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Milken Educator Mat McClenahan Blogs for PBS Teachers on Closing the Achievement Gap through Technology

March 03, 2008

MILKEN EDUCATOR MAT McCLENAHAN BLOGS
FOR PBS TEACHERS ON CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Throughout March, the award-winning teacher from
HighTechHigh-Los Angeles writes on how to use technology in the classroom to level the playing field for students

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (March 3, 2008) – Mat McClenahan, a high school teacher at HighTechHigh-Los Angeles and a recipient of a prestigious $25,000 Milken Educator Award in 2005, is the March guest blogger on PBS Teachers' Media Infusion blog. In addition to outlining specific examples of how to incorporate information technology in the classroom, the blog, titled "Bridging the Achievement Gap with Media and Technology," will examine how technology-infused assignments empower students at all achievement levels to take charge of their own learning (http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mediainfusion).

"There are no ignorant kids," believes McClenahan. "They are the foremost experts on their lives. If we can connect their lives with the material we want them to know then they will find success." He adds that at HighTechHigh-LA, an innovative public charter school conceived as a model for the 21st century, "we believe that the most effective teaching and use of technology starts with the end in mind. By creating a need-to-know, students become the authors of their own learning."

Expressing his appreciation at the opportunity to write the March blog, McClenahan stated, "PBS Teachers is an organization with resources I trust. As educators, we are always looking for best practices. Through the exchange of ideas, we can learn the best of the best from one another."

PBS Teachers (www.pbs.org/teachers), a Web site launched last March, offers multimedia resources and professional development for America's pre-K-12 educators. Rapidly gaining in national acclaim, the site provides classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels as well as thousands of lessons plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. The resources are correlated to state and national educational standards and are tied to PBS' award-winning on-air and online programming.

McClenahan finds innovative ways to get his students involved in active learning experiences at HighTechHigh-LA. He planned and organized a Museum Night for his tenth-grade world history classes, in which students researched and created museum exhibits showing different aspects of the culture, technology and history of ancient Rome. On display for fellow students, parents, school faculty and community members to see, the students' museum even included a gift shop.

A key staff member since the school's inception, McClenahan helped HighTechHigh-LA become the only Los Angeles campus to score 100 percent on both the English and math portions of the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Though he began as a social studies teacher, McClenahan added math classes to his schedule, teaching students at three different levels of math and helping every one of them advance academically. When the University of California at Santa Barbara approached the school about establishing a summer satellite program for juniors and seniors interested in taking college classes for credit, he worked with administrators at both Birmingham High School and UCSB to reconfigure the school's technology infrastructure, help bring the program online, and take charge of the admissions process.

With a course schedule including Statistics, Economics, Government, Philosophy and American History, McClenahan acknowledged that "teaching a variety of subjects helps to keep me on my toes as well as connected and interested in what's going on in the world." He is the third Milken Educator to serve as a guest blogger on Media Infusion, following Wade Whitehead (VA '00) and Justin Minkel (AK '06).

The Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards program (www.mff.org) provides public recognition and financial rewards to elementary and secondary school teachers, principals and other education professionals who are furthering excellence in education. By honoring outstanding educators, the program strives to attract, motivate and retain talented people to the challenge and adventure of teaching.

In the early 1980s, education reform pioneer Lowell Milken conceived and created the Awards program to acknowledge educators' crucial contributions to our national well-being. His main belief was—and is—that effective ways to advance the teaching profession are to reward educators' achievements, enhance their resources and expand their professional interests.

From its original presentation of awards to a dozen California educators, the program has grown to national stature. Over 2,300 outstanding K-12 educators across the United States have been recognized and celebrated with unrestricted Milken Educator Awards of $25,000 since the Awards' inception.

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