Assignment 1
Assignment #1: The Plan
By
Amanda Murray
CRT 162
Sample State University
Summer 2 2020
July 10, 2020
Introduction
This is a presentation to integrate new computers and online programs in the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School. These additional resources are going to be used to help the 8th grade math students that are in the standard math course for 8th grade. These students have failed to perform well on state testing these past few years. According to the 2018-2019 NJ School Performance Report, only 13% of students in the 8th grade met expectations on the state test in math.
The types of computers that will be installed into the school will be four network computers, a computer lab with 25 network computers, and a portable wireless lab with 25 laptops. These new computers will give the 8th grade math students access to online programs that will help enhance their math skills. Some of these online resources will include Google Applications for Education and other free online website that will make learning more engaging for students.
We would like to purchase an online resource that will help students to fill learning gaps with math content that is not grade level. The program that can help use to do this is iReady. iReady is an online program that is individualized for each student based on their learning needs in math. Student take a diagnostic assessment that determines what grade level students fall under in four different math domains: algebra, geometry, number sense, and measurement and data. Then students will work on individualized lesson that are about 20 to 45 minutes to help them to relearn certain skills. iReady will be used as supplemental instruction to the grade level content taught in the classroom.
Technology Solution with High Relative Advantages
This program will have many advantages to helping students to increase their math potential in the classroom and on state testing. iReady is individualized for every student and give them lessons where they will relearn old topics or introduce new concepts that the students will learn on their own. These lessons have introduction tutorials that have colorful graphic and explain the lessons using kid friendly terms. These tutorials are much more interesting than watching a YouTube video with someone explaining the skill. At the end of each lesson the students take a five to seven question quiz where they will be assessed on the skills that the tutorial just walked them through. Students receive their quiz score right away so that they can receive immediate feedback. If a student fails the quiz they will have to do the lesson again; they have three attempts to pass a lesson. The teacher will provide one on one intervention to students that have failed a lesson three times in a row. Teachers can track student progress on their lessons through the reporting feature in iReady.
The lessons also incorporate the use of this skill in everyday life. I feel that it is important to include this in math so students see the relevance of what they are learning. The questions that students are asking are more than just “skill and drill” type questions. Students will be asked to solve problems using problem solving strategies. It is important that the teacher lets students know that they need to use a pencil and paper when using iReady to work out the problems. The teacher will model how to complete a lesson with the class to show students how to use the scrap paper and pencil effectively.
The installation of new computers into the middle school will help to successfully implement iReady to the 8th grade math students. Students also have access to the Google Applications for Education. Google provides many different applications to use the classroom to make learning more engaging while teaching students 21st century skills. The next section I will explain how iReady will be used in the classroom with the use of the new technology being installed into the building.
Implementation of iReady using the Technology Integration Planning Model
This program will be used to reinforce the material that students will be learning in the classroom. Students will take three diagnostics a year to assess their mathematical knowledge in order to provide them with lessons. Each students will get their own set of lessons after they take each diagnostic. These lesson are based on the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Lower students will relearn old content that will help them to better understand grade level content. Students that are on grade level will use iReady to reinforce what they are learning in the classroom. Higher students will use iReady to learn new content that has not yet been covered in the classroom. This program automatically differentiates the lessons for students so that the teacher doesn’t have to. If I student does not pass a lesson after three attempts it will lock the domain that the lesson comes from. The teacher will have to monitor student progress to see if any domains have been locked because those students will be required to have teacher intervention.
The next few paragraphs will cover the three phases of integrating iReady into the 8th grade math class. In phase 1, teachers will collect data and understand the needs of their students. In phase 2, teachers will follow through with what was collected in phase 1 to implement the program to students. In phase 3, teachers will analyze the progress that students are making in iReady to see if any intervention needs to be given to students.
During Phase 1 of implementing iReady, the teachers will determine how to use iReady for students in their classroom. The diagnostic testing will allow teachers to collect base line data on students’ mathematical ability. Students will take the first diagnostic in the beginning of the year, the second one in the middle of the year, and the third one at the end of the year. The goal is for students to grow in between each diagnostic to get them closer to grade level in order to perform better on state testing. Teachers will be able to track student progress on iReady using the reports from the three diagnostics.
During Phase 2 of implementing iReady, the teachers will analyze the data from the diagnostics to make a plan for integrating the lessons into the classroom. iReady will be a supplemental program in additional to the content that they are learning in the classroom. It is recommended by iReady that students complete about 45 minutes a week in order to grow two grade levels from the first diagnostic to the third diagnostic. When implementing this program the school will utilize the new computers that are being added to the middle school. Each teacher will schedule the computer lab with 25 computers for a class period every other week to work on iReady. This will allow for students to get about 45 minutes to work only on iReady with teachers support. Scheduling it every other week will allow for all classes to be able to use the computer lab. Teachers will also sign up to use the computer cart for a minimum of once a week to use the computer for small group time. Students will have time to log onto iReady and work on other engaging online activities during small group time. Some of these online activities could be an assignment in Google Classroom using Google Forms, Google Docs, or Google Slides Students will log about 20 to 60 minutes of iReady time during the school week. Students will also be required to complete 30 minutes of iReady throughout the week for homework.
The planning for phase 2 will be easy for the teacher when accommodating the needs of diverse learners since iReady is already individualized. It will help the special education students to work on lower level skills. These students may never be on grade level after using iReady, but you should see growth of about two grade levels if implemented correctly. English Language Learners can also benefit from the use of iReady. According to English Learners and All Student Comparisons from the ESSA Level 3 2017–2018 Study, students that receive iReady along with their regular class instruction will grow 44% more in math compared to ELL students that do not use iReady. The classroom with four network computers will be used as a computer lab for students with specific learning needs. These classes are usually small so the teacher will be able to have four students working independently on iReady while working with another small groups of students.
The reporting that is done in iReady will help with the analyzing and reviewing of lesson that is done in phase 3. Teachers should check student progress biweekly to see how students are progressing through the lesson. If a student fails a lesson three times it locks that domain and the teachers is to provide intervention for that student on that topic. This intervention is to be provided during computer lab time. After the intervention is delivered the teacher will reopen the domain for students to work on lesson again.
After the second diagnostic is given teachers will analyze students grow to see if students are benefiting from time spent on iReady. Teachers can use this information to determine if the use of iReady in the classroom is effective and make any changes if needed. Some of the changes that teachers will look into are time on iReady in the classroom and at home, teacher support during iReady, and performance in the classroom. We won’t be able to analyze the full effects of iReady until we receive the data from the state test after the use of iReady. The hope is that if iReady implemented correctly then students should show growth from last year. As a reminder, last year only 13% of 8th grade math students were proficient on the state test.
Cost of Google Applications for Education & iReady
All of the students will be given their own emails and logins for the Google Applications for Education. Students will be able to use the Google Applications for email, word processing, presentations, video chats, and use Google Classroom to connect with the teacher and other students. We are choosing to use these applications with students because this product is free.
The cost for the iReady program is $30 per student per year. This price includes the use of the iReady diagnostics and iReady instruction program. There are 230 students in standard 8th grade math, so the cost for them to use iReady is $6,900 for the year. There is also an additional cost of $2,500 to $3,500 for professional development training for teachers on how to implement the program effectively in their classroom. Students and teachers are able to access iReady using their online platform so there is no program that needs to be downloaded onto the new computers in the school. The benefits of the purchase of this product is the ability to fill in learning gaps of 8th grade math students and increase state test scores. If the 8th grade student benefit from this product then we can push out this product to rest of the middle school students to help address their learning gaps as soon as possible.
Scheduling and Technology Set Up
Teachers will share the use of the new computers by scheduling time to work with them. Teachers will be able to sign out the use of the computer lab once every other week for a period and the use of the laptop cart once a week. There are six 8th grade math teachers, so teachers will be able to sign up for computer time with ease. There should even be opportunity for teachers to sign up to use the computer more than what was recommended. The special education & ESL teachers will also be involved in using the laptop cart. They will be able to share the computer lab with four computer among themselves.
The technology department will install the computers in the computer lab over the summer and also set up the laptops in the computer cart. The technology department will also set up log in for the students. They will need log in information for the computers, Google Apps, and for iReady. Each students will be given their own unique log in and password to the ensure security of students information and files. The login for all of these different programs will be the same. The login will be the students email with their ID numbers and their passwords will be their birthdays. The teachers will also have access to student log in information in case a student forgets. The technology department will be available to help with computer repairs and technology issues throughout the school year. All of this can be done remotely by the technology unless there is physical damage done to a device then it must be repaired.
All computers will have Google Chrome installed as the main browser because the Google Applications work the best on Google Chrome. Google Chrome also allows students to download other free extensions to the browser to help enhance their learning. An example of some of these programs are Screencastify, Equatio, and Grammerly.
The two computer labs with network computers will be hard wired for their internet access. The technology will install Wi-Fi hotspots into each classroom to allow students to have a strong internet connection when using the computers. In the past we have had hotspots installed in the hallways for classes to share the connection, but many teachers have complained about connect during class. Installing individual hotspots in each classroom should help teachers with these internet connection problems in the classroom.
Conclusion
The main purpose of implementing all of this new technology is to help to increase students learning in math and to improve state test scores. After these programs have successfully been implemented to the 8th grade math students we hope to show improvement on the state testing. If tremendous growth is shown the goal is to be able to implement iReady to all students in the elementary and middle schools, so that we do not have to wait until 8th grade to begin to reinforce math skills.
References
I-Ready Domain Descriptions. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2020, from http://curriculum.mansd.org/assessment/i-ready-domain-descriptions
Ready and English Learners. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/i-ready/english-learners
I-Ready - Product Reviews. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://www.edsurge.com/product-reviews/i-ready
Melvin H. Kreps NJ School Report Card. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/report.aspx?type=school
Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.