Internship Proposal

Internship Goals
To support teachers as they embrace and utilize technology for the ultimate benefit of
empowering students to reach their full academic potential

Internship Objectives

To develop, implement, and facilitate a collaborative professional learning
environment for Lake Elkhorn Middle School (LEMS) staff in the specific area of
using technology to enhance the use of data from the Measures of Academic
Achievement (MAP) for the purpose of informing classroom instruction

To collaborate with and support teachers in the design and planning of lessons
that utilize technology based on the results of frequent and appropriate formative
assessments

Strategies

Develop a plan with LEMS administration with support from the HCPSS Office of
Assessment to support teacher use of MAP data in order to promote
differentiation in classroom instruction

Attend county-level MAP training in the use of MAP data for informing classroom
instruction

Develop student-centered MAP-goal-setting PowerPoint for the purpose of
improving student outcome on both math and reading MAP so that student
results are more reliable for use in informing classroom instruction

Solicit feedback from staff on perceived change in student approach to taking the
MAP assessments as a result of motivational and informative PowerPoints prior
to assessment

Design spreadsheet to track changes, either positive or negative, on student time
spent on taking the MAP test assessment; amount of time spent on assessment
is an indication of student approach to seriousness of MAP assessment results

Design and implement school-wide professional development for the purpose of
introducing the newly designed Learning Continuum component of the MAP
assessment program

Design and implement an informative PowerPoint utilizing the flipped PD model
for new teachers for the purpose of providing background to the MAP
assessment design and reports

Enhance teacher utilization of technology for the purpose of increasing student
engagement and academic growth as evidenced by improvement of student
grades across the school and increase in number of students scoring proficient
on the math and reading MAP assessment from spring 2014 to spring 2015

Enhance teacher utilization of technology specifically in the area of more closely
monitoring student learning on a regular basis through formative assessments

Internship Overview

From my proposal letter:

As a school entering its third year of administering the Measures of Academic
Progress (MAP) personalized assessment, it is critical that the teachers now utilize the
data from MAP to inform instructional practice in the classroom. My internship will focus
on using technology to determine what each student needs academically as a result of
MAP testing, whether the students require extra reading or math support or are
performing on- or above-grade-level and need enrichment activities to challenge them.
The intended outcome of my internship is to use technology to collaborate with and
assist teachers as they use data to inform instruction as well as support teachers as
they design and plan lessons based on results of daily formative assessments. MAP
data will serve as the baseline or initial data point with adjustments made when MAP is
administered in winter and spring. The internship will also focus on building
collaborative relationships with teachers, encouraging them to embrace technology as
one of multiple ways to move classroom instruction toward higher-level, critical thinking
activities as required by the Common Core State Standards.

Needs assessment:

Identified as what is currently known as an urban suburban school, Lake Elkhorn
Middle School (LEMS) is within the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS)
Columbia-cluster of schools. This term refers to the fact that while the school is
technically located in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, it shares more characteristics
with inner city or urban schools than it does with schools located in the suburbs of most
cities. In 2013 2014, the student population consisted of 504 students. The population
was comprised of 52% Black, 18% Hispanic, 17% White, and 7% Asian with the
remaining population mixed race. Fifty percent of the population received free and
reduced meals, and 12% of the population received services through special education.
Another 7% of the student population qualified for services through the English as a
Second Language program.

Another indicator of needs is the School Progress Index (SPI), a new
accountability system that gauges how well a school is progressing in its attempts to
improve student performance. LEMSs SPI for the 2012 2013 school year was a 4 on
a scale of 1 (the highest possible score) to 5 (the lowest). This past year the score
dropped to a 5. Not only did LEMS not meet its annual improvement target for the
school, but it also did not meet the target for each student group within the school. As a
result, the school will receive intensive, sustained support and technical assistance
through onsite monitoring which may include professional development with
accountability. Unfortunately, because LEMS is not a Title I school, it does not qualify
for grant money to support any improvement initiatives. Any progress LEMS makes is
measured against its own performance. Over six years, LEMS is expected to reduce by
half the number of students not meeting proficiency. With the Maryland State
Assessment program no longer in place, I am not certain what data is used to measure
proficiency.

A third source of data available to LEMS is the MAP testing program. HCPSS
started this testing program as part of a HCPSS pilot program for school year 2012
2013. Using the most current data available from Spring 2014, 45% of the sixth-grade
population performed Lo or Lo-average on the English/Language Arts (ELA) MAP
testing. In Grade 7, 47% of the students performed at the Lo or Lo-average range for
the MAP ELA test. MAP data on the incoming Grade 6 students is not available. The
MAP ELA assessment can be further broken down into three categories: informational
text, literary text, and foundational skills and vocabulary. In both grades, there is an
equal distribution of deficit of skills; that is, students are not performing stronger in any
one category than another.
From AD 662: Professional Development Plan
Submitted July 2014

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