5.1 Needs Assessment
Candidates conduct needs assessments to determine school-wide, faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths and weaknesses to inform the content and delivery of technology-based professional learning programs. (PSC 5.1/ISTE 4a)
Candidates conduct needs assessments to determine school-wide, faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths and weaknesses to inform the content and delivery of technology-based professional learning programs. (PSC 5.1/ISTE 4a)
I created this artifact in the Technology Coaching & Profession Development class, ITEC 7460. Before a technology coach can recommend an action plan, she must first get an accurate picture of current reality, in the form of a needs assessment. This artifact shows an inventory of the current professional development in place in the district and at my local school. Additionally, I evaluate my school’s strengths and weaknesses in its professional development program according to standards outlined by Georgia Systems of Continuous Improvement (GSAPS). At the end of the artifact, I make recommendations for improving current services based on the school’s need. Although I worked with many different stakeholders to gather data leading to the current reality write up—the principal, the technology team, teachers, and administrators—I am the sole creator of this document.
To create this document, I took an inventory of the professional learning opportunities offered by the district and by the school. I then looked at data on student and teacher achievement as captured in the Results Based Evaluation Report for Berkmar High School 2018-2019. The report, a summary of student achievement made for stakeholders, makes it easy to determine school-wide and subject-area strengths and weaknesses. I also viewed other documents and interviewed the principal in order to get a sense of our current professional development initiatives aimed at improving student data through teacher development. I then gave my school’s professional develop plan a rating according to six different GSAPS standards. For standards that did not score high, I give my recommendations for how technology-based professional learning programs might be used to better effect to improve student learning. For example, my school has two annual technology trainings for settings up and finalizing gradebooks. While this is an important administrative task, it is not a training that helps teachers improve their teaching. Furthermore, the content and delivery method of technology trainings depends on the needs of the teacher population. Some trainings are require in-person demonstration, while others can occur asynchronously, like the gradebook training, in order to prioritize trainings that improve instructional weaknesses. This artifact demonstrates my mastery of Standard 5.1: Needs Assessment because it is an evidence-based assessment of my school’s professional learning strengths and weaknesses as well as technology-based professional learning can be utilized to improve the current gaps in teacher learning.
Through creating this artifact, I learned a great deal about my district and school’s visions for professional development. I also discovered, through analysis, where my school’s technology training is strong and where it has room to grow. Checking to see if my school’s current program aligns with the weak points in the data was an eye-opening experience. I can see how technology could fill the gaps in current professional learning initiatives. If I were to do something differently in writing this artifact, I would I have like to use more specific data sources to determine individual teachers’ instructional strengths and weaknesses. Now that I have taken the data analysis class, I feel that I am better prepared to do a needs assessment when I become a technology coach.
The work that went into this artifact had an impact on my school’s professional development. I shared this assessment of the professional learning plan with the PL administrator and with other instructional technology students in the state. Furthermore, I have personal conducted technology-based professional learning since creating this plan in order to address areas of instructional weakness. The impact on teachers’ learning can be assessed by following up with next year’s student data and comparing it to this year’s to determine with the profess