Math MSA Prep Going the Distance! Sarah Hicks, Liz O’Connor, and Erin Wohlers

Imagine... You are a fifth grade math teacher. You have 25 students: 13 boys and 12 girls 5 of your students have IEPs and 3 have been diagnosed with ADHD, but do not receive academic support. You've spent 3 weeks teaching patterns and the students have still failed the assessment. What do you do?

What if there was a resource to help your students? What if there was a website that students could use independently? What if students could access a web-based instruction from home? What if students became distance learners? What if...

Research shows... o Distance education is an effective method for delivering instruction o Both distant and local learners will achieve at the same level The main objective... o To create a learning experience that allows each learner access to equivalent instructional strategies, varying instructional resources, or individually prescribed activities How Will Distance Education Help Our Students?

Problem According to MSDE, 20% of Maryland students in grades 3-8 scored a proficiency level of basic on the MSA in math “Basic is a level of achievement indicating that more work is needed to attain proficiency in meeting the needs of students” (MSDE, 2012) The current 2011 MSA results indicate that fifth grade students represent 17.7% of the population that scored basic on the Mathematics MSA

Howard County, Maryland, is a suburban community of more than 274,000 people located along the Baltimore- Washington corridor The school system ranks among Maryland’s top school districts based on student performance on the MSA's We would like to pilot this program in ten of HCPSS’ 40 elementary schools Howard County

10 HCPSS Elementary Schools Below grade level students in fifth grade o The design and resources utilized for this program could be applied to any age group at the elementary level o Subject Area: Mathematics Who will participate in our program?

HCPSS’ technology initiatives have ensured that its schools are supplied with numerous technology resources The technology infrastructure that exists is conducive to the introduction of DE Technology Infrastructure “Math MSA Prep: Going the Distance!” will bring distance learning to the county

Our plan is to create an eight week after-school program beginning in January and concluding before the MSA's in March By creating this course to be fully accessible online, we hope all schools will be able to administer the program in the school building and students can continue to benefit from the lessons with computer access at home or regional library Our Solution

The ULTIMATE goal! Designed to inspire students and help transition them to independent learning o Step 1: Learning with an instructor and a computer o Step 2: Learning independently and online outside of school Independence

The customizable design and inexpensive start-up costs of “Math MSA Prep: Going the Distance!” provide districts an opportunity to reinforce the existing curriculum This proposal speaks specifically to Howard County as an example of how it could support county initiatives Program Description This DE program proposal has been designed to appeal to a wide range of needs with the hopes that it could help support diverse learners, regardless of location or socioeconomic status

Cost Grid WeeblyPro$39.95 Headsets$3, After school training for program supervisors$2, Compensation for course development$ Orientation for students and parents led by teachers$1, Compensation for program supervisors during eight- week program $4, Field trip to the local library$3,750 End of program celebration$1, First in Math$2, Afternoon snacks for program participants$1, Total$21,399.95

User-friendly, easy-to-manage, and convenient Weebly-Basic Edition o Users can establish 2 websites o Features limited to pictures, forms, YouTube videos, and some widgets WeeblyPro o $39.95 for 1 year o Users can manage 10 websites with unlimited pages, 100 MB file uploads o Features include audio player, video player, upload feature, forms, and embedded documents Weebly

User-friendly design and cost effective program Opportunity for students to improve their Math MSA scores Will provide the necessary interventions prior to entering higher level math courses Pilot schools can pave the way for future schools to embrace distance learning! Summary

Cavanaugh, Cathy (2009). Getting Students More Learning Time Online: Distance Education in Support of Expanded Learning Time in K-12 Schools. Retrieved from Howard County Public Schools System. (2009). About Us. In Howard County Public Schools System. Retrieved May 17, 2012, from MSDE. (2012). Analyzing your MSA results. In Maryland school assessment. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from Setzer, J. C., and Lewis, L. (2005). Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students: 2002–03 (NCES 2005–010). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance (Fifth ed.). Boston: Pearson. (Original work published 2000) References