Monday, March 28, 2011
Web Conference Reflection
The web conference session this evening (March 28th, 7:00 pm) provided a lot of valuable information on our course work and completion of our program. Hearing from both Dr. Abernathy and all the participants provided clarity on TK 20, ILD, eportfolio completion, and resources for all of the above. This was the first web conference I've attended since having started the program and it has convinced me to continue to participate as I move through the remaining four courses.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Texas s ta r chart
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
The Texas STaR Chart Presentation below provides a brief overview of the key areas addressed in the STaR Chart as well the rating categories for each. It also compares the status of the State of Texas to a Texas school campus in Austin, Texas.
The Texas STaR Chart Presentation below provides a brief overview of the key areas addressed in the STaR Chart as well the rating categories for each. It also compares the status of the State of Texas to a Texas school campus in Austin, Texas.
Texas s ta r chart
View more presentations from monicaegonzalez.
National Educational Technology Plan
According to the U.S. Department of Education’s draft of the National Educational Technology Plan, Transforming American Education: Leaning Powered by Technology, Retrieved March 6, 2011, from Government of the United States, Education Web site: http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf, the United States eduation is the key to America’s enonomic growth and prospertity and to our ability to compete in the global economy. To that end the report clearly defines two goals to be reached by 2020:
§ To raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands (39%) so that 60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree.
§ To close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high scool ready to succeed in college and careers.
These goals are made attainable through five key components of the plan: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity. Each key component supports the achievement of the goals of the program as well as the recommendations within each component. Learning is described as “engaging and empowering” for all 21st century learners where state of the art technology is an integral part of the process. The national plan also addresses the vital role that assessment plays in the achievement of our national education goals. It calls for the use of improved technology to assess strengths and weaknesses and arm ourselves with the data that matters in order to make the wisest decision regarding the improvement instruction and pedagogy in order to improve student achievement. Connected teaching is the primary issue addressed in the teaching component. The plan envisions a community of connected educators who rely on each other for data and analytic tools and the appropriate resources that will allow them to address the needs gleaned from those data. Infrastrure and productivity both attend to the need to leverage technology in the most effective and efficient ways possible so that all resources – economic, human, material – are used to ensure that students receive the greatest benefit possible.
§ To raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands (39%) so that 60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree.
§ To close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high scool ready to succeed in college and careers.
These goals are made attainable through five key components of the plan: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity. Each key component supports the achievement of the goals of the program as well as the recommendations within each component. Learning is described as “engaging and empowering” for all 21st century learners where state of the art technology is an integral part of the process. The national plan also addresses the vital role that assessment plays in the achievement of our national education goals. It calls for the use of improved technology to assess strengths and weaknesses and arm ourselves with the data that matters in order to make the wisest decision regarding the improvement instruction and pedagogy in order to improve student achievement. Connected teaching is the primary issue addressed in the teaching component. The plan envisions a community of connected educators who rely on each other for data and analytic tools and the appropriate resources that will allow them to address the needs gleaned from those data. Infrastrure and productivity both attend to the need to leverage technology in the most effective and efficient ways possible so that all resources – economic, human, material – are used to ensure that students receive the greatest benefit possible.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
TLRP Progress Report
The Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 is a report that lays out the progress that has been made on the LRPT statewide based on data collected from local and statewide STaR charts. What strikes me the most about this progress report is that all of the data is self-reported. These is no guarantee that these are reliable because they are not base on any formal assessment. While I don’t think that there is any doubt that the state is making progress, I do think that the level of that progress is questionable. Based on the progress report the percentage of districts reporting that they are in the Advanced Tech category on the STaR chart has increased from 2008 to 2010. This would mean that in nearly 40% of districts across Texas technology is absolutely integrated into instruction, students are actively working with their peers and with experts to evaluate and analyze information gathered from digital resources. I may be pessimistic, but this just seems unlikely to me. I wonder how many people who complete the STaR reports have a full understanding of what full integration looks like for teachers and students.
Texas Long Range Plan - Teaching and Learning
The Teaching and Learning area of the Texas Long Range Plan, Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 (Adopted by the State Board of Education November 2006), retrieved from Texas Education Agency website, March 5, 2011, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665, is the area that addresses the use of integration of technology into the day-to-day business of instruction. Ideally full integration would provide all students across Texas with equitable access to technology resources. When we consider that we are currently preparing our students for jobs that don’t yet exists with technologies that we can only dream of, this equitable access is critical for 21st century learners. The Teaching and Learning component of Texas Long Range Plan clearly outlines what each of the major state and local agencies must do in order for school districts to ensure that students are engaged in daily instruction that integrates technology in meaningful ways. If all of the recommendations outlined by the TLRP were followed, there would no doubt be students all over Texas engaged in high-interest and relevant learning. Educators in Texas could proudly say that we are preparing our students to be active, successful contributors in the 21st century. The weakness of this component is that theres does not appear to be any absolute standards that the major players have to meet, the well-considered recommendations could easily be overlooked by many local school agencies and training center and the very goal that the component means to reach – equitable access – could actually results in less equity depending on the decision of each of the local entities. Improvement would be seen if the state mandated compliance from all stakeholders.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Reflections
The one aspect of this course that resonated with me the most was hearing from the principal, director of research, and the superintendent that are actively involved in action research during the week 2 videos. So many times, ideas or ways of doing things come and go in education. But, hearing from educators who are making action research a prominent part of their practice helped me to realize that this isn’t a fad or phase in education. I really think that because it’s not specific way of doing things, but a way of investigating and evaluating your way of doing things, it’s really a practice that is valuable and here to stay.
The area of action research where I am hoping to learn more is the Implications for Practice piece. Because we’re at the start of the process and haven’t gone through this piece, I wonder if I’ll be able to see the data clearly and determine exactly what the implications for practice are.
I will definitely rely on my site-supervisor to help me see what the data shows and how to illustrate that to all of the stakeholders in the project. I will also rely on the questions outlined by Dana (2009, pgs. 183-184) for principal-researchers regarding Quality Indicator 5: Implications for Learning.
The area of action research where I am hoping to learn more is the Implications for Practice piece. Because we’re at the start of the process and haven’t gone through this piece, I wonder if I’ll be able to see the data clearly and determine exactly what the implications for practice are.
I will definitely rely on my site-supervisor to help me see what the data shows and how to illustrate that to all of the stakeholders in the project. I will also rely on the questions outlined by Dana (2009, pgs. 183-184) for principal-researchers regarding Quality Indicator 5: Implications for Learning.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Approval from my Site-Supervisor
Today I got final approval from my site-supervisor for my action research project. The action steps remained the same, but a rationale statement was added to the plan. I'm posting the introductory section below:
Rational: My action research will focus on individual 2nd grade teachers at Becker Elementary School. Over the last ____ years, _____% of 2nd grade students at Becker Elementary have ended the year reading below grade level in their native language. At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the Becker Elementary School Principal, the reading specialist, and I (working as a language arts curriculum specialist) reviewed an accelerated reading program that is designed for 2nd grade students and is based on addressing the 5 components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension). After reviewing the program we agreed on two adjustments that needed to be made in order to fully address the needs of the incoming 1st graders. The reading specialist did a trial run of the program for 1 week with a small group of incoming 1st graders and this resulted in one more adjustment to the amount of time scheduled for comprehension instruction and practice. There are, of course, many factors that have led to this recurring problem at Becker. Among the issues that are within our control is the level of content and pedagogical knowledge of the 2nd grade teacher(s). This scripted program that will be used as the core reading program for 36 days of school by the 2nd grade teacher(s), relies on daily recursive instructional practices that are soundly based on research in each of the five components of reading. My inquiry will examine whether the implementation of this program has an impact on the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge to the extent that they are able to plan and facilitate effective lessons in reading around the 5 components beyond the 36 day program.
Goal: To determine whether a primary teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge in reading is increased to the extent that they are able to independently plan effective reading instruction based on the five components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension) by using a scripted accelerated reading program based on the five components of reading during the first 36 days of reading instruction in 2nd grade.
Outcome: If the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge is positively impacted, then students will have the benefit of receiving rigorous research based instruction in reading for the remainder of the year and should complete 2nd grade reading on or above grade-level.
Inquiry Question: How does the use of the recursive practices in the Region 4 Accelerated Reading materials by the 2nd grade teacher(s) at Becker Elementary as the core reading instruction for 36 days of school impact their level of content and pedagogical knowledge in the area of reading?
Rational: My action research will focus on individual 2nd grade teachers at Becker Elementary School. Over the last ____ years, _____% of 2nd grade students at Becker Elementary have ended the year reading below grade level in their native language. At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the Becker Elementary School Principal, the reading specialist, and I (working as a language arts curriculum specialist) reviewed an accelerated reading program that is designed for 2nd grade students and is based on addressing the 5 components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension). After reviewing the program we agreed on two adjustments that needed to be made in order to fully address the needs of the incoming 1st graders. The reading specialist did a trial run of the program for 1 week with a small group of incoming 1st graders and this resulted in one more adjustment to the amount of time scheduled for comprehension instruction and practice. There are, of course, many factors that have led to this recurring problem at Becker. Among the issues that are within our control is the level of content and pedagogical knowledge of the 2nd grade teacher(s). This scripted program that will be used as the core reading program for 36 days of school by the 2nd grade teacher(s), relies on daily recursive instructional practices that are soundly based on research in each of the five components of reading. My inquiry will examine whether the implementation of this program has an impact on the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge to the extent that they are able to plan and facilitate effective lessons in reading around the 5 components beyond the 36 day program.
Goal: To determine whether a primary teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge in reading is increased to the extent that they are able to independently plan effective reading instruction based on the five components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension) by using a scripted accelerated reading program based on the five components of reading during the first 36 days of reading instruction in 2nd grade.
Outcome: If the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge is positively impacted, then students will have the benefit of receiving rigorous research based instruction in reading for the remainder of the year and should complete 2nd grade reading on or above grade-level.
Inquiry Question: How does the use of the recursive practices in the Region 4 Accelerated Reading materials by the 2nd grade teacher(s) at Becker Elementary as the core reading instruction for 36 days of school impact their level of content and pedagogical knowledge in the area of reading?
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