D188 Task 2

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Western Oregon University *

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D188

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Health Science

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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Uploaded by emilycalcagno

2051.3.2: Contributing to the Professional Development of Colleagues Emily C Calcagno MSCIN Program, Western Governors University D188: The Collaborative Leader Professor: Terrance Siler October 2023

Curricular Or Instructive Need An instructional need within my school is more professional development opportunities and training regarding the science of reading to help address our student's phonics learning gap. Our elementary school is piloting the reading program UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) that aligns with the science of reading in hopes to help our students have strong foundational reading skills to prevent learning gaps from growing. Due to our school piloting this program for our district, we are the only school familiar with the program, which makes it difficult for professional development and training opportunities. On district wide in service days, we are doing professional development/trainings on our previous reading program which is not helpful in our schools' situation. Our school specifically has the lowest STARR literacy scores at the elementary level within our district, which is why we decided to act fast and try something new that will work for our students. The lack of training and professional development for UFLI has left teachers at my school struggling to learn the new program and are often learning about it in their own time, including myself. For our school's pilot experiment to be successful, teachers need more guidance, support, and overall learning of the UFLI program to feel more confident in what we are instructing. Our students are struggling and need our help, but we are struggling to help our students further when we are still learning ourselves. Data The existing data that helped me to identify the need from part A is our school's STARR scores for literacy. My school's STARR literacy score includes the following : 6% proficient, 18% meets standards, 37% approaching standards, and 39% did not meet standards. We have concluded that our students lack foundational reading skills and need a program to assist K- 2 with effective reading instruction and 3-5 an effective reading intervention program. After intensive research, our principal went to our district to approve the pilot of UFLI within our school to help assist our students' reading needs and to work towards closing learning gaps. Improving School Effectiveness One example of how addressing this need will improve my school's effectiveness includes implementing an effective reading intervention program that aligns with the science of reading to help assist grades 3-5 that do not have foundational skills for reading. By implementing a reading intervention program, it supports students with the largest learning gaps and will hopefully increase reading skills such as decoding, segmentation, and eventually being able to fluently read. Another example of how addressing this need will improve my school's effectiveness includes supporting students K-2 with their foundational reading skills and helping our younger students to prevent learning gaps in their reading. By implementing a strong phonics program into our classrooms reading instruction, it allows students to learn and grow their foundational reading skills and prevent reading struggles in the future.

I teach kindergarten and have been using UFLI since week 2 of the 2023/2024 school year. At the beginning of the school year, only 2/17 of my students could identify up to 5 letter sounds. We are now in week 6, and after assessing my students on their letter sounds, about 80% of students were able to identify the letter names and sounds we have learned within the last 5 weeks. We have learned 5 letter sounds in the last 5 weeks, and most of my students can not only identify the single sounds but segment and blend words with the sounds we have learned. I have collaborated with my teammates and other K-2 teachers and have heard positive reviews about their students' learning outcomes. If we continue to use UFLI as our core phonics instruction, my teammates and I believe that our students will end the year with strong reading foundation skills. Desired Outcomes The outcomes that I seek to achieve includes students K-2 to gain strong foundational reading skills and begin to fluently read, for 3-5 students to have an effective reading intervention program to help assist closing learning gaps, and lastly for classroom teachers to feel comfortable and confidant in their teaching abilities for reading. These outcomes relate to my school's instructional need listed above because when teachers are supported and educated on what they are teaching, it sets students up for success as well. My school's need is to help guide teachers with the new implementation of UFLI as our phonics instruction, so that in return students reading foundational skills become strong, and older students who are struggling feel supported in their reading journey. Due to our school having the lowest STARR literacy score, we have big gaps to fill, but I believe that this new reading program will be beneficial once all teachers can truly grasp and understand what they are instructing. Knowles’s Adult Learning Theory The three principles of Knowles’s adult learning theory I have chosen for incorporation of the professional development opportunity include need to know, experience, problem orientation. ( Toister,2014 ) Need to know will be incorporated into professional development opportunities by giving teachers opportunities to learn more about the science of reading, and its effectiveness in instruction. By giving teachers professional development opportunities to learn more about the background of the science of reading, it allows teachers to connect and understand the importance of our new phonics program, and how it can be taught effectively in our classrooms. Experience will be incorporated into professional development opportunities by providing teachers with a survey to see what they already know about the science of reading, if they are familiar with the program UFLI, what they want to learn/know more about, as well as what they need for further support with implementation. By giving teachers the survey, it will allow our principle and district to become more aware of what we already know, and what we need to further our knowledge. This will also be helpful with guidance on what types of professional development and training are needed for teachers at my school to be seen, heard, and supported throughout this new reading program.

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Lastly, the principle of problem oriented can be incorporated into professional development opportunities by giving teachers opportunities to learn and engage in training that connects with the science of reading and the UFLI reading program. Due to our school having high needs for reading, our students need teachers that know what they are instructing and how to instruct to effectively teach our students how to read. If we as teachers do not have the background knowledge or skills required to teach the given program, our students are left to struggle more. Anticipated Results The principle of need to know address the needs of the adult learners because teachers are given the background knowledge of how and why the UFLI program will be effective to teach new and struggling readers. Due to the high demand at our school for struggling readers, it is important to understand the importance of the science of reading, as well as how to incorporate it into daily instruction in a useful and effective way. The principle of experience addresses the needs of the adult learners because it allows us to have a better understanding of what we already know about the new reading program, as well as what we need to know moving forward with our instruction. The science of reading is becoming a popular topic among the education system in recent years, but most teachers know little about how to implement it into instruction is an effective way. It is important that we as educators can reflect on what we know already and how we can grow more knowledge on this topic to help our students close learning gaps. It is also important for our school/district to be aware of what we know as well and how they can support us moving forward. The principle of problem-oriented addresses the needs of adult learners because it allows teachers to gain support on a given problem within their school/district, in our case students struggling with reading. By giving teachers the opportunities to learn and grow through professional development regarding these problems, it allows teachers to gain insight and learn strategies that will benefit the given problem. In our case, we need to learn more about the science of reading, how to implement instruction, and how to approach instruction to be the most effective for students learning. Coaching And Expert Support The professional development opportunity will provide coaching and expert support by providing our school with LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) course training every late start for teachers to learn more about the foundations and science of reading. Following the LETRS training there will be 2 virtual workshops a year to reflect on units, discuss topics more in depth, and ask questions with a LETRS training expert. There will also be online seminar training opportunities through the UFLI company to help support teachers with the UFLI instruction. The online seminar training will be held at staff meetings with our instructional coach, reading interventionalist and principle to support understanding further, offer coaching opportunities for the future, and overall help with planning, implementation, and goal setting for UFLI within our classrooms. New Knowledge And Skills

The new knowledge and skills learners will obtain from the professional development opportunities will include a better understanding of how to navigate and implement UFLI into our daily instruction and intervention groups, along with gaining knowledge about the science of reading and how it is helping our students grow strong reading foundational skills, as well as help support struggling readers to get back on track. Teachers will gain skills that include teaching whole group and small group reading, approaching struggling readers, supporting students' foundational reading skills, and maximizing student engagement and retention during reading. Learners Providing Feedback Learners will be able to provide feedback regarding the effectiveness of the professional development opportunity by filling out a survey following the professional development session. This survey will ask questions about professional development and provide instructors with feedback and further questions. Our principal will then review the survey with the reading internationalist and instructional coach, then contact teachers that are in need more support in a timely manner. Frequent questions from professional development will be brought to the following staff meeting to discuss and answer for overall staff support. The tools that will be used to collect feedback will be a shared google form for all staff to access. The feedback will be collected immediately after the professional development by giving staff 20 minutes at the end to fill out the survey. Once the survey is completed, staff are welcome to leave. Opportunity For Participant Reflection The professional development opportunity will offer learners the chance to reflect on what they have learned with frequent check-point questions and opportunities to discuss further topics with their teammates. At the beginning of the professional development, there will be a guided notes paper with questions regarding professional development. The questions will allow teachers to reflect on their learning and ask further questions to ensure comprehension. There will also be opportunities for teachers to discuss further their teams' ideas and examples of how they incorporate certain components of UFLI into their instruction. By working in collaboration to reflect, it allows teachers to gain insight, learn innovative approaches, and ask questions. Examples of this include having the instructor teach for 30 minutes, then asking a question regarding the learning, and following the question teachers are given 5 minutes to collaborate, discuss and connect about the given topic to gain more insight and understanding. Sustainable Training Outcomes The professional development opportunity outcomes can be reinforced over the academic year through PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) and classroom observations. At PLCs, we can work in collaboration regarding data tracking, reflection and planning of UFLI implementation. We can also debrief on what is going well, and what could use more support from our instructional coach, reading interventionalist, and/or administration. By working in a

PLC (Professional Learning Communities) throughout the year, it allows us to plan and instruct effectively and use our newfound skills from previous professional development. Another outcome that can be reinforced over the academic year is through classroom observations. Teachers can observe whole group instruction and interventions to gain insight and learn from one another. By giving teachers the opportunity to observe one another, it can help guide teachers with how to approach instruction in their own classrooms and assist teachers with innovative approaches for instruction. This can also be helpful for new teachers to see how more experienced teachers approach reading instruction to further their knowledge and get ideas on how they can approach reading instruction with their class. Evaluation Of Training Effectiveness Myself and my colleagues can evaluate whether the outcomes of the professional development opportunity were achieved in two ways. The first way is by tracking data all year and monitoring student growth weekly. By tracking data frequently, it allows teachers to see what is working, and what still needs further support. If can also determine who may need intervention support to help obtain the instructional goal. By monitoring student data, it also helps to track overall success of the UFLI program and help guide us as a school of how to approach reading instruction in the future. Another way to evaluate whether the outcomes of the professional development opportunities were achieved is by filling out a survey monthly to monitor teachers' overall understanding, and how to support teachers further. Question examples can include, “how confident d id you feel this month with your UFLI instruction? Are there any components of UFLI you feel that you need more support with? ” Reference Toister, J. (2014, September 23). Introduction to Malcolm Knowles's andragogy theory [Video]. LinkedIn Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructional-design-adult- learners/introduction-to-malcolm-knowles-s-andragogy-theory?u=2045532

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