Your name: Andrew Shanbarger

615 DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKING PROJECT

PHASES I, II, and III and MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION INCLUDED HERE.
PHASE I
PART ONE - GRADEBOOK PREPARATION
Please list the Curriculum Area for Gradebook Analysis:
Writing Research Project
Please list the Standards for Gradebook Analysis:
Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students
MTLSS 2.4.B.2 Demonstrate an understanding of current legal standards.

Please list three learning objectives that are associated with the Standards and grades you
are using for your Gradebook Analysis:
Learning Objective # 1: The student will cite resources appropriately using APA format to
ensure compliance with copyright law and plagiarism guidelines.
Learning Objective # 2: The student will evaluate online and offline sources to determine what
can be used for Fair Use.
Learning Objective # 3: The student will review two websites for current and accurate
information to determine why current and accurate information is important.

After analyzing the gradebook numbers, what patterns did you see? (Describe at least 3
patterns completely and be sure to include patterns from the additional data tab on the
excel gradesheet).
Students who are receive accommodations because of ELL or IEP show a great disparity among
scores in all three objectives.
*Note one student with a LEP scored very high on all assessments. This skewed average
data for this sub-group.
Data from objective one shows that students who score basic on MSA are likely to not pass this
objective however, those who are Basic in Reading tend to score lower than those who scored
Basic in Math.

Data from objective three shows that students who score basic on MSA are likely to not pass this
objective however, those who are Basic in Math tend to score lower than those who scored Basic
in Reading.

Now that youve described the patterns in words, display the most important patterns by
creating a table of that data and turning the table into a graph or chart that is most
appropriate for discussion. Copy/paste the table, graphs and/or charts below.
9
8
7
6

Only Basic Math

Only Basic Reading

Basic Reading and

Math

LEP
IEP

Not Labeled
2
1
0
OBJ 1

OBJ 2

OBJ 3

Relevant to the type of graph or chart: Why do you choose this visual to display the data to
others?
This chart style allows multiple bars, or sub-groups, to be displayed at once. Since data
can be displayed simultaneously, the sub-groups can be compared to each other more easily. The
most important pattern was to show that students with IEPs continually score the lowest even
when compared to students who score basic on MSA.

PART TWO - GRADEBOOK ANALYSIS Questions to be answered

What patterns seem most evident, most important and why?

Students who receive assistance, either in the form of an IEP or LEP, were regularly not
accomplishing the objectives to a satisfactory level. With the exception on two LEP students, the
other eleven students receiving these assistance consistently score below the 50th percentile, often
these students made up the bottom quartile.
This is very important because these students are set up with plans to help them succeed
and hopefully progress to on-grade level work. What the data shows is that even with their plans
in place, they are not competing with their peers.

What groups of students are affected by each of the patterns that you see?
Pattern 1: IEP and LEP students.
Pattern 2: All Basic students however especially students who struggle with Reading.
Pattern 3: All Basic students however especially students who struggle with Math.

Why do think that that these particular students in EACH pattern are affected?
I believe that the first group of students is affected because there is an underlying skill
that is missing in this subset. It would be very easy to understand how students with an LEP are
missing some English skills, and it would also be easy to understand how students with an IEP
are missing either skills in Math or Reading or both. These skills that are missing could be a root
cause of the struggle to complete these objectives.
The second pattern has a correlation with students who struggle in Reading. The students
who struggled in Math but not Reading were much more prepared for this skill. Again, there is
most likely an underlying skill that is missing. Students who had difficulty with Reading would
have had trouble following directions to complete APA format. Math skills were not that
important in this objective. It is important to note that students who were proficient in Math but
not Reading did substantially better than the opposite sub-group, however they still did not
complete the objective with higher than a 50% average.

The third pattern shows that students who struggled in Math had a greater difficulty with
objective 3. Students completing this objective would need to be able to find out how recent an
article is, and how reasonable the information is. Students that are Basic in Math would have
had a more difficult time locating and transcribing dates and other information into data to be
used to determine the validity of a source. It is important to note that students who were
proficient in Reading but not Math did substantially better than the opposite sub-group, however
they still did not complete the objective with higher than a 50% average.

What other student information or student data could help with an even more thorough
analysis of each pattern?
It would be important to know students reading levels and what their scores on MSA
were beyond Basic, Proficient, or Advanced. Knowing what accommodations students
receive would also help to more accurately isolate the variables in scores.

PART THREE STUDENT IMPROVEMENT PLANS Questions to be answered

Pattern 1: Based on your analysis and the students that are portraying that pattern, what
plans can you provide to improve their learning? (Please be sure to include technology
tools in this plan).
The classroom teacher should communicate with the Special Education teacher and
ESOL teacher to discuss students strengths and weaknesses. Students will work with other
students and at the computer during center time to strengthen the underlying skills needed to
complete the objectives.

Who will be involved in helping the student or student group toward more success?
(Teacher, Groups of Students, Parents, Administration, Other classroom teachers,
specialists etc)
Special Education Teacher
ESOL teacher
Other students
How will they be involved to help the student(s) be successful?
The teachers will add insight to assist in defining a more specific plan for each individual
student as well as creating additional accommodations that the student may need.
The other students will act as a 1 on 1 or a 1 on 2 aid to assist students that may need
further assistance from a students point of view.
How will you assess if this plan has helped?
Students will be given a new assessment including the skills retaught in the plan and
those that were on the original assessments. The teacher will keep a log of student activities and
scores as they are completed.

Pattern 2: Based on your analysis and the students that are portraying that pattern, what
plans can you provide to improve their learning? (Please be sure to include technology
tools in this plan).
A group of students consisting of student numbers 24, 23, 7, 21, and 3, will work with the
teacher to locate sources and use online citation machines, to review correct APA style citation.

Who will be involved in helping the student or student group toward more success?
(Teacher, Groups of Students, Parents, Administration, Other classroom teachers,
specialists etc)

The classroom teacher

How will they be involved to help the student(s) be successful?

In the beginning, the teacher will direct teach the lesson again, going through the parts of
the resources that are needed to label in APA style and how to use such sites as Citation Machine.
As the lessons progress, the teacher will have a guided lesson where students are creating APA
citations in pairs with adult supervision. Then the student will create their own APA citations,
without supervision.
How will you assess if this plan has helped?
The teacher will keep records of the pairs citations. The teacher will also assess the final
citation created by the student.
Pattern 3: Based on your analysis and the students that are portraying that pattern, what
plans can you provide to improve their learning? (Please be sure to include technology
tools in this plan).
A group of students consisting of student numbers 24, 13, 23, 15, and 22, will work with
students 11,5,4,12, and 8 to review online sources for validity. They will also work on math
focusing on subtraction of four digit numbers as substitutes for dates.

Who will be involved in helping the student or student group toward more success?
(Teacher, Groups of Students, Parents, Administration, Other classroom teachers,
specialists etc)

The students who showed the greatest proficiency on this objective will help to
aid the other students.

How will they be involved to help the student(s) be successful?

The students will be paired off and given a list of questions to ask about the website.
The students will discuss their opinions of each question and then determine whether the site is

valid. Students will also practice their subtraction of 4 digit numbers to aid in determining how
recent an article is.
How will you assess if this plan has helped?
All students in this group, 24, 13, 23, 15, 22, 11,5,4,12, and 8 will take two more
assessments. One of the assessments will be in their partners, the other will be individual. The
individual scores will be compared to their original assessment to identify any improvement. It
will also be important to identify which students did the best as helpers, in case a second round
of remediation is needed.
Additional Comments (Optional):
Of the data collected Homework and Attendance show the lowest amount of correlation
to completing the objective at a satisfactory level.

Phase II Project

Cozy Group I

Andrea Jones, Andrew Shanbarger, Samuel Cook, Danielle Coggins

University of Maryland University College

EDTC 615

Team member names:

Andrea Latoya Jones

Andrew Dean Shanbarger
Samuel Marc Cook
Danielle Onise Coggins

Goal of team:

The goal of this instructional improvement team is to implement effective strategies that
will have 60 % of our struggling students reach proficiency in Language Arts by the end of third
grade. Being that this is our first year as an instructional improvement team, we have set our goal
at 60% because we feel as though it is an attainable percentage with the initiatives that we have
in place. Struggling students have been identified as students with IEPs, select students who
have Limited English Proficiency (LEP), students who performed on the basic level on the
MSA, and students who have low attendance. As a team, we used data to pinpoint these factors
and find ways to assist in solving the problem. We have found three initiatives that we believe
will be successful in helping us to solve the problem. These initiatives involve targeted support,
increase in family involvement, and collaborative teacher teams.

Curriculum level of students and field of study:

Grade 3: Language Arts

Roles of team members:

Leader and IEP/LEP Initiative- Andrew

Organizer-Andrew
Communicator and MSA Initiative- Andrea

Reminder: Danielle
Editor- Samuel (Attendance and Homework Initiative), Andrea and Danielle

Timeframe of team interactions and plans:

Course Week

Action Plans

Completions

Comments

Team norms agreed

upon and roles
assigned.

As teammates, we were able to collaboratively

work together and come to a consensus on norms,
roles, and a timeline in a timely manner. We have
agreed to check our group section at least three
times a week and to have work completed three
days before the due date to allow time for peer
review, editing, and revisions.

Week 4

Week 5

Team Norms and

Roles discussed.

Timeline discussed
and approved.

Weekly group
update discussed
(including general
level and classroom
initiative ideas) and
in progress

Timeline discussed
and approved.

Phase I shared in
team conference.

Weekly group
update posted in
conference area

By End Of
Week:Share your
Phase I in team
Conference.
Week 6

General level and

classroom initiative
ideas are discussed.

Phase I projects
reviewed and
discussed.
Commonalities were

As a group, we reviewed each others Phase I

projects and discussed the commonalities that we
found. We chose our classroom initiatives and
provided summaries to support them. We have

By End Of Week:
Three initiative
titles are chosen.

Week 7

By Friday:
Each group
member brings one
level/classroom
initiative idea to
team discussion

pulled from them.

Classroom
initiatives chosen
and summaries
provided.

decided on the grade level and subject area of

which we will focus.

Classroom
initiatives and
summaries provided.
Work began on
overall Phase II
project

As a group, we have chosen our grade level,

subject area, classroom initiatives and provided
summaries. We have begun working on the
overall completion of the Phase II project. Group
members have been assigned initiatives and have
begun work on them

I have completed
my section of the
final document
(Initiative II).

As a group, we have each completed our selected

initiatives in detail. We have included data,
tables, and graphs to support our initiatives and
plans of actions. The document has been
reviewed and edited.

By EOW:
Members discuss
details on each
initiative then write
up and share one
summary
paragraph of each
(To be used in
Phase II write-up).
Plans made for
complete template
writing.

Week 8

By Saturday:
Group members
have completed full
document.

-Samuel 7:08 pm

(Mountain Time),
7/5/2013
By Monday:
Two editors done
I have completed
my section
(Initiative III) of the
final phase II
document and our
group effort
summary. ~Andrea
4:04 P 7/11/ 2013

Student learning considerations for team planning:

While reviewing the data, we noticed many patterns among the student achievement. The
first evident pattern is that students with IEPs and most Limited English Proficiency (LEP)
students scored lower than non-IEP and non-LEP students. They often scored below the overall
class average. The second evident pattern is that low school attendance correlated with low
homework scores. Students who did not attend school often performed poorly on their
homework. The third evident pattern is that MSA scores also correlated with classroom
performance. Students who performed at the basic level on the MSA performed below the
classroom average across the learning objectives.

Below are questions considered for team planning:

How can we improve students who are scoring basic on MSA?

What is preventing our students with LEPs and IEPs from advancing in their academic standing?
What strategies are currently working for our students?
Who can we bring into our initiatives to help them succeed?

Student data considered during team planning:

Students with IEPs and LEP Students

Students with IEPs and most Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students struggled in
the classroom. They scored below average of the other students. The overall class averages for
the learning objectives in order are as follows: 6.008, 5.456, and 4.912. Student number six is a
student with an IEP. Student number sixs averages for the learning objectives in order are as
follows: 6, 3.2, and 3.4. Student number fourteen is a LEP student. Student number fourteens
averages for the learning objectives in order are as follows: 5.8, 4.4, and 3.8

Low Attendance and Homework Level

There was a correlation between low attendance and low homework. In all cases,
students who scored between 0-2 on homework completion and accuracy also had below 90%
attendance rate, and all students with a 0 or 1 for homework completion and accuracy had below
85% attendance rate. The higher a students homework completion score, the higher or better he
or she scored across the learning objectives.

MSA Data Analysis

The MSA reading and math scores appear to have an impact on how students performed
across the learning objectives. It appears that how students performed on the MSA dictated how
they would perform in the classroom. For example, if a student demonstrated advanced
performance on the MSA they were more likely to demonstrate above average performance in
the classroom. Students who scored advanced in either category did not score basic in the
others. If a student demonstrated basic performance on the MSA, they were more likely to
demonstrate below average performance in the classroom. Students who scored basic in
either category only score basic or proficient in the other.
Students who scored on the basic level on the reading and/or math portion of the MSA
demonstrated lower averages across the learning objectives than those students who scored on
the proficient and/or advanced level. For example, student number twenty-three (Basic) had an
average score of 0.4 on learning objective number one while student number sixteen (Advanced)
had an average score of 9.4. Student number twenty-three had an average score of 2 on learning
objective number two and an average score of 2.2 on learning objective number three. Student

number sixteen had an average score of 8.4 on learning objective number two while and an
average score of 7 on learning objective number three.

Initiatives to Implement to Improve Student Performance

Initiative I (Title): Targeted improvement of Language Arts skills for student with IEPs and/or
LEPs
Initiative I (Goal): Initiate and improve team planning and co-teaching between the classroom
teacher and Special Skills teachers (Special Education and ESOL teachers)

MTLSS Standard 3
Grade 3.A.1 Use and explain how the technology enhances learning.

Maryland VSC Reading/ELA Grade 3:

Standard 4.7 Locate, retrieve, and use information from various sources to accomplish a purpose

Learner Objectives
Objective 1: The students will research an invention using print and non-print sources to create
a report of how the invention has changed overtime.

Objective 2: The students will use computers and the internet to research an invention to
describe how technology enhances learning.

Objective 3: The students will create a presentation to showcase their research.

Initiative Objectives
Objective 1: Increase communication and planning among special skills teachers and the
classroom teacher.

Objective 2: Involve special skills teachers in the classroom setting.

Objective 3: Provide increased focus on small group and peer tutoring for students with
accommodations.

Data-Driven Considerations

Given the three objectives derived from the available data, students who receive
accommodations because of being an ELL or having an IEP show a great disparity among scores
in all three objectives. It is important to note that one student with a LEP scored very high on all
assessments. This outlier skewed average data for this sub-group.
Students with IEPs averaged a 3.49, 3.03, and a 3.74 respectively on objectives one, two,
and three. This was well below the class average of 6.01, 5.46, and 4.91 respectively. In
addition to this extreme bias on these particular objectives, 100% of students who have an IEP
scored Basic on either the Reading or Math MSA test, and 71% of these students scored Basic on
both MSA test.

Objectives - Description

Increase communication and planning among special skills teachers and the classroom
teacher.

The classroom teacher should communicate with the Special Education teacher and
ESOL teacher to discuss students strengths and weaknesses. The teachers will review IEP goals
and students strengths and weaknesses. The teachers will meet on a weekly schedule for a
minimum of 30 minutes to discuss specific topics of the week and how best to help the targeted
students. The communication between the teachers will increase both teachers knowledge about
the individual students and their needs. Their collaboration will also allow for an open
discussion about the effective and ineffective ways to reach each student.

Involve special skills teachers in the classroom setting.

Teachers will meet and co-teach a minimum of one lesson every week. By co-teaching,
the Special Education teacher will be able to better model how to work with students who have
IEPs. The classroom teacher will also be more able to work in a small group setting with the
students that need more assistance. The co-teaching will also allow for the Special Education
teacher to have a better account of how the students with IEPs are doing in the classroom.

Provide increased focus on small group and peer tutoring for students with
accommodations.

Targeted students will receive additional small group instruction in academic areas
addressed in the cooperative planning by the classroom and special skills teachers. These areas
may include but are not limited to required reading skills for fluency and comprehension, note
taking, reliable sources, primary vs. secondary sources, and proper citation of references. The
additional small group instruction will benefit all students involved.

Possible small groups to start this initiative are as follows,

Objective 1 Small Group:
Students 24, 23, 21, 3, and student 7
Objective 2 Small Group:
Students 24, 23, 2, 6, and student 21
Objective 3 Small Group:
Students 24, 23, 13, 2, and student 10

The targeted students will work with other students and at the computer during center and
research time to strengthen the underlying skills needed to complete the objectives. Students
will be given websites, or online programs to facilitate the learning process. These programs will
be chosen on a weekly basis by the Special Education teacher, the classroom teacher and the
ESOL teacher at the meetings and should be focused on a combination of skills being taught
currently and remediation of previous skills that need to be reinforced.

Assessment

The students will be assessed via a rubric for completion of their overarching project.
The rubric has a subsection for each of the objectives being tested.

Students will be assessed on targeted skills using weekly assessments, administered and
created by the Special Education teacher, to monitor week to week change. Students will also be
assessed using quarterly assessment to compare improvement to the group and expected MSA
levels.

This initiative will be assessed again after each quarter, after exam data has been
received, to determine changes that are needed and areas that require increased focus.

Initiative II (Title): Increasing Family Involvement and Attendance

Initiative II (Goal):

Classroom teachers, administrators and stakeholders will devise methods to increase

family involvement and attendance. This method will focus partially on administrator and
teacher contact with parents, as well as increasing access to school material through technology,
such as the Edmodo learning management system. The goal is to improve the skill development
of students by increasing their attendance rates, and ensuring that students who are missing
school are still accessing the necessary material so that they do not fall behind. This initiative is
based on the correlative data identified which shows a notable relationship between low scores
and low attendance rates. This initiative will be assessed by comparing objective scores of
students from prior to the initiative, alongside the attendance rates and rates of Edmodo usage to
gauge whether there has been a positive correlation between test scores and attendance/Edmodo
usage. This will be assessed by a team of school administrators and teachers.

Initiative II Objectives and Standards:

MTLSS Standard 3
Grade 3.A.1 Use and explain how the technology enhances learning.

Maryland VSC Reading/ELA Grade 3:

Standard 4.7 Locate, retrieve, and use information from various sources to accomplish a purpose

Objective 1: The students will research an invention using print and non-print sources to create
a report of how the invention has changed overtime.

Objective 2: The students will use computers and the internet to research an invention to
describe how technology enhances learning.

Objective 3: The students will create a presentation to showcase their research.

Data Driven Considerations:

The following data has been taken into consideration for Initiative II:

The above graphs indicate a strong connection on several levels. First, the data shows that
student completion of homework is strongly related to their attendance. Secondly, the final three
graphs show that successful completion of homework is directly related to a more consistent and
positive score on each of the three learning objectives. Taken together, a clear picture shows what
can only be identified as a strong connection between all three elements, attendance, homework
completion and learning objective scores, in that exact order. Low attendance is correlated with
scores and accuracy all around, and is ultimately a fundamentally important feature of success.

General Initiative Plan:

Given this information, the full implementation and usage of Edmodo to aid in student
homework would be a powerful step in raising scores. The online classroom management
website Edmodo would be a boon in helping students gets access to the homework and class
instruction that they may have missed. Alongside this, Edmodo is a powerful tool for homework,
as it allows students to access the homework on any device, whether it is a desktop, laptop or
mobile device. This means, students who may have missed class or failed to fully understand
either the classroom instruction or the homework instructions, can access this information on
Edmodo for further review at home. Likewise, Edmodo allows for the ability for homework to be
completed and submitted over the website, as well as allowing the teacher to grade, analyze and
comment on the work, giving students the opportunity to resubmit the work for improved grade
and understanding.

Increase Student, Teacher, Parent Administrator Usage of Online Classroom Management

Systems:

Teachers will be involved as the primary administrators of their own Edmodo classrooms.
Teachers will need to ensure that they not only set up and register their students to Edmodo, but
show them how to use it. Also, teachers will need to ensure that they are active users of the
website, making sure to post class information (lectures, notes, homework assignments, etc.).
Teachers will need to ensure that they grade student work posted on Edmodo regularly, leave
comments, and allow students to re-submit homework assignments with the improvements.
Parents will need to check Edmodo regularly to ensure their children are active on the website as
well, and to keep up with student grades and teachers comments. Administrators will need to
ensure that teachers are trained in the usage of Edmodo, and that they are using it on a regular
basis to aid their students.

Goals and Considerations:

Increasing student scores in learning objectives, particularly for students with high levels of poor
absences.
Increase student access to information missed during class or give students who may have
struggled with in-class information more opportunity for individual review of classroom
learning.
Give parents and students more access to classroom instruction.
Benefits:
An increase in student homework accuracy.
An increase in student learning objective scores.
Implementation:
Implementation of this plan relies on veteran teachers already practiced in the usage and
administration of Edmodo running sessions on methods that it, or other forms of classroom
management systems, can be utilized to great effect within the classroom. Administrators and
teachers will want to ensure that parents have access to the website as well as offer sessions to
parents and students on how to operate the website from their end. Buy-in relies on success
stories or an understanding of how Edmodo can be an assistance and replacement for other forms
of asynchronous classroom instruction and tools, such as classroom websites or massive
classroom messaging services, such as Remind101.com.

Initiative III (Title): Collaborative Teacher Teams for MSA Data Analysis

Initiative III (Goal): The goal of this initiative is for teachers to work together in teams in
order to review MSA data and use it to pinpoint students strengths and weaknesses on the
assessment. The collected data will be used to pinpoint target areas to focus on while teaching
and instruction and to pair students for collaborative group work.

Learning Standards and Objectives:

MTLSS Standard 3
Grade 3.A.1 Use and explain how the technology enhances learning.

Maryland VSC Reading/ELA Grade 3

Standard 4.7 Locate, retrieve, and use information from various sources to accomplish a
purpose.

Objective 1: The students will research an invention using print and non-print sources to create
a report of how the invention has changed overtime.

Objective 2: The students will use computers and the internet to research an invention to
describe how technology enhances learning.

Objective 3: The students will create a presentation to showcase their research.

Initiative III Objectives

Objective 1: Provide ways for teachers to collaborate and find effective strategies to improve
student learning and teacher instruction

Objective 2: Provide ways for struggling students to improve MSA scores and learning in the
classroom

Objective 3: Allow for heterogeneous grouping so that all students benefit from each others
strengths when collaborating and can assist each other with their weaknesses

Student Considerations

It is apparent that there is a correlation between how students performed on the MSA and
how they performed in the classroom. Students who performed at a basic level on the MSA
also performed poorly in the classroom across the learning objectives. Students who performed
at the proficient or advanced level performed similarly in the classroom across the learning
objectives. The data displayed below is used to support these considerations.

Data-Driven Considerations

Comparing Student Reading MSA Scores to Learning Objective #1 Performance

The data below shows how students who performed at the basic level on the reading
portion of the MSA fare on learning objective #1 in comparison to the students who performed
on the proficient and advanced level. Based on the below table and graph, students who
performed at the basic level did not achieve a score higher than a 6 on learning objective #1.
Proficient students fell in the range of 6-8, with the exception of student #22. Advanced students
fell in the range of 7-10.

MSA Reading Averages for Learning Objective #1

Students

Basic Reading

Proficient Reading

Advanced Reading

7.2

4.6

3.6

8.2

6
7

6
2.6

7.2

9.2

10

4.8

11

6.8

12

7.6

13

5.8

14

5.8

15

6.4

16

9.4

17

8.4

18

8.4

19

9.6

20
21

7.6
2.6

22

23

0.4

24

0.4

25

4.6

Correlation between MSA Reading Performance and Student Performance across Three
Learning Objectives

The data below demonstrates how a student who performed on the basic, proficient,
and advanced level on the Reading portion of the MSA fared across all three learning
objectives in the classroom. The student who performed on the basic level did not score above
a 2 across the learning objectives. The student who performed on the proficient level did not
score below a 5. The student who performed on the advanced level did not score below a 7.

Objectives

Student 23
(Basic)

Student
20
(Proficient

Student
16
(Advanced

Objective 1

0.4

7.6

9.4

Objective 2

1.6

5.8

8.4

Objective 3

0.4

7.2

General Initiative Plans to Improve Student Learning

At the beginning of the school year, teachers will work in collaborative grade level teams
to review prior year MSA data. The review of this data will help to pinpoint advanced and

proficient student strengths and basic students weaknesses. A review of the data will also
pinpoint overall student strengths and weaknesses on the MSA. After reviewing and analyzing
the data, the teachers will use the collected information as target areas to focus on while teaching
and instructing. They will also use the information to pair students for collaborative group work.
The students can be paired heterogeneously so that they will be able to build off of one anothers
strengths.

Objective Descriptions

Provide ways for teachers to collaborate and find effective strategies to improve student
learning and teacher instruction
By allowing teachers to collaborate with others in their grade level, they are able to
effectively and closely review the student MSA data. The teachers will be able to pinpoint
overall student strengths and weaknesses on the assessment. One teacher may point out an area
of strength or weakness that others miss. The teachers will use the data to create strategies to
improve student learning and instruction in the classroom. This instruction will include more of
a focus on the content that is taught on the MSA. The MSA content will be taught in an
engaging way that utilizes students interests. For examples, if students are interested in sports
teachers will integrate sports into the MSA reading practice. Teacher collaboration will also
allow teachers to share ideas and decide what is effective in the classroom.

Provide ways for struggling students to improve MSA scores and learning in the classroom
This initiative allows for struggling students to improve their future MSA scores and
learning in the classroom. After the collaborative teacher team has pinpointed where the
problem lies, the classroom teacher is able to research and introduce strategies that will help the
students succeed on the MSA and in the classroom. Students learn best in a classroom that offers
thoughtful discourse, cooperative teaching, and high expectations for learning and achievement
(Wahlberg, 2010, p.27). Teachers need to ensure that they build upon prior learning, align the
curriculum and instruction with all standards, activate and build upon background knowledge,
activate motivation, increase learning time, and improve instruction (Wahlberg, 2010, p.27-38).
By doing this, teachers can ensure that they maintain the interest and engagement of all students
especially those that are struggling. When students are taught in a way that they find appealing
they will want to learn and try their best because it is expected. When they become intrinsically

motivated they will want to learn because it will make them feel good inside and they will want
what is best for them.
By integrating MSA practice into the curriculum, teachers are able to effectively improve
instruction. They are tackling two birds with one stone. The teacher can find innovative ways to
teach content that is on the MSA in the classroom without the students even knowing. For
example, if there is a fill in the missing word portion on the MSA the teacher can create a trivia
game out of it allowing the students to work in pairs or teams and using the each others brain
power and the Smart Board to answer the questions. More will be discussed on grouping in the
next section.

Allow for heterogeneous grouping so that all students benefit from each others strengths
when collaborating and can assist each other with their weaknesses
As previously stated, teachers can find innovative ways to teach MSA content in the
classroom by allowing students to work in pairs or teams. By grouping students
heterogeneously, they can assist each other with their weaknesses. One student may not know
the answer, but their peer may and their peer may be able to explain the correct answer in more
child-friendly terminology. They can also benefit from each others strengths. One student may
be strong in the area of writing while another student may be strong in the area of synonym
identification. These students can help one another by utilizing their strength to support the
others weakness. It is known that students often learn more from peer to peer interaction and
this will be the perfect way to utilize this strategy.

Initiative Assessments

The initiative will be assessed using MSA practice exams. Every quarter the students
will be given a practice exam to see if they are improving in their areas of weakness and
upholding their strong points. The practice exam will be created by the collaborative team
covering all areas that will covered on the MSA, but specifically catering to the known
weaknesses. The practice exam will be administered by the classroom teacher.
Actual MSA data will also be used to assess the initiative. At the end of the school year,
the scores of the present and past school year will be compared to see how students fared on the
most recent MSA. The results will be used to assess the effectiveness of the initiative, to keep
effective strategies in place, and implement any new strategies.

Homework will also be given on a bi-weekly basis that is geared specifically to the MSA.
This homework will be used to reinforce what is being taught in the classroom. The homework
will also be used to encourage parent involvement. Parents will get a sneak peek of what to
expect from the MSA and can use this knowledge to help their child outside of the classroom.

Summary of Group Effort

Overall our team worked very well together. Expectations of each other were set forth
during the first two weeks and they were followed. Most of the teammates communicated on a
regular basis and more than what was required. All communication was very respectful and
helpful. Team members collaborated in discussions and reminders about improving each others
assigned tasks. It was a pleasure working with this group.

References

Maryland State Department of Education. (2007). Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for
Students. Retrieved from
http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/CFAE6DE8-94E4-4D72-A1DE50061B2B2A05/13089/MTLSSComplete1.pdf

Maryland State Department of Education. (2007). Marylands state curriculum- Reading Grade
3. Retrieved from http://mdk12.org/assessments/vsc/reading/bygrade/grade3.html

Walberg, H. J. (2010). Improving Student Learning: Action principles for families, classrooms,
schools, districts, and states. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub. Retrieved from:
http://www.centerii.org/districts/resources/improving-student-learning.pdf

PHASE III SCHOOL LEVEL INITIATIVE PLAN (15%)

Purpose of this assignment: This is the third and final phase of the three-part course DataDriven Decision-Making Project and will be completed individually based on the Phase II group
work. The goal of this assignment is to plan step-by-step actions for implementation of a levelwide data-driven improvement plan for students. An individual multi-media presentation, in
which the student reflects on planning collaboratively and using data as a base for discussions
and improvement will also be included in the submission.
Please fill in the answers to each question in the template below. Be sure to copy/paste the
data/graphs/charts as appropriate for some answers. A visual of a timeframe or other uses of
tables and images will add interest and clarity to the assignment. Please include these as you see
fit.
Phase III initiative: Collaborative Teacher Teams for MSA Data Analysis
Initiative III (Goal): The goal of this initiative is for teachers to work together in teams in
order to review MSA data and use it to pinpoint students strengths and weaknesses on the
assessment. The collected data will be used to pinpoint target areas to focus on while teaching
and instruction and to pair students for collaborative group work.

1. Why did I choose this initiative and what learning will it support?
I chose this initiative because there is concrete data available to support findings for both
student needs and abilities. In addition, this initiative allows for targeting multiple academic
areas and if successful could easily be adapted to other forms of assessment to identify other
students academic needs. This initiative will support learning areas for Reading/Language Arts
to the indicator level. When used in correspondence with the quarterly and other school testing
data available, more specific targeting of skills will occur.

2. What data was used to substantiate my choice of this initiative?

The data used to substantiate the choice of the initiative to form data-driven collaborative
teacher teams based on available MSA data was the great disparity between the objective scores
for the in class assignments of students achieving basic on MSA versus students that achieved
proficient or advanced on MSA. As shown in chart 1,for Objective One all students who scored
proficient or advanced on the Reading MSA, with the exception of student number twenty-two,
outscored their classmates who scored basic on the Reading MSA. In addition, when students
scores for each objective are grouped based on their lowest MSA score and then averaged
students who scored proficient or advanced scored almost twice as high on each objective as
students scoring basic. This information is shown in chart 2.
Chart 1.

Chart 2.

9.000
8.000
7.000
6.000
5.000

Basic

4.000

Proficient
Advanced

3.000
2.000
1.000
0.000
Objective 1

Objective 2

Objective 3

3. What group of students will this initiative best serve? In what curriculum area?
This initiative is designed to primarily serve students who are struggling in Language Arts.
These students were chosen based on the correlation of their MSA and objective scores. The
targeted focus for this initiative is to locate and evaluate resources in order to create a multimedia
project to demonstrate their understanding of the material. By completing this project students
will need to locate and comprehend resources in order to effectively evaluate their value.
Students will then need to use the acquired information to synthesize a project using available
technology.
Other groups of students, including proficient and advanced students, will also be served by
this initiative in order to support further learning. All students will cooperate in heterogeneous
pairs in order to create a Reading/Language Arts project that demonstrates the objectives for this
initiative.
4. What are the learning objectives for this initiative?
Objective 1: The students will research an invention using print and non-print sources to create
a report of how the invention has changed overtime.
Objective 2: The students will use computers and the internet to research an invention to
describe how technology enhances learning.
Objective 3: The students will create a presentation to showcase their research.

5. What are the detailed steps for initiative implementation?

I.
II.
III.

Teachers collect their MSA data and sort students into three categories (Basic,
Proficient, and Advanced)
Teachers analyze each group of students for strengths and weaknesses within their
respective groups. *Excel file to be supplied by the Resource Team.
Teachers will gather based on grade levels to evaluate individual student needs
based on MSA data. In this meeting teachers will:
a. Choose three specific goals for students who scored basicon MSA.
b. Choose one to two goals for the other two categories.
c. Assign cross classroom groupings or pairing of students to focus on
targeted skills
d. Choose student pairs to create a final multimedia project. Pairs should be
heterogeneous abilities.
e. Create a rubric for the final project that targets the learner objectives for
the initiative and the chosen goals for each group.

IV.

Teachers gather materials and sign-out laptops in order to assist in complete cross
classroom remediation of targeted skills. Assisted by School Resource Team
V. Cross classroom remediation time is scheduled by grade teams for a minimum of
three meetings.
VI.
Cross classroom remediation of skills is executed by individual teachers.
VII.
Students, in heterogeneous pairs, are introduced to and guided through research
project.
a. Introduction of project and rubric.
b. Students choose topic
c. Students are given 3 class periods to collect and evaluate resources.
d. Students are given 3 class periods to create a multimedia project using
evaluated resources.
e. Students present multimedia project to classroom.
VIII.
Grade level teams meet to discuss successes and failures of the initiative.
Teachers determine new goals and targets and project for students.
6. What is the timeframe for initiative implementation?
For this question timeframe will be listed in the following format:
Time: Goal (Step of implementation that goal correlates to)
Week one: Teachers gather MSA data and identify strengths and weakness of each
category. (I and II )
Weeks two and three: Teachers gather in grade level team and establish individual goals.
(III)
Week four: Teachers gather materials and schedule cross classroom time. (IV and V)
Weeks five and six: Cross classroom remediation is executed. (VI)
Weeks seven through nine: Students complete and present research projects (VII)
Week ten: Grade level teams meet to discuss success, failures and future implementation.
(VIII)

7. Who will be involved and be responsible for the successful implementation of this
initiative? (Members of the team).
The classroom teachers and resource team will be responsible for implementation of this
initiative.
8. What role will each member play in the implementation process and when?
The classroom teachers will join into graded teams and be responsible for analyzing their
students data as well as their teammates data. Teachers will also be responsible for locating and
teaching remediation for targeted skills. Teachers will assign and assist in the multimedia project
which will be used as a final assessment for the initiative. Finally the teachers will be
responsible for reviewing the initiative and addressing how to make improvements for the future.
The resource team will be responsible for assisting teachers in all phases of implementation.
In addition, the resources team will be supplying an Excel file for sorting student data and the
acquisition of resources for remediation.

9. What will be the assessment(s) of different parts of the implementation? How will the
assessments take place? By whom? When?
Assessment
Timeframe
Who is assessing
Rationale
Multi-media
End of Imitative Classroom Teacher
This project will be the culmination of
Presentation
(Week 9)
all the skills reviewed and taught
throughout the initiative. A rubric will
be specifically designed to address
targeted skills.
Remediation
Week 5 and 6
Remediation Group
Teachers will assess students during
Assessment
Teacher (Cross
the remediation of selected skills in
Classroom Grouping)
order to adjust materials needed.
Quarterly
After Initiative
Classroom teacher or
This standardized test simulates the
assessments
assigned proctor
MSA test and correlates to its scoring.
This assessment will demonstrate how
students have improved since taking
the MSA and participating in this
initiative.
10. Overall how will I know whether or not this initiative will be a success? What data,
assessment processes and/or indicators will give me this information? What are the
expectations or 'criteria' for the assessment measures?
This initiative will be considered a success as long as two criteria are met. Students show
improvement in targeted areas and the initiative leads to a continuing process of collaboration
towards data-driven decision making.
Student success will be measured in multiple ways. Students should show marked
improvement in targeted skills as demonstrated through the quarterly assessment. Marked
improvement will be defined as at least 50% of students improve one level on predicted MSA
scoring. This initiative will also be considered successful if students demonstrate an
understanding of the material by scoring a B or higher on the rubric for the final presentation.
A broader evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of this initiative will occur at the
final gathering of the grade level team. Teachers will supply input based on annotative data from
observations and quantitative data from assessments. The final phase of this initiative is to
decide how to improve the process for the future.
Summary:
Overall this initiative is designed to improve students Language Arts and Technology
skills in targeted areas by forming instructional teams to focus on students based on available
MSA data. The teams goal is to identify and target student needs through remediation of skills
in a cross classroom setting. Students will then demonstrate their abilities by completing a
multimedia project in heterogeneous pairings. The instructional team will also meet at the end of
the initiative to discuss and plan improvements for future initiatives.

Conclusion:
Whereas this initiative effectiveness is dependent on student improvements, the real focus
of this initiative is to improve collaboration and the planning of teachers based on the data of
their students. The goal of this initiative is not a short term improvement in scores but a long
term improvement of planning and thinking by the staff of the school. Teachers should always
be focused on their current students and how they can assist them in the short term to achieve
their best results, however teachers should also be focused on their own skills and learning how
to work in a team to maximize the resources of the team and school to the best of their abilities.

Multimedia Presentation is available here:

http://prezi.com/ltajszvzmrge/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy