1. Governor’s Teacher Network Action Research Project Dr. Debra Harwell-Braun 2014-2015

2. What is the Governor’s Teacher Network? Good teaching motivates students to learn. Good teachers inspire each other when they share their most innovative and creative practices.

3. This inspired North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, in partnership with the NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) to established the Governor's Teacher Network (GTN). This initiative, funded by the state’s Race to the Top grant, will provide a statewide platform for teachers to share their best work around instruction and professional development and help advance Race to the Top (RttT) funded educational remodeling efforts across the state.

4. What is the Governor’s Teacher Network? Through the GTN, approximately 450 teachers from across North Carolina were selected to serve for one year as instructional and professional development experts and facilitators. Those selected will remain in their current roles but will also work to gain a deeper understanding of the State's RttT- funded work in one of two "pathways," both related to the establishment of Home Base. Network teachers were selected through a rigorous application process; and will receive specialized training related to their projects, as well as support from NCDPI staff over the course of the year. Network teachers will be paid for their work.

5. What is Governor’s Teacher Network? Beginning in summer 2014, teachers selected will serve for one year developing projects that support key RttT initiatives (professional development and digital instructional resources for Home Base) in their schools and districts. Network teachers will remain in their current roles, but will also design and deliver individual projects that address needs in the classroom, school or LEA level. These projects will fit within one of two pathways: Pathway 1: Professional Development Teachers will create professional development sessions and materials (face-to- face, webinars and online modules) to address classroom instructional needs and increase the PD offerings in the state-wide Professional Development system in Home Base. Pathway 2: Instructional Resources Teachers will create instructional sequences for Home Base that are aligned to the N C Standard Course of study and that consist of unit plans, lesson plans that seamlessly integrate the formative assessment process in daily practice, and where applicable, assessment items that are aligned to the standards to be taught in the lessons/unit.

6. Pathway 1: Professional Development Understanding by Design A framework for: 0 Lesson planning 0 Lesson plan evaluation 0 Alignment of standards to assessment to instruction 0 Attention to “understanding” and “transfer” of content 0 Active Learning (Problem or Project-Based Instruction, Hands-on Learning, Literature Circles) 0 Performance Based Assessment or Authentic Assessment 0 Increase attention to rigor

7. Purpose of the Study The purpose of my study is to evaluate the impact of utilization of the Understanding by Design framework on instructional planning, alignment of standards to performance assessments and rigor within instruction.

8. Participants 0 The participants are regular education teachers in grades K-5. (lesson planning and evaluation) 0 A vertical team of regular education teachers, EC, ESL and AIG (one at each grade level K-5, two AIG, one EC and one ESL). (lesson plan evaluation) 0 Approximately 50 students in grades 3 and 50 in grade 4. (student survey) 0 Certified staff (teacher survey)

9. Research Questions 0 1. Does using the Understanding by Design framework for instructional planning increase alignment to the standards? 0 2. Does using the Understanding by Design framework for instructional planning impact instructional alignment to the assessment? 0 3. Does using the Understanding by Design framework for instructional planning increase the rigor of instruction and assessment? 0 4. How does using the Understanding by Design framework impact students’ perspective pertaining to classroom instruction, rigor and assessment? 0 5. How does using the Understanding by Design framework impact teachers’ perspective pertaining to classroom instruction, rigor and assessment?

10. Data collection 0 Teachers will be given a survey (pre and post) to gather information as to their knowledge and understanding of the Understanding by Design framework. 0 Students will be given a survey (pre and post) to gather information pertaining to their perception of instructional presentation, tasks and rigor. (last year vs. current year) 0 Data will be collected over five months using the rubric analysis of lesson plans at grade level and across grade levels using a vertical K-5 group of teachers to obtain data pertaining to the quality of the lesson plans (alignment, rigor) 0 Student Performance Task Data and benchmark data will be collected and analyzed.

11. Project Timeline 0 July – August: Teachers will take the teacher survey. Provide vertical team with two planning sessions and training on Understanding by Design. Vertical Team will develop Student Learning Maps for ELA and Math for Unit 1. Staff will receive overview of Understanding by Design. PLCs will continue training on Understanding by Design and review lesson plan rubric. 0 September: Students will take the student survey. Teachers will plan weekly with the Understanding by Design framework and utilize the Understanding by Design rubric to evaluate ELA and Math lesson plans. Vertical Team will meet to provide additional feedback regarding lesson plans for Unit 1. Continued training as needed. 0 October: Teachers will plan weekly with the Understanding by Design framework and utilize the Understanding by Design rubric to evaluate ELA and Math lesson plans. Vertical Team will meet to provide additional feedback regarding lesson plans for Unit 1 and 2. Continued training as needed. Collection of data from Unit 1 and 2 Performance Assessments ELA and Math (K-5). Continued training as needed.

12. Project Timeline 0 November: Analysis of Performance Assessments ELA and Math Unit 1 and Unit 2. (K-5). Students take standardized benchmark test on ELA and Math (Grades 3-5). Data collected and analyzed. Teachers will continue to plan weekly with the Understanding by Design framework and utilize the Understanding by Design rubric to evaluate ELA and Math lesson plans. Vertical Team will meet to provide additional feedback regarding lesson plans for Unit 3. Ongoing collection of lesson plan data. Continued training as needed. 0 December: Teachers will continue to plan weekly with the Understanding by Design framework and utilize the Understanding by Design rubric to evaluate ELA and Math lesson plans. Vertical Team will meet to provide additional feedback regarding lesson plans for Unit 4. Ongoing collection of lesson plan data.

13. Project Timeline 0 January: Analysis of Performance Assessments ELA and Math Unit 3 and Unit 4. (K-5). Teachers will continue to plan weekly with the Understanding by Design framework and utilize the Understanding by Design rubric to evaluate ELA and Math lesson plans. Vertical Team will meet to provide additional feedback regarding lesson plans. Ongoing collection of lesson plan data. 0 February: Teachers complete post survey. Students complete post survey. Complete all data analysis, write up results. 0 March: Submit final report.

14. PLC and PD Changes 0 Beginning Sept. 16 th PLCs will be used for the evaluation of projected lesson plans prior to implementation. This will allow teachers to edit plans for rigor and based on recent data. 0 The Vertical Team was trained this summer and will begin to meet monthly to also review lesson plans of the grade levels above and below them for alignment and rigor. 0 Professional Development at the school level is tiered based on teacher need and targeted topics based on school, grade level data and the need for fidelity in implementation.

15. PLC Changes 0 Teachers will use the current writing wall (which is a baseline) to review student writing levels based on last year’s instruction. 0 Teachers will continue to score each other’s class pertaining to the writing submissions 0 Teachers will discuss writing strengths and opportunities for improvement at the horizontal PLCS (grade level) as well as the vertical team PLC.

16. Questions????