Kurt Hargis

ETEC 660

Professional Development Plan

Introduction

In order to increase student learning through the effective use of data and

implementation of instructional strategies to address student needs through a data

review process, our staff needs to fully implement using the Prosper program.

Prosper allows teachers to collect data on student assessment. Because quality

assessments drive quality instruction, it is imperative that our teachers use Prosper

fully to not only drive instruction but to evaluate the quality of their assessment.

Leadership Role

In my role as data compiler for the school, I will be taking a leadership role in

the implementing of using Prosper. As a prosper administrator, not only can I train

teachers to use prosper, I have access to reports they do not have. For example,

every teacher using prosper has access to their own reports. As an administrator, I

have access to all reports. This allows me to run reports for subject areas and

individual subjects. For example, I can give specific reports to the US History

teachers and all other subjects in Social Studies so they can focus on specific GLEs

the need attention either in assessment or in instruction. The department, then,

could then have a discussion to see what general social studies skills need

improving.

My data compiler role also allows me to inform the teachers of a student’s

strengths and weaknesses before they enter into a classroom. I can compile reports

that take in consideration previous test scores (LEAP, GEE, EOC, PLAN) as well as

grades in previous related classes.

As a teacher of technology, I am very comfortable in teaching computer

programs. In addition, my schedule allows me to meet with teachers in small

groups at their planning time. This allows for more hands-on training as opposed to

doing whole group instruction.

Plan of Action

Overall Objective: to increase student learning through the effective use of data and

implementation of instructional strategies to address student needs through a data

review process

Specific Objective: to implement the use of Prosper to gather student data about

instruction.

Timeline: The professional development program will be implemented throughout

the school year. After this year, teachers who went through the program will

mentor new teachers.

When What Who

Professional Development Days 30 minute In-service on what Prosper can do for teachers

All Core Subjects

Professional Development Days 45 minute In-Service by Department. Hands on in service where teachers will be shown the 2 major reports and be encouraged to experiment with the remaining reports to find usefulness

1st Session: Science and Math2nd Session: English and Social Studies

As Needed Sitting with teachers at Prosper machine to answer any questions about prosper.

Prosper Leader and Staff Development Coordinator

Late-Take In Days Discussing Reports in Professional Learning Teams. PLTs are to find what GLEs are the weakest specific to their class.

PLTs will discuss reports and keep track of data and changes to tests in their PLT logs

Department Meetings Discussing Reports as Departments to determine areas of weakness for students as a department.

Department Chair for each department will keep notes.

Because our school runs on 4x4 block, teachers will be encouraged to address test

questions in which a majority of students have shown weaknesses. Teachers are

encouraged to strengthen their tests or their instructions. The spring semester

should show improvement from the fall, and then the next fall should show

improvement from that spring, and so forth in a cyclical manner. This information

would be recorded in PLT logs which are turned into the Staff Development

Coordinator at the end of each school year. The administration and School

Improvement Team will use the data to demonstrate how they have met their

objective to increase student learning through the effective use of data and

implementation of instructional strategies to address student needs through a data

review process.

School Description

Destrehan High School teaches over 1400 students. The campus is located

near Ormond Plantation estates and services all high school students on the east

bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish. Our ethnic distribution is 57%

White, 34% Black, 6% Hispanic, with the remaining 3% divided among other races.

Average class size is 27 students. DHS operates a 4x4 block schedule.

Student Needs

For students to achieve high marks on both teacher made tests and state

administered tests, quality assessment must drive instruction. The Prosper

program can track which questions students struggle with and inform the teacher to

evaluate the question. Teachers need to use this data to examine district and

teacher made assessments to align instruction with expected demonstration of

knowledge/skills and to determine pre-requisite skills, test taking skills (e.g.,

formatting) and vocabulary needed to be successful. By using this data, students

will be able to make informed academic goals.

School Goals

Because the End of Course testing aligns to GLEs being taught in each core

area of study, the school as determined the following should be our goals:

1. As indicated by End-of-Course Exam Scores: 90% of students taking End-of-Course exams will score Fair or better.

2. As indicated by End-of-Course Exam Scores: 75% of students taking End-of-Course exams will score Good or better.

3. As indicated by End-of-Course Exam Scores: 10% of students taking End-of-Course exams will score Excellent.

School Ecology and School Climate

Destrehan High School has seven computer labs to help students integrate

technology into instruction. The largest computer lab is available to students after

school to 5:30pm three days a week. PowerSchool is a student information system

used by the school to record grades, absences, and other data. Powerschool is

available for all students and legal guardians to stay informed of student

achievement. Besides having a data compiler, DHS also has a full time professional

development coordinator to help implement research based strategies to help drive

instruction.

Every teacher log in has access to the Prosper database. However, only three

prosper machines are available for the 100 faculty members. In addition, Prosper

requires a certain test sheet that must be ordered in enough quantities for the use of

Prosper to be successful.

Paradigm Shift

Most of core teachers use Prosper for mid-terms and finals because the

district requires their use. The original in-service was a one-off program that

showed how to use Prosper, but not necessarily why. For Prosper to truly have an

effect to meet our student goals, it must be used more often. This requires a shift in

the way our teachers think about assessment. Teachers have become accustomed to

giving the same tests year in and year out. In addition, teachers often refuse to give

up control of their classes by making common assessments. Yet, the classes that

have done this have seen a drastic improvement on their EOC scores in the last

three years. Most teachers give tests on scantrons. Prosper requires a few

additional steps in that you have to choose the class and the test you are

administering. However, the information that Prosper provides will give quality

feedback to teachers of how their assessment mirrors their instruction. Prosper

can generate reports that demonstrate how students perform on every question.

When large numbers of students are failing at a particular question, the teacher

must investigate why. As soon as the grading sheets are entered into Prosper,

Prosper can run the report providing instant feedback.

Risks

The major obstacle is getting teacher buy-in to use Prosper for every test

they administer. Time will often be cited as a major problem. Lack of machines is a

more accurate obstacle. However, if teachers use the program as stated in the

Professional Development, they will start to see the benefits. Once they see the

benefits, the students will receive tests that accurately reflect the instruction they

were given. Administration will then see an improvement in test scores, which will

in turn push them to invest in more machines.