Kurt Hargis

ETEC 660

Professional Development Plan

Introduction

In order to increase student learning through the effective use of data and
implementation of instructional strategies to address student needs through a data
review process, our staff needs to fully implement using the Prosper program.
Prosper allows teachers to collect data on student assessment. Because quality
assessments drive quality instruction, it is imperative that our teachers use Prosper
fully to not only drive instruction but to evaluate the quality of their assessment.

Leadership Role
In my role as data compiler for the school, I will be taking a leadership role in
the implementing of using Prosper. As a prosper administrator, not only can I train
teachers to use prosper, I have access to reports they do not have. For example,
every teacher using prosper has access to their own reports. As an administrator, I
have access to all reports. This allows me to run reports for subject areas and
individual subjects. For example, I can give specific reports to the US History
teachers and all other subjects in Social Studies so they can focus on specific GLEs
the need attention either in assessment or in instruction. The department, then,
could then have a discussion to see what general social studies skills need
improving.
My data compiler role also allows me to inform the teachers of a students
strengths and weaknesses before they enter into a classroom. I can compile reports
that take in consideration previous test scores (LEAP, GEE, EOC, PLAN) as well as
grades in previous related classes.
As a teacher of technology, I am very comfortable in teaching computer
programs. In addition, my schedule allows me to meet with teachers in small
groups at their planning time. This allows for more hands-on training as opposed to
doing whole group instruction.


Plan of Action

Overall Objective: to increase student learning through the effective use of data and
implementation of instructional strategies to address student needs through a data
review process
Specific Objective: to implement the use of Prosper to gather student data about
instruction.

Timeline: The professional development program will be implemented throughout
the school year. After this year, teachers who went through the program will
mentor new teachers.

When What Who
Professional Development
Days
30 minute In-service on
what Prosper can do for
teachers
All Core Subjects
Professional Development
Days
45 minute In-Service by
Department. Hands on in
service where teachers
will be shown the 2 major
reports and be
encouraged to experiment
with the remaining
reports to find usefulness
1st Session: Science and
Math
2
nd
Session: English and
Social Studies

As Needed Sitting with teachers at
Prosper machine to
answer any questions
about prosper.
Prosper Leader and Staff
Development Coordinator
Late-Take In Days Discussing Reports in
Professional Learning
Teams. PLTs are to find
what GLEs are the
weakest specific to their
PLTs will discuss reports
and keep track of data and
changes to tests in their
PLT logs
class.
Department Meetings Discussing Reports as
Departments to determine
areas of weakness for
students as a department.
Department Chair for each
department will keep
notes.

Because our school runs on 4x4 block, teachers will be encouraged to address test
questions in which a majority of students have shown weaknesses. Teachers are
encouraged to strengthen their tests or their instructions. The spring semester
should show improvement from the fall, and then the next fall should show
improvement from that spring, and so forth in a cyclical manner. This information
would be recorded in PLT logs which are turned into the Staff Development
Coordinator at the end of each school year. The administration and School
Improvement Team will use the data to demonstrate how they have met their
objective to increase student learning through the effective use of data and
implementation of instructional strategies to address student needs through a data
review process.


School Description
Destrehan High School teaches over 1400 students. The campus is located
near Ormond Plantation estates and services all high school students on the east
bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish. Our ethnic distribution is 57%
White, 34% Black, 6% Hispanic, with the remaining 3% divided among other races.
Average class size is 27 students. DHS operates a 4x4 block schedule.

Student Needs
For students to achieve high marks on both teacher made tests and state
administered tests, quality assessment must drive instruction. The Prosper
program can track which questions students struggle with and inform the teacher to
evaluate the question. Teachers need to use this data to examine district and
teacher made assessments to align instruction with expected demonstration of
knowledge/skills and to determine pre-requisite skills, test taking skills (e.g.,
formatting) and vocabulary needed to be successful. By using this data, students
will be able to make informed academic goals.

School Goals
Because the End of Course testing aligns to GLEs being taught in each core
area of study, the school as determined the following should be our goals:
1. As indicated by End-of-Course Exam Scores: 90% of students taking End-of-
Course exams will score Fair or better.
2. As indicated by End-of-Course Exam Scores: 75% of students taking End-of-
Course exams will score Good or better.
3. As indicated by End-of-Course Exam Scores: 10% of students taking End-of-
Course exams will score Excellent.
School Ecology and School Climate
Destrehan High School has seven computer labs to help students integrate
technology into instruction. The largest computer lab is available to students after
school to 5:30pm three days a week. PowerSchool is a student information system
used by the school to record grades, absences, and other data. Powerschool is
available for all students and legal guardians to stay informed of student
achievement. Besides having a data compiler, DHS also has a full time professional
development coordinator to help implement research based strategies to help drive
instruction.
Every teacher log in has access to the Prosper database. However, only three
prosper machines are available for the 100 faculty members. In addition, Prosper
requires a certain test sheet that must be ordered in enough quantities for the use of
Prosper to be successful.

Paradigm Shift
Most of core teachers use Prosper for mid-terms and finals because the
district requires their use. The original in-service was a one-off program that
showed how to use Prosper, but not necessarily why. For Prosper to truly have an
effect to meet our student goals, it must be used more often. This requires a shift in
the way our teachers think about assessment. Teachers have become accustomed to
giving the same tests year in and year out. In addition, teachers often refuse to give
up control of their classes by making common assessments. Yet, the classes that
have done this have seen a drastic improvement on their EOC scores in the last
three years. Most teachers give tests on scantrons. Prosper requires a few
additional steps in that you have to choose the class and the test you are
administering. However, the information that Prosper provides will give quality
feedback to teachers of how their assessment mirrors their instruction. Prosper
can generate reports that demonstrate how students perform on every question.
When large numbers of students are failing at a particular question, the teacher
must investigate why. As soon as the grading sheets are entered into Prosper,
Prosper can run the report providing instant feedback.

Risks
The major obstacle is getting teacher buy-in to use Prosper for every test
they administer. Time will often be cited as a major problem. Lack of machines is a
more accurate obstacle. However, if teachers use the program as stated in the
Professional Development, they will start to see the benefits. Once they see the
benefits, the students will receive tests that accurately reflect the instruction they
were given. Administration will then see an improvement in test scores, which will
in turn push them to invest in more machines.