Face to Face Professional Learning Workshop

FRIT 7739
Richard Arenal-Mullen
Audience Identification:
The audience for this presentation was a collection of teachers across the
middle and high school level. The teachers come from various backgrounds and
subject areas, including ELA, Math, Social Studies, Science, and CTAE. This
workshop is not designed to fit any specific subject area or age level, but rather a
way for teachers to model their data collection around providing enough information
for students to succeed. The workshop was open to all teachers at Greene County
High School, Washington-Wilkes High School, and Hilsman Middle School as offered
through email and in-person communication.
Reasoning:
The idea for this workshop came from my own experiences with
administrative personnel and their focus on data-driven goals within their schools. It
seemed a viable and worthy endeavor considering the states focus on student
performance measures, teacher performance measures, and school ratings. More so
now than ever, schools and teachers are being rated based on raw data, rather than
objective opinions and reports. Even in the best schools, bias can affect reviews and
walkthroughs. In order to prevent this from happening, it seems logical to focus on
what the data says. In developing a needs assessment for this workshop, the
questions focus on the acquisition and uses of student data. While it is obvious that
the workshop is based around data and that point could create bias, this workshop
is presented as a volunteer basisso, the teachers understand that what this
workshop is about beforehand and are already aware of what they will be exposed
to. With that in mind, the concern about bias is already taken care of without
needing to worry about the effect it may have on the responses.
Based on the results of the pre-assessment, I was able to see that many
teachers use their data purely for a gradebook and report card presentation. I was
also able to discover that many of the teachers do not collaborate with others in
regards to the results of their assessments. There were a few responses for team
meetings and collaboration, but not very much vertical or larger collaboration and
discussion. This workshop can assist with that aspect, but I felt it more important to
focus on the data collection and publication, rather than the collaboration aspect.
Because of the scope of data collection and publication, there are only a limited
amount that can be covered within a reasonable time-frame. Due to these
constraints, the goal will be to help make teachers more aware of their assessments
and how that data can impact more than just their gradebook. To further make this
point, the pre-assessment showed that many teachers believe they are meeting or
exceeding the expectations of the TKES rating system. However, they did not have
any evidence to back that claim. Of the other results, the only one that took me by
surprise was the question regarding parent contact about data use. The answers
varied a good deal by teacher, but there were quite a few responses of other. After

investigation, I found that the answer referred to a contact habit of never. If

teachers are not contacting parents, then they cannot truly be exceeding the
standards.
Professional Standards:

Teacher Keys Effectiveness System: Teacher Assessment on Performance

Standards
o Standard 5: Assessment Strategies
The teacher systematically chooses a variety of diagnostic,
formative, and summative assessment strategies and
instruments that are valid and appropriate for the content and
student population.
o Standard 6: Assessment Use
The teacher systematically gathers, analyzes, and uses relevant
data to measure student progress, to inform content and
delivery methods, and to provide timely and constructive
feedback to both students and parents.
o Standard 8: Academically Challenging Environment
The teacher creates a student-centered, academic environment
in which teaching and learning occur at high levels and students
are self-directed learners.

Outline:
End Goal: Teachers will be able to effectively collect and use assessment data to
improve student performance in the classroom and deepen content knowledge.
Essential Question: In what ways can we show student performance data in order
to help students set their own goals, thereby increasing their intrinsic motivation?
Evidence: Teachers will explain one method of data collection and apply data
presentation knowledge to develop two methods of presentation that could support
student motivation in a classroom setting.
Sub-Parts:
a) Teachers will explain one way of collecting student data that is more effective
and efficient than traditional methods.
b) Teachers will interpret student data in order to make an effective and clear
indicator of student performance.
c) Teachers will apply prior knowledge of data collection and presentation to
create a method for presenting data to stakeholders.
d) Teachers will develop two type of data presentation for different perspectives
and audiences (classroom data presentation vs. PTO data presentation).
e) Teachers will use empathy to be sure that students are not singled out as
failures, protecting each students self-image.
f) Teachers will reflect on the efficiency of data collection (based on time spent
collecting and grading) and the efficacy of their data presentation methods
(based on perceived student performance).

Background Information:
With the above goals in mind, the teachers need to have the following background
knowledge:
Formative and Summative assessment identification
Student information (name, grade, etc)
Various uses for data (gradebook, parent conferences, administrative reports,
etc)
Presentation methods (slide-shows, reports, parent meetings, state
longitudinal data system, etc)
Methods of increasing student motivation
Data disaggregation methods (charts, graphs, narratives)
Stakeholder involvement
Student information legality
Task Analysis:
Using what I know and the background information from the UbD model, I was able
to perform a procedural analysis to create my content outline. With the UbD model
in mind, I created my end goal and objectives, then designed my assessments, and
finally created the tasks as a means to that end. It was important to look at the
procedures as a part of the whole when creating these tasks due to the opinionated
perspectives that some may take on students performance and the appropriate
uses of student data.
Outline for Collection and Publication of Student Data:
I.

Collecting/Publishing Student Data

a. Student assessments collected
b. Data transferred to recording sheet
c. Data published in gradebook
i. Data disaggregated into basic groups
1. Grade point or letter grade
2. Pass/Fail
3. Does not meet, meets, exceeds
4. Other
ii. Data used to drive instruction
1. Focus on how the majority of the students performed
2. Examine data to find holes or weak areas based on
assessment data
3. Fine areas where the assessments could be made more
effective
iii. Data used to drive student motivation
1. Find ways for students to use the assessments to push
themselves
2. Avoid using the data in a discouraging or embarrassing
manner
3. Prepare data for parent inquiries
4. Prepare data for administrative inquiries

5. Prepare data for other purposes

d. Data published in poster form
i. Data shows measurable goals
1. Standards-Based
a. Content based measures
b. State-Recommended goals
2. Skills-Based (specific to content area)
a. Basic skills
b. Vocabulary Skills
c. Advanced Skills
ii. Data is able to show information without being publicly
humiliating
1. Student names are provided only in appropriate settings
2. Student names are coded
3. Student information is provided as a general overview
iii. Data is made available to the appropriate audiences
1. Students
2. Teachers
3. Stakeholders
a. Parents
b. Administrators
c. State representatives
d. Board of education
e. Data published in other forms
i. Electronic database
1. Gradebook online
2. Specialized programs
a. Classroom games
b. Behavior management apps/sites
c. Classroom management apps/sites
3. Other
ii. Paper-form
1. Report Card
2. State Requirements
3. Newspapers
4. Other
f. Data used to drive instruction
i. Find weak points
ii. Find high-failing areas
iii. Find high-success areas
g. Data used to increase student motivation
i. Reinforce success in student performance
ii. Reinforce effective feedback to enhance student-led corrections
iii. Model appropriate behaviors
Subject Matter Expert:
I will serve as subject matter expert, hereto referred to as SME, due to my current
position in my school. Over the previous 3 years, I have served as teacher leader
and administrative support personnel. In these roles I have been able to provide

assistance in collecting data from students and administrators for use in school
improvement plans, grant proposals, Title-I funding reports, and others. I have also
been held responsible for ensuring that my fellow staff-members are using and
publishing data in an appropriate and effective method across grades 4-12. Through
these experiences I am well-enough qualified to present methods to other teachers
for their use in the classroomas I already do that as a part of my position at my
school. The methods presented are also methods that have been collected from
veteran teachers, administrators, educational support specialists, and staterepresentatives for re-delivery.
Transfer, Meaning Making, and Acquisition Lesson:
Introduction
Teachers will be given a packet containing The TKES/TAPS information as a
reference. The instructor will review the three primary standards that will be
covered during the course of the training. Once the teachers are made familiar with
the standards, the instructor will review the goal, essential question, and learning
objectives so that the teachers will be made aware of the purpose of the training.
Content
The instructor will then proceed to talk to the teachers about assessments and their
uses in the realm of student successes and failures. Teachers will need to
understand that students do not always fail because they do not understand and
that the assessments that their students are given need to be authentic,
measurable, and aligned to the content. Teachers will Think, Pair, Share following a
short series of assessment examples and types (formative and summative) such as
pop-quizzes, vocabulary tests, performance assessments, presentations, essay tests
and multiple choice tests. The goal of the first activity is for teachers to identify
quality assessments vs weak assessments. Teachers should also be able to describe
the qualities that make an assessment effective.
Once the teachers have compiled a list of effective assessments and qualities, the
instructor will move into the bulk of the training. The instructor will guide teachers
through a short series of videos, showing various, technology-enhanced datacollection methods. Care will be taken to ensure that teachers understand that
technology is here to make work easier, but technology is not the only way for data
to be collectedespecially where it cannot be helped due to lack of funding and
connectivity. The teachers will work in small-groups to develop data-collection
methods based on what theyve seen in the videos. In this way, teachers will be
sure to be able to synthesize and apply the information to different scenarios. The
teachers will share their ideas and note any commonalities. The instructor and
teachers will discuss what properties make the data-collection efficient and
effective. The team will use this information to develop their own types of data
collection methods that apply to their own classroom environments. Teachers will
then move into a discussion about ensuring that assessment data is accurate,
around the instructors presentation of the question: how do YOU know what a
student knows? The instructor will be sure that teachers are aware that some
assessments are ineffective and just because a student fails, does not mean that

the student does not know. To solidify this point, the teacher will turn in their
packets to a section with student samples. One sample is of a student who knew the
content, but did not know how to put it together into a paragraph and the other is of
a student who did not know, but was able to guess at an answer.
Next, teachers will be given a chance to discuss the various stakeholders that are
invested in our own students. The instructor will guide the teachers in the
discussion, focusing on how not every stakeholder is looking for the same
information. A teacher may need to know where a child is not meeting the
standards. An RTI or SPED teacher will want to know about skills deficits. A parent
wants to know about grades while an administrator wants to know about
attendance, grades, and discipline. All of this data is collected in different ways and
by different people, but all of the data holds an important role in student and
teacher success. Armed with this information, the teachers will discuss the best
methods for developing and presenting data to meet the needs of those
stakeholdersand a way to develop presentation methods that can show more than
just one type of data.
Closer:
The last focus will be on keeping information non-specific so that students are not
ashamed of their own data. Teachers must be aware of the laws that protect
students information as well as the requirements for publishing data. After quickly
discussing the rights and wrongs of publishing data, the teachers will take part in
a post-assessment and workshop evaluation. These questionnaires are short answer
and check-box based to assess the instructor on the presentation as well as ensure
that the participants have acquired the intended information from the training.
Pre-Assessment Results:
The pre-assessment was administered using Google Forms and given via the
internet. The form was kept anonymous to prevent any answers from being skewed
or biased. The data was then compiled using the built in data features. The results
were listed in the form of a pie chart and bar graph, while the short response
questions were gathered from the alternate, raw data form. These results were
used to show what kind of backgrounds that the teachers had with using student
data and publishing data. The results showed that some of the participating
teachers are very data-oriented, while others rarely use data for more than grade
reporting. This set-up allowed me to design the training to fit around groups. By
having the teachers in groups, I would be able to see experienced data-miners work
with inexperienced data-collectors in order to establish a more tangible connection
to the materials being covered. But, I also had to consider that some teachers are
already using some of these methods and would need to see something new in
order to stay engaged in the presentation.
Post-Assessment Results:
In looking at the post-assessment, I was surprised to find that many of the teachers
were as pleased as they were with the presentation. I felt that it could have gone
better. But, according to the evaluation, many of the participants felt that the

pacing, content, and assessment were valid and appropriate. I thought for sure that
one of the teachers would give me low marks for something! To my surprise, that
did not happen and everyone was really supportive. One of the responses for the
assessment portion, not the evaluation, threw me for a loop and was unexpected,
but I understand what the teacher meant. One teacher only took away that the
administration would leave him/her alonethough the did not use the correct
spelling for principal. I would like to refine, further develop, and administer this
workshop again in other environments.
Reflection:
My intentions were to have the teachers grouped during portions of the workshop,
but I was unable to do so because only 8 teachers came to the workshop. It did not
terribly affect my workshop, but it did change a small portion of the dynamic. The
presenation when well using Prezi as my guide and I was able to get the
participating teachers involved in some very deep and applicable discussions.
However, some of the discussions wandered a bit off-topic and I had to draw the
teachers back into the presentation. In presenting the materials at other schools, as
I intend to do, I would be careful not to present anything that could cause the
participants to become emotionally chargedas happened in the original
presentation. Luckily, the discussions, though slightly off-topic, assisted me in
getting the participants fully invested in the workshop. The teachers were able to
connect with each other and connect their own experiences to the workshop
materials in a way that helped them to apply the learned principles and have a
more tangible take-home. While this experience was a difficult one, I did enjoy the
portion where I helped other teachers grow and become better than they had
previously been.
My most difficult hurdle to overcome was the teacher participation and willingness
aspect. I struggled more than I thought I would on every aspect of this project. It
took me weeks to find a school willing to host me for the observations, weeks more
to find a school to accept my presentation, and I almost had to bribe teachers to
participate by letting them know their administration would be pleased if they
participated. In getting the pre- and post- assessment done, I had to remind
teachers near a dozen times to complete the assignments (before and after). It was
not that teachers were unwilling to learn, but that they were so busy with
requirements from their own school and the state that they did not have the time to
dedicate to doing something that did not earn them any Professional Learning Units
or monetary consideration. I have thought that I would be taken more seriously if I
were a seasoned teacher or even a Regional Educational Services Agency
representative. But, as a teacher who is outranked by most of my participants, it
was difficult to encourage people who did not know me on a professional level.
When I gave the presentation at my own school, the results were much more
pleasant. Those teachers know how successful I am in the classroom, so they know
how valuable my insight isregardless of my number of years in the classroom.
This experience has helped me evaluate my own teachings, data uses, and
principles of education. I have learned a good many lessons and understand how
other teachers see their peersthough, I do not exactly agree with their attitude

towards others, I know why. Teachers are so accustomed to being the educator, not
the actively educated. We understand that we learn things on a daily basis, but
teachers do not seem to enjoy being taught to in a more traditional method. As one
teacher informed me, I now stand at the front of the classroom for a reason, Im
done being the student. While a bit rude, I do understand the frustrations of being
taught when you feel that your performance is adequate. This is especially true for
veteran teachers, of which I am not a member, because they have been at the head
of the classroom for yearsone participant in particular at my school has been a
teacher longer than Ive been alive. All-in-all, I was happy with the finished product,
though the fight to get support from my fellow teachers was really discouraging and
disheartening. It seems that teachers are too often over-extended and become
frustrated by all the extra pieces that are pushed on them that they would rather
not have to deal witheven if it does mean that they could improve their classroom
practices. I am hopeful for the future of the classroom and the role of teachers in
the learning environment, but I do worry about the students because this apathy
experienced by a few teachers will eventually spread.