Using Technology In Your QRIS: Options for Teacher Coursework, Peer Assistance and

Coaching

Presenters:

Pam Roux, Educator and Provider Support, MA, EEC Chris Pond, Educator and Provider Support, MA, EEC

Linda Warren, CEO, Early Childhood Associates

Welcome!

• Who Are the Presenters?

• Who is in the Audience?

• Why Are We Attending?

Learning Outcomes • Review a comprehensive package of TA and evaluation

utilizing video capture that is linked to a web-based video platform.

• Reflect on the role of a TA competency framework to plan professional development and drive the coaching process

• Describe the Massachusetts Peer Assistance Coaching (PAC) Model and the role of video as a coaching tool

• Examine frameworks for evaluating comprehensive coaching initiatives.

What does an Effective Model of Coaching Look Like?

Research

NAEYC (2011)

Relationship Building

Goal Setting

Action Planning

Feedback and

Reflection

An Effective Coaching Model

Harvard Graduate School of Education (2014)

1. NOTICE • Coaches

document specific challenges and strengths

2.REFLECT • Coaches and

Mentees reflect on what they notice, identifying patterns

3. BUILD KNOWLEDGE • Mentees learn

about and/or design a strategy that addresses identified challenge

4. PLAN • Mentees plan

how they will incorporate the new strategy in practice

5. TRY • Mentees

implement their plans in classrooms

Coaching: Continuous Quality

Improvement • Notice & Document

– Notice and Document specific challenges and strengths

• Reflect & Analyze – Use guiding questions to reflect on and analyze what you notice, identifying patterns

regarding strengths and barriers to high quality learning environments and effective practices

• Build Knowledge

– Engage in knowledge building conversations.

• Plan – Plan how to incorporate the new strategy. Supported by coach and planning guide or

protocol, educators’ • Try

– Educators and coach notice and discuss what is working and what is challenging so that they can, reflect, analyze and collaboratively problem solve

National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality

Videotapes are powerful tools that can help coaches and teachers

identify areas for improvement, set goals, and work toward those goals.

Video technology can be of great value because it results in records of

teaching that allow for repeated viewings and discussions and allow

trained off site evaluators and coaches to “look into” classrooms.

Research (Con’t)

Archived videos can increase teachers’ access to diverse examples of best practices that they can refer to repeatedly to expand their instructional repertoire and customize what they are doing to better meet the diverse learning needs of their students

Classroom video can provide teachers with a documentary record of their instructional practices that facilitates self-reflection and a heightened awareness about what instructional strategies they are using with their students

Videos enable individual teachers and/or collaborative groups of teachers to better analyze what their students were doing during class and assess their reactions to specific instructional strategies

AWARENESS

ANALYSIS

ACCESS

Taken together, these findings affirm that instructional videos can help teachers better understand what they are doing,

assess how well their instruction is meeting their students’ needs, and get ideas about what other things they can do to engage

their students more effectively and accelerate student learning

Research (Con’t)

TA Competencies: The Charge

Create a Guide and set of competencies for TA Providers working in Infant, Toddler, Preschool and Out of School Time settings.

Where Did We Start?

Adopted a Definition of TA

• Mentoring - relationship-based process

where a respected experienced person supports and nurtures professional growth of a less experienced person.

• Coaching - a relationship-based process

with a person with expertise in a specific area offers assistance to another person in identifying and achieving skill development.

• Consultation –a relationship-based process where a person facilitates the resolution of specific work related issues pertaining to individuals, clients or programs.

Targeted, customized support by a professional(s). Includes guided self-reflection, resulting in the application of theories, information and new ideas into professional practice.

Technical Assistance

• Who are they?

• What are all the ways that they might use the TA Guide & Self Assessment Tool?

Defined User Groups

Identified Potential Uses EC Workforce or PD Providers

As a guide to effective practice As a tool to gauge current level of competence As a resource for PD planning

Program Managers, Administrators Inform mentoring and staff supervision Develop criteria for hiring staff or PD providers Develop PD Plans

PD Networks, IHE

As a lens into the skills necessary to be an effective practitioner Develop courses, advise students

Built on an Existing Framework

What are the skills and competencies needed by TA

providers?

Conducted a Literature Review

Literature Review for TA Providers Prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

By Early Childhood Associates, Inc. February 2014

Characteristics of Effective TA

Support for TA providers

TA Qualifications

TA

Qualifications

TA Practices • Assess classroom and teacher skills • Create goals and improvement plan linked to

environments, practices and child outcomes • Model techniques through video or in person • Use various coaching interventions • Provide feedback • Evaluate teacher’s implementation of practices

(through video or in person) • Observe providers and classroom setting • Help teachers develop strategies for dealing with

difficult situations • Collaboratively problem solving • Promote reflective practice • Use data to inform coaching

“ ”

Excellent TA Providers are not born that way; they

need to develop knowledge and skills!

Successful TA Providers Possess Core Competencies

TA/Consultation: Essential Requirements

Process Knowledge & Skills

Content Knowledge & Skills

Experience/Expertise in Settings which TA

is provided Dispositions

Systems, Sectors & Settings

Regulations Administrative Structures

Community/ Social Norms

Programs, Classrooms &

Homes

How does TA look different in Infant & Toddler, Preschool and Out of

School Time Settings?

Providers Recipients Content

Core Knowledge and Competencies

Evidence of Competencies

• Use of varied assessment measures to discern client’s progress in achieving TA objectives/goals.

• Modification(s) to original TA plans based on assessments. • Collection of feedback from educator regarding efficacy of TA

services. • Feedback and progress monitoring documentation related to

the achievement of TA goals/objectives. • Ethical professional practices regarding reporting,

confidentiality, and the selection and use of appropriate assessments.

Self Assessment & Professional Development Tool

Self Assessment & Action Planning • Individually complete the Understanding Technical

Assistance section of the TA Self Assessment distributed by the Presenters.

• Next review your Ratings and complete the Goal Setting and Action Steps.

• Use the PD Planning Tool to develop Goals and Action

Steps.

• At your table share the potential uses of the Tool in your community or organization.

Using the Framework: A Peer Coaching Model

• How do we put the TA Competency Framework into practice?

• Looking at it through one model: the PAC Model

PAC Overview

• Funding • Goals • Overview

– Development of Model – PAC Advisory Panel – Vendors – Implementation

• Use of TA Competencies • Use of TALENT Video Feedback Platform • Evaluation of the Model

PAC Goals

• Improve individual educator practice • Improve program quality as evidenced by

meeting additional criteria on the MA-QRIS • Improve outcomes for children

PAC Overview: Panel • Application process

– Criteria for selection based on education and expertise with coaching and mentoring

– 15 members selected from over 100 applications • Advised on development, implementation and

modifications as needed throughout the project

PAC Overview: Vendors

• Vendors are tasked with working together to ensure seamless experience for participants

• 5 vendors that provide services and support: – Child Development and Education: management and distribution of

funding for coaches and mentees – Early Childhood Associates: Evaluation of model – UMass Boston: Coaching through the lens of CLASS – Little Sprouts: Relationship-based training – Torsh: Online video-based feedback platform – EPS facilitators: PLC facilitation

Equity

• EEC philosophy in participation in ALL INITIATIVES • Participants are recruited to apply statewide

– All program types in EEC’s mixed-delivery system – Diverse language and cultural backgrounds

• Participants are matched according to: – Program type – Language – Cultural Background – Geography

PAC Funding • Funded by RTTT-ELCG • ~$1.56 Million for four years • Includes:

– Research and development of model – Training on CLASS and Relationship Building – Support for coaches and mentees, including:

• Stipends for coaches • Durable goods for mentees – ipads! • Substitute funding for coaches and mentees • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) supported by

Educator and Provider Support Grantees (MA system of professional development)

– Online video-based observation and feedback platform (TALENT) – Evaluation of model

Peer Assistance and Coaching (PAC) The Model….

Requires collaboration among Consulting Teachers, Mentees and Instructional Leaders

Involves entire delivery system: center-based, FCC, preschool, Head Start, and OST programs

Supports intensive CT training to build and improve content and coaching skills

Identifies training resources and coaching activities, and materials

for monitoring and reporting Features TALENT, a turn-key, video based teacher observation,

feedback and data analytics platform.

Coaching Process

• Use Assessment to Frame Coaching (CLASS) • Use of TA Competencies to support and

evaluate coaching • Support Development of:

– Engaging learning environments – Effective teaching and interactions – Positive Child Outcomes

• Link to PD that supports knowledge building • Provide appropriate dosage and intensity of

services.

• Positive Climate • Negative Climate • Teacher Sensitivity • Regard for Student Perspective

Emotional Support

• Behavior Management • Productivity • Instructional Learning Format

Classroom Organization

• Concept Development • Quality Feedback • Language Modeling

Instructional Support

Domain Dimension

CLASS

44

Environment Physical environment Learning materials Daily Routines

Content Quality of instruction in

specific curriculum areas

Process • Emotional Support (Sensitivity & Responsiveness) • Cognitive Support (promoting thinking & reasoning) • Classroom Management

Systems Program policies, Professional Development

A Framework for Quality Instruction

Coaching Logs

Captures Essential Characteristics Of Coaching Sessions:

• Time allotted to the session • Coaching goals • Coaching strategies used • Content covered

• Be coached using your

iPhone or iPad?

• Have access to your coach without leaving your classroom or your home?

• Have instant access to feedback while you and your coach are viewing live video?

Video-based Platform

• Mini Demo

• What does coaching in a

video world mean to you?

• What does it look like?

• What are the pros and

cons?

Online Platform in MA-PAC

• Privacy and Security • Technological challenges/fears

– Level of comfort with technology – Access to WIFI/Internet – Language Barrier

• Initial expectations for new participants – Face-to-face relationship building – Use of video for reflection

• Subsequent expectations – Sharing of video with coach monthly (or more)

It Can Be Done Well

Using Video: Best Practices

Length – Not too short nor too long. Instructional videos that are less than 2-3 minutes appear to provide insufficient info to enable viewers to fully understand the objectives of a lesson while videos longer than 15 minutes tend to cause viewers to lose focus and interest (Hall and Wright, 2007)

Positioning – How videos are positioned in the context of ongoing PD

is important to the impact that they can have on educators and their instructional practices. This is particularly important in relation to experienced teachers who are far less receptive to videos that purport to represent best practices than they are to videos that trigger discussions about “how to improve” the instruction depicted in the video (Fong and Woodruff, 2003)

Not all instructional videos are equally effective. Existing studies suggest focusing on a number of critical variables when using video for PD:

Using Video: Best Practices (Con’t) Video source – The instructional context depicted in the video has an

important impact on how much interest teachers have in adopting practices presented in the video. This suggests that videos produced by teachers and shared with their peers are more likely to influence colleagues’ instructional practices within a school or a district than more anonymous ‘best practice’ videos archived for mass viewing (Borko et al, 2007)

Viewer support tools – People tend to have negative reactions to video

that is not professionally produced, so it is important to provide them with support tools that help focus their attention on the important issues in the videos they are watching. For this reason, it is likely that viewing rubrics need to be part of the video watcher’s experience. These rubrics will support a balanced feedback generation process that will help viewers generate the kind of constructive peer-to-peer feedback or coach-driven feedback that teachers will be able to use to improve their instructional practices.(Halverson, 2012)

What Does It Look Like?

Mini Demo

Evaluation

• What are we evaluating? • Linda will discuss in more detail

Classroom Quality

Improves

Job Satisfaction

Improves

QRIS Ratings Improve

Knowledge & Skills Improve

PAC Outcomes

Types of Evaluation Questions • Program Characteristics

– What are the characteristics of CTs, Mentees and Instructional Leaders – What are the characteristics of the program – What is the level of content and knowledge held by the CTs? By mentees?

• Coaching Activities and Resources – What are the CTs primary activities? Secondary activities? – To what extent is the CT using the PAC model: Timing? Activities? Schedule? – What resources have been identified by and for the CT? What resources are

being used by the mentees? CTs?

• Program Outcomes – What are the changes in content knowledge and skills in CTs? Mentees? – What are the changes in quality in the Mentees’ classrooms? – What are the levels of job satisfaction among CTs? Mentees? – What changes in QRIS ratings

Data Collection Strategies

Class Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)

Coaching Checklists

CT & Mentee Knowledge and Skill Surveys

Virtual Review of Coaching Sessions

CT/Mentee Surveys

Interviews and Focus Groups

A 360 Degree Teacher & Coach Development Tool

• Remotely observe and provide feedback to teachers via recorded videos of their classroom practice

• Randomly select defined set

of videos for CLASS pre, mid and post assessments

• Deliver evaluation results to

teachers as a unified portfolio along with evaluation scores and video based evidence

• Correlate coaching/feedback dosage & coaching strategies with evaluation results via interactive coaching logs

• Provide details on

coaching/feedback effectiveness for the purpose of improving coaching effectiveness

Linking The Evaluation Model With Talent

• VIDEO FEEDBACK

Talent

• CLASS • COACHING

LOGS • SURVEYS

PAC Evaluation

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

Communication

Vendor coordination

Training PLCs Strong Orientation Package for all participants Mentee Opportunities Expectations