Professional Development

What does quality staff development look like in your school?
As a future administrator using the 2011 Standards for Professional Learning, how will you establish effective teacher growth practices for your learning communities?

First paragraph can be a summary of book, the remainder of the paper should focus on chapter 9, The Role of the Principal in a Professional Learning Community.

Application of Effective Leadership Practices in Leading Professional Learning

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to integrate ideas from research about effective leadership... and apply these to the leadership practice of leading professional learning.
This assignment should draw on ideas presented in readings including Student-Centered Leadership (Robinson, 2011); and Applied Critical Leadership (Santamara & Santamara, 2012, Chapter One); and other readings listed.

Part A: Description of professional learning context and issue (2 pages)
Provide a description of a specific professional learning context in education based on the background information provided below at the bottom of this page.
Identify an issue or challenge in terms of the potential to maximise effectiveness of the professional learning in this context.
Discuss the significance of this issue in relation to relevant research and literature.

Criteria:
Clear description of leadership context and professional learning issue that makes connections with research on effective professional learning (draws on the following resources)

Fenstermacher, G. D., & Richardson, V. (2005, January). On making determinations of quality in teaching. The Teachers College Record, 107(1), 186-213.
Robinson, V. (2011). Student-centered leadership. Chapter 6. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
Timperley, H. (2007). Leading teachers professional learning. In J. Robertson & H. Temperley (Eds.), Leadership and learning (pp. 118-130). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Earl, L., & Katz, S. (2010). Creating a culture of inquiry: Harnessing data for professional learning. Chapter for Volume 7 Data Enhanced Leadership.
Earl, L., & Hannay, L. (2011). Educators as knowledge leaders. In J. Robinson & H. Timperley (Eds.), Leadership and Learning (pp. 186-201). London: Sage Publications
Le Fevre, D. M. (2010). Changing TACK: Talking about change knowledge for professional learning. In H. Timperley & J. Parr (Eds.), Weaving evidence, inquiry and standards to build better schools (pp. 71-91). Wellington: NZCER Press.

Evidence of in-depth search of relevant databases and sources for relevant scholarly literature [draws on Robinson (2011) and Santamara & Santamara (2012, Chapter One)]

Arguments demonstrate your in-depth critical reflection and evaluation.

Provide reference list in APA format.


Background
Since joining my school in 2011 it has been my responsibility to put in place a system that places accountability for student outcomes directly to individual teachers with a view to improving the quality of teaching and improving student outcomes. After several months of researching different models of appraisal and professional development systems in place in other schools. A new system was launched in 2012 which provided a clear link between professional learning needs and teacher appraisal, checked against the New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria.

Teaching staff are asked to reflect on their teaching effectiveness, comparing their teaching attributes against a description of the effectiveness of that attribute. Refer to rubric for effectiveness descriptions. The result of the reflection leads to identification of professional learning goals for the teacher to work towards improving over the year. Although teaching staff have identified goals for improvement, it is not clear that the goals have clear links to improved student outcomes or that the goals are adequately challenging (in many cases it would appear that the goals have been met and the development plan is written retrospectively.

To improve the quality of education with a student outcome focus, teachers are moving towards teaching as inquiry to inform current practice and research and implement improvement ideas. Teachers have varying ideas about teaching as inquiry, some perceiving that because they are reflective practitioners they are inquiring, others see it as more paperwork. Implementing a system of teaching as inquiry requires careful and effective leadership to ensure that student outcomes are improved.
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D6: Craft a Definition and Purpose of a Professional Learning Community Within an Educational Context
This Discussion is twofold: 1) Focus on synthesizing at least three scholars? perspect...ives about professional learning communities. Your task is to compare, contrast, and analyze each theorist in a way that enables you to craft your own original definition of a PLC that can be presented to an authentic learning entity. 2) Explain a valid purpose for a PLC to address. The purpose is a controversial issue currently facing your school?one which requires the synergy of a group.
Post the following:

Write a succinct yet thorough definition and purpose of a Professional Learning Community. Include the sources supporting your original definition and purpose.

Always examine all of the Learning Resources before posting to the Discussion. Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources, as well as to any other relevant research that you find appropriate. Use APA guidelines in citing any and all materials.
Book Excerpt: Martin-Kniep, G. O. (2008). Communities that learn, lead, and last: Building and sustaining educational expertise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Communities that learn, lead, and last: Building and sustaining educational expertise by Martin-Kniep, G. O. Copyright 2008 by John Wiley & Sons. Reproduced by permission of John Wiley & Sons via the Copyright Clearance Center.


Appendix A: Rubric for Assessing Individual Capacity for Professional Learning Communities (pp. 156?161) (PDF file)
Appendix D: Rubric for Assessing the Community That Learns (pp. 180?181) (PDF file)


Focused Research: Scholars who focus on learning communities. Select three of the following scholars; review their work to craft a definition and purpose of a learning community. (Provide appropriate citations.)


Lee S. Shulman
Peter Senge
Thomas Sergiovanni
Ron Brandt
Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger
John Munro
Robert Eaker, Richard DuFour, and Rebecca DuFour


Course Text: Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools


Chapter 1, "New Insights Into Professional Learning Communities at Work"
This chapter established a definition, mission, purpose, and goals for a professional learning community.
Focus on your knowledge base and skills in debating and defending the importance of a learning community.


Chapter 3, "Making the Case for Professional Learning Communities (PLC)"
This chapter expands on what you read in Chapter 1 as you learn more about PLCs.
Focus on how the content provides resources to support your stance related to PLCs.


Course Text: Hawley, W., & Rollie, D. L. (Eds.). (2007). The keys to effective schools: Educational reform as continuous improvement (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. (Text was received in EDAD 8142.)


Chapter 4, "Professional Communication and Collaboration"
This chapter explores ways leaders can promote collaborative cultures within the educational setting.
Focus on how the content of this chapter can help you craft your definition for the discussion posting.


Chapter 8, "Design Principles for Learner-Centered Professional Development"
Focusing on the 10 principles of effective professional development can guide the leader in efforts to promote student achievement.
Focus on how the content of this chapter can help you craft and defend your position or stance about professional development as you develop your Impact Project.  more

Part B: Applying key ideas from research (4 pages)
Select one of the three capabilities (applying relevant knowledge, solving complex problems, or building relational trust) from Robinson (2011) ...and one key concept from Santamara & Santamara, (2012, Chapter One) that are particularly relevant to the professional learning issue described below:

Description of professional learning context and issue:
A challenge faced by many schools and particularly my school is having a system that places accountability on teachers for their effects on student outcomes. Since joining the school, it has been my responsibility to develop an appraisal system that focuses on improving student outcomes by improving the quality of teaching. After several months of researching different models of appraisal and professional development in other schools, the issue of accountability was partially addressed with the launch of an appraisal system based on the New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria that links to professional learning needs.
Currently teachers reflect on their effectiveness, comparing attributes to a rubric that describes effective teaching. Through reflection and comparison the teacher identifies and sets professional learning goals which they work towards over the year. Although clear goals have been established, it is not clear that they have led to improved student outcomes and in many cases it is apparent that the goals were written retrospectively. I will use components of applied critical leadership from Santamaria & Santamaria (2012) to improve communication of the philosophy of professional development for staff to take ownership of the process. Applied critical leadership emphasises the need to recognise and exploit existing needs of followers to engage them. (Santamaria & Santamaria 2012: 3-4)
Identifying a challenge:
The challenge is to improve the quality of education through accurate self-appraisal. Improvement in teaching must be an integral part of the professional development process and an important aspect of the schools philosophy. Teachers have shown varying ideas about teaching as inquiry so implementing a cohesive system of teaching as inquiry requires careful and effective leadership to ensure on-going teacher improvement. When energies are directed towards multiple, sometimes conflicting initiatives that are not part of an overall plan they are unlikely to be successful (Le Fevre 2010: 75).
To manage the process of setting appropriate teacher goals, the self-evaluation stage must have better structure and closer monitoring. Teachers must be made aware of expectations and the schools goals. While the high trust model is a non-threatening way of identifying less effective attributes it is also ineffective for monitoring development goals. Being personally involved with the identification and monitoring stages and engaging in dialogue with teachers will allow them to have input about their progress and the process. Continuing in a transformational model of leadership should lead to a collective change process and a sense of ownership for the teacher.
The goal to improve the quality of teaching and raise student attainment must be given priority. While teaching must be of a high standard and can be developed, factors influencing student outcomes outside of the learning environment is difficult to assess (Fenstermacher & Richardson 2008: 187) so a link between them should be established.
The significance of issue in relation to relevant research and literature:
All school change must be built in a collective fashion (Le Fevre 2010: 72). The changes made in the school have been directed by the leadership. Although the appraisal system requires evaluation and analysis for effectiveness, the importance of linking teaching as inquiry to professional development must be highlighted for teachers to accept and understand. In identifying goals, school leaders must engage in professional learning discussions, obtain feedback, involve teachers and use research.

Please ensure that the paper meets the following criteria:
Part B Assessment Criteria
Accurate summary of models/ approaches using your own words
Explanation clearly describes your personal and/or professional rationale for selecting key ideas.
Analysis demonstrates in-depth critical reflection and evaluation of the context and issue you presented in the text above in relation to these key ideas.
Evidence of in-depth search of relevant databases and sources for relevant scholarly literature.

Please access the following literature in addition to those stated above:
Argyris, C. & Schon, D. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Berliner, D. (1987). Simple views of effective teaching and a simple theory of classroom instruction. In D. Berliner & B. Rosenshine (Eds.), Talks to teachers. New York: Random House.

Carini, P. F. (2001). Valuing the immeasurable. In P. F. Carini (Ed.), Starting strong: A different look at children, schools, and standards (pp. 165-181). New York: Teachers College Press.

Earl, L. M., & Katz, S. (2006). Putting data at the centre of school improvement. In L. M. Earl & S. Katz (Eds.), Leading schools in a data rich world: Harnessing data for school improvement (pp. 1-15). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Fasoli, L., Scrivens, C., & Woodrow, C. (2007). Challenges for leadership in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australian early childhood contexts. In L . Keesing-Styles & H. Hedges (Eds.), Theorising early childhood practice: Emerging dialogues (pp.231-253). NSW: Pademelon Press.

Fink, D. (2005). Leadership for mortals: Developing and sustaining leaders for learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hammerness, K., & Darling-Hammond, L., et al. (2005). How teachers learn and develop. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world (pp. 358-389). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Henderson-Kelly, L. & Pamphilon, B. (2000). Womens models of leadership in the childcare sector. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(1), 8-12.

Le Fevre, D. M. (2004). Designing for teacher learning: Video-based curriculum design. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances for research on teaching: Using video in teacher education. New York: Elsevier.

Robinson, V. M. J. (2010). Fit for purpose: An educationally relevant account of distributed leadership. In A. Harris (Ed.), Distributed leadership: Different perspectives (pp. 219-240). Berlin: Springer.

Robinson, V. (2011). Student-centered leadership. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.

Santamara, L. J., & Santamara, A. P. (2011). Applied critical leadership: Choosing change. New York, NY: Routledge.

Santamara, L. J., & Santamara, A. P. (2012). Applied critical leadership: Educational leadership. New York, NY: Routledge.

Toole, J. C., & Louis, K. S. (2002). The role of professional learning communities in international education. In K. Leithwood & P. Hallinger (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 245-279). Great Britain: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
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Please write a research proposal for a dissertation that will study 'the better choices for professional learning and development from a teacher's perspective'

The study will look at the training attended by teachers for their development and how they perceive that training to be effective in their teaching practice. Helen Timperley identifies better professional learning and development theoretically in her 'Best Evidence Synthesis for professional learning' and this study should aim to identify better professional learning and development in the practical sense using teacher voice.

The proposal must address all areas required for a proposal, including but not limited to ethics, the research method that will be used and the research question. This proposal will need to identify the best method for researching this topic.

The study will be carried out in a single secondary school with approximately 105 teachers who will opt in to the study. I am a vice principal at the school so there may be some issues around that that will need to be addressed.

Please only use references if they are necessary for the proposal.

The article I am using for the SAR is: What Is a "Professional Learning Community"? by Richard DuFour. I can send you the actual article.


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I wrote this once, but I will try again.

Research question: The influences of professional learning communities on an administrators lived experiences.
This is an auto ethnography........

Sub questions: How have other administrators'' opinions about collaboration impacted my sense of mission as an administrator?

How have other administrators'' opinions about leadership impacted my sense of mission as an administrator?

I can e-mail my proposal and my rough draft of four & five to give you an idea. However, my professor did not like my rough drafts of four & five She said I needed to have categories and sub categories.

She suggested the folllowing - in the first paragraph summarize what the finding will be. In the last paragraph of each section resummarize Analyze in narrative form. Readers want to know what you think of the data. Use quotes within the analysis to add emphasis, or even, to title the findings "Two heads are better than one." Use entire quotes. Two headers are better than one support the collaboration concept. All the administrators are aligned. I look back and wonder how did this happen and can I duplicate this in another district?

Should I wait to hear from you before I send all the attachments. What should I send?

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PLC Presentation


Scenario: You have noticed that your grade-level professional learning community (PLC) team teachers have been using primarily traditional assessments such as ch...apter tests and quizzes, criterion-referenced tests, districts benchmark tests, and unit tests to assess students. After reading about the importance of balanced and differentiated assessment, you decide to create a presentation for your PLC to inform the team about ways to plan for differentiated assessment products to meet the diverse student needs in your grade level.

Assignment: Create a presentation for your PLC to address the following points:

Describe what it means to change the outcome of a lesson and provide a rationale for why this is important.
Discuss changing entry points and describe at least five strategies that could be used.
Discuss changing the exit points and describe at least five strategies that could be used.
Describe the possible assessments that could be used when using a balanced approach to assessment (summative, formative, traditional assessments, student portfolios, and performance assessments).
Describe in detail how performance assessment can support student learning and provide at least five examples of performance assessments that could be used for various subjects in a particular grade level.

Get creative! You can produce a document, PowerPoint, or you can come up with your own way to demonstrate your understanding and complete the requirements for the presentation. Whatever you choose to create, provide access to your instructor by uploading all the necessary links or text in a document. There is no page or length requirement, as that would limit your creativity, but whatever you create, make sure you have addressed all the requirements.  more

Task 1: (one page) Due date: March 29
View the video: http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=1281&title
What effects do differentiated instruction and professional learning...b> communities have on school culture? How does differentiated instruction reflect the attitudes and values of a school building? How can the development of a professional learning community and differentiated professional development benefit students? Identify two examples, one "Negative" and one "Positive", in school or work place ( Library and Media) that affect school culture. Identify how a professional learning community could benefit your school or workplace( Library and Media) culture in the context of these situations.

Task 2: (one page, 2 references) Due date: March 29
Consider the benefits of professional learning communities. How will you implement them in a future position that you will hold within an organization(Library and Media) ? Why would these benefit your future organization? What do you feel will be the outcome of this collaboration?

Task 3: (2 pages, 2 references) Due date: March 31
Study the articles ( 1, 2, 3) and examine Figure 2 of Article 3. Using this research, design a professional development plan for your school or school library that will positively impact school culture. Discuss the following:

Summarize your research and the research in Figure 2 (Joyce and Showers, 1995).
How is this research applicable to your work setting?
Discuss the professional development plan that you have created.
How will this plan benefit school culture?
Integrate the research you have found on professional development with appropriate references within your discussion

Task 4: (1 pages, 1 reference) Due date: April 02
How does your school or workplace (Library and Media) use job-embedded learning? discuss two strategies that you would offer to your administrator or supervisor to increase engagement in job-embedded learning. How will these strategies increase the effectiveness of job-embedded learning at your school or workplace? Discuss your rationale for choosing these two strategies.

Task 5: (1 pages, 1 reference) Due date: April 02
What is the purpose of the Four Corners strategy? How could it be used in a classroom? How could it be used in a professional development setting? Conceptualize and summarize how the Four Corners strategy may be used to develop a concept of interest to you, keeping in mind an intended audience (i.e. students or colleagues). Include various leadership aspects and incorporate differentiated instruction techniques into your concept. For example, you can develop a concept for teacher training, where leadership plays an important role in professional development.  more

Find empirical articles pertaining to the following with an Urban Middle School focus

i) Identify Unique opportunities for growth and improvement. What new emerging initiatives are likely to increase growth and deepen improvement levels within an urban middle school?

ii) Opportunities for spontaneous learning. What opportunities exist in a middle school for informal or spontaneous learning?

iii) Opportunities for formal learning. What type of formalized professional development opportunities are identified to increase educator knowledge in middle schools?

iv) To what extent (if at all) are local, regional, state, and national influences derailing public school's efforts at building a learning community? What can a leader to offset any negative external influences, promote positive influences, and assure that deep organizational learning is allowed to flourish in a middle school school?

v) To what degree does a professional learning community (PLC) function effectively in a middle school? Describe what might be some improved outcomes from implementing a PLC model.

Guiding Principles of PLCs (Professional Learning Communities)

For this paper you will discuss the following:

How is a professional learning community (PLC) defined?
Describe each of the three guiding principles of PLCs.
Discuss the typical goals and actions of PLCs in schools.
Discuss the benefits of PLCs to teachers, students, parents, and community. Additionally, discuss the power of PLCs in supporting improvements in teaching and learning.
Discuss the possible challenges associated with PLCs and how these challenges might be overcome.

There are two discussion question that are one page each. Please answer each I will upload the ebook under resources. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.


question #...1; discussion 1

In Chapter 4, Copland and Knapp (2006) noted that a professional learning community values research and sets up cycles to facilitate ?schoolwide inquiry into learning and teaching performance and participating in professional inquiry as a colleague.? In this discussion, reflect upon your own research experiences in the MAED program and your continued role as an educator-researcher. Do you agree with the authors that ?inquiry into learning? is an essential component of the professional learning community? Why or why not?

Readings

Read from your text, Connecting Leadership with Learning:
Preface: A Call for Leadership That is Focused on Learning (pp. ix-xv)
Chapter 2 ? Essential Ideas and Tasks for Learning-Focused Leaders (pp. 9-25)
Chapter 4 ? Building Professional Communities That Value Learning (pp. 43-55)

Smith, M.K. (2009). Donald Schon (sch?n): Learning, reflection and change. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm
Thia article provides an overview of the theories developed by Donald Sch?n and his contributions to learning theory especially related to reflective practice.
Recommended Reading

Dyke, M. (2006). The role of the 'Other' in reflection, knowledge formation and action in a late modernity. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 25(2), 105-123. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.
This article explores reflection and learning from the perspectives of Kant, Bacon, Dewey, Sch?n, Kolb, and other theorists, as well as the author.



question 2; discussion 2
Continuing from your discussion posted in the Week 1, Discussion 1 forum, propose an appropriate research method that would best serve to explore the most recent scholarship on the instructional problem you have defined for your capstone project. Include insights as to what you have gained throughout your degree program that has influenced your ability and desire to integrate current research or assessment results into your instructional setting. Be sure to consider Copland and Knapp?s (2006) three suggestions from p. 48 as you reflect on your response.

Readings EBook

Read from your text, Connecting Leadership with Learning:
Chapter 8 ? Leading Learning in Schools (pp. 104-144)
Methodological Notes (pp. 259-263)

Recommended Readings

The University of New South Wales. (2009). Writing a critical review. Retrieved from http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/critrev2.html
This is a brief university guide to writing a critical review.

University of Wisconsin. (2009). Critical reviews. Retrieved from http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/CriNonfiction.html
This is a brief university guide to writing a critical review.

Rose, L.P. (2009). Students as researchers: a framework for using action research. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20(2). Retrieved from ERIC database. (http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ864346.pdf)
This article presents how action research principles can be used to improve instructional practice through planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting on assessment data that leads to positive learning outcomes.


Please also support your assertions with references from the reading, and reflect on at least two of your peers? postings.  more

FOR WRITER JOHNFITZ44 ONLY!!!

Ashford University: MAED Capstone FINAL PROJECT!!!!! 20pts!!!!

Source 1: Online Course Textbook: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUEDU695.14.1
...> You will create an ePortfolio that includes redesigned activities from prior coursework in the Masters of Arts in Education (MAED) Program that demonstrate your competency with the nine Program Learning Outcomes, which are also the Course Learning Outcomes for EDU 695. Additionally, you will write a narrative reflection of your experience with the program and the ePortfolio construction. The overarching goal of this Final Paper and ePortfolio assignment is to showcase learning from the MAED Program in a consolidated, web-based format that can easily be shared with anyone: colleagues, potential or current employers, friends, family members, and others. For the ePortfolio, you use a system called Pathbrite. Within this ePortfolio, you will tell the story of your educational journey and value of your personal MAED experience as it applies to the labor market. Remember, the ePortfolio is your chance to show what you know and are able to do in the practice of teaching and learning with technology. You will submit a link to your ePortfolio and attach your paper portion of the assignment in a Week Six discussion for preliminary feedback by peers and the instructor before the final submission. The earlier you submit in the Week Six discussion the more opportunity you have for input from your peers and instructor to improve your work before the final submission of this assignment.

Creating the Final Paper and ePortfolio
Please include a link to the ePortfolio (Pathbrite) within the paper portion of this assignment. As needed, refer to the MAED program learning outcomes (PLOs) list. Then, create your final assignment to meet the content and written communication expectations below.

Content Expectations
ePortfolio Components (5 Points): Include at least one artifact demonstrating mastery for each of the nine MAED Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs).

ePortfolio Design (3 Points): Design the ePortfolio to be professional in appearance. Be sure to exemplify effective and ethical uses of technology so that the ePortfolio logically organized in a visually appealing way.

Narrative ? Ranking (5 Points): Rank and discuss the importance of each Program Learning Outcome to your individual work setting, including an explanation of each ranking and its value to you in your learning environment or your position. Discuss how you currently use each PLO in your work setting and, if PLOs are not used, discuss ways you might begin to use them in your current or future work setting. If you are unemployed or otherwise do not work in a teaching role, you can either (a) use a previous work location, or (b) imagine the perfect work location (e.g., your dream job), and use that fictional work center to rank and discuss each PLO. The overall goal of this section of the narrative is to rank each PLO according to its importance to you as an educator or potential educator, starting by listing the most important PLO to you first.

Narrative ? Challenges/Solutions (5 Points): Discuss the design and development challenges you experienced while creating this ePortfolio in Pathbrite and explain how you overcame those challenges. If you feel that you did not face any challenges during your design/redesign, please state that there were no challenges and clearly support this statement with a discussion of the details, or reflect and think deeply about your design/redesign process and offer a detailed narrative of how the process excelled. Examples of challenges include: (a) getting accustomed to specific technology to communicate and showcase your learning, (b) difficulty ranking the PLOs, (c) finding creative ways to display your newly learned skill sets, and (d) tying together concepts and theories into one cohesive digital collection. When you explain how you resolved or worked around challenges you need to consider how you became proficient in using various digital tools, how you linked PLOs to your job responsibilities, how Internet searches uncovered new ways to utilize your talents, how peer collaboration produced ways to effectively consolidate multiple concepts and theories in one package, and how ePortfolio examples sparked creative thought.

Written Communication Expectations
Page Requirement (.5 points): Include one page per discussion of each of the nine MAED Program Learning Outcomes and a tenth page for the narrative response for a total of ten pages (not including the title and reference pages).

APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment.

Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.

Source Requirement (.5 points): Reference three scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

PLO source from Ashford University:

PLO 1
Instructional Planning for
Learner Development
The MAED graduate designs appropriate and challenging learning
experiences informed by analysis of how learners develop
individually across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and
physical patterns to promote student learning and growth.
PLO 2
Differentiated Practice for
Diverse Learners
The MAED graduate employs differentiated instructional practices
aligned with learner strengths and differences, diverse cultures, and
diverse communities to promote student learning in a safe,
collaborative, engaging, inclusive, 21st century learning
environment.
PLO 3
Assessment for Learning
in the 21st Century
The MAED graduate designs a variety of evidence-based
assessments used for ongoing evaluation of student progress, and to
guide teacher and learner decision making.
PLO 4
Leading Change through
Research
The MAED graduate executes an action research study that draws on
the research and methods of various disciplines to address local or
global educational issues.
PLO 5
Dynamic Curriculum and
Instruction in the 21st
Century
The MAED graduate designs learner-centered instruction aligned
with Common Core State Standards, digital age standards (NETS-S),
and 21st Century skills to promote learner achievement and growth.
PLO 6
Professional Growth,
Leadership, and Ethical
Practice in the 21st
Century
The MAED graduate engages in continuous professional growth
through leadership in educational environments and the
demonstration of legal and ethical behavior in professional practices.
PLO 7
Content Knowledge
The MAED graduate uses knowledge of subject matter and central
concepts of the discipline(s) to create technology-enriched learning
environments that promote learner achievement and innovation.
PLO 8
Communication and
Collaboration in a Digital
Age
The MAED graduate effectively communicates and collaborates
with various stakeholders through written communication, verbal
communication, and a variety of current and emerging digital age
tools to ensure learner growth and to advance the profession.
PLO 9
Information, Media, and
Technology Skills
The MAED graduate uses a range of digital technology tools to
research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information while
exhibiting an understanding of ethical and legal issues surrounding
the use of information technologies.

****Sample from my professor
Capstone Experience & Learner Outcomes
Introduction
Ashford University?s Master of Arts in Education (MAED) program is designed to prepare educators to effectively meet the challenges that can arise in today?s classroom. Modern educators are increasingly faced with a variety of challenges as the student population changes. In the new era of education, classrooms have become more inclusive of students with different learning needs and cultural backgrounds. This change necessitates that educators be prepared with the skills and knowledge to make an equitable education accessible to all of their students. Ashford University has designed its MAED program to produce nine program learner outcomes (PLOs) that insure mastery of the skills necessary to do so. The capstone course is the culmination of the program. The course requires redesigning lesson plans from previous courses to align with various current frameworks as well as the MAED learning outcomes. For example, some lessons were redesigned to include the use of technology, which is a component of MAED outcomes as well as the Framework for 21st Century Learning.
Application of Knowledge
All of the knowledge accumulated over the course of the program is intended to prepare educators for the work that lies ahead in their prospective classrooms. When that time comes, it is imperative to be able to apply that knowledge. Theoretical know how is much different than the actual application. This is because there are always unknown variables that will present challenges in the field. Therefore it is essential to practice the application of any new skills one acquires. The following link is a demonstration of how pedagogical theory and instructional strategy skills can be applied in practice:https://pathbrite.com/portfolio/P25LaP0X/ashford-university-capstone (remember to include a usable link)
PLO Ranking
Although Ashford University lists the PLOs in its own order, each education practitioner may view them in his or her own individual ranking of importance. This ranking can be based on specific job functions or other professional priorities. Coincidentally, PLO 1 remains the top concern on this list. This outcome requires that graduates master the ability to design learning experiences based on knowledge and analysis of the way that individual learners develop in order to promote learning and growth (Ashford University, 2014). As a practitioner heading into the classroom, creating effective learning experiences that enrich student development and meets all learning needs is paramount.
Today, more than ever, students? individual learning needs are being recognized, acknowledged, and respected. Yet, teachers are expected to teach the same content to all students while meeting a single level of standards. This presents a challenge that the modern teacher must be able to meet. In order to meet this formidable challenge, teachers must have the skills to analyze student capabilities, skill levels, and learning needs. Then, they must take this information and use it to design effective instruction that meets the prescribed standards in a manner that addresses each student?s capabilities, skill levels, and learning needs. This is why planning instruction for learner development is such an important outcome in the MAED program. It is essential to any teacher?s repertoire of skills to be able to provide his or her students with instruction and learning activities that teach them content in a way that is meaningful and effective. Otherwise, students are being given loads of random information that has no purpose. When students don?t see the purpose for their learning and cannot connect to the material they are being taught, instruction is ineffective. However, it is extremely important that teachers understand their students? needs in order to facilitate this process as well. This is why PLO 1 also ties in very closely with PLO 2.
PLO 2 requires the mastery of differentiating instructional practices in order to meet the needs of diverse learners (Ashford University, 2014). That diversity may be cultural, lingual, socioeconomic, or a variety of other factors including learning differences. While PLO 1 deals with the design of learning experiences, PLO 2 is about understanding how to incorporate a variety of approaches into instruction in order to make it accessible for students who may need some extra support in order to grasp content and concepts. For example, a teacher who has ELL (English language learner) students in his or her class needs to have the skills to accurately assess those students? understanding and use that information to insure that they generate products of that knowledge that demonstrate their true level of comprehension. This may be accomplished in a wide variety of ways. What works best is highly dependent upon individual student strengths and needs. This is why mastery of differentiating skills is so critical.
Differentiation strategies that work for one student with a particular learning need may not be effective for a different student with the same area of need. In other words, a teacher may have two ELL students who are on the same reading level and speak the same native language. However, a differentiation strategy that greatly benefits one of those students may not work at all for the other. This is due to the fact that each student is an individual. No matter how many similarities they may have in common, there will always be factors that differentiate the needs of one from the other. Those factors may be personal interests, family beliefs, or any number of factors that make the individual unique. The key to successfully differentiating instruction is having a good understanding of who students are and how to meet them where they are with accessible content and learning activities. Another highly important aspect of successfully differentiating instruction is having a solid foundation of knowledge in the content area being taught.
This brings us to the next most important outcome. PLO 7, which requires the use of solid content knowledge and concepts of that content area in order to create learning environments that incorporate the use of technology in order to provide innovative learning experiences and promote learner achievement (Ashford University, 2014). As previously stated, the education field has entered a new era. This new era has been marked by a rapid increase in the use of technology. This integration of technology extends beyond support functions in education. There has been a global movement toward technology as the platform for education. While some educational institutions have blended traditional classrooms with online options, we increasingly see learning institutions that operate exclusively online. This use of technology makes education accessible to many people who otherwise would not be able to continue their education.
Although most people are familiar with this use of technology for higher education, the 21st century has seen this application move into the primary grades through high school as well. For those students and their parents, the draw is often the ability to move at the student?s own pace as well as the individualized focus the child receives from teachers. Even with this movement toward using technology to access education over distances, it still has its place in the traditional classroom. The context is different from that of technology in the distance education setting. In the traditional classroom, technology is used as a support and enrichment tool. Students who have difficulties can be supported through the addition of technology within a lesson. Those who are not struggling benefit from an enriched and interest grabbing addition to the lesson. This integration of technology is also acritical element of education in the 21st century. As technology has come to dominate modern communication and tools used in the work place, students must be exposed to technology in education as a means to prepare students for higher education, career and life (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2014).
This brings us to the next PLO in the ranking. PLO 5 is the mastery of designing instruction that addresses and aligns with both ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) standards and CCSS (Common Core State Standards) as well as 21st century skills (Ashford University, 2014). CCSS is particularly important as this is an initiative to move toward a single set of learning outcomes across multiple states (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2014). This inherently means that technology must be integrated in the design of lessons in order to create dynamic and innovative instruction. Today?s students were born into the age of constant technological advance. The use of technology has become commonplace in everyday life for even very young children. This widespread presence of technology even crosses socioeconomic boundaries. According to Smith (2012), 46% of all Americans adults own smartphones.
These facts about the prevalence of technology in modern society, coupled with the movement toward the CCSS make it clear that education must include innovative instruction that incorporates technology. Since students are exposed at such early ages by a variety of means that range from applications on their parents? cell phones to laptops, they often arrive to kindergarten with some level of technological awareness and capability. Therefore, today?s students have a natural predisposition toward the use of technology for learning. This allows teachers to address content in a manner that students find appealing, interesting, and comprehensible. Even more cognitively demanding content becomes accessible for students who would have struggled with that content due to the use of technology. Technology allows teachers to prepare students for their future by teaching the multiple 21st-century skills in a variety of ways. This includes creative project oriented collaboration, information literacy, and digital communication skills. Additionally, technology can be used to provide a window into the students? level of understanding via innovative assessment.

This brings us to PLO 3. This PLO addresses the use of evidence-based assessment in order to track student progress and act as a guide to both teacher and learner decision-making (Ashford University, 2014). There are multiple types is assessment. Someone best suited to particular purposes. The two main types are formative assessment and summative assessment. Formative assessment is most widely used as an ongoing tool during the process of instruction. It can indicate student grasp of concept as well as progress towards mastery of the prescribed learning outcomes. Summative assessment is more suited to the completion of instruction. It serves as an indicator as to whether or not students have mastered prescribed learning outcomes.
While both types of assessment have their uses in the classroom, formative assessment is particularly useful in guiding instructional decision. Formative assessment allows teachers to gain insight to what their students may already know prior to teaching a lesson. This allows teachers to construct effective lesson plans that meet students? current level of readiness. During the course of instruction, teachers may use formative assessment in order to figure out how well students are understanding the concepts and content that are being conveyed. If students happen to be struggling with a particular concept, the results of an evidence-based formative assessment can indicate exactly where students are having difficulty. This allows the teacher to make any necessary changes in his or her instructional strategies and methods of conveying content in order to better address the students? learning needs.
Summative assessment has a very different purpose. It is designed to be an indicator of understanding at the end of the instructional process. Summative assessment is often formal in nature. Additionally, the results are usually recorded as evidence of mastery of content will or lack of mastery of content. The results of summative assessment will are also often included in research.

The topic of research leads us to the next PLO, which is PLO 4. This particular PLO requires the completion of an action research study that addresses local or global educational issues (Ashford University, 2014). Action research is a very important part of an educator?s practice because it provides the opportunity for reflective critical thinking. Typically, this type of study is conducted an effort to solve a specific problem. Often, multiple stakeholders participate in this type of research project. This can include teachers and administrators as well as students and their parents. What specific stakeholders participate in the study is largely dependent upon the scope and purpose of the study.
The results of action research can have a far reaching ripple effect in the field of education. Those who conduct the study can, and often do, share the results of their study with colleagues. Although the concept of educational research is not new, action research studies possess a unique element. This type of research gives educational practitioners the opportunity to examine their own practices, strategies, and methods. In many ways, it can be a teacher?s opportunity for self-assessment. Sometimes, the colleagues may be educators in other districts or states. This type of knowledge and skill sharing across distances is an effective way to expand opportunities to grow and develop professionally. Those who conducted the research can benefit from the feedback that is generated by the colleagues that the study results are shared with. The colleagues view any presentations of the study results gain the benefit of knowledge and skills that provide helpful guidance in solving similar problems within their own classrooms or schools. Therefore, this sort of research and networking is beneficial in multiple ways to multiple stakeholders involved in the education process. This leads to the next outcome in the PLO ranking.

PLO 6 requires the demonstration of continuous professional development both leadership and behavioral practices within the PLC (Ashford University, 2014). The PLC (professional learning community) is an integral part of teacher development. The PLC is an invaluable opportunity to receive guidance and feedback. It is also a haven for the exchange of thoughts and ideas. Teachers and administrators alike can collaborate in order to build a support network that enhances the quality of instruction and learning experiences that they provide to students.
While many people tend to view the professional learning community as a continuous training resource that is intended to benefit learner development, the PLC is actually a valuable resource for educators as well. Training and learning are aspects of a PLC. However, they do not encompass the entire purpose. As the name suggests, it is intended to be a community. This means that all participants should work together in support of one another as well as contribute to the positive development of the community as a whole. As previously stated, this means a continuous exchange of ideas as well as providing constructive feedback to members of the PLC. Sometimes, this means participating and learning activities, discussions, and research projects. At other times, it requires assuming a leadership role in conducting research, workshops, and collaborative learning efforts. The key to a successful PLC is approaching it as an opportunity to grow with an open mind and respect for a diverse range of ideas, beliefs, and backgrounds. This openness is best accomplished through effective communication and collaboration with a united purpose of providing an enriched and innovative learning environment that contributes to positive student development.
Clearly, communication and collaboration also play a very important roles and effective teaching in the 21st century. This carries over into the next PLO in the ranking.

PLO 8 is the mastery of effective communication and collaboration with various stakeholders through a variety of me including oral, written, and digital communication tools for the purpose of ensuring learner development and advancing the teaching profession (Ashford University, 2014). Communication and collaboration are critical elements of growth, development, and progress. In order to teach these skills to our students, educators must also possess solid knowledge and skills in these areas.
These skills carry deeper purpose than the simple connotations that they seem to have. Effective communication is essential to the conveyance of information, ideas, and thoughts. Without the skill, thoughts, ideas, and information can become confused or lost altogether. This is especially true in the area of collaboration. Collaboration relies heavily on effective communication between the members of the team. If effective communication is not present, critical information, completed work, and necessary materials can be lost. Therefore, the ability to collaborate effectively is dependent upon the ability to communicate effectively. However, it is important to note that collaboration is important in its own right. Collaboration enables participants to experience a diverse range of thoughts and ideas. Additionally, members of collaborative groups benefit from the support of team members united in a single purpose. This means that no single member of the team must carry the weight of the group?s task more than any other member of the team. Equal distribution of responsibilities makes large projects less daunting for an individual person. When collaboration is performed correctly, individual members of the group can accomplish much more than they would have if they had taken on the entire task alone.
Just as important as communication and collaboration, the sources of information and ideas that are conveyed via these means are significant. This brings us to the final PLO in the ranking.

PLO 9 addresses the use of digital tools to communicate, evaluate, organize, and research information while observing ethical and legal guidelines (Ashford University, 2014). This PLO is so closely related to the previous one because the information used in communication and collaboration must be reliable as well as presented ethically and without infringing on legal rights to that information. Otherwise, the results of that work would be invalid.
In addition, the sources of information and tools used to communicate it are equally important. As we move through the 21st century, digital technology has opened the world to a myriad of possibilities. Whereas we were once limited to what could be found in print, the digital age has allowed us to access information that is literally from all over the planet. Clearly, this is a boon to those seeking information and research efforts. However, this benefit also comes with some responsibilities as well as pitfalls.
In addition to ensuring that we observe copyright laws in the ethical use of information, it is absolutely necessary to ensure that the information we cite as valid and accurate. Many people base their critical decision-making process on the information that is presented to them. Basing decisions on invalid or unreliable information can negatively impact and impede efforts to learn and develop. At the very least, this type of misinformation results in flawed critical thinking and poorly made decisions. However, the fallout could potentially be catastrophic. This is especially true in the education field where learner development is at stake. In addition to that, this is another area where educators must be skilled and knowledgeable in order to impart those skills to students and prepare them for higher education, career, and life in the 21st century.

Challenges & Solutions
In reflecting on this course, it was a challenging experience. The redesigning of previously completed lesson plans was initially very challenging. However, some strategizing and opening up to a new thought process paved the way to a very different view. Eventually, it was easy to see where there were gaps and how to fill those gaps in. This is a valuable skill because it means that there is much more potentially useful instructional material available than before.
New knowledge of software uses and websites was acquired as well. For example, Pathbrite presented a new opportunity for organizing work samples in a creative and professional manner. Although Microsoft PowerPoint was not a new program, new functions such as the poster template were discovered in this course. These two things were not as much of a challenge to navigate. It was actually engaging to learn something new and extremely useful.
While digital technology can still be challenging and even slightly frustrating at times, this course presented an opportunity to learn useful skills and knowledge that will be applied in the field. From instructional skills to instructional design, this course covered a great deal of information in a short period of time. Although some peers were frustrated by the high level of challenge, it was rewarding to make it through the gauntlet with more tools. These skills are very important to being a 21st century instructor. Burnaford and Brown (2014) state that the majority of K-12 teachers in the United States use some sort of media or technology in their classrooms for locating and retrieving information. This fact alone means that education has entered a new era. Therefore, it is critical to be prepared with the necessary skills in order to be an effective educator. This course was definitely a step on the path toward that goal. Learning and developing new skills must always be a continuous evolution.

References
Ashford University. (2014). 2013-2014 academic catalog. Retrieved from https://student.ashford.edu/CMCPortalFileShare/AU-AC%20Forms/Catalogs/2013-2014%20Academic%20Catalog.pdf
Burnaford, G. & Brown, T. (2014). Teaching and learning in 21st century learning environments: A reader. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2014). About the common core state standards. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/
Smith, A. (2012). Nearly half of American adults are smartphone owners. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/03/01/nearly-half-of-american-adults-are-smartphone-owners/  more

Paper needs to be about evolution and the process of how schools are changing to meet the needs of all students. Last summer I took a class in Current Issues in Educational Leadership. This has probably had the most impact on me concerning school change than anything I have ever been exposed to. The topic that I became so excited about is the restructuring of schools into Professional Learning Communities as promoted by Richard and Rebecca DuFour. I have continued to research into this model for school improvement. This offers what I think is the best chance for our public schools to develop into the learning environments that will be needed for all students to be successful. It addresses so many needs- need to make sure all students learn-need to empower teachers-promote site based management. And the realization that one size or type of canned learning program does not meet the needs of all students and stakeholders. Professional Learning Communities-are a way of thinking and acting that helps everyone take responsibility for learning. This offers just as many benefits for the teachers and administrators as it does for the students.

Please kindly use the book" Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice" , By Gregory to write the papers if you have access to it. My field of study is "Library and Media" and not te...aching.



Task 1: ( 1 page- 1 ref. )

Critically reflect on your work thus far. What have you learned about the uses of differentiated instruction in both the classroom and in professional development? How will you use what you have learned to benefit your organization or an organization that you will work for in the future?



Task 2: ( 2 pages- 2 ref. )

After reading Chapters II-5 through II-8 of Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice, you will answer the following reflective questions that will require you to think and respond critically. In a two- to five-page paper, address the following questions using specific examples from your professional experience and cite the book when possible:

What is a successful lesson framework composed of? How would this framework differ between two different content areas?

Why is it important to consider the background of the students and possible assessments used when designing a lesson? How does this lead to student achievement?

Reflect on the strategies you have learned thus far for differentiated instruction. Choose three of these strategies. Compare/contrast each strategy noting the differences and similarities in student achievement. Could any of these strategies be combined and if so, how will this impact student achievement.



Note: Please just make 2 - page ready, I will revise and add my own sentences to make the final draft ready.



Task 3: ( 1 page- 1 ref.)

Review Figure 80 in your reading. Describe a situation in your past experience where you implemented change or could have implemented change. How could you use this chart to increase the effects of this change? Was this change process a success? Based on your readings, how could you have increased the likelihood of success in this situation? Describe a situation that you have encountered where a supportive response may have increased your adaptability to change.



Task 4: ( 1 page- 1 ref. )

Change can be difficult for some. Think about a change you would like to see in your educational or work environment. How would you implement this change? Consider and discuss the possible resistance that you may encounter from your professional community. How would you support them throughout the change process? How would you overcome any resistance to the change?



Task 5: ( 1 page- 1 ref. )

Read the required article Asking the Right Questions (Reason, C. & Reason, L, 2007). Reflect on what you have learned about teacher leadership. How can you implement change within an organization? How do you manage this change outside of a designated leadership position?



Task 6: ( 1 page- 1 ref. )

Research three articles on teacher/school leadership. Answer the following reflective questions that will require you to think and respond critically. In a one- to two- page paper, address the following questions using specific examples from your professional experience and cite the three articles found throughout the paper.

What is a teacher leader? How can you lead your organization through your individual capabilities? What leadership principles would you draw on?

What type of change will you implement in your organization or in a future organization? How will your research on teacher/school leadership help you to do this?

Discuss the implementation of change as a teacher or educational leader. How is this different from managing change?



Task 7: ( 1 page - 1 ref. )

How does your work setting sustain morale and time commitments from employees in times of change? Is the current support in your workplace for change successful? What strategies for supporting change in your work environment would you provide to your administrators? Why did you select these strategies? Support your discussion with references from the required reading.



Task 8: ( 1 page- 1 ref. )

Identify a change currently occurring in your organization, providing a background for your classmates of the rationale behind this change. If you were assigned to support and manage this change, how would you do this? What would you do differently in managing and supporting this change? Provide rationale for your decisions based on the reading and one additional source.



Task 9: ( 1 page- 1 ref. )

Reflect on your study of differentiated instruction, professional learning communities, and teacher leadership. What steps and leadership principles would you use to implement, manage, and support the development of a professional learning community in your organization? What possible challenges would you face during this process? How would you address these challenges to achieve the desired result?



Taks 10: ( 5 pages, but 8 ref. )



During each week of this course, you will be researching and analyzing differentiated instruction and the leadership necessary to implement effective professional development for understanding differentiated instruction. Using the task 6 and the reflective questions as the foundation for this paper, identify an area of need for professional development for differentiated instruction at your worksite. In a minimum of an eight-page paper, research the needed professional development with attention to the objectives, assessments, strategies, and implementation of a professional development plan to address this need. Make sure to include leadership principles, choice of differentiated instruction for improvement, and key players involved at your site. For example, a school site would include parent groups, teachers, teacher leaders, school staff, and students. You should include research in your paper, identifying how these components are grounded in research and best practice.

Note: Please just make 5 - page ready, I will revise and add my own words to make the final draft ready.

Customer is requesting that (Assco5522) completes this order.  more

FOR WRITER JOHNFITZ44 ONLY!!!

Ashford University: MAED Capstone

Source 1: Online Course Textbook: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUEDU695.14.1
Source 2: http://www.p21.org/abo...ut-us/p21-framework/831


Leadership in the 21st-Century Support Systems

This assignment requires you to make connections between 21st-century support systems, specifically 21st Century Professional Development components. As the emphasis is on professional development, consider prior coursework that included collaboration, self-reflection, and other components pertaining to your growth as a practitioner and how that may contribute to student outcomes. There are several approaches you could take with this assignment. However, it is recommended the assignment you select to redesign includes at least one of the components found on the 21st Century Professional Development link and listed here:
Highlights ways teachers can seize opportunities for integrating 21st century skills, tools, and teaching strategies into their classroom practice ? and help them identify what activities they can replace/de-emphasize.

Balances direct instruction with project-oriented teaching methods.

Illustrates how a deeper understanding of subject matter can actually enhance problem-solving, critical thinking, and other 21st century skills.

Enables 21st century professional learning communities for teachers that model the kinds of classroom learning that best promotes 21st century skills for students.

Cultivates teachers? ability to identify students? particular learning styles, intelligences, strengths, and weaknesses.

Helps teachers develop their abilities to use various strategies (such as formative assessments) to reach diverse students and create environments that support differentiated teaching and learning.

Supports the continuous evaluation of students? 21st century skills development.

Encourages knowledge sharing among communities of practitioners, using face-to-face, virtual, and blended communications.

Uses a scalable and sustainable model of professional development.

For example, you may redesign an instructional plan with assessment plans embedded throughout, or a full assessment plan including a summative assessment that demonstrates either points f or g, both focusing on student assessment. On the other hand, you might select a previous assignment that focused on professional collaboration and/or PLCs and modify it to support points d, h, or i. If you do not have previous assignments to use in this assignment, please contact your instructor for guidelines on how to proceed. As needed, refer to the MAED program learning outcomes (PLOs) list as needed. Upload your assignment to the course for evaluation and to your ePortfolio (Pathbrite).


Create your assignment to meet the content and written communication expectations below.

Content Expectations
The Redesign expectations explain what you are required to do with the prior coursework you choose to redesign. The Summary expectations are for the separate written portion of this assignment.
Redesign ? 21st Century Professional Development (3 Points): Redesign of an instructional plan with assessment plans embedded throughout, or a full assessment plan with a summative assessment that includes integration of 21st Century Skills, teaching strategies, project-oriented teaching methods, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

Summary ? Introduction/Conclusion (1 Point): A one paragraph introduction to the summary that concisely presents the scope and organization of the summary writing, as well as a one paragraph conclusion that recaps your summary?s key points.

Summary ? Modification (1 Point): In one paragraph, summarize the changes you made to your activity to meet the redesign expectations for this assignment. Explicitly state how your redesign assignment provides evidence of mastery of PLOs 5 and 7

Summary ? Reflection (1 Point): Summarize, in one paragraph, your experience with the redesign in terms of challenges you encountered and how you overcame those challenges.

Written Communication Expectations
Page Requirement (.5 points): Two to four pages, not including title and references pages.

APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment.

Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics such as spelling and grammar.

Source Requirement (.5 points): References three scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

*****Sample assignment from professor:
21st Century Support Systems
Introduction
In the 21st century, education has entered a new era. Technology is increasingly being integrated into the learning experience. In fact, technology has become so common in classrooms that standards and frameworks have been designed to specifically address student outcomes that encompass the use of technology for learning. These standards and frameworks even address specific guidelines for teachers and administrators. The following unit is an example of how technology can be integrated in the classroom in order to support 21st century learning and skills.
Community Lesson Plan

Lesson Title:

What Is A Community?

Grade Level:

1st grade

Subject Area:

Social Studies

Class Demographics:

9 boys, 11 girls

3 ELL students

1 below grade level reader

Teacher Name:

Sonya Phillips

Time Frame:

5 days

Summary:

This lesson is designed to teach students about what a community is and the importance of being good citizens. It also emphasizes acceptance and respect for diversity.



Connection to Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.5.c

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are cozy) (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2012).

Technology

Standards:

1.Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008).



Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to define the word community and list the attributes of good citizenship within the context of a community.



Assessment:

Pre-assessment and activation of prior knowledge will take place in the form of a class discussion on the topic. Students? knowledge of the concept will be formatively assessed throughout instruction. Production of that knowledge will be evaluated via a project based summative assessment. The summative assessment will be evaluated according to the provided rubric.



Materials and

Resources:

Computers, printer, Smart Board

Microsoft Power Point

Build your own town is a free website that allows kids choose building designs and print them in order to build a 3d community. Access this site at http://www.yourchildlearns.com/letters/make-a-town.html
Babylon is a free translation website. ELL students can use this to help them translate words into English as they do written assignments. Access herehttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/languages/Spanish2dictionary.html
A worksheet with 6 concentric circles with cutout labels me, school, city, state, country, and planet (VandenBerge, 2012).
A Microsoft Power Point presentation on community (The teacher must design this presentation based on her class demographics and the surrounding community).
Youtube video Characteristics of a Good Citizen by BrainPOP Jr. (2012). The video discusses and depicts what a citizen is, rights and responsibilities of citizens, and what makes good citizens. It can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=3zRxiktEaug
Poster sized person outline for the citizenship activity (Durning-Leander, 2011).

Post It sticky notes
Index cards
Graphic organizer template printed for each student
A grading rubric for evaluation of the summative assessment project
Printer paper
Markers or crayons
Glue
Key Vocabulary Terms

? Community

? Neighbor

? Neighborhood

? Citizen



Prerequisite Professional

Development

Prior to teaching this unit, the teacher should have a working knowledge of how incorporating technology can enhance student comprehension and learning. She must also have a comprehensive understanding of how to incorporate technology into the lessons in order to advance student learning about exploring real world issues and authentic problem solving skills. These instructional skills should be developed within the school PLC. This development should occur via sharing lessons and instructional strategies within the PLC. Additionally, the teacher should collaborate with colleagues on developing lesson plans that address 21st century learning skills. Evaluation of the application of these skills will be conducted through video analysis. The lesson will be recorded for peer and administrative analysis and feedback.



Procedures:

Day 1

The teacher will introduce the lesson by opening a class discussion. She will ask the students what they think a community is. This is also an informal pre-assessment. After students give their answers, the teacher will do the Power Point presentation about communities and citizenship and project it onto the Smart Board. The use of Power Point and Smart Board technology aligns with the ISTE standard for the unit. The class will continue the discussion with the new information they have acquired about communities and copy the key vocabulary terms.

Activity: The students will complete the concentric circle community worksheet. Students will take their key terms list home and discuss the meanings with their parents and record their definitions. This is not a technical definition exercise. It is meant to discover the different perceptions that people have of community and citizenship.

Assessment: The teacher will close the lesson by distributing index cards to each student and giving the class an Exit Slip formative assessment writing prompt. This strategy will be used because it facilitates reflective thinking and allows a non-threatening check for understanding (Reading Rockets, 2014). The information gathered from this assessment will be used to make any necessary adjustments to instructional strategies or assignments in order to meet the learning needs of any students who need extra support.

Day 2

The teacher will begin today?s lesson with the BrainPOP Jr. video on citizenship. Make sure that students have pencils and paper to write down the characteristics of a good citizen as they are listed throughout the video. The teacher should also pause the video to allow ELL students some extra processing time and to discuss the traits as they come up in the video. This differentiation strategy supports both ELL students and the student who reads below grade level with reading comprehension of the text that is present in the video. This also aligns with the unit?s ISTE teacher standard.

Activity: The teacher will give each student a post it sticky and ask them to write down one way they can be a good citizen. The students will share their answer with the class and place the post it on the model citizen poster. This activity appeals to visual, bodily/kinesthetic, and interpersonal communication intelligences of Gardner?s multiple intelligence theory (Public Broadcasting Service, 2013). Then, the class will identify the key vocabulary terms that were included in the post it notes. Specific technical definitions will be recorded, and the definitions parents provided will be compared.

Assessment: The formative assessment activity for this lesson will be the graphic organizer. The teacher provide each student with a copy of the template and ask them to complete the template independently. This allows the teacher to check for understanding after the day?s lesson. Students who are having difficulty will maintain a low affective filter as this assessment keeps their responses private. A low affective filter is essential to student learning because students need to feel unguarded and safe to express their thoughts (Krashen, 2009). Again, the information gathered from this assessment should serve as a guide for making instructional and assessment changes as needed.

Day 3:

Today?s lesson will begin with a brief review discussion of the content. The teacher will spend a few minutes asking students to verbally identify the characteristics of a community and good citizenship. Afterward, the teacher will assign students to collaborative, heterogeneous groups of 4. Flexible and collaborative grouping is an important differentiation strategy for this lesson. It provides all students in the class equal access, learning, and expressive opportunity at their own individual level of readiness (Great Schools Partnership, 2013).

Activity: Once students are in their groups, the teacher will explain and provide directions for the project based summative assessment. Each group will build a 3D paper community and write a paragraph about what a community is and what constitutes good citizenship. The teacher will also provide the students with the resources for completing the project including the town building and translation websites with allotted computer times for each group. The teacher should also provide the students with the remaining materials listed for the completion of the project. The students should be given their exit slips and graphic organizers to refer to during the project.

Assessment: As today is the culmination of the lesson, the teacher will only observe the students as they work in their groups. The teacher should provide gentle guidance to the students as needed. However, this project should be a product of the students? knowledge.

Day 4:

Students will continue to work on their summative assessment projects with the teacher observing and providing needed guidance. The groups who did not have computer access yesterday will be given their computer time today. The teacher will remind the class that projects must be completed and presented tomorrow.

Day 5:

Group projects are due today. The teacher may elect to give groups a small window to finalize their projects if it is needed. Otherwise, each group will present their community to the class from the group?s workspace. Then, the students will circulate throughout the class to view each project. The teacher will meet with each group to evaluate the project according to the grading rubric.


(Chart)


Not Proficient

Approaching Proficiency

Proficient

Exceeds Proficiency

Overall Presentation

40%

The group did not construct a community and write a paragraph on what a community is and what constitutes good citizenship.

The group constructed a basic representation of community and wrote a paragraph on what a community is and what constitutes good citizenship that contained a few errors.

The group constructed a solid representation of community and wrote a paragraph on what a community is and what constitutes good citizenship that contained no errors.

The group constructed a thorough representation of community and wrote a paragraph on what a community is and what constitutes good citizenship that contained no errors.

Use key vocabulary terms 20%

The group did not use more than one key vocabulary term in the presentation.

The group used at least 2 key vocabulary terms in the presentation.

The group used 3 key vocabulary terms in the presentation.

The group used all 4 key vocabulary terms in the presentation.

Collaborative Speaking and Sharing

(Teamwork)

40%

The group members did not work as a team or less than 3 of the 5 members contributed to the project and worked together in order to accomplish a common goal.

At least 3 of the 5 members of the group contributed to the project and worked together to accomplish a common goal.

4 of the 5 group members contributed to the project and worked together in order to accomplish a common goal.

All 5 members of the group contributed equally to the project and worked together in order to accomplish a common goal.

Modifications
The modifications made to this lesson plan include several support systems for 21st century learning. Some of those support systems include the use of technology in the lesson. Others are more strategic in nature. The strategic modifications are included in order to build on 21st century skills such as collaboration, creativity, and information literacy. 21st century professional development has been addressed as well. The professional development aspect is addressed as a prerequisite to teaching the unit because it is essential to effectively executing the lesson plan. It is further integrated with the recording and analysis that is prescribed to take place via the use of technology and critical analysis with feedback provided after the lesson is taught.

Reflection
In reflecting on this lesson?s redesign process, the challenge came in the addition of professional development to the lesson. Adding a professional development plan to a lesson during the process of designing the unit is much less complicated. In this case, surmounting the challenge through the incorporation of technology was the solution. Video recording the lesson for analysis and feedback gives the teacher and students the opportunity to move through the lesson without the distraction of an unfamiliar observer being present. However, the PLC can observe the teacher in action along with seeing student response to the teacher?s strategies for conveying content and communication with students throughout the lesson.

Conclusion
Concluding this redesign and integration of 21st century support systems through the teaching of 21st century skills and PLC support in incorporating those skills in professional development as well as instruction, it is clear that education has entered a new era in which technological skills are essential. Both teachers and students need to learn and develop skills that are essential in the current globally competitive climate. This includes but is not limited to the adept use of technology. Other 21st century skills include the ability to collaborate with culturally diverse peers as well as the ability to think critically and creatively. This is especially important for teachers as students tend to be naturally adept at the use of technology because they are born into this new era. As Burnaford and Brown (2014) state, ?The key to becoming an effective 21st century instructor is to become an efficient 21st century learner,? (p. 440).  more

This assignment is for a discussion question. There are two questions for this assignment. One page for each question. Please cite correctly and answer all aspects of the questions. first question..., read chapter 2 and 4 and answer the following question. Answer the question as if it was pertaining to you...I will upload the ebook to you.
Read from your text, Connecting Leadership with Learning:
Preface (pp. ix-xv)
Chapter 2 (pp. 9-25)
Chapter 4 (pp. 43-55)



question 1

In Chapter 4, Copland and Knapp (2006) noted that a professional learning community values research and sets up cycles to facilitate ?schoolwide inquiry into learning and teaching performance and participating in professional inquiry as a colleague.? In this discussion, reflect upon your own research experiences in the MAED program and your continued role as an educator-researcher. Do you agree with the authors that ?inquiry into learning? is an essential component of the professional learning community? Why or why not?







This article below will answer question #2

Smith, M.K. (2009). Donald Schon (sch?n): Learning, reflection and change. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm
Thia article provides an overview of the theories developed by Donald Sch?n and his contributions to learning theory especially related to reflective practice.

question 2
The Reflective Practitioner

Donald Sch?n (1983, as cited in Smith, 2009) noted that acting as a reflective practitioner enables educators to spend time exploring actions and observations on what has occurred. In so doing, reflective practice is developed as a mode of inquiry resulting in praxis. Present a profile of your own current professional educator role as a reflective practitioner or the educator role you will pursue after earning your MAED degree. Be sure to incorporate Sch?n?s concepts on (a) reflection, (b) practice, and (c) learning systems into your profile.  more

I would like for Jordan Crystal to assigned this request. You did a piece for me recently which I was very pleased with. I have several other papers I would like you to do for me. This paper concern...s school reform as it relates to a class I took last summer. Last summer I took a class in current issues in educational leadership. This has probably had the most impact on me concerning school change than anything I have ever been exposed to. The topic that I became so excited about is the restructuring of schools into Professional Learning Communities as proposed by Richard and Rebecca DuFour. I have continued to research their findings about this model for school improvement. This offers what I think is the best chance for our public schools to develop into learning environments that will be best for all students. through this program we can make sure all students are learning, empower teachers and promote site based management. We need to come to the realization that one size does not fit all and one method does not meet the needs of all stakeholders or students. The Professional Learning Community is a way of thinking and acting that helps everyone take responsability for learning. With my principals permission I have been trying to empliment this program in the two committees, science and safety that I am a member of. I have not told the other members what I am doing but I am trying to steer them in the methods by leading them in that direction. I am doing this by suggesting new ways of doing things that emphasize the work of the Professional Learning Community and Richard and Rebecca DuFour.  more

Personal Reflection

In what ways have your views on professional learning communities (PLC) changed throughout this course? In what ways has your comfort level in working with other changed since week one of the course? Have your areas of strength and need changed at all over the last six weeks? How so? Use one of the following options when responding to this journal:

Submit a written reflection
Use Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html) to create a reflection with visuals
Use Voki (http://www.voki.com/) to create a reflection using a talking avatar.
Submit a peer dialogue reflection.

I need a paper about my school developing a new mission and vision statement. Need details. I helped with this development at the start of this year. At the start of this year my principal along wi...th the school improvement team (of which I am a member) took on the task of developing a new mission and vision statement for our school. I took lead position and encouraged our group to go beyond the normal mission statement where we talk about lofty generic goals that are often difficult to measure. The principal and I wanted a statement that specific and directed toward learning and developing accountability. Had each grade level come up with ideas and then came together and collaborated on what school needed. The entire staff worked to develop a shared mission, vision and goals taking into account input from all groups. Our mission became that everything we did must be directed toward student learning. Had teachers collaborate on how they were to be sure every student was learning ,how they were going to assess learning and what they would do for students who were not learning. Our vision statement went along with our mission statement in that it described what we wanted our school to became. In order for mission and vision to be successful teachers realized that we must buy into what is said and believe in its value and also convey this belief to the students. What we ended up with was good (patterned after Richard Dufor's concept of Professional Learning Communities-schools) but we will edit and evolve our belief statements in the future to more accurately what we want our school to become. The process was successful not because of one person but because our entire staff was encouraged to communicate and contribute to this task.  more

Prepare a final proposal for a school improvement plan, with feedback from the principal, school improvement team members, and other stakeholders.
These are my goals created by our school improve...ment team along with some ideas or processes on how we could go about achieving my goals . The members of my school improvement team are my principal, guidance counselor, teachers, librarian, community members, parents, a teachers union representative, and a resource teacher. It must be explained through through this essay that the goals and processes of achieving the goals were created in a collaborated effort by the school improvement team and how feedback from all was demonstrated with a few examples. Also how this improvement plan especially the "effective instruction goal" coincides with overall becoming a data driven school.
Goal 1- Effective Instruction
Implement the Model Curriculum provided by NJDOE to ensure that there is an adequate integration of the Core Common Standards with the NJCCCS.
Align assessments (both formative and summative) to Model Curriculum.
Collect and analyze data from assessments to ensure that:
At least 95% of students participate in state mandated formative assessments
At least 70% of students demonstrate proficiency on each subject learning objective of state mandated formative assessments
Staff continue to modify and/or improve instruction using research based methods
The number of not proficient students in the subject areas of LAL and Math will decrease by 8.3% as compared to 2012 NJASK scores through the use of:
A rigorous Curriculum
High expectations and implementation of classroom researched-based best practices
Continuous student interventions: tutoring, enrichment, etc.
All Science, Soc. St., and Specials area teachers will continue to support the Student Learning Objectives for LAL and Math as articulated in the Model Curriculum.



Goal 2- School Climate and Culture
Promote a positive school climate through proactive activities that create a safe place for learning to occur:
Students:
Character education program.
Assemblies/other activities that promote cultural awareness and tolerance.
Staff:
Professional learning opportunities.
Opportunities to create/present professional development sessions by staff through collaborative effort.
Attendance:
Staff/students: at least 92% attendance
Students: less than 5% will be chronically absent
Discipline: less than 5% of students will be suspended
Data
Examine discipline referral data on a monthly basis to determine:
Patterns of behavior
Possible root causes of behavior
Strategies:
Teachers will have 3 buddy teachers to send students to.
Guidance will continue their active role of conferencing with students.
Aggressively use in house counselors to implement research based behavior modification techniques.
Student reflections on behavior in order to:
Create accountability for incorrect behaviors
Modify/curtail future incorrect behaviors











Goal 3- Effective Family and Community Engagement
Promote a positive, respectful, and welcoming school environment for parents, students and community members at large through engaging and academically focused activities.
Parents:
Create afterschool ESL classes for parents
Students:
Offer collaborative parent/child learning opportunities: shared reading, hands-on projects, etc.
Community Members:
? Engage community leaders to serve as speakers, mentors/role models for parents and students.
Attendance:
Parents:
At least 25% of parents participate in school wide surveys
At least 80% responding to surveys state that the school meets expectations.
25% increase in parent participation in all school activities
Students:
100% of students will participate in school wide surveys.
At least 80% of students responding to surveys will state that the school meets expectations.
At least 25% of students will participate in parent/child collaborative learning projects.
Strategies:
Offer incentives to parents/students to foster habit of participation.
Use questionnaires/surveys on a quarterly basis to:
Get perspective on past activities.
Obtain input and suggestions for future activities.
Use automated phone system, parent liaisons, and staff members in addition to letters/notices to reach out to parents and students to ensure effective communication.  more

Watch the videos Solution Tree: Richard DuFour on the Importance of PLCs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnWDJFxfAKE&feature=related) and Solution Tree: Richard DuFour PLC Keynote (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlJcFW9qMiI), respond to the following prompt:

In his videos, DuFour discusses the importance of PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) and how school systems must shift to a collaborative culture to have a positive impact on student success. Choose one story from the All Things PLC (http://www.allthingsplc.info/tools/samples.php#stories) website that interests you. For your discussion post, summarize the story and then discuss your insights on the shift in school culture and how the guiding principles of a PLC (focus on learning, collaborative culture, and results) are applied in the story. Then discuss implications for teaching and learning and how the PLC culture can influence teachers. Additionally, if you have had any experiences or professional stories with PLCs, discuss how the PLC has influenced your own practices.

APA Style and 12 font double spaced. Responses need to be complete sentences and paragraphs

W. James Popham - Transformative Assessment: Chapter 3 Teachers Instructional Adjustments
Do...uglass Fisher - Checking for Understanding: Chapter 1
Susan M. Brookhart - Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom: Chapter 1 Essential Elements of the Formative Assessment Process (Handout posted on the courses Main Page in Week 3 section.

Step 1: Begin by reading through each of readings listed from above. Then address the following questions for each of the readings:

Popham:
1. Step-Taking. How might you implement one or more of the four steps in a classroom?
2. Traditional Classroom Assessment Options. What are some traditional evidence-gathering assessments with which you are familiar?
3. Novel Classroom Assessment Tactics. In Chapter 3, Popham identifies and briefly describes several atypical assessment procedures (e.g., the traffic-signal technique). Select one of these assessment approaches and describe how it might be used in a classroom.
Fisher:
1. Discuss the differences between formative and summative assessments. When is each appropriate for use in the classroom? (Figure 1.1 is also on the 2nd page of the Brookhart handout. You might find this helpful as well.)

2. Discuss the differences between checking for understanding and understanding by design. Do these two ideas complement each other?

3. Discuss the relationship between for understanding and differentiating instruction? Do these two ideas complement each other?

Brookhart:
1. Develop a brief explanation for each of the following concepts (if these are not familiar you will need to do a little research online).
a. Learning Target (review and describe)
b. Metacognition
c. Resilient Learner
d. Tests vs. Assessments
e. External vs. Internal Motivation

2. Examine Figure 1.2 (5th page of the handout). If you are in the classroom describe 3 of the practices (shown in the 2nd column) that you have used or would like to try. If you are not in the classroom then describe 3 of the practices that you think would be effective for a teacher to use as part of formative assessment.

3. Examine the Figure 1.4 (13th page of the handout). Use the descriptions listed in the two columns to summarize the value of formative assessment for the teacher who is teaching and the students who are learning.

Step 2: Based on the three readings develop a reflective summary of what you have learned about formative assessment both in terms of its theory and the practices related to it. If you are in the classroom describe any formative assessment practices that you have used and any new practices that you might begin incorporating. If you are not in the classroom then focus of the larger picture of what you understand formative assessment to be and to what degree you think that it would enhance student achievement.


THIS IS THE HANDOUT FOR BOOKHART


Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom
by Connie M. Moss and Susan M. Brookhart
Chapter 1. The Lay of the Land: Essential Elements of the Formative Assessment Process
When teachers join forces with their students in the formative assessment process, their partnership generates powerful learning outcomes. Teachers become more effective, students become actively engaged, and they both become intentional learners.
We can use the metaphor of a windmill to visualize the formative assessment process and its effects. Just as a windmill intentionally harnesses the power of moving air to generate energy, the formative assessment process helps students intentionally harness the workings of their own minds to generate motivation to learn. Propelled by the formative assessment process, students understand and use learning targets, set their own learning goals, select effective learning strategies, and assess their own learning progress. And as students develop into more confident and competent learners, they become motivated (energized) to learn, increasingly able to persist during demanding tasks and to regulate their own effort and actions when they tackle new learning challenges.
When a windmill whirls into action, its individual blades seem to disappear. The same thing happens to the six elements of the formative assessment process. These interrelated elements are the following:
? Shared learning targets and criteria for success
? Feedback that feeds forward
? Student goal setting
? Student self-assessment
? Strategic teacher questioning
? Student engagement in asking effective questions
As teachers and students actively and intentionally engage in learning, the individual elements unite in a flurry of cognitive activity, working together and depending on each other. Their power comes from their combined effort.
What Is Formative Assessment?
Formative assessment is an active and intentional learning process that partners the teacher and the students to continuously and systematically gather evidence of learning with the express goal of improving student achievement. Intentional learning refers to cognitive processes that have learning as a goal rather than an incidental outcome (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1989). Teachers and their students actively and intentionally engage in the formative assessment process when they work together to do the following (Brookhart, 2006):
? Focus on learning goals.
? Take stock of where current work is in relation to the goal.
? Take action to move closer to the goal.
The primary purpose of formative assessment is to improve learning, not merely to audit it. It is assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning. Formative assessment is both an "instructional tool" that teachers and their students "use while learning is occurring" and "an accountability tool to determine if learning has occurred" (National Education Association, 2003, p. 3). In other words, to be "formative," assessments must inform the decisions that teachers and their students make minute by minute in the classroom. Figure 1.1 compares the characteristics of formative assessment and summative assessment.
Figure 1.1. Characteristics of Formative and Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment
(Assessment for Learning) Summative Assessment
(Assessment of Learning)
Purpose: To improve learning and achievement Purpose: To measure or audit attainment
Carried out while learning is in progress??"day to day, minute by minute. Carried out from time to time to create snapshots of what has happened.
Focused on the learning process and the learning progress. Focused on the products of learning.
Viewed as an integral part of the teaching-learning process. Viewed as something separate, an activity performed after the teaching-learning cycle.
Collaborative??"Teachers and students know where they are headed, understand the learning needs, and use assessment information as feedback to guide and adapt what they do to meet those needs. Teacher directed??"Teachers assign what the students must do and then evaluate how well they complete the assignment.
Fluid??"An ongoing process influenced by student need and teacher feedback. Rigid??"An unchanging measure of what the student achieved.
Teachers and students adopt the role of intentional learners. Teachers adopt the role of auditors and students assume the role of the audited.
Teachers and students use the evidence they gather to make adjustments for continuous improvement. Teachers use the results to make final "success or failure" decisions about a relatively fixed set of instructional activities.

Here are some examples of the formative assessment process in the classroom:
? A teacher asks students in his 6th grade social studies class to form pairs to generate three strategic questions that will help them better meet their learning target of describing how erosion has produced physical patterns on the earth's surface that have affected human activities.
? Before a lesson on creating a family budget, a consumer science teacher statesthe goals for the lesson and asks the students to paraphrase the goals.
? In a high school English class, students use a rubric that they generated as a class to plan their essays, monitor their writing, and edit their drafts in order to meet the criteria for a successful essay.
? In his feedback to a 1st grade student, a teacher shows the student what she did correctly in her attempt to draw the life cycle of a frog. Then the teacher gives the student a strategy to use to improve the accuracy of her drawing before she turns in her final sketch.
? A middle school student decides to use a story map to plan his short story depicting life in the Victorian era. It will help him reach his goal of improving the organization and sequencing of his story.
What Three Questions Guide the Formative Assessment Process?
The formative assessment process aligns what happens in the classroom??"day to day and minute by minute??"with three central questions:
? Where am I going?
? Where am I now?
? What strategy or strategies can help me get to where I need to go?
These central questions guide everything the teacher does, everything the student does, and everything teachers and their students do together. The questions are deceptively simple, yet to address them students and teachers must become skilled assessors who can gauge the gap between the students' current level of understanding and the shared learning target. Only then can they choose appropriate strategies to close the gap.
This continuous process of setting a learning target, assessing present levels of understanding, and then working strategically to narrow the distance between the two is the essence of formative assessment. Once a learning target is mastered, a new "just right" target is set and the process continues forward. It comes down to the Goldilocks Principle: to generate motivation to learn, the level of challenge and the level of support must be just right. And that means all classroom decisions??"those made by the teacher and those made by the students themselves??"must be informed by continually gathering evidence of student learning.
The three central questions of the formative assessment process are a great starting point for school leaders as they help teachers recognize and use formative assessment in their classrooms. The questions can guide teachers as they (1) plan their lessons, (2) monitor their teaching, and (3) help their students become self-regulated learners. Teachers can display the questions in their classrooms and remind their students to think about them before, during, and after each learning experience.
How Does the Formative Assessment Process Affect Student Learning and Achievement?
There is a firm body of evidence that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement. We know of no other way of raising standards for which such a strong prima facie case can be made.
??"Paul Black & Dylan Wiliam,
"Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment"
The research is clear: formative assessment works. It works because it has a direct effect on the two most important players in the teaching-learning process: the teacher and the student.
In too many classrooms, teachers and their students are flying blind. Teachers cannot point to strong evidence of exactly what their students know and exactly where their students are in relation to daily classroom learning goals. The lack of detailed and current evidence makes it particularly difficult for teachers to provide effective feedback that describes for students the next steps they should take to improve. Students are operating in the dark as well. Without the benefit of knowing how to assess and regulate their own learning, they try to perform well on assignments without knowing exactly where they are headed, what they need to do to get there, and how they will tell when they have arrived.
Effects on Teacher Quality
Teacher quality exerts greater influence on student achievement than any other factor in education??"no other factor even comes close (Darling-Hammond, 1999; Hanushek, Kain, O'Brien, & Rivkin, 2005; Thompson & Wiliam, 2007). Formative assessment affects teacher quality because it operates at the core of effective teaching (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Elmore, 2004). Engaged in the formative assessment process, teachers learn about effective teaching by studying the effectiveness of their own instructional decisions. This practice promotes professional learning that is relevant, authentic, and transformational.
Despite professional development efforts focused on training teachers to use best practices in their classroom, studies clearly show that teachers do not always teach in ways that research supports as best practices for student learning. Rather, teachers teach in ways they believe to be best, often ignoring the findings of educational research. The distinction here is critical. Teachers' beliefs not only determine what they do in the classroom but also influence what they count as evidence that learning has occurred. And unless professional learning experiences help teachers examine their working assumptions about how students learn and how good teaching supports learning, they will not make meaningful changes in their teaching practices (Moss, 2002; Schreiber, Moss, & Staab, 2007).
Formative assessment can have a transformational effect on teachers and teaching (see Figure 1.2). In a very real way it flips a switch, shining a bright light on individual teaching decisions so that teachers can see clearly (and perhaps for the first time) the difference between the intent and the effect of their actions. Armed with this new perspective, teachers can take constructive action in their classrooms. They begin to collect and use strong evidence of exactly what works and exactly what does not work in their classrooms, with their students. And as they critically examine their own knowledge, practices, and working assumptions??"during each day, during each lesson, and during each interaction with their students??"they become inquiry-minded and keenly aware of exactly where they need to focus their change and improvement efforts in order to raise student achievement.
Figure 1.2. Impact of the Formative Assessment Process on Teachers

Teachers Adopt a Working Assumption That Teachers Take Constructive Action to
Students learn more effectively when they know and understand the learning goal. ? Bring precision to their planning.
? Communicate learning goals in student-friendly language.
? Unpack the exact criteria students must meet to succeed on each task.

To help each student succeed, I must know precisely where that student is in relation to the learning goal. ? Continuously collect evidence of student learning to monitor and adapt their teaching during a lesson.

Effective feedback provides specific suggestions for closing the gap between where students are and where they need to be in relation to the learning goal. ? Give feedback that is focused, generative, and descriptive.
? Develop a repertoire of feedback strategies.

One of the most important skills I can teach my students is how to regulate their own learning. ? Teach their students how to self-assess.
? Make rubrics, checklists, guides, and other metacognitive tools an integral part of what students do before, during, and after learning.

Meaningful learning happens between minds, during strategic conversations, and when students become models of success for each other. ? Encourage students to become learning resources for each other.
? Plan for and ask strategic questions that will produce evidence of student learning.

Motivation isn't something I can give to my students; it is something I must help them develop. ? Align appropriate levels of challenge and just-right support.
? Intentionally create learning experiences in which students learn what they do well, what they should do more of, and how to focus their efforts to maximze success.


Effects on Student Learning
The effects of the formative assessment process on students are just as dramatic because it engages students in learning how to learn. Students learn more, learn smarter, and grow into self-aware learners who can tell you exactly what they did to get to exactly where they are. In other words, students become self-regulated learners and data-driven decision makers. They learn to gather evidence about their own learning and to use that information to choose from a growing collection of strategies for success. And students not only learn how to take ownership of their learning but also increasingly view themselves as autonomous, confident, and capable.
This combination of learning factors??"ownership, autonomy, confidence, and capability??"fortifies students with increased levels of resilience. Raising student resilience can derail a dangerous cycle for many students who attribute their failure to perform well on classroom tasks to a lack of academic ability. Judging themselves to be incapable of achieving and powerless to change things, they become discouraged and quit trying (Ames, 1992; Boston, 2002; Vispoel & Austin, 1995). Resilient learners, on the other hand, bounce back from poor performances and adversities. They attribute their failures and their successes on learning tasks to factors within their control. They rebound rather than giving up in the face of a challenge. Resilient students believe in their capacity to adapt what they are doing and how they are doing it in order to succeed.
And although formative assessment has a significant effect on learning for all students, it "helps low achievers more than other students and so reduces the range of achievement while raising achievement overall" (Black & Wiliam, 1998). For reasons we mention here and for many more we explore in later chapters, the formative assessment process is a compelling force for increasing student learning and closing the achievement gap.
How Does Formative Assessment Forge a Teacher-Student Learning Partnership?
High-quality formative assessment blurs the artificial barriers between teaching, learning, and assessment to forge a culture of collaborative inquiry and improvement in the classroom. As this learning partnership grows stronger, conversations about learning become the rule of thumb rather than the exception to the rule. Teachers and students work together to gather information about the strengths and weaknesses of their performances in ways that inform all learners and all learning in the classroom. They do this by talking with one another, planning with one another, comparing evidence of learning, and setting shared learning goals that establish the parameters of what counts as evidence that learning has indeed occurred.

The bottom line is that formative assessment fundamentally changes the quality and quantity of teacher-student interactions. And every day, throughout the day, what happens in the classroom focuses squarely on student achievement.
What Common Misconceptions Might Teachers Hold About Formative Assessment?
Misconceptions are the inevitable result of misunderstanding and often cause teachers to question the formative assessment process. Clearly these misconceptions can dilute the effectiveness of formative assessment and block its consistent use in the classroom. School leaders can take an active role in helping teachers build accurate understandings of what formative assessment is and, perhaps most important, what it is not. They can include strategic talking points in their initial and ongoing conversations with teachers about formative assessment. Here we identify common misconceptions and suggest strategic talking points for each.
Misconception #1: Formative assessment is a special kind of test or series of tests that teachers learn to use to find out what their students know. This is probably the most common misconception regarding formative assessment. It is directly related to our sometimes careless custom of using the terms assessment and test interchangeably. Is it any wonder teachers mistakenly assume that formative assessment is a special kind of test item, test, or series of tests??"something that they must administer to their students in order to audit learning?
Strategic talking points school leaders can use to address this misconception include the following:
? Formative assessment is not a test item, a test, or a series of tests.
? Formative assessment is an intentional learning process teachers engage in with their students to gather information during the learning process to improve achievement.
? Formative assessment is a learning partnership that involves teachers and their students taking stock of where they are in relation to their learning goals.
Misconception #2: Formative assessment is a program that teachers adopt and add to what they already do. This misconception can be traced directly to traditional inservice workshop models of professional development. More times than not, teachers are asked to enact a program or technique prescribed by outside experts and presented to them in a one-shot workshop. It stands to reason, then, that teachers often view formative assessment as a program or method they must learn and add to what they already do. This misguided view often leads teachers to wonder how they will find time to "do formative assessment" along with everything else they already "do" in their classrooms. This additive perspective makes it particularly difficult for teachers to recognize formative assessment as a dynamic process that shifts the classroom focus from instruction to learning and represents much more than simply adding a new technique to what currently exists.

Strategic talking points school leaders can use to address this misconception include the following:
? Formative assessment is not a prepackaged program or set of techniques that teachers adopt and enact.
? Formative assessment is a philosophy of teaching and learning in which the purpose of assessing is to inform learning, not merely to audit it.
? The formative assessment process is a fundamental reframing of the work teachers and students do day to day and minute by minute in the classroom.
Misconception #3: Any practice that gathers information for the purpose of improving programs or improving teaching is a part of formative assessment. The final misconception lies at the core of what qualifies a practice as formative assessment. Some educators mistakenly conclude that when teachers use assessment information to redesign or change a lesson, they meet the criteria of formative assessment. For example, a high school history teacher notes a troubling pattern on the final exam for her World War II unit. Half of her students mistakenly identified Germany as the country that suffered the most lasting damage from the war. As a result, she plans to change the way she teaches that content to her students next year. She intends to spend more time discussing the concept of lasting damage so that her future students can draw conclusions that are more accurate. In this example, the teacher uses information gathered after instruction to plan improved learning experiences for future students. Although the teacher's plan is laudable, it is not an example of formative assessment.
Strategic talking points school leaders can use to address this misconception include the following:
? To be considered part of the formative assessment process, information gathered must be used to inform the learning of current students.
? Although the quality of teaching rises as a result of formative assessment, the intended outcome must be to raise the learning and achievement of the students currently in the classroom on the concepts, processes, and skills that formed the basis for the assessment.
What Is the Connection Between Formative Assessment and Motivation?
The term motivation comes from the root word motive, which means "something that causes a person to act." Using that root, we can define motivation as something that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior toward a goal. Another way to say this is that motivation is goal-directed behavior combined with the energy and the intention to work toward that goal. In a very real way, motivation gets students learning, points them in the right direction, and keeps them engaged.
Although teachers cannot "give" motivation to their students, they can nurture, foster, and help their students develop more of it. Many educators view motivation as something that comes from external factors such as rewards, incentives, punishments, and warnings??"carrots and sticks. This view is not exactly flawed, because one form of motivation, extrinsic motivation, fits nicely into this description. The crux of the matter, though, is that extrinsic motivation applied to the classroom requires that the teacher use rewards (such as stickers, grades, free time, bonus points) and punishments (such as loss of recess, detention, lowering a grade) to control the motivation of students. It follows that students will only be motivated as long as they are under the control of the teacher. Without the teacher, the motivation disappears. So much for lifelong learning!
In fact, research tells us that extrinsic rewards can actually undermine a student's internal (intrinsic) motivation over time. The most detrimental practices involve giving rewards as a direct function of a student's performance. These rewards follow a common pattern. Students who perform the best get the most rewards, and those who perform less well get fewer or no rewards. For students who cannot meet the requirements, this type of external control chips away at them over time to weaken their motivation to learn, undercut their performance, and leave them demoralized (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). Understanding this effect, then, teachers should use extrinsic rewards sparingly and always as part of a plan to activate intrinsic motivation so that the external rewards can be gradually decreased and eventually removed.
In contrast, the formative assessment process has no downside. In fact, it is strongly linked to increased intrinsic student motivation. Like the windmill, formative assessment helps students harness the workings of their own minds to continuously generate and strengthen these four important components of motivation to learn:
? Self-efficacy??"A learner's belief in his ability to succeed in a particular situation
? Self-regulation??"The degree to which a learner is metacognitively, motivationally, and actively participating in her own learning
? Self-assessment??"A learner's act of observing, analyzing, and judging his own performance on the basis of criteria and determining how he can improve it
? Self-attribution??"A learner's own perceptions or explanations for success or failure that determine the amount of effort she will expend on that activity in the future
Throughout the remaining chapters, we will further unpack what we call the "motivation connection" by examining how the specific elements of the formative assessment process link to the components of intrinsic motivation. Figure 1.3 highlights those links and previews our upcoming examinations of the power of the formative assessment process to generate motivation to learn.
Figure 1.3. Links Between Formative Assessment and Intrinsic Motivation
Formative Assessment Elements Help Students Harness the Workings of Their Own Minds in the Following Ways to Generate Components of Motivation to Learn
Shared Learning Targets and Criteria for Success ? Directs students and teachers toward specific goals.
? Increases initiation for the learning task.
? Helps students and teachers monitor learning progress.
? Self-efficacy
? Self-assessment
? Self-regulation
? Self-attribution

Feedback That Feeds Forward ? Enhances cognitive processing.
? Fosters resiliency and persistence in the face of challenge.
? Provides students with specific next-step strategies.

Student Goal Setting ? Increases active student engagement.
? Shifts student focus from performance-directed to goal-directed behavior.
? Induces effort, increases persistence, and promotes development of new strategies.

Student Self-Assessment ? Shifts power from the teacher to the student.
? Engages students in actively collecting and interpreting assessment information.
? Helps students set more realistic and active goals for continuously raising achievement.

Strategic Teacher Questioning ? Directs students and teachers toward salient elements of the content, process, or performance.
? Scaffolds learners as they move beyond partial, thin, or passive understandings.
? Promotes conceptual change.

Engagement of Students in Asking Effective Questions ? Increases intentional and active student engagement.
? Promotes autonomy and independence.
? Develops students' perceptions of themselves as producers of knowledge and generators of important lines of inquiry.
? Gives students confidence to work through difficulties themselves.
How Will I Recognize the Formative Assessment Process When I See It?
Because formative assessment is a systematic and intentional process of gathering evidence of learning, you can observe its effects in the classroom. These effects include what the teacher does, what the students do, what the products and performances look like, and how teachers talk about their students' learning. Figure 1.4 shows some examples of what you can look for inside the classroom. In upcoming chapters we share more "look fors" as we examine the specific elements of the formative assessment process.
Figure 1.4. Recognizing the Formative Assessment Process

Formative Assessment: An active and intentional learning process that partners the teacher and the students to continuously and systematically gather evidence of learning with the express goal of improving student achievement.
Teacher "Look Fors" Student "Look Fors"
Teachers
? Share learning goals in developmentally appropriate ways.
? Adjust their teaching on the fly to deepen student understanding and clear up misconceptions.
? Plan the questions they will ask throughout the lesson to help students focus on salient aspects of important concepts and the criteria for a successful performance.
? Teach specific metacognitive strategies to maximize student success.
? Provide feedback that is clear, descriptive, and task specific, and show students where they are in relation to the goal and what they should do next to close the gap.
? Greet student questions with respect and enthusiasm and respond in thoughtful ways.
? Use provocative questions to prompt student reflection on their understanding and performance.
? Model self-assessment using the kinds of reasoning skills that students will use to succeed at the task at hand.
? Describe student learning along a continuum of progress toward a specific learning goal, noting plans for adjusting instruction and levels of support to promote student growth.
Students
? Understand and can explain what they do well and exactly what they should do next.
? Recognize when they are learning and when they are not.
? Use teacher-made rubrics, checklists, and guides to monitor and adjust the quality of their learning performance.
? Can adapt their learning strategies to meet their learning needs.
? Set their own learning goals and monitor their progress.
? Can assess their own work or performance in relation to the criteria for success.
? Set realistic short-term goals for where they want to be, the strategy they will use to get there, and the criteria they will apply to determine they have succeeded.
? Ask questions that seek clarity concerning concepts, tasks, and reasoning processes.
? Appear confident, engaged, and motivated to learn.
? Describe their learning in terms of where they are in relation to the learning goal and what they intend to do next to keep making progress.

How Can I Model the Formative Assessment Process in Conversations with Teachers About Their OwnProfessional Learning?
The formative assessment process constantly uses evidence to guide teaching and learning. When school leaders enter into collaborative inquiry with teachers, they not only model the formative assessment process, they embody it. Research on professional development tells us that when principals engage in periodic, short, focused, individual conversations with a teacher, they advance professional learning and produce positive change in teacher behavior in ways that far surpass the effects of the traditional "sit and get" workshops (Hall & Hord, 2000). In fact, one of the most strategic actions school leaders can take to bring about increased student achievement is to center their efforts directly on the inner workings of the classroom (Elmore, 2000).
School leaders can use formative discussions with teachers to promote "systematic and intentional inquiry" (Moss, 2000; Moss & McCown, 2007) into their classroom practices. Formative assessment operates at the nexus of what teachers believe to be true about teaching and learning, how those beliefs shape the ways teachers choose to teach, and the effects of instructional decisions on student achievement and motivation to learn. Each element of the formative assessment process helps educators assess what they are doing in their classrooms, why they are doing it, and how their choices are affecting their students. And because the formative assessment process requires teachers to use information about student learning to guide and promote student achievement, it helps their instructional decisions become increasingly intentional and scientifically based. The ability of formative assessment to promote and sustain active teacher inquiry that is both systematic and intentional is exactly why it can have a significant effect on daily classroom practices. Simply put, formative assessment situates powerful professional learning in the heartbeat of the classroom and encourages educators to approach their teaching as "intentional learning" (Moss, 2001).
As schools become places of collaborative inquiry, school leaders can use formative discussions to take a collegial rather than a supervisory perspective on professional learning, focus on each teacher's unique expertise and professional learning needs, and promote teacher collaboration to improve instruction (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 1998). School leaders can use well-chosen starter statements that encourage shared inquiry. These starter statements situate the interaction as a formative conversation, center it on professional self-analysis of patterns of practice rather than ramifications of particular incidents, and keep the dialogue free from judgment or evaluation. The statements signal that the teacher is in charge of his or her own professional learning and indicate interest and support. These formative conversations can preview or follow a scheduled classroom visit with a single teacher. In addition, they can serve or launch collaborative inquiry among individuals in a small group or an entire school.
Strategic conversation starters signal that teachers are in charge of their own professional learning and indicate your interest and support. Here are some examples of how to begin a formative conversation with an individual teacher:
? I know you pride yourself on reaching and teaching all students. I'd like to spend some time thinking with you about ways to collect strong evidence that students are achieving.
? I wanted to catch up and talk with you more about strategies you are using to increase student goal setting and self-assessment.
? The last time we talked you were concerned that your students were not skilled at regulating their own learning and you planned to use rubrics to help them become more competent in that area. Talk with me a bit about your students' self-regulation progress.
Here are some examples of how you might begin a formative conversation with a group:
? We are acutely aware of the need for our students to improve their reading abilities. Think with me about strategies we can all commit to using and monitoring that will increase the quality of reading for understanding across grade levels and the curriculum. In our conversations, let's be sure that these strategies meet the criteria for formative assessment.
? During my classroom walk-throughs this week, I want to focus on the ways we are integrating formative assessment into our daily classroom practice. Think with me about a focus question that would guide the walk-throughs and our lesson planning for the week.
? It looks like we are making great progress in our efforts to provide effective feedback to our students. Let's keep that focus in the mix as we discuss how we can continuously and systematically improve the quality of our student feedback by sharing the feedback strategies that work best for each of us and the evidence that we gather to increase our confidence in these strategies.
Notice that all of the examples open with an invitation to the teachers to think with you. The examples begin a conversation about teaching rather than signal an interrogation. Interrogating can trigger unwanted emotional baggage, derail collaborative inquiry efforts, be interpreted as confrontational, and signal that a grilling is waiting in the wings (Downey, Steffy, English, Frase, & Poston, 2004).
What If?
Given the realities of schools and schooling, there is a good chance teachers are already dealing with a variety of initiatives to improve teaching and learning and may be confused about how formative assessment is distinguished from other forms of assessment or data gathering. What if you overhear a conversation among a group of teachers about how they feel benchmark assessments are the same as formative assessment?
The first point to use to address this misconception is that benchmark assessments are interim assessments??"they take place periodically, and although they are important for gauging student learning relative to content standards at a particular point in time, they do not inform teachers and students minute by minute during the learning process. Formative assessment, on the other hand, is a learning process and a learning partnership. Formative assessment provides students and teachers with the information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are happening. And although benchmark assessments can tell teachers where students are in relation to the benchmark, the formative assessment process helps both teachers and students gauge student understanding all along the way.
Second, focus the teachers' attention on how the information from benchmark assessments is used compared with how formative assessment informs learning in real time??"day to day and minute by minute in the classroom. Do benchmark assessments inform the learning for current students with the current learning target?
And, perhaps most important, help teachers see that benchmark assessments do not involve students in the assessment process. During formative assessment, students are intentionally involved as active self-assessors, goal-setters, and goal-getters. They need to be gathering information about their own learning process and progress. Formative assessment informs learning??"it puts students in the driver's seat.
Reflecting on the Essential Elements of the Formative Assessment Process
Formative assessment is an intentional learning process that involves teachers and their students in an active partnership focused on improving achievement and generating motivation to learn. As you reflect on the kind of learning environment formative assessment will help teachers in your school create for and with their students, consider the following questions:
? Do both teachers and students intentionally focus on gathering evidence to inform student learning, or are teachers in charge of assessment efforts focused on auditing learning?
? Does everyone in the classroom share responsibility for learning, or is the teacher responsible for saying what has been learned, who has learned it, and what needs to be learned next?
? Are there classrooms where teachers and their students partner in the formative assessment process day to day and minute by minute? Are there classrooms where teachers are using one or two formative assessment strategies in stand-alone ways? Are there classrooms with little evidence of formative assessment? How can you encourage teachers to work together, share their thinking, and view each other as valuable resources as they individually and collectively work to improve the quality of the formative assessment process in their classrooms?
Summing It Up
The formative assessment process is lightning in a bottle! It costs nothing. You can help teachers put it to work for every age and grade level in every subject during each minute of every school day. This powerful learning process enhances the learning of those who are already excelling, jump-starts and sustains learners who are smoldering with potential, and increases student achievement for all students. What's more, formative assessment raises teacher quality and forges learning partnerships between students and teachers that make a huge difference in what happens every day and every minute in the classroom.
One word of encouragement and caution: Even lightning in a bottle takes time to impact the culture of a school. The formative assessment process, like any other reframing of what happens in classrooms, will take time to grow and develop. Keep in mind that it is a learning process for all learners in the school??"the students, the teachers, and the administration. The good news is that when a school commits to creating learning opportunities like the ones we discuss in the remainder of the book, good things begin to happen immediately and multiply quickly. (Chapter 8 explores taking formative assessment school-wide in greater detail.)
In the chapters that follow, we explore the six elements of the formative assessment process. Each chapter includes specific and practical strategies to help you give teachers both the research base and the how-to information that they will need to implement formative assessment in their own classrooms to increase student achievement and motivation to learn.  more

Please write 3 pages that satisfy Part C plan and criteria, which is based on previous work in parts A and B shown below. This is at Masters Degree level and should be at A grade standard.

I ...would like you to use the following sources plus others. (some of which I will send)
Argyris, C. & Schon, D. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Berliner, D. (1987). Simple views of effective teaching and a simple theory of classroom instruction. In D. Berliner & B. Rosenshine (Eds.), Talks to teachers. New York: Random House.

Carini, P. F. (2001). Valuing the immeasurable. In P. F. Carini (Ed.), Starting strong: A different look at children, schools, and standards (pp. 165-181). New York: Teachers College Press.

Earl, L. M., & Katz, S. (2006). Putting data at the centre of school improvement. In L. M. Earl & S. Katz (Eds.), Leading schools in a data rich world: Harnessing data for school improvement (pp. 1-15). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Fasoli, L., Scrivens, C., & Woodrow, C. (2007). Challenges for leadership in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australian early childhood contexts. In L . Keesing-Styles & H. Hedges (Eds.), Theorising early childhood practice: Emerging dialogues (pp.231-253). NSW: Pademelon Press.

Fink, D. (2005). Leadership for mortals: Developing and sustaining leaders for learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hammerness, K., & Darling-Hammond, L., et al. (2005). How teachers learn and develop. In L. Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world (pp. 358-389). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Henderson-Kelly, L. & Pamphilon, B. (2000). Womens models of leadership in the childcare sector. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(1), 8-12.

Le Fevre, D. M. (2004). Designing for teacher learning: Video-based curriculum design. In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances for research on teaching: Using video in teacher education. New York: Elsevier.

Robinson, V. M. J. (2010). Fit for purpose: An educationally relevant account of distributed leadership. In A. Harris (Ed.), Distributed leadership: Different perspectives (pp. 219-240). Berlin: Springer.

Santamara, L. J., & Santamara, A. P. (2011). Applied critical leadership: Choosing change. New York, NY: Routledge.

Toole, J. C., & Louis, K. S. (2002). The role of professional learning communities in international education. In K. Leithwood & P. Hallinger (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 245-279). Great Britain: Kluwer Academic Publishers.



Part C: Plan for action (3 pages)
Explain some possible leadership actions that might address the issue described in Part A and also refer to Part B below (These should be referenced and informed by relevant literature and research).
Explain how you would know whether leadership effectiveness was improved by application of these ideas (what evidence would you need?).

Part C Assessment Criteria
Provision of rich examples of practice to back up claims.
Evidence of accurate understanding concepts/ideas discussed and logical approaches to evaluating leadership effectiveness provided.

Part A
Description of professional learning context and issue
A challenge faced by many schools and particularly my school is having a system that places accountability on teachers for their effects on student outcomes. Since joining the school, it has been my responsibility to develop an appraisal system that focuses on improving student outcomes by improving the quality of teaching. After several months of researching different models of appraisal and professional development in other schools, the issue of accountability was partially addressed with the launch of an appraisal system based on the New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria that links to professional learning needs.
Currently teachers reflect on their effectiveness, comparing attributes to a rubric that describes effective teaching. Through reflection and comparison the teacher identifies and sets professional learning goals which they work towards over the year. Although clear goals have been established, it is not clear that they have led to improved student outcomes and in many cases it is apparent that the goals were written retrospectively. I will use components of applied critical leadership from Santamaria & Santamaria (2012) to improve communication of the philosophy of professional development for staff to take ownership of the process. Applied critical leadership emphasises the need to recognise and exploit existing needs of followers to engage them. (Santamaria & Santamaria 2012: 3-4)
Identifying a challenge
The challenge is to improve the quality of education through accurate self-appraisal. Improvement in teaching must be an integral part of the professional development process and an important aspect of the schools philosophy. Teachers have shown varying ideas about teaching as inquiry so implementing a cohesive system of teaching as inquiry requires careful and effective leadership to ensure on-going teacher improvement. When energies are directed towards multiple, sometimes conflicting initiatives that are not part of an overall plan they are unlikely to be successful (Le Fevre 2010: 75).
To manage the process of setting appropriate teacher goals, the self-evaluation stage must have better structure and closer monitoring. Teachers must be made aware of expectations and the schools goals. While the high trust model is a non-threatening way of identifying less effective attributes it is also ineffective for monitoring development goals. Being personally involved with the identification and monitoring stages and engaging in dialogue with teachers will allow them to have input about their progress and the process. Continuing in a transformational model of leadership should lead to a collective change process and a sense of ownership for the teacher.
The goal to improve the quality of teaching and raise student attainment must be given priority. While teaching must be of a high standard and can be developed, factors influencing student outcomes outside of the learning environment is difficult to assess (Fenstermacher & Richardson 2008: 187) so a link between them should be established.
The significance of issue in relation to relevant research and literature
All school change must be built in a collective fashion (Le Fevre 2010: 72). The changes made in the school have been directed by the leadership. Although the appraisal system requires evaluation and analysis for effectiveness, the importance of linking teaching as inquiry to professional development must be highlighted for teachers to accept and understand. In identifying goals, school leaders must engage in professional learning discussions, obtain feedback, involve teachers and use research.

Part B
To maintain an environment that is conducive to professional dialogue and thus allow for a smoother running of the school, an atmosphere of relational trust should be encouraged. This will help with the process of improving teaching in line with the school wide goals and strategic plan. Mutual respect of teachers and leaders should exist with both parties being open to learning from the experience of others. To be reassured that teachers are working towards the goals they must trust that the goals are realistic and achievable. However, in the context of working towards goals for professional development there is an absence of this trust; Teachers perceive the school goals is to be unrealistic and and unachievable while the leadership feel that teachers are not contributing or cooperating with improvement.

Organisational improvement is needed in the area of building relational trust as it is evident that the teachers and leaders are working against each other. Bryk & Schneider (2002) asked

"What factors make the difference between schools that got better at educating children as measured against improved test scores and schools that did not? Te answer was relational tust between teachers and leaders, teachers and parents, teachers and teachers. Schools with relational trust and/or leaders who cared about it had a much better chance of serving students well than schools with less relational trust" (Cited by Barkley 2008).

Schools without relational trust have many cliques that usually work toward satisfying their personal interests rather than the interests of students.

To encourage accountability, teachers are required to compare the current teaching effectiveness against a rubric which describes attributes of teaching. The teachers are then asked to identify their own professional learning goals, which they work toward for improvement. As results have not shown marked improvements in student outcomes a question must remain over the suitability of the teachers learning goals. The leadership is lacking trust of whether learning goals have been adequately selected. Teachers doubt the leadership's direction with the effectiveness of the program to improve student outcomes. Engaging mentors in the dialogue for professional learning goals and expectations to help teachers set more realistic targets leading to improvement in classrooms is a transformational approach to leadership. "Applied transformational leadership encompasses the act of empowering individuals to fulfil their contractual obligations, meet the needs of the organisation and go beyond the "call of duty" for the betterment of the organisation" (Santamaria & Santamaria, 2012:3). Unless organisation responds to the personal needs of teachers and students, the benefits of the transformational approach will not be realised.

In order to engage staff in the process of realising the leadership's direction, relational trust needs to be built. Louise Anaru sees face-to-face interactions as an important aspect. She did this by meeting with all staff one-to-one asking what they saw as successes, values, aspirations, improvements and career development (Building relational trust, 2013, Educational Leaders). The career development (professional development) aspect is an area which requires improvement as change is impacting the teachers without real 'buy-in. Transformational leadership should include building relational trust in order to understand and respond to the needs of teachers and thus include them in the change process.

Part of the problem with the appraisal process is the way it was implemented, rather imposed on teachers. Leadership developed the process to enhance student outcomes and teacher accountability. Teachers were guided towards self-reflection to highlight areas for professional development that would lead to improved outcomes for students. As the process was loosely controlled and also required an increased workload, teachers were able to disguise their present development needs with paperwork used for past development.

In modifying the appraisal process, four core elements of building relational trust should be considered. Respect: Acknowledging dignity and ideas, interacting courteously and listening and talking as indicated by Bryk & Schneider 2002 (as cited in Barkley, 2008). In context the process is in procedural form with very little interaction and dialogue. The second element is competence: believing in each other's ability and willingness to fulfil responsibilities effectively. (Bryk & Schneider 2002) In context there is a lack of confidence among teachers that the process is of benefit them or the students. Furthermore "Incompetence left unaddressed can corrode school wide trust" (Bryk & Schneider 2002). A lack of improved teaching and student outcomes gives weight to those who argue against the leadership's plans and reducing the level of confidence and trust in the measures introduced. The process of identifying areas for improvement suggests that teachers are not competent in some aspects of their teaching. Naturally, teachers are cautious when identifying incompetence and admitting to it indirectly through requests for professional development to the leadership. While leadership want to see teachers develop, teachers are reluctant to show they are incompetent but that they have made improvements. The third element of relational trust is personal regard: Taking an interest personally and professionally and outside formal roles and responsibilities. Going the extra mile if necessary (Bryk & Schneider 2002). In context personal regard for teachers by the leadership is not evident; teachers have been given the task of identifying improvement goals by the leadership without regard for their feelings to the process and without providing any form of professional support. Leaders have not gone the extra mile to ensure that teachers are comfortable with the appraisal process. Teachers have responded by making 'half hearted' attempts of completing the appraisal process, they have not set appropriate or meaningful goals. A hands-on transformational leadership approach to support, model and communicate the process is necessary. The final element of relational trust is integrity: Can we trust each other to put the interests of children first, especially when tough decisions have to be made? Do we keep our word? (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). Although the intention of the appraisal system is to improve student outcomes by improving teaching, the focus is distracted by accountability leading to friction between the leadership and teachers. Redirecting the focus back to school outcomes as opposed to accountability, while maintaining that an honest reflection is beneficial for teachers as well as students is necessary to reaffirm integrity. Reassuring teachers that they need not feel threatened by showing weaknesses because it is a part of the teachers inquiry into improvement requires trust but ultimately on the integrity of the leadership. An open dialogue based on evidence from research is needed to help break down barriers.








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