Improving Teacher Quality Grant Proposal

Project Title: Web-Based Tools in Coordinate Algebra Classrooms

Institution: Starrs Mill High School

Local Education Agency: Fayette County Schools

Collaborating Organizations: Griffin RESA, University of Georgia at Griffin Campus

Project Director:

J.B. Campbell, Math Teacher Email: campbell.jb@mail.fcboe.org

Phone Number: 770-486-2710

Mailing Address:

Starrs Mill High School

193 Panther Path
Fayetteville, GA 30215

Project Facilitator:

Emily Willis, Math Teacher Email: willis.emily@mail.fcboe.org

Mathematics Department Chair Phone Number: 770-486-2710

Mailing Address:

Starrs Mill High School

193 Panther Path
Fayetteville, GA 30215

Estimated Number of Project

Participants: 15

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Abstract

Professional development at the middle and high school level too often shows teachers a new

and improved version of how easy it is to use technology in the classroom. However, in each of these

situations, after initial exposure to the new technology, teachers are left to their own time and resources

to construct useful lessons that will impact student learning in a meaningful way. In addition, teachers

may ignore opportunities for professional development due to the lack of content specific sessions that

are applicable to their academic area. This project is partnering with Starrs Mill High School and the

Fayette County Schools System to increase teacher content knowledge in specific Algebra skills through

the use of web-based tools (WBTs) such as Nearpod, Kahoot.it, and Socrative in the Coordinate Algebra

classes taught in the 8th and 9th grade. Project participants will develop interactive lessons using web-

based tools that enhance their daily lessons plans, increase student understanding, and will allow

students to become an active part of the learning process.

During the summer of 2016, project participants will attend a five day workshop on creating

lesson plan activities using WBTs. Participants will have the opportunity to dive into the mathematics

involved in the Coordinate Algebra standards using interactive technologies, and then receive training on

how to create the same types of interactive learning activities they have just experienced. The use of

digital web-based lessons will encourage students to explore these same standards in unique and

individualized ways. At the end of the week, participants will leave with numerous artifacts as well as

complete lesson plans for teaching specific Algebra strands to their students. In addition, project

participants will be trained not only in the latest WBTs available to teachers, but also learn to research

and apply new emerging technologies to their classroom. Participants will receive additional support on

three Saturday sessions during the fall semester of 2016. The purpose of these follow-up days is to allow

participants to review, reflect, and revise activities implemented during the school year.

This project hopes to increase the effectiveness of Fayette County School teachers in

mathematics classrooms in the following two areas of need: 1) teacher content knowledge of the

Common Core Algebra strands for solving inequalities and interpreting graphs, and 2) improve teacher

practices through the use of technology in their classroom instruction. Any questions concerning this

project should be directed to J.B. Campbell via email at campbell.jb@mail.fcboe.org.

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Introduction

Math teachers, especially in high school, often are responsible for the lasting impression of the

subject of mathematics on adults. The courses taken and the style of teaching either encourages

students to be fans of math or completely convinces them that math is not my thing. What if teachers

could convince students that not only is mathematics useful, but also show them how interesting it can be

to learn math? Most learners will not be fully engaged during a lecture class with worked examples on a

whiteboard. By using web-based interactive learning tools, students can work through a math lesson at

their own pace with individual support to help them make sense of the topic in a personal way. In order for

students to have these interactive tools, teachers need time and opportunity to learn how to create and

then implement these tools into the classroom instruction appropriately. Every tool has a specific job it is

best used for, and WBTs are no different, so additional training for teachers is a must. This teacher

quality grant proposal seeks to provide teachers with this opportunity.

The Fayette County School System has highly qualified teachers in place in all of its high schools.

However, there is still a need to improve the instruction that takes place within each classroom. As shown

in the sections to follow, there is a need to improve test scores in certain Coordinate Algebra strands

within the county, and research has shown that students respond well to learning with technology. By

partnering with Starrs Mill High School and the Griffin Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA), this

proposal will offer Coordinate Algebra teachers the opportunity to take part in a one week professional

development workshop at Starrs Mill High School. This workshop is designed to enhance teacher

understanding of the specific Algebra strands from the Common Core curriculum, but to do so in a way

that introduces teachers to WBTs that they can use with their students. Each day of the workshop has

specific math and technology topics that will be addressed and three follow-up sessions are scheduled on

Saturdays during the school year for revisions and reflections. A high quality team of instructors and

support staff will be on site during the workshop to address any and all needs of the participants, and to

evaluate the overall effectiveness of this professional development workshop. Since this workshop takes

place during the summer, there is a cost associated with this workshop, and those details are also

included in this proposal.

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 Like many school systems, Fayette County has ample technology available for teacher and

student use. Unfortunately, in the past ten years, professional development for teachers has been a

victim of budget cuts within the state and the county. Many teachers are grossly unprepared to make

effective use of the technology that is currently residing in their building. These same teachers are not

unwilling to use these available resources, but they do lack the training. At the same time, students are no

longer gaining their knowledge outside of school buildings from books and print material. Students are

going online to find any information they want and are learning through videos, games, and even self-

guided tutorials in easy to follow digital form. The education community needs to meet students where

they are, in the digital world with digital devices, in order to captivate and educate them to their utmost

potential. This workshop is the first step of many towards changing teacher instruction from the sage on

a stage model to one driven by a students desire to learn and investigate.

Demonstrated Need

Fayette County Schools rank above state and local RESA averages for the past two years in

Coordinate Algebra content found on the Georgia End of Course Test (Table 1) (GADOE, 2013, 2014).

This data demonstrates the high quality of instruction that is currently taking place within the county high

schools. Even though Fayette ranks very high in the state overall, we are always looking for ways to

improve not just test scores, but the quality of education for our students. Because of this desire, Fayette

County administers Benchmark tests every 9 weeks to gauge student understanding on specific math

strands across the county. Based on these test results, there are some weaknesses that have been

identified in the 9th grade Coordinate Algebra classroom and need to be addressed. Specifically the

Common Core Algebra strands involving solving inequalities with one variable and interpreting graphs

with real world context have been identified as areas of poor performance as evidenced by student test

scores on the 9-week Fayette County Benchmark scores of 2014 (Table 2).

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Table 1

System Content Area Summary Report: FAYETTE COUNTY SCHOOLS

Date: SPRING 2013

Mean Scale Score Mean Number Correct

N System RESA State Content Area Number System RESA State
tested possible
1,844 411 392 391 CCGPS Coordinate
Algebra
Algebra and Functions 27 14.9 11.9 11.8

System Content Area Summary Report: FAYETTE COUNTY SCHOOLS

Date: SPRING 2014

Mean Scale Score Mean Number Correct

N System RESA State Content Area Number System RESA State
tested possible
1,895 415 394 395 Coordinate Algebra
Algebra and Functions 32 18.6 15.0 15.1

Table 2

Fayette County Benchmark Assessment

Date: Fall 2014
Common Core Coordinate Algebra Standard: Percentage Correct

A.REI 3: Solve linear equations and inequalities in one variable including 24.75%
equations with coefficients represented by letters.
A.CED 2: Create linear, quadratic, and exponential equations in two or more 13.34%
variables to represent relationships between quantities; graph equations on
coordinate axes with labels and scales.
F.IF 4: Using tables, graphs, and verbal descriptions, interpret the key 42.35%
characteristics of a function which models the relationship between two
quantities.
Data obtained from Mathematics Curriculum Office of Fayette County Board of Education (M. Henderson, personal
communication, October 5, 2015).

The professional development proposed in this project will strengthen the content knowledge of

teachers specifically in these three Algebra strands, but will also introduce them to web-based tools

(WBTs) that can enhance instruction in the classroom. Based on a small sample size survey of math

teachers at Starrs Mill High School, the majority of them respond in favor of learning to implement more

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technology into their instruction, but they simply do not have the time needed to do so. According to Kay

(2014), teachers and students alike are in favor of web based learning tools, but these tools have to be

interactive and visually appealing to the students. For this to be accomplished, the tool or tools must be

constructed well before the lesson is taught. The time to create this type of web application is an integral

part of this project proposal. In addition, this professional development will focus on using Chromebooks

to implement the WBTs in the classroom, which are already in place in most of the Fayette County high

schools. By improving teacher instruction of solving inequalities and interpreting graphical information in

context, teachers will be able to address and correct student misconceptions and increase student

achievement.

Jones and Dexter (2014) investigated the methods by which teachers learn how to use the

technology in their schools. They discovered that teachers are not much different from students.

Teachers prefer to learn in innovative ways using technology rather than sitting in a room being instructed

by an expert in the field. For this reason, teachers will learn to use WBTs in their classroom instruction by

experiencing firsthand the flexibility and rigor of learning that can occur through the use of WBTs. But is

digital instruction better than paper and pencil? Once again, not every tool is useful in every situation, but

students are used to learning with technology everywhere but inside the classroom. Eyyam and Yaratan

(2014) studied the impact of technology in mathematics lessons on student attitudes and achievement.

Their research showed students who were taught using technology performed better on the post-test

assessment than those without technology. Also, those students generally enjoyed learning mathematics

through the use of technology. By implementing technology into the instruction, students will be more

engaged than normal in learning and mastering these particular topics of Algebra.

Meaningful Partnerships

Fayette County mathematics teachers, specifically 8th and 9th grade teachers involved in teaching

Coordinate Algebra are the focus of this proposal, although any Fayette County math teacher could be a

participant. Recruitment of the participants will be handled by the mathematics curriculum coordinator of

Fayette County Schools, Mark Henderson. Teachers in Coordinate Algebra courses who are interested in

being part of the program will receive priority registration. If additional spaces are available for the

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program, math teachers at Starrs Mill High School followed by other county schools will be invited to

participate. The anticipated participation in this program is 15 teachers.

The support of the administrative staff at Starrs Mill High School has been critical for securing the

facility and resources needed to conduct this project during the summer of 2016. They are providing the

facility free of charge and will be available on-site for trouble shooting during the week of the project. In

addition, the administrative staff will be securing open access to the media center as well as acquiring

Chromebook carts for participants to use during the week. Also, the technology coordinator for Fayette

County schools, Kate Matthews, will be the technical expert during the week, and has the needed

experience to facilitate instruction for the technology component of this project. The University of Georgia

in Griffin currently offers continuing education courses for teachers in elementary and middle school

levels. By partnering with professors in the department of education, they will provide the necessary

guidance and resources for the project facilitators between pedagogy and technology in preparation for

this project. The education specialists at Griffin RESA are the professionals when it comes to conducting

week long professional development programs. Their support and guidance to the project director will

greatly impact the success of the project. If successful, Griffin RESA may be interested in offering the

program to a wider audience in the summer of 2017.

Capacity

The following individuals comprise the project planning team for this grant proposal. Each person

listed has agreed to take part and serve before and during the planned week of professional development

in the capacity listed.

Project Director: J.B. Campbell

Mr. Campbell is a mathematics teacher at Starrs Mill High School and an innovator within his

school with using technology in the mathematics classroom. He earned a Bachelors of Science in

Education degree in Secondary Mathematics from the University of Georgia in 1999, and has been

working at Starrs Mill ever since. He has 16+ years of teaching experience in all levels of high school

mathematics and holds a Masters degree in secondary mathematics education from the University of

West Georgia and is pursuing a Specialist degree in Instructional Technology also at the University of

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West Georgia. He has been a member of the school improvement plan project team twice, both times

serving as a data analyst for information collected from teachers. In addition, Mr. Campbell has earned

his gifted certification in mathematics as well as receiving College Board AP certification to teach

Calculus. For the past ten years, Mr. Campbell has been the AP Calculus BC teacher at Starrs Mill. His

students have been highly successful on the AP exam for Calculus BC throughout his tenure, but have

achieved unprecedented success the last five years. During this 5 year period, over 200 students have

taken his class and the subsequent AP exam, and over 92% have earned a passing score of a 3, 4, or 5

on the exam. In addition, his students are not only passing the test, but have earned an average AP score

of 4.22 (out of 5). Many of his students pursue engineering and mathematics degrees at research

universities after leaving his classroom.

Lead Facilitator: Emily Willis

This project proposal would not be possible without the support of the mathematics department

chairperson at Starrs Mill High School, Emily Willis. As a founding member of the Starrs Mill faculty, she

has led the mathematics department for the past 9 years. She has served on numerous school

improvement plan teams as well as mathematics curriculum revision teams at the school, county, and

state level. Ms. Willis has over 19 years of teaching experience in Fayette County, has a Masters degree

in secondary mathematics education, is gifted certified in mathematics, and is AP certified to teach

Calculus. Due to her extensive background with the mathematics standards, she is the perfect choice for

leading the teaching and understanding of the Algebra strands presented in this program.

Content Consultant: Mark Henderson

Fayette County is fortunate to have a mathematics curriculum coordinator with the classroom experience

and professionalism exhibited by Mark Henderson. Mr. Henderson will be instrumental in encouraging

schools within the county to send their Coordinate Algebra teachers to be a part of this project. Along with

Ms. Willis, he will also be a facilitator for this project. Mr. Henderson has over 15 years of classroom

experience as a mathematics teacher, primarily in Coordinate Algebra classrooms, specializing in the

inclusion of students with disabilities and special needs. His insight into the potential uses for WBTs with

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this particular group of students will be valuable information to the participants. He holds a Specialist

degree in Educational Leadership and has been a valuable asset to the mathematics teachers of Fayette

County since assuming the position of curriculum coordinator two years ago.

Technology Consultant: Kate Matthews

The technology coordinator for the county, Kate Matthews, will be our technical expert for this project. In

addition to her support duties as a technology coordinator in Fayette County, Ms. Matthews shares her

research and expertise on emerging technologies for classroom use with teachers of all grade levels. As

an advocate for more teacher training in the uses of technology in the classroom, she will provide support

during the week for our technology needs in addition to expertise with the particular WBTs that we will be

using. Her department makes the recommendations to the school board as to the technology needed in

the classrooms, so her participation in this project could potentially effect the types of technology the

county provides for teachers in the future. Any feedback teachers can give her concerning the

effectiveness of the Chromebooks in instruction will aid the school system overall in deciding whether or

not to extend the Chromebook cart program to all middle and high schools.

Facilities Coordinators: Starrs Mill High School Administration

The principal at Starrs Mill High School, Allen Leonard, has been vital for securing the facility and

resources needed to conduct a week of training during the summer. Under his leadership, different

administrators will be available during the week to handle any facility need that may arise. There will not

be any compensation for these men and women for their time since they are already under contract at

this time, however, this project would not be possible at this location without their efforts and support.

Project Assistants: Ansley Long, Philip Snitzer, Emily Koivu

These former students of Starrs Mill High School are all interested in teaching mathematics as a

profession. All three of them successfully completed Mr. Campbells AP Calculus BC course and can add

a students perspective to the activities created during the week. Their main role will be to serve as

assistants for the project director and support staff for the facilitators during the week of the project.

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Project Evaluator: Janet Davis

Mrs. Davis has close to 30 years experience teaching mathematics, training math teachers, and

evaluating and revising mathematics curriculum at the county and state level. She is currently the owner

and chief consultant of Davis Educational Consulting, which is based in Fayetteville, Georgia. Mrs. Davis

is a former teacher at Starrs Mill High School before joining the Georgia Department of Education as a

mathematics curriculum specialist. Her special area of focus during this time was the training of teachers

in the Georgia Performance Standards mathematics curriculum, so she has extensive knowledge of

professional development programs. She has also worked in the textbook industry for Pearson publishing

as a mathematics curriculum specialist before starting her own educational consulting firm two years ago.

Project Goals and Objectives

Teachers want content specific professional development that involves implementing technology

into their classrooms to make student learning more effective. What teachers usually receive is a one-

size-fits-all program of professional development which does not address classroom needs and

eventually leads to teacher apathy concerning professional development sessions. Teachers are and will

continue to be skeptical of the benefits of professional development when they do not view sessions as

beneficial no matter who the instructor is or the content. The primary goal of this project is to improve

teacher instruction of the Common Core Algebra strands for solving inequalities and interpreting graphs.

The objectives for this goal are that 1) Algebra teachers will demonstrate an increase in content

knowledge of solving inequalities and interpreting graphs, and 2) Algebra teachers will use their content

knowledge to design one technology-based interactive lesson for each Algebra strand covered by the end

of the week. The secondary goal of this project is to improve teacher knowledge of the applications and

benefits of WBTs in their classroom instruction. The objectives of this goal are 1) for participants to

increase knowledge and use of web-based tools, such as Kahoot.it, Nearpod, Socrative, OpenEd, in

conjunction with Chromebooks, and 2) for participants to produce one lesson activity using each of the

web-based tools introduced by the end of the week. Kay (2014, p.80) promotes the benefits of WBTs in

helping students learn, but also the necessity of having well thought out lesson plans to use with the

WBTs instead of treating them as a stand-alone instructor. Research by Pritchett, Wohleb, and Pritchett

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(2013, p.38) also shows that educators can view certain applications as less important when they do not

see the benefits of that application to their classroom. For this reason, this project is focusing on specific

Algebra topics in the mathematics classroom. When teachers are not trained to use and apply new

technology to its fullest in their classroom, there is a need for further professional development in this

area. Even though Starrs Mill High School has Chromebook carts, there has not been any professional

development on how to integrate these devices into classroom instruction. Overbaugh and Lu (2008)

were able to show an increase in teacher confidence when using technology through focused, intentional

professional development which then led to an increase in student learning. I hope to accomplish similar

results by providing teachers the tools and knowledge to design their own lesson plans that make use of

the devices available in their schools. Finally, the entire reason for teacher professional development is to

address the needs of students in these specific areas. Thus, a final objective would be an increase in

student performance in these specific Coordinate Algebra strands on the 2016 Benchmark assessments

and 2017 Georgia Milestones.

Table 3: Needs, Goals and Objectives

Goal #1: Need Addressed:

Improve teacher instruction of the Common Core Low performance of Fayette County students on

Algebra strands for solving inequalities and specific Algebra standards on standardized

interpreting graphs. assessments.

Objectives:

1a. Algebra teachers will demonstrate an increase in content knowledge of solving inequalities and

interpreting graphs.

1b. Algebra teachers will use their content knowledge to design one technology-based interactive lesson for

each Algebra strand covered by the end of the week.

Goal #2: Need Addressed:

Improve teacher knowledge of the applications and Lack of teacher training of instructional technology

benefits of WBTs in their classroom instruction. in mathematics classrooms

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 Objectives:

2a. Participants will increase knowledge and use of web-based tools, such as Kahoot.it, Nearpod, Socrative,

OpenEd, in conjunction with Chromebooks.

2b. Participants will produce one lesson activity using each of the web-based tools introduced by the end of

the week.

Plan of Operation

The design of this project is for 15 teachers to participate in a five-day long professional

development program during the summer of 2016. On day 1, program participants will go through an

orientation program to familiarize them with the goals and objectives of the program, the schedule for the

week, the members of the project team, and the technology that will be used during the week. All

participants will take a brief survey concerning their experiences with the web-based tools as well as a

pre-test covering the content strands for Common Core Algebra: A.REI.3, A.CED.3, and F.IF.4. These

strands deal specifically with solving inequalities in with one variable as well as the interpretation of

graphs of functions. The second half of day 1 will consist of an overview of the WBTs that will be used

throughout the week as well as having teachers create professional accounts within Twitter and join a

Google Classroom dedicated to the sharing of comments and resources throughout the week and

afterwards. Days 2 through 5 will begin with a reflection and discussion period of the lessons learned from

the previous day. Comments from the Google Classroom and tweets from the Twitter feed will provide the

basis for these discussions as well as a record of the happenings from each day. Then, in the morning

session, participants will engage in technology-based instruction of the content strands for the week using

the WBT of the day. Participants will experience the benefit of student-centered instruction using

technology while gaining experience with the WBT.

Lunch time is often a chance for teachers to collaborate out from under the eyes and ears of the

facilitators. For this reason, participants are encouraged to get lunch at one of the numerous restaurants

in the immediate area before returning to continue discussions of the morning sessions. After the lunch

break, participants will create components of a lesson (warmup, introduction, activity, assessment,

review) for use in the classroom using the WBT of the day. At the conclusion of each day, participants will

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tweet their thoughts to the group, answer a ticket out the door with Socrative, and/or post reflection

comments to the Google Classroom page dedicated to this professional development. In addition, since

the majority of these WBTs have a share feature, participants will be able to share their lesson

components with other teachers in the project group. A sample week long workshop schedule is included

in Table 4. A sample schedule for day 2 is included in Table 5.

Table 4

Sample Summer Schedule for Algebra Content

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

8:00-
Team Briefing Team Briefing Team Briefing Team Briefing Team Briefing
8:30

Welcome to the
Program;
Introductions; Debriefing- Debriefing- Debriefing- Debriefing-
8:30-
Content Pre- Discussion of Discussion of Discussion of Discussion of
9:30
Assessment; Reflections Reflections Reflections Reflections
WBT Survey
(8:30-10:30)
A.REI.3,
Focus A.REI.3 A.REI.3 A.CED.3 F.IF.4
A.CED.3, F.IF.4

Solving Solving Interpreting Investigate

9:30- inequalities inequalities solutions from relationships 3 Lesson Plans
12:00 algebraically graphically graphs represented by involving WBTs
(A.REI.3) (A.REI.3) (A.CED.3) graphs (F.IF.4)

12:00-
Working Lunch Working Lunch Working Lunch Working Lunch Working Lunch
1:00

Overview of
WBTs for the Kahoot.it.it Socrative 3 Lesson Plans
1:00- Nearpod lesson
week; lesson artifact lesson artifact involving WBTs
3:30 artifact creation
Introduction to creation creation (1:00-2:30)
OpenEd.com

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 Content Post-
Assessment;
Session Session Session Session
3:30- Satisfaction
Recap/Ticket Recap/Ticket Recap/Ticket Recap/Ticket
4:00 Survey; Session
out the Door out the Door out the Door out the Door
Recap/Ticket
out the Door

4:00- Team Team Team Team Team

4:30 Debriefing Debriefing Debriefing Debriefing Debriefing

Table 5: Sample Summer Schedule for Day 2

8:00-8:30 Team Briefing

8:30-9:30 Debriefing-Discussion of Reflections from Monday

Review of Twitter feed

Review of Google Classroom comments
Discussion of the uses of the OpenEd site
9:30-12:00 Solving inequalities graphically (A.REI.3)
Kahoot.it.it game review of standard A.REI.3

Features of Kahoot.it.it

Find other Kahoot.it.it games to support standards A.REI.3,

A.CED.4, & F.IF.4

12:00-1:00 Working Lunch (informal discussion among participants)

1:00-3:30 Kahoot.it.it lesson artifact creation

How to create a Kahoot.it.it

How to insert equations/images into Kahoot.it.it questions

When to use Kahoot.it.it

Create your own Kahoot.it.it game for use with A.REI.3

Share your Kahoot.it.it

3:30-4:00 Session Recap/Ticket out the Door

One thing you learned (using Socrative ticket out the door)

One thing you will use (using Socrative ticket out the door)

4:00-4:30 Team Debriefing

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 There are three follow up days scheduled once teachers are back in the classroom. They are all

during the fall of 2016, each on a Saturday, one in September, one in October and one in December. The

first two days will be devoted to the sharing of teacher experiences with implementing the WBTs in their

classrooms along with opportunities to revise and refresh activities. Teachers will also be encouraged to

share new resources of WBTs or uses for WBTs in the instruction of mathematics in their classrooms.

Teachers will also complete a follow-up WBTs use survey during the first two days and will have the

opportunity to collaborate on refining current and creating new lessons activities. The feedback from

these follow-up sessions will refine the professional development program for future use. Ineffective or

outdated practices will be phased out in favor of innovative and more effective ones. The final session will

focus on the teacher experiences with WBTs and the impact they had on student performance. Teachers

will be asked to determine if the WBTs and accompanying lesson activities from the summer program had

an effect on their students learning in comparison to previous years.

Evaluation

The external evaluation of the project will be submitted by Janet Davis, owner and chief

consultant of Davis Educational Consulting, which is based in Fayetteville, Georgia. Mrs. Davis has over

15 years of experience in professional development and training of teachers in mathematics. The

evaluation of this project will include qualitative data in the form of observation checklists, surveys, and

teacher responses throughout the week in the summer and during the follow-up sessions. The

quantitative data collected will be an accounting of the number of lessons created and shared by the

teachers, the attendance of teachers throughout the program, a comparison of pre- and post-test data

covering content, and a comparison of student test data from before and after teachers participation in the

program. For each activity during the project, informal feedback from the teachers will be collected. At the

end of each day, teachers will be asked to respond to questions like what did you learn today? or do

you see yourself using this in your classroom? An observation checklist will be used to measure

engagement during the activities. Time allowing, teachers will have the opportunity to present their

technology-based lesson components to the group, using other teachers as a sample class. Post-

program surveys will determine how much teachers are using these new tools in their classroom

15
compared to pre-project levels. Data collection strategies and evaluation instruments are included in

Tables 6 and 7 below.

Table 6

Objective Evidence Evaluation Strategies

Algebra teachers will demonstrate

Participants' scores on content
an increase in content knowledge of
knowledge assessments will 1, 6
solving inequalities and interpreting
increase by 20% from pre- to post.
graphs.

Algebra teachers will use their

content knowledge to design one Teachers will share technology-
technology-based interactive lesson based lessons for use in the Algebra 2, 5, 6, 7
for each Algebra strand covered by classroom by the end of the week.
the end of the week.

Participants will increase knowledge

Participants will demonstrate
and use of web-based tools, such
increased use of WBTs in
as Kahoot.it, Nearpod, Socrative, 2, 3, 5, 7
classroom instruction and planning
OpenEd, in conjunction with
during the 2016-2017 school year.
Chromebooks.

Participants will produce one lesson
activity using each of the web-based
tools introduced by the end of the
week.
Teachers will share 2 activities that
support the instruction of Common
3, 5, 6, 7
Core Algebra Strands A.REI.3,
A.CED.3, and F.IF.4, 5.

Students will increase Analysis of Benchmark

understanding of Algebra topics assessments and Georgia
4
through the use of WBTs in the Milestones will provide evidence of
classroom. improved learning in these areas.

Table 7

Strategy Responsible Timeframe

Content Knowledge
Assessment. This assessment
will measure the participants
knowledge of program content
focus. It will be given at the
beginning and end of the week. Day 1 and Day 5 of 2016
1 (Summative) Evaluator summer program
WBT Use Survey. This survey
will gauge participants
familiarity with WBTs that are
included in the program as well
as their intended frequency of Day 1 and Follow up Day 1&2 of
2 use in the participants Evaluator 2016 summer program

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 classrooms. (Formative,
Summative)

Reflections-Discussions. Using
specific WBTs, participants will
provide feedback about their
experiences with the
components of the program. Beginning of Days 2-5 of 2016
3 (Formative) Lead Facilitator summer program
Analysis of Benchmark and GA
Milestone data. Data will be
analyzed for evidence of
increased student learning
when compared to pre-program
classes of same teachers.
4 (Summative) Evaluator Spring 2016, Fall of 2017
Classroom Observations.
Observations of lesson plans
developed during the week will
be completed several times
during the following academic
5 semester. (Formative) Program Director Fall 2016
Portfolio Review. A rubric will be
used to compare activities and
lesson plans among program Summer 2016 after summer
6 participants. (Summative) Evaluator program
Engagement Checklist.
Attendance, participation, and
engagement checklist will be
used during each day of the
7 program. (Formative) Evaluator Days 1-5

The final project evaluation report will be submitted by the end of the 2016 calendar year, but additional

test data will not be available until the end of the 2017 calendar year based on current data report

timelines. At this time, a revision of the final report will be possible to include state Milestone test data in

addition to county Benchmark data.

References

Eyyam, R., & Yaratan, H. S. (2014). Impact of use of technology in mathematics lessons on student

achievement and attitudes. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 42, 31-42.

doi:10.2224/sbp.2014.42.0.S31

Georgia Department of Education. (2013). System Content Area Summary Report for Fayette County

School System [Data file]. Available from Fayette County Board of Education.

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Georgia Department of Education. (2014). System Content Area Summary Report for Fayette County

School System [Data file]. Available from Fayette County Board of Education.

Jones, W. S., & Dexter, S. (2014). How teachers learn: the roles of formal, informal, and independent

learning. Educational Technology Research & Development, 62(3), 367-384.

doi:10.1007/s11423-014-9337-6

Kay, R. (2014). Exploring the use of web-based learning tools in secondary school classrooms.

Interactive Learning Environments, 22(1), 67-83. doi:10.1080/10494820.2011.641675

Overbaugh, R., & Lu, R. (2008). The impact of a NCLB-EETT funded professional development program

on teacher self-efficacy and resultant implementation. Journal of Research on Technology in

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Pritchett, C. C., Wohleb, E. C., & Pritchett, C. G. (2013). Educators' perceived importance of web 2.0

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33-38. doi:10.1007/s11528-013-0643-3

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Budget

As Project Director, J.B. Campbell will earn 11% of his annual salary of $61,500 for the 2015-

2016 academic year. He will make all arrangements related to the project in preparation for the week in

the summer of 2016. He will also assist in facilitating the project as well as the follow-up sessions in the

fall of 2016.

All other project personnel including the lead facilitator, curriculum consultant, and technology

consultant will be paid $500 per day of the project. The lead facilitator and curriculum consultant will also

receive $500 for each of the 3 days of follow-up sessions. The technology consultant will receive an

additional one days pay of $500 for pre-project technology setup, evaluation, and support, but is not part

of the follow-up sessions.

The three student project assistants will be paid for the 5 days of the project an hourly wage of

$10 per hour. They are being paid for 9 hours each day of the project because they will be working before

and after each session preparing for the next day.

Each program participant will receive a $500 stipend for attending all 8 sessions of the project.

70% of the stipend will be paid at the end of the project week, and the remaining 30% will be paid after

the final follow-up session. During the summer, participants are responsible for their own lunches. During

the follow-up sessions in the fall, box lunches will be provided for all participants (15 people), Mr.

Campbell, Ms. Willis, and Mr. Henderson.

The external evaluator, Janet Davis, will receive compensation totaling $2500 for her work with

this project. This amount accounts for 7% of the project budget before her compensation and indirect

costs to the school are paid. She will receive the first half of her payment after the initial workshop week

in the summer, and the remaining portion after submission of the final evaluation.

All of the WBTs used during this project are free services, however, there are subscriptions

available at the individual teacher level and system level for Nearpod and OpenEd. These paid account

subscriptions would allow project participants to experience the full benefit of these WBTs, however, they

are not essential to the goals of this project. As teachers make the transition to implementing these

services into their instruction, county administrators should review the need to purchase subscriptions for

certain WBTs based on the needs of teachers.

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