Dr. Richard Wertheimer Assistant Principal Certifications Offered Microsoft Office Specialist Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook   Certiport Center City Charter High School Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In his own words: "Many at-risk students were interested in taking the exams and were excelling in the program. Even students who were regularly skipping school would come back to take their Office Specialist exams."

Nearly 200 Microsoft Office Specialist Certifications Are Awarded as Pennsylvania Charter High School Prepares Students for 21st-century Success
Student certification achievements exceed school's expectations, offer students educational and employment benefits

City Charter High School was established to provide Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, high school students a learning environment rich in technology, real-world job skills, and motivation to proceed to post-secondary education and meaningful careers. Microsoft® Office Specialist certification was built into the school’s core technology courses to ensure students graduate with an industry-standard certification that validates their computing skills.

BACKGROUND
Established three years ago, City Charter High School is a public, non-profit charter school. Enrollment is open to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, city and suburban residents who choose to apply. The school was specifically designed for the 21st century: every student and staff member receives a laptop computer for school and home use and has access to the school’s wireless network, printers, and other technology resources. In addition, City Charter High School provides parents, students, and staff access to a robust online management system, which offers student records, grades, attendance, and assignment information.

City Charter High School‘s mission is to prepare its students academically, technically, personally, and socially to participate and succeed in post-secondary academic pursuits, as well as to gain employment in technology-related fields. To support this goal, the school provides students comprehensive training and testing, as well as opportunities to earn industry-standard certifications, starting with the Office Specialist certification.

“The Office Specialist certification is really the reason this school was started in the first place,” said Dr. Richard Wertheimer, assistant principal and one of the founders of City Charter High School. While he was employed at an inner-city school, Wertheimer was introduced to Office Specialist. “Many at-risk students were interested in taking the exams and were excelling in the program. Even students who were regularly skipping school would come back to take their Office Specialist exams. They liked the external validation this certification provides.

As part of its initiative to provide work skills, City Charter High School offers students a number of courses focusing on basic and advanced computing technology. Ninth-grade students take an Applied Technology class, which includes instruction in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Tenth-grade students take a Multimedia Technology class, which focuses on Internet skills, HTML programming, and the use of graphics software. Eleventh-grade students take a single-semester course that emphasizes additional computer technology, including Microsoft PowerPoint®, Access, and Outlook®. In both the ninth- and eleventh-grade courses, students are encouraged to take Office Specialist exams. “We push them to take the tests,” Wertheimer said.

PROCESS
“Nearly all of our students know a little bit about Microsoft Office programs when they enter one of our self-paced courses,” Wertheimer said. “But what they have learned as they leave a course has far exceeded what we hoped.”

Sarah Douglas , a City Charter High School technology teacher, uses ComputerPREP® Microsoft Office Specialist Approved Courseware to prepare her students to earn Office Specialist certifications. The adult-level courseware teaches students how to use and work with the Microsoft Office system of business productivity programs. “I realigned the content slightly to fit logically with how students are learning,” Douglas said. She also produced seven Microsoft Word and six Microsoft Excel practice tests to assess student knowledge of the material. In addition, students tutor and test one another by watching each other perform tasks in the computing environment.

Wertheimer recently called attention to the value of having the students work and teach each other the skills required to earn Office Specialist certifications. “This type of learning is an innovation,” he said. “It is the heart and soul of the school’s program. When one student watches another student, it reiterates what they know.”

After students successfully pass practice tests with scores of 80 percent or higher, they are ready to take Office Specialist exams. “But first, they must show me they know any components they didn’t pass on the practice tests,” Douglas said. “I’ve found that when they show me they know the material, it also builds their confidence. The need for students to retake exams reduces over time. Tension decreases and confidence increases as more and more students pass the exams.”

“The coursework really followed the exams,” said Logan Lockhart, a tenth-grade City Charter High School student who is a Microsoft Office Specialist Master with certifications in Microsoft Word (Specialist and Expert), Excel (Specialist and Expert), PowerPoint, and Outlook . “We were prepared well to pass the tests.”

Students are only required to pay $5 when they take Office Specialist exams. City Charter High School pays the remaining portion of the exam fee using its instructional operating budget. “ This is significant,” Wertheimer said. “Having students take these exams is just as important as money spent on books, instructional supplies, and other assessments. The money does not come from foundations. The exams are considered an operating expense.”

Student exam outcomes not only result in valuable certifications, but also contribute to student grades. “Ninth graders may apply 10 percent of their test scores toward their final class grades,” Douglas explained. “They are encouraged to certify in both Microsoft Word and Excel, but if they choose not to take an exam, they are not penalized. In eleventh grade, students must pass these two certification exams to pass the course. They may also take additional exams if they want to, including Access and Outlook.”

CERTIFICATION
All of City Charter High School’s students are required to take the Computer Technology course to graduate. “I am confident nearly all of our students will be Office Specialist certified as a result of taking the course,” Wertheimer said

To date, 85 students in next year’s graduating class have earned 199 certifications. Forty students in the subsequent year’s graduating class have already earned 74 certifications.

This past semester, two classes challenged each other to see who could get the most Office Specialist certifications in a set time period. “They even hung a thermometer on the wall to track the number of exams taken,” Wertheimer said. Their goal was to earn 75 certifications. At the conclusion of the contest, 89 certifications had been awarded.

RESULT
Office Specialist certification has resulted in many great opportunities for both City Charter High School and its students.

“Before I took this course, I could only type,” said Cathy Abbinanti, a tenth-grade student who has earned Office Specialist certifications in Microsoft Word and Excel. “ I wasn’t familiar with Microsoft Office at all. Now, I realize it’s not that hard to use.”

Abbinanti, who plans to someday own a restaurant business, said her certifications are helping her with her high school coursework. “I think they’ll make college easier, too,” she said. “Before I earned these certifications I was planning on going to a home college and starting a small business . Getting certified made me realize I can do more. Now I’m making bigger plans. I have much bigger ideas now!”

“I had used Office a lot, but the course taught me things I didn’t know before,” Lockhart said. “I definitely respect the programs’ functionality more now.” In fact, because Lockhart’s mother’s employer was so impressed with Lockhart’s computing expertise and multiple certifications, he was offered a summer job with the company. “My certifications are a great help in high school, too.”

Lockhart, who plans to some day become a network administrator, is now considering taking higher-level Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer ( MCSE) certification courses. “I plan to go to college,” he said. “I used to know generally where I wanted to go. Earning these certifications put me on course. I realized I wanted to work more with Microsoft applications and administer networks. I’m even starting to train on Office 2004 for Mac.”

Office Specialist certifications qualify for college credit through the American Council on Education Credit by Examination. Douglas hopes her students leverage this opportunity when they move on to college. In addition to this future benefit of Office Specialist certification, Douglas values the effect certification has had on City Charter High School students today. “Certification makes our students more universal,” she said. “Microsoft can’t tell what you look like. All types of students with all kinds of interests are earning and benefiting from these certifications. For example, Cathy likes skating and Logan likes computers. All of our students find universal value in these credentials.”

To celebrate and recognize each student’s certification success, City Charter High School posts pictures of certified students on its school web site (see http://www.cityhigh.org/). “Everybody is doing well with Office Specialist,” Wertheimer said. “Regardless of sex, race, background, or age, everyone has an opportunity to earn these certifications. We are creating good, solid workers and citizens. Our students will excel. There is real talent coming from this school.”

Certification benefits City Charter High School’s reputation in its community as well. “We are now in our second semester of sending students on 13-week, three-hour-per-day internships to local businesses,” Wertheimer explained. “Our students are setting up spreadsheets, creating documents, and designing flyers for these companies. Sometimes they are even training the employees about how to use Microsoft Office programs! We are receiving marvelous feedback about how much these skill sets are valued in the business world.”

“Students often come here because they want a laptop or because their parents want them to,” Wertheimer concluded. “They quickly realize certification offers them more. It is external validation of a real-world skill. With immediate results, it enables them to find out how they stack up against the world.”