The Impact of Assessment Collaboratives on Secondary Mathematics Teaching Interns' Development

The Impact of Assessment Collaboratives on Secondary Mathematics Teaching Interns' Development

Grant:
Gilbert Whitaker Fund for the Improvement of Teaching
Academic Year:
2016 - 2017 (June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017)
Funding Requested:
$10,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
mgholson
Graduate Student/Postdoc:
Amber Willis, atwillis
Overview of the Project:
The project is designed to improve the system for collecting and analyzing secondary mathematics teaching interns performance in field placements by providing timely, coherent, and authentic feedback. Assessment collaboratives will be comprised of faculty, field instructors, and local-area cooperating teachers, and will leverage automatic following devices that record and live stream video data to remote computers. The use of an automatic following device system allows multiple members of the assessment collaborative to provide immediate feedback regarding the enactment of specific teaching practices. Assessment collaboratives will participate in training sessions to learn the technology and clarify the performance criteria of teaching interns. At the end of the semester, the project will be analyzed as a set of case studies that describe the functioning of different assessment collaboratives and teaching interns growth and development around programmatic teaching competencies.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

This project was designed to build capacity within the program for more substantive feedback of teaching interns' developing practice as teachers. The project objectives included three key objectives: 

  1. incorporating innovative technology described as automatic following devices to record and live stream video data to remote computers of teaching interns engaged in authentic teaching practice,  
  2. developing an assessment collaborative comprised of faculty, field instructors, and cooperating teachers in local schools to provide coherent, real-time, and authentic support around teaching interns' practice, and
  3. supporting the assessment collaborative to center diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
Project Achievements:

Through the project, we were able to build capacity during the year of implementation and maintain the use of the innovative technology. 

During the year of implementation (2016-2017), we were able to procure, inventory, and distribute automatic following devices. We developed a training session with students for using and caring for the devices. All video-based assignments were recorded with the automatic following devices.  

We also convened a training session for cooperating teachers over dinner. This training included information about the technology, as well as working session around designing authentic assessments and evaluation. 

For the second semester, I collaborated with the Associate Director of TeachingWorks, in developing a web-based evaluation tool that is driven through web-based forms for field instructors.  

Continuation:
Yes, the project has continued beyond the grant period. The teaching interns continue to use the automatic following devices in their field placements.

While we were not able to maintain the training session with cooperating teachers, we have engaged in weekly instructor meetings across the four courses for the secondary mathematics education certification program, which is helping build greater coherence. These meetings have prompted additional analysis of our course content and seeking better alignment.
Dissemination:
Our activities have been disseminated in SOE teacher education meetings, particularly, during the first year of implementation, and shared with a subset of colleagues in the elementary program.

There is a remaining balance of funds that we are seeking to further these efforts with approval from CRLT.
Advice to your Colleagues:
In terms of lessons learned, we were encouraged by the role of technology in improving our teaching interns' experience. The project also became the impetus for collaboration and seeking coherence in student assessment and evaluation.

The challenges that we experienced related to layering new organizational structures and assessment tools on the existing program. The secondary mathematics program is a small part of a broader program in which these changes were not taking place. Therefore, our cooperating teachers, field instructors, and faculty were tasked with doing additional labor to make the activities successful.
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