables that will play into the final offering, and as such, the offering is not expected to have to adapt to every single student.
  • However, the end offering will try to impact and influence students who are artistic, academic, athletic, and a whole slew of other character traits. We hope that it will appeal to a large variety.
• Does the design need to address specific compatibility or standard issues?
  • If the end design involves an upgrade to CHS marketing materials, we will have to ensure compatibility among the current and future materials.
  • We will also have to ensure compliance with SBSC.
  • We will also have to address compatibility with current programming at the school. If we recommend a variety of engagement techniques for middle school students we will need to ensure our recommendations are compatible with the current situation.

Constraints:

• What are the confines of our project work? What limitations might there be?
  • Ideally, we would change the whole way that students and parents approach school choice… and innovate on the system itself.
  • However, there are a variety of limitations that we foresee.

• Clay is starting from behind in terms of attracting academically high achieving students. Adams has the advantage here of precedent, legacy, current situation. Adams has smart students and continues to attract more smart students because of that. Clay has some high achieving students but struggles to attract more (80 of its smartest students are bussing to Adams every morning). These students are KEY to breaking this cycle and making lasting change.

• Obviously there are going to be budgetary constraints. CHS receives funding per student, 6600 vs. 11,000 per student in Penn-Harris-Madison District because of property tax disparity.
• Limitations based on the fact that the SBSC seems to favor Adams
• Constraints on our ability to academically advertise

      

The first workaround is a cooler that is being used as a tv stand.  The second one is a projector stand.  There was a certain spot that the projector was supposed to go, but the design of the projector stand was a straight bar.  The spot that the projector needed to go did not align with any of the studs in the wall so there was a board that tied into the studs which allowed the projector to be placed in the right spot.  The last one is a blanket over a window.  The blinds were not dark enough, so in order to block out more light, a thicker blanket was nailed over the window.

It was a pleasure to meet Principal Eid and Ms. Willis at the gallery day in Stayer Center. I felt that we had a very genuine discussion about the scenario we face at Clay High, and while I expected there to be a lot of overlap of what they already know and what we found in our research, I was glad to see that we were able to identify new factors and trends that may help us address Clay High’s issues. I felt that the journey map was the most valuable part of our day, explaining and pointing out the shortcomings at each moment of the school decision process.

Here were the main takeaways:

• There is a clear obstacle created by the school district government when it uses marketing and brochures to boost Adams High’s appearance and bring down the other three high schools in the area. The school has a lot going against them, but we do think there are ways to circumvent those efforts and contribute to the word of mouth and relationships that helps Clay High get the enrollment.
• We are dealing with two targets: students and parents. Each have their individual needs and goals, so the solution to increase enrollment at Clay will be a multifaceted one. The immersions and ethnographies certainly helped, but we may want to see a few more subsets of students and parents to really get a good sense of the whole population.
• There are very addressable issues with the school’s image. For Clay High to be an art magnet, it should embrace their students’ art throughout the halls, give it color, and enliven the environment. As seen with the immersion, Clay feels repressive, strict, and uninspiring in certain parts of the campus, especially with its patrol and security protocol. Improving those parts may help it make a more inviting place for prospective students.
• As for gaps, I do think that we haven’t really addressed the socioeconomic element of this issue as much. One thing we found and began to consider through our expert interview was that where people attend high school and why they do are drastically different for people with different financial or racial identities. Lower class families are less likely to look at what we assumed to be the primary source for information and will simply rely on word of mouth or just proximity and safety. So while improving the marketing materials may be important, it may be more worthwhile to design a program that revolves around improving how families of Clay students communicate with prospective families. This leads to another discussion – what type of students are we really looking for? Do we simply want to increase enrollment? Or do we want to target a certain socioeconomic class? I do think that while our interviews have provided us with perspective from the extreme ends of the parents, we should pay more attention to the lower income family and minority families more, since it would be more representative of the surrounding South Bend community.

During our trip in Buffalo to cover Notre Dame Men’s Basketball for The Observer, we stayed at a hotel whose bathrooms had sliding doors that didn’t have functioning lock mechanism. There would be a handle that would pop out (as seen above), so we tied a towel around the towel rack and the handle to keep the door from sliding open.

When we returned from the trip, I did my laundry on Sunday, only to find out that the laundry machines were broken and couldn’t drain out the water. So I had to drip dry my clothes after the dryer couldn’t get all the water out. I didn’t have a drying rack, so I had to every possible edge to hang my clothes around my room.

Others in the dorm were less considerate, and hung the clothes over the pipes and the detergent vending machine to do the same.

Date: March 8, 2017

Location: Stayer Center

Time: 9:30 am

It was a great morning with cinnamon bagels, coffee, and great company. It was really enjoyable to see everything come together on the board: our journey map, the user interviews, the expert interviews, the analogous immersions, the ethnographic research etc. I started to see the great benefits the design thinking and the sticky notes. It really helps to see patterns in the research that we’ve done and the information we have gathered from different sources.

We started with the journey map. Entice, Engage, Enter, Exit, and Extend. The key takeaway from Entice is that we need to figure out how to attract students from all of the middle schools. There is currently no academic advertising, it seems that SBSC only allows them to advertise the Arts magnet. We need to figure out the rules pertaining to this issue. In terms of Engage, discipline is one of the big issues. Our clients pointed out that we need to figure out how to flip the high expulsion rate from a negative to a positive. We need to show that it is a no-nonsense school that one can feel safe at and concentrate on their studies. The building itself is old and doesn’t look the best. Given the fact that it is an Arts magnet, we can leverage the skills of the students to spruce the school up a little with murals and paintings around the school. Painting the lockers to a brighter color could make a big difference as well. The extend step is also key because we need to be able to show the success of the students that have graduated from Clay. We need to show that they have gone on to good colleges or good jobs. We need to connect these graduates back to the community and middle schools to encourage students to go to Clay. Word of mouth is key. If people look at Clay in a positive light as a place that equipped and helped their role models become who they are, it will encourage more students to attend Clay in order to emulate them.

While working through the journey map we were able to make connections to the users and their various characteristics. Sophia, for example, is very interested in Arts, yet she chose to go to Adams high school because of the IB program. Additionally, we were able to see from Maria McKenna that she was concerned about safety, high expectations, and keeping their kids involved/out of trouble. We were able to see that Clay has a lot to offer we just need to figure out a way to show everyone that and advertise to the middle schools and parents in a target manner. We need statistics for those that would like statistics, we need simple and to the point advertisements for those that desire that, we need to potentially translate some materials for those that speak a different language, we need simple language for those that might not have gone to college. We need to work on student-teacher relations and ensuring that students feel supported and cared for.

It was really insightful to have Principal Eid and the English teacher there to see all of the research that we have put in and give us their feedback. They did a good job of directing us and keeping us focused by asking, “What does this mean? Or, so what?” Oftentimes, we didn’t have the answers to their questions, but it means we need to do more research and legwork. But I think it was really cool to show them that Clay is a good school. As Professor McKenna said, it is “South Bend’s best kept secret.” I think it made them happy to see that and gave them hope. But there are difficult questions like the reputation and word of mouth that need to be answered and solved that will take time. It will take time for the word of mouth to spread for the eldest children in some families to attend Clay and for their younger siblings to follow. It will take time to re-establish the reputation of Clay in the middle schools and with the parents. We need people to be proud of Clay for it to have an identity. It is not second fiddle to Adams or Penn, it is Clay and its a great place for a student to learn in its own right.

 

 

Work Around Assignment

The following three images are all work-arounds that I noticed on my vacation in Paris and here on ND’s campus.

This sign was hanging in a crowded tourist area upside down so that the arrow would point in the correct direction.

This bike was locked to the edge of a garden instead of to a bike rack like it might have been.

This bike seat is covered by a plastic bag so that it stays dry in the rain.

10 February 2017

Visit/Tour of Clay High School

Location: Clay High School

Time: 8-10 am

Participants: Clay Team A and Team B, Principal Eid

After parking my car in the main parking lot, I walked in through the main door. From the outside, Clay looks like a normal high school, a little old but still in decent condition. After signing in with security, I make my way to the principal’s office. The hallways are lined with plaques, trophies, and artwork, reminiscent of my old high school. We sit down in Principal Eid’s office and discuss the history of Clay, our goals, and Principal Eid’s goals for the project. During this time, we are given a lot of literature on the South Bend Community School Corporation, the various high schools and middle schools. We get numbers on AP/dual class offerings and enrollment. We then are guided on a tour of the school by Principal Eid himself. It is clear that the Arts are a big part of the school as it is an Arts magnet. But another key part of the school is the slate of CTE courses available for those that want to enter the workforce out of high school. The CTE courses include welding, culinary arts, auto mechanic instruction, CNA, EMTN.

 

Key quotes:

“Penn receives 11,000 dollars per student whereas we only get 6,600 per student because of property taxes”

“The voucher system hit the public schools hard”

“The corporation has been losing between 300-500 kids per year, where are those kids going?”

“There is brain drain towards Adams”

“Once bussing started and Clay was no longer a neighborhood school, the demographics changed. You started to see more diversity. You also started to see more gang affiliation”

“We used to have 4-5 fights a day…gangs taking over parts of the school. There was an intersection that teachers used to avoid at all costs. In my first week I expelled 22 students for gang affiliation and destruction of environment. I was trying to set the tone”

“There was a surge of 773, 312 area codes from Chicago. We were inheriting poverty from another state”

“Right now we are at a student body of 1143. Ideally, I’d like us to be at 1400”

“Lasalle has all the smartypants and most of them end up going to Adams”

“Every morning, I watch 80 of the smartest students get bussed to Adams that are from our(Clay) district.”

 

Big issue

Clay has a reputation that precedes itself: poor, diverse, not where high achieving students go. Adams is seen as the crown jewel of the SBSC by the school board, the community, the parents, and the students in middle school. How do you make Clay a place where ALL students want to go because it is a good school on a number of fronts. It has strong academics(AP classes, good teachers will prepare you for college), good arts(for those that are interested, supplements and improves learning in other subjects like math and science), it is safe, it will push students to their potential, it has good athletics(something to be proud of and compete in), it has a good community(where one can feel supported and cared about).

 

3 Key takeways

1. Clay is dealing with a vastly different socioeconomic demographic than Penn, many students on free and reduced lunch. This also means that there are fewer financial resources for the school to work with.
2. Clay used to/still does have the reputation of being the “thug” school. Lots of fights, poorer demographic.
3. Clay has tried to improve itself by getting more AP classes, CTE class offerings, increasing safety.

 

 

Gallery Day Feedback

Initial Thoughts:

Mansour Eid and the teacher who joined him were immensely helpful in their feedback and comments. It was such a pleasure to actually talk to them about our subject; I found that our take-away’s and theirs seemed to align a lot. I do wish that they had given more feedback via the sticky notes, or emailed us their thoughts after gallery day.

It did feel really incredible to have compiled all of that information, and I think our team is excited to move forward and come to more definite conclusions.

The most difficult part of the whole project seems to be where to go from here. Our team has a lot of interesting data, but it is unclear in which direction is the best for us to go to accomplish the intended goals.

What we learned//need to learn in the future:

• Walking through our journey map, we realized which sections of the journey map were more important to our project (Entice and Engage).
• We also talked a lot about the necessary target markets to address in our final solution. Parents? Students? What age for the students? What age for the parents? What demographics of parents and students should we look at?
• I feel like M. Eid could have given us more feedback on what he was looking for or what he wanted, so finding out what it is that he really wants.
• Furthering our research on what the proper demographics to reach out to might be.
• Ranking and assessing what factors are most important in the school choice for parents, students, etc.
• Update our design brief.
• Build out our archetype map — this is complex for us as we want to focus both on parents and students.
  • This might mean creation of more than one archetype map.
• Figuring out WHO our main focus and user should be.
• Assessing all of the BLUE sticky notes that I added

Patterns that Began to Emerge:

• Socioeconomic differences
  • Low income parents care about different things than
• Age differences
  • Time when
• Preference for the magnet
• Lack of academic advertising
• Desire for a more attractive learning environment (school aesthetics)
• Misconceptions about Clay’s strengths and weaknesses
• Preference for Adams due to academic strength and college placement

 

 

Many great insights captured here team!  Some of the key takeaways for me include:

• The role that parents play in the decision of where to go to school – even indirectly as kids strive for that approval
• The importance of “getting it right” – by whose standards?
• Great images of lunch hour at Clay.  It made me anxious just looking at them.  There was a recurring them of the school being uninspiring and restrictive.
• Every school has a stereotype.  How long do these last?  What is the average length of time a school “on top” before another one becomes the top choice?
• The correlation between parent engagement and student performance – how do we account for this for the students that do not have involved parents?
• Loved the comparison of choosing a high school being like a game of telephone!  So true!
• The analogous comparisons to choosing a college were great.  Many of you highlighted a wealth of resources accessed – in-person and online.  How does this compare to high school decisions?
• Is a student enrolled in a high school really worth $65k?!?
• Big discussion on IB v. AP – what does college admissions say on this?

Keep up the great work team!