Running head: GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 1

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1 Running head: GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 1 GAPPS Part A - Professional Learning Current Reality Sterling Hope Kennesaw State University

2 GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 2 GAPPS Part A - Professional Learning Current Reality The Georgia Department of Education has a developed system for determining needs within schools to help decide areas of strength and weakness. The Georgia Assessment of Performance on School Standards, or GAPPS, provides a system in which the School Keys assesses the level of implementation of eight strands and correlated standards (Georgia Department of Education, 2012). Technology is becoming more applicable to many of the standards and is being interwoven for both students and teachers. Clark Creek Elementary STEM Academy is a school within the Cherokee County School System has a School Improvement Plan, or SIP, that also evaluates the levels of strength and weakness and how to improve the instructional practices for students and close the gap for all students (SIP Plan, 2013). Dr. Scrivner states, That instruction and staff development are aligned with the SIP plan. STEM areas area focus and technology has a separate section. (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) Clark Creek s principal, Dr. Jennifer Scrivner, describes the vision of technology use at Clark Creek as, because we are a Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) Academy, we should be on the cutting edge of teaching with technology. (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) Clark Creek has multiple technologies at its disposal. All classrooms have Promethean Boards and five desktop computers. Many other classrooms have mobile laptop labs for student use. Two classrooms have ipad labs for student use. All students have the opportunity to visit math lab every six days, as a part of the specials schedule. The math lab uses a multi-user Promethean table for math activities. Students also have access to Science lab and STEM lab, focus on engineering and robotics. This is a weekly one-hour enrichment class in addition to regular Science and STEM curriculum within the regular classroom setting.

3 GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 3 Once a month students also attend Strategies Lab. Strategies Lab is a game-based format class for outside-the-box thinking. Dr. Scrivner believes that a rising tides raises all ships (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) and this thinking classroom (SIP Plan, 2013, p. 6) allows students to expand their thinking. This often helps students who struggle gain confidence when they can play games and win. This video provides a brief explanation. (Fairfax County Publix Schools, 2012) Clark Creek is also in the process to become state certified as a STEM school, which means that the entire staff has been undergoing many professional development opportunities in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. Technology at Clark Creek is an everyday occurrence. Teachers have technology training once per week with the technology specialist (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014), where they can meet as a grade level or even one-on-one to develop technology based lessons. In order for Dr. Scrivner to determine what the professional development needs for the school, a needs assessment was given to the staff through the technology specialist. The assessment came in two forms at the beginning of the year, first was a Google Doc that teachers accessed and then the use of Edmodo to show links and videos for teachers to view before their trainings. (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) Dr. Scrivner also works hard at maintaining this level of staff development because it can be costly. The state provides $600 to Clark Creek for professional develop for the year. The rest of the school s monies come from Federal Title II money at about $6,000. (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) The teachers are offered a variety of forms of professional development for their own learning needs. There are weekly trainings, workshops, mentoring, lesson planning. Many of the

4 GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 4 opportunities are collaborative. Dr. Scrivner states, Once a month the teachers meet with the Science and STEM lab teachers to review the alignment of STEM units created to determine who will teach what and what resources are needed. (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) Within the last year at Clark Creek, we have had weekly trainings on Edmodo, Georgia Online Assessment System (OAS) for CRCT practice, Excel within the classroom, AirServer for ipads, ipad maintenance, ipad apps for the classroom, one ipad classroom, a demonstration from Chris Anderson from the College of New Jersey, and a visit from Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson. Plus there will be many more training offered. Teachers have access to county level trainings through the professional development portal. This portal allows teacher to choose training that they feel will best meet their needs for their classrooms. After the sessions, teacher can meet with the technology specialist and she will help the teacher implement the technology within the classroom. The specialist will help teachers with all aspects of a lesson even model a lesson or two with the technology. (Knight, 2007) Teachers also meet weekly as a grade-level team to discuss strategies within the classroom to debrief with what is working and what could work better. Learning Forward says, Collective responsibility and participation foster peer-topeer support for learning and maintain a consistent focus on shared goals within and across communities. (Standards for professional learning, 2011, p. 25) Since much of the teacher learning is done collaboratively, teachers have the opportunity to see determine best practices in their classroom. Clark Creek is a diverse school. It has a Title One designation, meaning that over half the students at Clark Creek receive free or reduced lunch. Clark Creek has Hispanic (23%), Asian (3%), African-American (15%), Indian (5%), White (50%), and Multi-Racial (5%) students. Clark Creek is also considered a rural school setting within the county. Clark Creek also has English as s Second Language, ESOL, students,

5 GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 5 as well as, a population of Special Education students. The Special Education students range from autistic to specific learning disabilities. All teachers have access to technologies and professional learning to benefit these students both at the school level and the district level. These opportunities coincide with the school and districts values about professional development. The county has a strategic plan for not only the education of its students but of technology also. In turn, each school is then tasked with the development of the SIP plan to foster accountability. With all of the learning that happens for the teachers based from the goals of the school teachers are then held accountable using various measures laid out within the SIP plan. The data collected from the GCRCT, Easy CBM benchmarking and progress monitoring, SLO (Student Learning Outcomes) data from the TKES (Teacher Keys Effectiveness System) assessment system, and the state writing scores are then complied to see if gains were made as projected within the SIP document. (SIP Plan, 2013) I receive both formal and informal feedback about teaching and learning. We have TKES walkthroughs and formal observations. When I meet with the instructional leader team, I am able to hear about the teaching being accomplished. I also review the data with the data team and we see the carryover of learning from grade level to grade level. (J. Scrivner, personal communication, February 3, 2014) Clark Creek has a multitude of opportunities for professional learning. Professional learning that occurs within learning communities provides an ongoing system of support for continuous improvement and implementation of school and system wide initiatives. (Standards for professional learning, 2011, p. 26) This allows the school to meet their intended goals each school year with a focus on student and teacher learning. technology-using teachers can never be a force for improved education unless they are first and foremost informed, knowledgeable shapers of their craft. (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p. HVII)

6 GAPPS PART A - PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CURRENT 6 References School Improvement Plan [School Improvement Plan]. (2013). Acworth, GA: Clark Creek Fairfax County Publix Schools, (2012, June 29). Strategies lab at Aldrin ES [Video file]. Retrieved from Georgia Department of Education, (2012). GAPSS analysis: Georgia assessment of performance on school standards: Closing the gap. Retrieved from Improvement/Pages/GAPSS.aspx: Improvement/Documents/GAPSS%20FINAL% pdf Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Learning Forward. (2011) Standards for professional learning. Oxford, OH: Author. Roblyer, M., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.