1. Rachael Aming-Attai John Somers Jean Lee
Establishing A Virtual Community Of Practice amongst Teaching Candidates, Teachers, & Teacher Educators*
1 mns
Jean
Thu, February 12, 10:00 to 11:00am, Rosen Plaza Hotel, Level 2, Salon 2
Rachael Aming-Attai
John Somers
Jean Lee
AMTE
Orlando, FL
February 12, 2015
*Project funded by Carnegie Corporation of NY

2. What is your interest in this session?
Getting to Know You
Who are you?
What is your interest in this session?
5 min-- Audience discussion of SMPs and online communities of practice in math education.
Which SMP? Viable arguments? Representations?
Jean
Contingent on size of audience. Professors, instructional coaches, administrators, special ed teachers, others

3. Some background…
PSTs limited knowledge of math impacts how they facilitate math opportunities for children.
Changing curriculum for Indiana teachers to implement Standards for Mathematical Practice (Process Standards). 1
Jean
Teachers must develop deep mathematical understanding in their students. Due to deficits in a sound conceptual understanding of their own mathematics content, many elementary education preservice teachers (PSTs) struggle facilitating rich mathematical experiences that foster conceptual understanding.
Moreover, many veteran teachers wonder how they can implement the SMPs, standards necessary to implement the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM).  
Reform documents such as the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practices and the new Indiana Academic Standards demand high expectations for mathematics education.
To meet these expectations, teachers must develop deep mathematical understanding in their students.
The use of videos can help teachers improve their practice by showing how kids explore and construct meaning for mathematical concepts.

4. Some background… UIndy received grant money from Carnegie Foundation.
Developed a project and began in Fall 2013: Constructing a Virtual Community of Mathematical Practice amongst Teaching Candidates, Teacher Coaches and Teacher Educators.
Symbiotic partnership. 1
Jean
UIndy is one of five organizations nationwide to receive a Carnegie Grant through a competition hosted for partners in 100Kin10 (a national initiative to provide America's classrooms with 100,000 excellent STEM teachers by 2021 while supporting tens of thousands more).
Sarah can talk about the demographics of CHA students.
Win-win partnership. The problem inherent in this challenge is determining a professional development (PD) model by which teachers, both preservice and inservice, develop the knowledge, skills, and practices of effective math teachers.

5. Literature Review
Characteristics of expert PD models are lacking (Weiss, Miller & Pasley, 2011).
Online PD virtual communities can achieve similar outcomes as compared to traditional ones (Blitz, 2013).
Peer coaching results in a significantly greater transfer (Joyce & Showers, 2002).
Using video-sharing platform is a “disruptive” innovation, enabling teacher and coach to see true picture of teaching (Knight, 2014). 2
Jean
Characteristics of an expert PD model are currently emerging but not fully defined (Weiss, Miller & Pasley, 2011).
However, the literature shows that online PD virtual communities can achieve similar outcomes as compared to traditional ones, without the usual limitations of time, space, and pace. (Blitz, 2013).
Joyce and Showers (2002) showed that peer coaching results in a significantly greater transfer of training than other traditional methods such as demonstration and practice, which had an effect size of 0.0.
Knight (2014) discusses using video to impact instruction, which he refers to as a “disruptive” innovation, especially when coupled with a video-sharing platform such as Edthena. Capturing teaching on video enables the teacher and the coach to see a true picture of teaching, that is, “seeing yourself doing what you do” (p. 8). The use of video becomes transformative when it is embedded as a professional learning approach within a community of practice.
Coaching is super powerful when combined with the power of video (disruptive innovation), especially when coupled with video-sharing platforms such as Edthena, Instructive Insight and Smarter Cookie (Knight, 2014).
Coaching that employs video responds to the complexities of teaching by adapting to that complexity over time.
Capturing teaching on video enables the teacher and the coach to see a true picture of teaching, that is, “seeing yourself doing what you do” (Knight, p. 8).

6. Driving Question: How can educator preparation programs leverage virtual communities of practice to address the necessary shift in mathematical practice and create more highly effective, math-ready teachers? 1
Jean

7. Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
Our Professional Learning Community (PLC)
PST’s taught tasks to small student groups. Lessons were video recorded and uploaded to a video-sharing platform.
Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
PST’s reviewed videos and used feedback to adjust their next lesson.
PST’s developed rich tasks with help of UIndy instructors to implement the Common Core Mathematical Practices. 2
John– Mention we started with the purple circle in this cycle.
teaching candidates (or pre-service teachers –PSTs) in their junior year
teachers from a local charter school
UIndy education faculty

8. technology for VPLC 1
John

9. 1
John

10. Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
Our Professional Learning Community (PLC)
PST’s taught tasks to small student groups. Lessons were video recorded and uploaded to a video-sharing platform.
Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
PST’s reviewed videos and used feedback to adjust their next lesson.
PST’s developed rich tasks with help of UIndy instructors to implement the Common Core Mathematical Practices. 1
Rachael
After the PST’s taught and recorded their rich math tasks to small student groups, they uploaded these to a video-sharing platform.
The teacher coaches then provided time-synced feedback.
Edthena (

11. Focus for Feedback
While viewing the videos, the mentor teachers used a rubric to assess the PSTs. (Marshall, J.,2009. EQUIP, Clemson University.)
The rubric examined:
Instructional Factors
Discourse Factors
Assessment Factors
Curriculum Factors 1
Rachael
Last semester focused on Discourse, and this semester we focus on all four domains.

12. 1
Rachael
Talk briefly that this is one domain of the rubric candidates/coaches used to frame the analysis of their teaching. Today, we will focus on D2.

13. Teacher coaches viewed videos & provided feedback
9 min
John will be accessing the Edthena site, Rachael and Jean will facilitate discussion.
Preface Hannah is asking students about area using the area of their hands/palms.
Look at a the video clip of Hannah. Pass out transcript. Audience examines Hannah’s practices using D2 from coach’s lens. Play once. Simulate the feedback.

14. Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
Our Professional Learning Community (PLC)
PST’s taught tasks to small student groups. Lessons were video recorded and uploaded to a video-sharing platform.
Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
PST’s reviewed videos and used feedback to adjust their next lesson.
PST’s developed rich tasks with help of UIndy instructors to implement the Common Core Mathematical Practices. 1
John
teaching candidates (or pre-service teachers –PSTs) in their junior year
teachers from a local charter school
UIndy education faculty

15. 2
John- illuminate certain important statements that the coach/Hannah made.
Show how candidate can reply to coaching feedback. Access Hannah M’s video.
Required to reply back to coach; adjust their instruction; address perceived weaknesses and suggestions; answer questions; build on strengths
Have audience look at Hannah’s comments and Teacher’s comments.

16. 2
Rachael
Here is an example of the feedback and the teacher wrote when evaluating the teaching episode. It also provided the faculty an assessment of topics that needed to be addressed in methods class. Also, these rubrics supported us to get at the math practices.

17. 1
Rachael
Coaches gave a holistic score on candidate’s teaching. They were given PD first on calibrating the rubric/inter-rater reliability on the videos to make sure everyone was scoring consistently.

18. Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
Our Professional Learning Community (PLC)
PST’s taught tasks to small student groups. Lessons were video recorded and uploaded to a video-sharing platform.
Teacher coaches viewed the videos and provided feedback.
PST’s reviewed videos and used feedback to adjust their next lesson.
PST’s developed rich tasks with help of UIndy instructors to implement the Common Core Mathematical Practices. 1
Jean
Video feedback also informed UIndy instructors to provide relevant workshops to enhance PST’s teaching performance.
Addressed deficits in questioning, better construction of rich tasks, need for more formative assessment and see student work

19. Improvement of Practice
PSTs
“The videos allowed me to see my teaching from a different perspective, which allowed me to notice things that I didn't realize I was doing or that I should continue to do.”
Teacher Coaches
“I liked seeing another rubric that describes effective teaching [aligned to the SMP’s]. Also, providing feedback for the candidates prompted me to reflect on my own teaching.”
VPLC 1
Rachael
Both parties benefited--- win-win! Talk about PSTs improvement, and how it improved teachers and students in CHA

20. Results
John Somers
4 minutes total for slides 21-26

21. Comparison Data 1
John
This figure shows the changes in scores over time for the control group and the UIndy group in the math SEM scores for all three Acuity assessments. As illustrated, the students within UIndy group performed better than the control group for Acuity B and C math assessments, but not for Acuity A. Additionally, the mean SEM scores for students in the UIndy group increased for each consecutive assessment, whereas the scores in the control group decreased from Acuity A to Acuity B

22. i-STEP Data
Rachael & John
2 min

23. EQUIP RUBRIC Scores 1 min John
Every domain increased, except Discourse, Curriculum. But there considerable difference between first and last video.

24. 15 minutes for questions

25. Audience discussion
How can a video analytic software tool help with PSTs’ development of knowledge, skills, and abilities?
What suggestions do you have to refine our PD model?
What potential does this type of virtual community of practice hold for teacher education? How can it support PSTs to learn pedagogy creatively?
20 minutes

26. amingattair@uindy.edu jsomers@uindy.edu jslee@uindy.edu