5.1 Needs Assessment
Candidates conduct needs assessments to determine school-wide, faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths and weaknesses to inform the content and delivery of technology-based professional learning programs.
Artifact:
Reflection:
In our ITEC 7460 class, Professional Learning and Technology Innovation, we were invited to create a Technology Needs Assessment for our school by developing a survey of how teachers use technology, what they understand their students’ needs for technology may be, and how professional learning might be used to fill in the gaps between what teachers know and what they want to know more about.
This artifact does a lovely job at demonstrating mastery of Standard 5.1, because I created a survey assessment on Google Docs to determine school-wide, faculty, grade level and subject area strengths and weaknesses so I could then determine the direction needed for year-round professional development in technology use. Since 67% of the staff responded, I was able to obtain excellent data about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teachers related to technology at Griffin Middle School.
By creating and implementing this Needs Assessment, I was able to determine what teachers needed in the way of professional development for technology at Griffin. I was able to understand the direction I wanted to advise my principal to take, and I was able to provide solid evidence of the need for professional development. I also learned that being able to provide this level of information to my leadership is invaluable to technology integration in my school. It is pretty difficult to argue with numbers. I also learned how to use data to target areas which had the most need for improvement. This was very helpful to me, because time is a rare commodity these days at my school, for everyone. The only area of improvement that I would make around this artifact is with the survey questions. Some of the survey questions were more difficult to quantify because they were scaled scores instead of true percentages. Some of the questions could have been more specific. Once I began to get survey results back, I began to ponder more questions that I wish I would have asked. Or I started to consider better ways to phrase the questions I did ask. This all comes with experience, and I have taken the first steps in my learning process.
This artifact contributed in a major way to faculty development, because I was able to target specific training issues that teachers wanted, instead of taking a shot in the dark and coming up with professional development that teachers felt was a waste of time. By giving teachers what they ask for, they are more engaged and even appreciative of the professional development they receive. They feel like someone has heard them, and they are much more receptive to change. The impact of this attitude can be assessed by analyzing school morale and by seeing the new ways teacher approach and participate in their professional development opportunities.
This artifact does a lovely job at demonstrating mastery of Standard 5.1, because I created a survey assessment on Google Docs to determine school-wide, faculty, grade level and subject area strengths and weaknesses so I could then determine the direction needed for year-round professional development in technology use. Since 67% of the staff responded, I was able to obtain excellent data about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teachers related to technology at Griffin Middle School.
By creating and implementing this Needs Assessment, I was able to determine what teachers needed in the way of professional development for technology at Griffin. I was able to understand the direction I wanted to advise my principal to take, and I was able to provide solid evidence of the need for professional development. I also learned that being able to provide this level of information to my leadership is invaluable to technology integration in my school. It is pretty difficult to argue with numbers. I also learned how to use data to target areas which had the most need for improvement. This was very helpful to me, because time is a rare commodity these days at my school, for everyone. The only area of improvement that I would make around this artifact is with the survey questions. Some of the survey questions were more difficult to quantify because they were scaled scores instead of true percentages. Some of the questions could have been more specific. Once I began to get survey results back, I began to ponder more questions that I wish I would have asked. Or I started to consider better ways to phrase the questions I did ask. This all comes with experience, and I have taken the first steps in my learning process.
This artifact contributed in a major way to faculty development, because I was able to target specific training issues that teachers wanted, instead of taking a shot in the dark and coming up with professional development that teachers felt was a waste of time. By giving teachers what they ask for, they are more engaged and even appreciative of the professional development they receive. They feel like someone has heard them, and they are much more receptive to change. The impact of this attitude can be assessed by analyzing school morale and by seeing the new ways teacher approach and participate in their professional development opportunities.