I NEED HELP WITH HOMEWORK POWERPOINT ON Presenting to Stakeholders

Week One Through Three Signature Assignment

Cyrisse Houston Allen

School of Education, Capella University

EDD9951: Doctoral Project Course One

Dr. Melissa Rivera

October 31, 2021

Preliminary Site Information

Before the pandemic, districts across the country grappled with ongoing teacher shortages, driven by both teacher turnover and significant declines in those choosing to enter the teaching profession. COVID-19 has only worsened these pre-pandemic conditions, undermining access to well-prepared and experienced teachers, especially for students from historically underserved groups (Anderson, 2012). The Detroit Public Schools District prior to March 2020 was a traditional school community with minimum technology outlets where the dominant paradigm was rooted in books, and the pedagogy was one of transmission. Educators had presumably read more books than students and listened to more scholarly lectures. Thus, transmitting what is learned to their students in a similar fashion.

In January 2020, the Detroit Public Schools District launched a complete technology initiative in a three-phase process. The first phase was to equip every educator with new innovative smartboards and laptop computers. The second phase was to emerge a program to equip all classrooms with thirty student netbooks. The final phase provided extensive professional development to train educators to use technology in lesson delivery and to innovate student learning. The Community School received the shipment of phase one in late February 2020. The second and third phase was interrupted by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Technology shapes habits of mind. Different tools allow for varying kinds of experiences. Lowther et al. (2018) explained that modern neuroscience revealed that different experiences lead to other kinds of brain structures. As a result, perception, and thinking are altered by the technology used. Educators learn in specific ways, and with certain tools and teaching concepts, when new ways and tools come along that undo the teaching process, it is understandable why some might think that the standard of learning is being attacked. It is so critical to integrate digital tools into the learning process.

Your Role in or Relationship with the Organization

The expansion of technology into the education system often concerns students getting distracted from their work or even cheating on their assignments. The first thought about virtual learning after schools closed was argued that since the pandemic was uncharted territory, this was the time for educators to try something new. By default, educators must use unfamiliar strategies and untested methodologies, and it is worthwhile to scope out new resources that educators had never thought to use.

The position currently held is a teacher of fifth-grade mathematics. This is a platooning position where the class is not self-contained; therefore, this position educates two classes, one in the morning and one during the afternoon. There has been the realization on how to propose ways to continue doing what one already knows they do best (Stenberg et al., 2016). In teaching, it is realized that educators cannot do it all. Educators have limits to time, skills, expertise, and personality traits. Some educators are better at organization, others at teaching students to write, others at engaging in inquiry, and other educators at helping them believe in and love themselves. During the past eighteen months of instruction, the educational process has been redefined. How will educators utilize these strategies now and in the future without compromising student academic mastery and progression?

The working relationship with the Principal and Assistant Principal of The Community School has the following components: trust when there is the confidence that supportive discussion and brainstorming is accepted, respect in which opportunities for team building and the value placed on others input and finding solutions collectively, self-awareness where there is full autonomy for owning personal actions and acknowledging personal negativity and how it may impact others, inclusion in welcoming all diversity with insight and perspective when making decisions, and open communication which is open and honest. Each of these characteristics is important in establishing a basis for research in the work location.

A potential conflict of interest might occur if an opportunity for advancement occurs before completing this project at the school-work site. At present, there are no open positions for leadership at this present school location. An application was submitted for the recent Assistant Principal position opening but was not interviewed. Further promotional opportunities would occur in other schools within the school district and should not affect the Mann Learning Community School project.

Statement of the Problem

The problem of professional practice at The Community School located in Detroit, Michigan, is to review the challenges and accomplishments of the virtual learning experience for elementary educators during the Covid-19 Pandemic and what instruction will look like with the new skills obtained during virtual learning. Technology is the most substantial aspect that shapes the educational landscape across the world. The internet has significantly become one of the crucial ways of making resources available for research and learning for both educators and students to acquire and share information.

Many school districts have shown support for the increased integration of updated technology in the classroom. This is provided with hardware like laptops, tablets, smartboards, and Wi-Fi and internet connectivity enhancement. It is essential to understand educator experiences when forced to pivot to virtual learning from a traditional classroom with minimal warning or fundamental training for this kind of computer-based instruction and learning. Educators appreciate the benefits of educational technologies. Smooth integration of new technologies in education can become challenging (Gray et al., 2010). However, The Community School needs to develop and implement programs designed to improve computer literacy among educators and students. Adapting technology to the curriculum and teaching techniques can present significant challenges and benefits to educators at all school levels.

The challenges faced by educators to integrate technology in the classroom and provide potential solutions to those challenges are essential to utilize in moving forward toward the innovation to educate students and progress student mastery in core subject areas. The evaluation of these issues is valuable both to current and future educators, school administrators, and researchers interested in the use of educational technology. The introduction of technology integration is extrinsic to educators that need access to resources, training, and support (Gray et al., 2010). The presentation of these inherent challenges to educators, including attitudes and beliefs, knowledge and skills, and resistance for continued learning towards technology in the classroom, focuses on The Community School. In the United States, there is growing evidence that barriers to the implementation of online education are being tackled more so during this period when the world is facing a great pandemic (Bitner & Bitner, 2012). Therefore, more effort is required to overcome these problems of educational practice entirely. With the recent integration of the three phases of incorporating technology at The Community School before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic, educators of this work site lacked the necessary in-depth training necessary to use educational technology effectively.

Data and Evidence

The problem of professional practice at The Community School located in Detroit, Michigan, is that educators have challenges and accomplishments in moving from traditional teaching to online teaching and back to traditional teaching in elementary during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Teacher evaluations at The Learning Community School are based on 40% of student growth as assessed in the state standardized assessment to reflect teacher evaluative success that affects entities like increased wages and bonuses, contract renewal, and career advancement. Action must be taken to analyze a state mandate that makes the evaluation process concrete in allowing student scores after eighteen months of virtual education with non-equitable conditions as consistent internet and Wi-Fi connections, working computer devices, poverty, homelessness, and parental neglect concerning the importance of educating students.

Instructional rounds in traditional and online learning should be parallel. No modifications were made to teacher evaluation expectations from traditional to online learning. Thus, instructional rounds should be just as valuable and relative for teachers on either educational delivery platform. When learning from instructional rounds, it is vital for individuals to develop their theories of action and then share them with their colleagues. Through instructional rounds, teachers can have an opportunity to analyze more than how students got correct answers but also focus on the student's depth of knowledge in understanding the content of what is being taught (B.M. Gates Foundation, 2014).

This is not easy to view with virtual learning as students often work with video off and mikes muted. Teams that participate in instructional rounds, which are broken down by core subject area, analyze the habits of student learning that are essential to student alignment to common core standards. The learning and development of adults must be explicitly connected through organizational processes to the learning and development of students in classrooms. Investing in higher results for teachers’ level of understanding in using technology will increase student engagement and high-level cognitive results (B.M. Gates Foundation, 2014).

Potential Root Causes

Coronavirus has managed to change the entire world, and it is influencing how learning is taking place across the world. The virus led to the shutdown of all learning worldwide, and it is almost two years since the first case. The learning did stop because life must move, and education is vital when a workaround includes virtual learning. Virtual learning is essential because it involves incorporating technology into learning that will help reduce the need for the students to go to school and instead learn virtually via the computer and other social media platforms. Some learning institutions incorporate the recent zoom, distant learning tools, Facebook platform, among others. The research seeks to investigate the concepts that Detroit is incorporating that will help improve its relation (McGee & Harlow, 2018). The investigation will seek to determine how educators will help students transition to overcome the new changes that include the responsibilities, expectations, and routines in the virtual world. This will require professional development training.

The Community School is a part of the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The surrounding neighborhood has multiple abandoned homes, low-income generational tax brackets, minimum education of parents past middle school, homelessness and displacement that has skyrocketed since the Covid-19 pandemic, and lack of financial literacy. Experience gained through working with different school leaders identifies that parents in this community have had minimal foundational skills that have carried through to adulthood.

The evidence supporting the problem issue is connected to the evidence of the problem statement: Educators have challenges moving from traditional teaching to online teaching and back to traditional teaching in upper elementary during the Covid-19 Pandemic. This issue has motivated the thought about how the instructional difficulty of teachers can look at advanced methods of fully exploring the root purposes of the issue, which often go unexamined in the rapid-moving world of public education (McGee & Harlow, 2018).

The school and district can review classroom observations, teacher evaluations; the district provided professional development for online teaching and lower than expected student achievement data. This information combined can show results on teaching strategy improvements while integrating technology permanently into instruction which has not been done before in this school district prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Data will support this evidence that is gathered through inquiry. The evidence can open dialogue and trust between the school, district, and teachers. Thus, boosting morale and empathy toward teachers and allowing for adaptations to be made to increase student morale and trust will eventually increase student achievement.

Organizational Context Analysis

The mission of the Detroit Public School Community School district is to enable all children to return to school and to a supportive learning environment, which also addresses their health and psychosocial well-being and other educational needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has generated sudden and intense transformation all over the world.  This has shocked the education processes, with the most extended run school closures all merged with the emerging recession.  It will set back progress made on global development goals, particularly those focused on education. The economic crises within countries and globally will likely lead to fiscal austerity, increases in poverty, and fewer resources available for public service investments from domestic expenditure and development aid (Bryman, 2018). All of this will lead to a crisis in human development that continues long after disease transmission has ended.

Disruptions to education systems over the past year have already driven substantial losses and inequalities in learning. All the efforts to provide remote instruction are laudable, but this has been an inferior substitute for in-person learning. Additionally, many children's parents may choose not to have students return to school when schools reopen due to the rising numbers locally of Covid-19 outbreaks. School closures and the resulting disruptions to school participation and learning are projected to amount to losses valued at $10 trillion in terms of affected children’s future earnings (Bartkowiak Jr., 2020).  The educators must address how students' academic knowledge will increase to the level of grade expectations without training and awareness from district leaders as a priority. Training must include essential development for health services, nutrition, protection, and students' overall well-being.

All schools will reopen for complete or partial in-person instruction and stay open. Educators will need to join forces to support blended learning that is both face-to-face and online to take all actions with professional development to plan, prioritize, and ensure that all learners are back in school; that schools take all measures to reopen safely; that students receive effective remedial learning and comprehensive services to help recover learning losses and improve the overall welfare; and be prepared and supported to meet student learning needs. 

Scope and Significance of the Problem

Opening the doors of schools for students to learn after Covid-19 is not a simple task. Students will require multiple tailored lessons and support for educators to lead them through readjustment and academic gains after the Covid-19 pandemic. Educators are the first-level advisors that will help the school devise and impart the support to meet the vast difficulties of the upcoming months. This must happen now because the future of a whole generation is at issue. Students will require modified support to assist with the readjustment of learning following the pandemic. Educators must prepare to provide that support and meet multiple challenges of students and families with intensive training that can support student learning in the months ahead (Bartkowiak Jr., 2020). The training should begin now as the future of a whole generation is jeopardized.

There are thirty-five educators at different levels at The Community School. The Community School supports the design and implementation of comprehensive professional development training strategies to support student education, health, psychosocial well-being, and other needs. Most students have lost substantial instructional time and may not be ready for age- and grade-appropriate curricula prior to the pandemic. There will be required remedial instruction to get back on track through the professional development training. The Covid-19 pandemic also revealed a digital divide that schools could play a role in addressing through educator training support by ensuring students have digital skills and access.

References

Anderson, T. (2012). Getting the mix right: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction.

FORUM, Paper #63. Retrieved October 13, 2003, from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum /paper63/paper63.htm

Bartkowiak Jr., D. (2020). Detroit Public Schools Shifting to Online Learning Starting Monday, November 16. Click on Detroit. Retrieved from

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/11/12/detroit-public-schools-shifting-to-online-learning-starting-monday-nov-16/

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2014). Teachers Know Best: Teachers’ Views on

Professional Development.  

Bitner, N. & Bitner, J. (2012). Integrating Technology into the Classroom: Eight Keys to

Success. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(1), 95-100. Norfolk, VA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education.

Bryman, A. (2018). Integrating qualitative and quantitative research: How is it done? Qualitative Research, 6(1), 97–113.

Gray, L., Thomas, N., and Lewis, L. (2010). Teachers' Use of Educational Technology in the U.S.

Public Schools: 2009 (NCES 2010-040). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

Lowther, D. L., Inan, F. A., Strahl, J. D., & Ross, S. M. (2018). Does technology integration

‘‘work’’ when key barriers are removed? Educational Media International, 45 (3), 189– 206.

McGee, C., J., & Harlow, A. (2018). Transition to new routines in schools: A literature review. A Report to the Ministry of Education. Hamilton, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Stenberg, K., Rajala, A., & Hilppo, J. (2016). Fostering theory–Practice reflection in teaching

practicums. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 44(5), 470–485. 

Appendix A: Completed Gap Analysis Worksheet

Appendix B: Completed Fishbone Diagram