Anetha+Johnson

=**Below is the link to my PII project:** = = ***Please post comments on the discussion tab. Thanks!!*** = = = = __Contact information__ =

Primary Email: anetha.johnson@waldenu.edu

Secondary Email: ajteacher1@gmail.com

Skype user name: ajteacher1

Time Zone: Pacific (live in California)

-- **Assignment 1.3: Performance Improvement Intervention (PII) Background, Part 1:**

Name of Organization

Foothills Adult Center Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department


 * __Problem Summary__**

The CTE at Foothills Adult Center does not have an established learning community where faculty, administrators, and representative students meet on a regular basis to develop course objectives, write curriculum, develop lesson plans and assessment strategies, and evaluate course outcomes. Instructors autonomously develop their own course materials, there are no department meetings, and students in the same subject-area class are not learning the same thing or using the same learning materials.

__**Background of Organization**__

Foothills Adult Center was founded in 1946 and is part of the Grossmont Union High School District in El Cajon, California (San Diego County). The CTE Department offers courses in computer applications ranging from keyboarding, Administrative Assistant, Introduction to Computers, and so forth. Courses cater to adults ranging in age from 18 to 99, with the average age in computer classes between 55 and 75. It would be useful to have copies of anonymous student end-of-course evaluations, as well as pre-and-post assessments that students complete at strategic intervals throughout the learning year. The URL for Foothills Adult Center is []

__**Stakeholders and Decision-Makers**__

The stakeholders who will be affected by my plan are CTE instructors, administrators, and students. The administrators will have to approve the plan, and the cooperation of all CTE instructors is required to fully execute and implement the plan. Key resources for this project are several teachers who have been instructors at the adult center for many years – Jack S., Diane P., and Lauren S. My current and previous site administrators are other resources who may be invaluable to this project.

**Assignment 2.1: PII - Human Performance Problem (Performance Gap)** **The Organization's History and Background, Part 2**


 * __Performance Gap: Cause Analysis__**


 * Actual Current Performance.** Because course materials are not uniform, students cannot transfer between classes and learn the same material. There is also no natural segue from one course to the next because each instructor autonomously creates lesson plans, course materials, and instruction different from each other. Students in one class with one instructor are not as prepared for the next class as students who have a different instructor.


 * Desired Performance.** With a learning community of all instructors who teach computer applications courses, where course materials, curriculum, lesson plans, goals and objectives are created cooperatively, all students in any given class will have the opportunity to learn equally and advance to the next course taught by any instructor with the same degree of knowledge and expertise.


 * Performance Gap.** The performance gap consists of students who have completed the introductory computer class but are lost when they take the next course. This is because students have learned different things in the introductory class depending on which instructor they took the course from. That gap of achievement will be closed by this intervention that will unify all course materials in the introductory class to prepare all students for the next level regardless of who the instructor is.


 * Cause Analysis.** The instructors I have spoken with agree the gap exists because students are not uniformly taught curriculum in the introductory class. This problem developed because there was never a learning community of computer applications instructors who met regularly to develop lesson plans, course curriculum and so forth.

**Assignment 3.1: Three Intervention Strategies**

The low-cost strategy to implement changes at the adult school would require an annual meeting/planning session of the computer applications instructors where we would discuss instructional strategies for the ensuing school year. This is already being done, and does not address the performance gap issue for the long term. It is a good beginning strategy but will not have long-lasting effects, which is what the improvement plan seeks to accomplish.

The medium-cost strategy would require teachers and administrators to meet more than once a year, perhaps at the beginning and again after the first trimester of instruction. The first meeting would be a session where course objectives could be discussed and tentative lesson plans developed. The second session could discuss issues/concerns from the first trimester of instruction, as well as modify the lesson plans/strategies as needed. Over the course of several years, this strategy could result in gradual improvement in overall instruction if all teachers follow the developed lesson plans and modifications.

The high-cost strategy includes the steps included in the low and medium-cost strategies previously addressed. In addition, it includes materials and supplies teachers will need to develop curriculum and course materials, and provides copies of these materials for student use for each class session, each term. There will also be a teacher’s manual with course objectives, lesson plans, curriculum and materials for instructor leader use. In addition to the curriculum and materials, teachers will meet four times a year instead of one or two. Each meeting will provide for assessment of the effectiveness of performance gap improvements that were implemented in the previous term. Strategies will be modified or replaced based on the outcome of these assessments, requiring possible development of new or revised curriculum, course materials, and lesson plans. As technology changes, expense will also be incurred to bring instructor and student computers up-to-date with upgrades in operating systems, installed programs, software, peripherals, and so forth.

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 * Assignments 4:1-5:1 **

The strength of the low-cost intervention strategy is the minimal cost associated with implementing that plan. Instructors and administrators would continue to meet once a year at the beginning of the school year to discuss the upcoming school year. This intervention is weak because of the limited amount of time spent developing course materials, course objectives, and developing curriculum and lesson plans. It is also a weak strategy because the team only meets once a year which does not allow time to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs, nor plan ways to correct any deficiencies noted before the end of the school year.
 * __Justification Strategy __**

The medium cost strategy suggests teachers and administrators meet several times a year to develop course curriculum, materials, and lesson plans. These more frequent meetings are more effective than the low cost strategy because they offer the opportunity to assess what has worked in the class and what is not, and they allow for revising strategies, lesson plans, course curriculum and materials. The weakness of this plan as it stands lies in the expense of revising the curriculum and materials, as well as the inconvenience associated with facilitating meetings among faculty and administrators who work different schedules (days and hours of day or evening).

The high cost strategy is the most inclusive because it combines the low and medium cost strategies, and includes materials and curriculum for students as part of the intervention. The weakness of this strategy is the same as with the other two, but also includes the expense of duplicating materials for student use. Faculty and administrators would meet more frequently which exacerbates the inconvenience of scheduling meetings for a learning community with such varied and diverse work schedules and locations. All things considered, the author has chosen the medium cost strategy. It provides more frequent meetings than the low cost strategy, but fewer than the high cost strategy. This will allow faculty and administrators several opportunities throughout the school year to collaborate as a learning community on course materials, curriculum, lesson plans, to assess their effectiveness, and make modifications or revisions as appropriate based on their findings. To reduce or eliminate scheduling conflicts, it will be suggested that learning community meetings be held using an online platform such as Skype or Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Januszewski and Molenda (2008) said “The planning, monitoring, and controlling functions can be viewed as essential components of management” (p. 181). The project manager is involved in each step from planning implementation of the intervention strategies, monitoring execution of the project, and keeping those who have a vested interest in the project appraised of any problems or issues effecting implementation. In addition, Andreadis said the project team led by the project manager is responsible for “managing variances and risks that emerge during the execution of the project” (Januszewski and Molenda, 2008, p. 181).
 * __Project Manager Responsibilities __**

The project manager role is pivotal to the success of the strategy to close the performance gap in adult education. Andreadis said “Good project management saves organizational resources, increases productivity, and increases the likelihood that projects will be successful” (Januszewski and Molenda, 2008, p. 183). For this intervention strategy, the project manager role will be to help administrators and faculty recognize a performance gap exists between what students in these classes should be learning, and what they actually are learning. This will be accomplished by showing the correlation between enrollment and actual number of students who complete the course, and compare that to the number who complete the course and advance to subsequent computer courses.

Once the performance gap has been identified to the stakeholders, the proposal of a learning community to facilitate periodic meetings between faculty and administrators to collaborate and develop course materials, lesson plans, and curriculum will be introduced. The project management team will secure software to facilitate online meetings between the learning community, and provide training to the members so they can effectively use the software to facilitate their meetings. The project manager will guide the learning community in electing a lead teacher or team leader, who will be responsible for facilitating subsequent collaborative meetings. The project manager will ensure the lead teacher has the tools necessary to effectively facilitate meetings, pass pertinent information back and forth among effected parties, storage of curriculum and materials, and follow up on issues that come up in their meetings relevant to successfully implementing strategies to close the performance gap.

The project manager must monitor the developing learning community for the first year to ensure the process is executed as designed, to assist in the operation of the learning community, and to address any problems or issues that arise in the first year with successful execution of the intervention strategy. In addition, the project management team will make sure computers and peripherals used to facilitate online meetings are operational to meet the needs of the team. The project manager and project management team will use software specifically designed to monitor this project such as Microsoft Project. The project manager will assign tasks to members of the learning community, and follow up with them to ensure tasks are being satisfactorily performed, and to intervene with assistance in performing implementation strategies when necessary. Januszewski and Molenda (2008) said “Project management requires breaking the project down into discrete tasks and subtasks” and “Project managers must also be vigilant to mitigate the risks of project delays” (p. 184). As overseer of the intervention strategy, the project manager bears responsibility from beginning to end to ensure the project is executed according to plan, and if there are any problems along the way, to take the lead in resolving them.

Tentative budget for items needed to execute medium-cost intervention strategy is as follows:
 * __<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Financial and Budget Information __**

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Microsoft Net Meeting software Free

[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Copier paper for printing training, course curriculum and other materials $3,000

[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Toner for printer $ 500

[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Workshop facilitator (for prep, staff development, and follow up) $ 500

[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miscellaneous expenses (i.e. office supplies, incentives, etc.) __$1,000__

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">TOTAL Budget $5,000

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Implementation of this intervention will require each teacher in the learning community have access to the following: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In addition to the above, meeting facilitators will need:
 * __<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Technical Information __**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Broadband high speed Internet connection
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Windows 7 Operating System
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Microsoft Net Meeting Software
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Microphone and headphones (headset)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Word Processing software (Microsoft Office Word 2007 or 2010, or OpenOffice.org software)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Email
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Printer/print capabilities
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Microsoft Office PowerPoint or equivalent for presentations while conducting synchronous online meetings
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Printing, binding, and other miscellaneous capabilities to print and duplicate meeting agendas, course materials, curriculum, and so forth.
 * __<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Project Assessment/Evaluation __**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Summative Evaluation **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Students will be given assessments at the end of each unit of study, at the midpoint of the course, and at the end of the course. These assessments will be designed with step by step instructions, that when completed correctly, will show the gradation of mastery of course content and course objectives. The assessment will consist of instructions of actions the student is to complete resulting in a Microsoft Word document completed by the student.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Summative Evaluation **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Students will be given assessments at the end of each unit of study, at the midpoint of the course, and at the end of the course. These assessments will be designed with step by step instructions, that when completed correctly, will show the gradation of mastery of course content and course objectives. The assessment will consist of instructions of actions the student is to complete resulting in a Microsoft Word document completed by the student.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The effectiveness of the intervention plan to form a learning community of instructors and representative administrators will be determined by the outcome of both formative and summative assessments at appropriate intervals throughout and at the completion of the course term.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Formative Evaluation: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Students will be observed during instruction and while they are completing tasks and assignments on student computers. Students will be asked questions during and after each lesson to assess their understanding of the course material. Classroom discussions will be conducted throughout the course to encourage critical thinking and make an accurate assessment of the degree to which students have met course objectives for each lesson developed by the learning community. Students will complete end-of-unit quizzes and exams that require them to model and use skills taught in the lesson.

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Reference <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Januszeski, A. & Molenda, M. (2008). //Educational technology: A definition with commentary//. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Routledge: New York, NY