Running head: INDIVIDUAL TEACHER NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Individual Teacher Needs Assessment

Kelvin G. Pieze

Kennesaw State University

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Individual Teacher Needs Assessment

Introduction

A connections teacher at Sequoyah Middle School in the Clayton County Public School

system was interested in incorporating more technology into their classroom and lessons. The

teacher was having difficulties with technology integration, and the school's administration had

informed him that improvements had to be made. Coach P has taught for six years as a special

education teacher, but this past summer received his certification in Health and Physical

Education K-12. This year is his first year as a Physical Education and Health teacher. Coach P

relocated from South Florida (Miami-Dade Public Schools) were he taught in both middle and

high schools. During his time in South Florida, Coach P worked with students with Emotional

Behavior Disorders as a collaborative teacher, pushing into classes to provide support. This year

is the first time in his career that he has solely been responsible for all aspects of lesson planning

and classroom management. He has at points this year seemed overwhelmed and frustrated with

his workload, especially with the use of technology in the classroom. However, being retired

military, he has a never give up attitude and has asked for assistance with classroom technology

integration.

Coach P teaches health to sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Over the course of a semester

Coach P educates over 180 students, which is over a quarter of the school's student population.

Students attend Health classes on an A/B schedule for 65 minutes per class. Coach P has access

to a Chromebook cart, a Windows-PC Laptop cart, and a desktop computer lab. The classroom is

equipped with an LCD projector and Wi-Fi. Coach P has a county-issued laptop that he uses to

take attendance, read and answer emails, write lesson plans, and display presentations.
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Level of Technology Implementation

Coach P was given a survey to assess his level of technology implementation. According to his

survey responses, he used technology rarely. The technology used in his classes were mainly

used to display PowerPoints and for student research. The students did not use Edmodo,

Kahoots, Brainpop, or any other educational technology during health classes. Coach P stated, "I

don't know how to use those websites, so I don't write them into my lesson plans." (personal

communication, February 15, 2018)

It is my opinion, based on working with Coach P and his responses to the survey; I believe

Coach P is working at a LoTi Level 2, Exploration (LoTi Framework, 2016). Being still

relatively early in his teaching career and transitioning from special education to health/physical

education, Coach P's teaching is focused on content understanding and not higher-level thinking.

Technology in Coach P's classes is used for productivity and not creativity. Technology is

utilized by the health students to research information and create presentations. These activities

are tied to class projects assigned throughout the semester.

Adoption of Change

Coach P's adoption of change level was assessed by a survey given to him via a Google Form.

The results of the survey revealed that Coach P would be receptive to learning effective ways to

integrate technology into the classroom. Coach P stated that "I am not a techie, but I'm starting to

get into it." (personal communication, February 15, 2018) This being Coach P's second career,

after 20 years in the military, there is a slight learning curve to overcome but, he seems

enthusiastic about the possibilities of learning new technology skills.

The willingness to adapt to change and innovate can be broken down into five distinct categories.

These categories coined by Everett Rogers, an American sociologist are innovators, early
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adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards ("Everett Rogers," n.d.). Coach P based on

his survey answers would be considered a late majority adaptor. Late majority adaptors tend to

"adopt an innovation after the average member of the society and approach innovation with a

high degree of skepticism after most of the community has accepted the idea" ("Change

Management Theories and Models," 2015). Coach P is 20 years older than teachers with similar

years of educational experiences and because of this he does not adapt to educational technology

as his peers, but he is showing a willingness to change.

Teacher Perceptions of Technology and Coaching

Coach P is motivated to start incorporating more technology into his classroom and

lessons. Clayton County Public Schools, as well as Sequoyah Middle School, has made

integrated technology a priority initiative for the school year. Both entities have infused

technology integration into their district and school improvement plans, respectfully. Coach P

wants to acquire skills that he can not only use in the classroom but outside the school. (personal

communication, February 15, 2018) One of Coach P's essential goals is to learn how to use the

TurningPoint Student Polling system. This system allows teachers to receive instant feedback

from students throughout a lesson. Teachers can also give quizzes and play interactive

educational games using the system.

Before working with Coach P, he was asked about his willingness to get help with

instructional technology integration. Coach P was open to getting help but did not know who to

approach for help. (personal communication, February 15, 2018) I explained to Coach P that I

would help him with instructional technology integration and any other areas.
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Coaching Plan

The development of a coaching plan has been established to assist Coach P with his

technology integration. The method entails meetings a least once a week during the connection's

teachers planning periods for the remainder of the 3rd nine weeks grading period and the

beginning of the 4th nine weeks grading period. The weekly meeting will conclude during the

first week of May due to the school's class scheduling changes to accommodate GMAS testing.

Coach P will be tasked with developing a list of activities that he would like his technology

coach to assist him with. Coach P and his technology coach will work together as partners to lay

out a plan and implement changes. True partners choose to work together; that is a defining

characteristic of a partnership (Knight, 2007). The first meeting will focus on the TuringPoint

Software application. After Coach P has learned how to operate the software, a day will be

identified to test the newly developed skill. Coach P and the technology coach will develop an

observation rubric to establish what observables will be looked for in the lesson. The technology

coach will come to one of the classes to observe a lesson and provide feedback to Coach P.

Since connection classes are on an A/B schedule, the technology coach will make arrangements

to teach one of Coach P's classes on the following day. Coach P and the technology coach will

then meet to review both lessons using the previously established rubric. Subsequent meetings

will be used as a collaborative session between Coach P and the technology coach. Both partners

will bring new educational technology tools to share each week to their meetings. In May, Coach

P and the technology coach will reflect on the sessions by retaking the two surveys from

February. It is the hope of the technology coach that Coach P's implication of educational

technology tools and his technology adoption category levels show an increase.
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References

Change Management Theories and Models [Pdf]. (2015, February 11). ACI NSW Agency for

Clinical Innovation. Retrieved from

https://www.aci.health.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/298756/Change_Manage

ment_Theories_and_Models_Everett_Rogers.pdf

Knight, Jim. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

LoTi® Framework. (2016). LoTi® Framework. Retrieved from

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h1L6Kz0qJQpQhySIbKuw5qQPReJsXQ-c/

Everett Rogers. (2018, February 17). Retrieved February 20, 2018, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_Rogers
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Footnotes