Complete this form and submit to Kathy Dulle, GWAEA Professional Development Coordinator
Grant Wood AEA
Individual TQ Professional Development Proposal
Name: Julie Barnd, School Social WorkerSupervisor: Myra Hall / Region: Cedar Rapids / Date: May 5, 2009
Professional Growth Goal: My professional growth goal is to explore Social Emotional Learning Theory at a deeper level. I am interested in how this theory and research recommendations might be applied to developing supplemental and/or intensive behavior instruction.Through this learning, I will be better prepared to develop some practical applications, in the form of lesson plans that target identified behavior skill deficits. It is my experience that the weakest link in supporting students with behavior concerns is that of the skill instruction piece. I believe that we have many tools available to share, including visual supports and positive reinforcement systems. It is important that these tools align with the instruction and learning outcomes.
An outcome of my learning will be an improvement in my practice of providing behavior skill instruction. An area of my practice that I have wanted to strengthen is supporting students with social, emotional and behavior concerns. It is important that a continuum of support be provided for students from the identification of student concerns, through assessment, behavior plan design, targeted behavior skill instruction and supports to outcomes. I will apply this learning to enhance my skill set to be able to provide the next link in the chain of behavior supports from core to supplemental and intensive.
What student data suggest that this professional development is necessary? The two buildings that I serve use several systems to identify students who are experiencing social, emotional or behavioral concerns. Referrals for student concerns are generated during child study teams, IDM and IEP teams. Decision making responses are generated from At Risk Student data bases, SWIS office referral data and academic data.
A sampling of the numbers of students identified as needing behavior instructional supports were 48 or 15% of Erskine students discussed and 25 for 17% of Grant Wood students. In addition at Grant Wood At Risk meetings 58 students were identified as needing additional social, emotional or behavioral support.
Support for all of these students ranged from teacher supported accomodations, supplemental and intensive behavior support plans to students being served on an IEP.
My AEA suppported interventions have included:observations, assesssments, consultation, writing of behavior plans and participant in planning discussions and instructional provider. Depending on the nature of my involvement a different data source was used to determine level of support and instructional strategies
It is this population of students that are encountering barriers that are interfereing with their ability to learn and as a result make them at risk for being a successful learner.
How will this professional development fit with agency, region and/or discipline goals? A strategic priority for GWAEA is to plan and implement comprehensive, research based programs to increase academic performance of all students and to increase the percentage of students who perform at a proficient level. The GWAEA instruction supports category of services includes training materials, and activities to enhance children’s social, emotional learning.
Research tells us that a fully implemented comprehensive system of supports that promotes social, emotional and behavioral well being, increases probabilities for student success in all areas including academic performance. “Success for all Learners” is the mission of GWAEA.
One of the goals of the School Social Workers at GWAEA has been to address issues related to learning supports. Social Emotional Learning is embedded in the overall learning supports umbrella. Learning Supports promote healthy development for all students to address barriers to learning. Some students may experience barriers which interfere with their ability to fully engage in classroom instruction. Social Workers are a key link in the management of supports related to social, emotional, behavior concerns.
I have been involved on the Action Research Teams in both of my elementary school buildings that address social, emotional, behavior (SEB) support. I have been able to participate in the design of school wide supports to strengthen core behavior curriculum that includes common area behavior expectations and classroom expectations. I have also been involved at the building level in supporting the implementation of a new core behavior curriculum in the Cedar Rapids School District. A strong core behavior curriculum is as important as strong academic curriculum.
Another opportunity that I have had for further learning is at the elementary schools that I serve. Each building is studying Professional Learning Communities. The application of knowledge gained will result in better support for students through teachers and staff working together in creative, collaborative ways. Professional Learning Communities will also be a point of focus that we will be addressing at our GWAEA Region meetings.
Being involved in building discussions and implementation of SEB action research and professional learning communities has allowed me to better understand the need and importance of a core SEB curriculum. This core serves as the foundation of the framework of behavior support. Our experience is that there are students who need more than the core instruction can provide and we need to be able to respond to their needs by accessing the next part of the framework which is supplemental and intensive support.
Which of the Iowa Teaching Standards will be addressed by this goal? (See attached)
x Demonstrates ability to enhance academic performance and support for and
implementation of the districts achievement goals
x Demonstrates competence in content knowledge appropriate to the teaching position.
x Demonstrates competence in planning and preparing for instruction.
x Uses strategies to deliver instruction that meets the multiple learning needs of
students
x Uses a variety of methods to monitor student learning.
x Demonstrates competence in classroom management.
x Engages in professional growth.
0 Fulfills professional responsibilities established by the school district.
Describe the proposed professional development:
Theory:
I am proposing to do some background research on the theory and practice of Social, Emotional Learning. My research will include the work done by Kenneth Merrell at the University of Oregon and also Beth Doll’s research on resilient schools. I had the opportunity to attend trainings by both of these individuals when they offered professional development through GWAEA. I want to take that introductory information to a deeper level.
Additionally I will be consulting is the Collaborative for Social Emotional Learning (CASEL). This will be a resource rich in information to support my work. It is also my intention to do a review of the Social Emotional Learning resources that are available in the GWAEA professional library.
Demonstration:
Explain how proposal incorporates demonstration of skills and strategies.
I will incorporate that learning and make connections to some specific applications based on the “Strong Kids” curriculum developed by Kenneth Merrell. This curriculum is a new set of materials in my professional core that I would like to devote more time to study and transfer the learning into practice. It is my intent to create lesson plans using this research based curriculum and link it to specific behavior skill deficits. More targeted interventions are the answer to the question that is asked: “what can we put in place when a student is not responding to core behavior curriculum?
Practice:
State how multiple opportunities for practice of skills and strategies will be provided.
Having lesson plans in place, a student could move to behavior instructional support quickly. The importance of the design on all behavior plans is that the alignment of assessment, identification of the behavior and it’s function and instruction, accommodations, visual supports, reinforcement systems and finally progress monitoring.
Describe the collaboration to learn and apply new knowledge and skills: Opportunities for collegial learning could be sharing with School Social Workers and inviting ideas on content and implementation and evaluation of its usefulness.
Other audiences for learning and sharing would be building based Social, Emotional and Behavior teams. The tangible product coming out of this learning could be a resource for use with students that could be applied by school counselors as well as AEA staff.
How will you demonstrate to your supervisor application of your new learning? The new learning would be applied when a behavior plan is being developed. The instructional piece is probably the most important component as students who need behavior support display behaviors indicating skill deficits. It is also the part of the plan that can be the most challenging to design and implement. Providing behavior support is no different than providing academic support for a student who needs more work whether it is math facts, reading fluency or following directions. What are the skill deficits, what is the matching piece instruction?
My deepened understanding and learning will transfer to my practice as I more confidently respond to student behavior instructional needs using the evidence based approach of Social Emotional Learning Theory. I will be equipped to apply theory and research into practical application.
I will be demonstrating my learning through the development of a portfolio that contains permanent products such as lesson plans for targeted behaviors to be used in supplemental and/or intensive behavior instruction. I would also like to develop a lotus diagram for each lesson plan that outlines:goals, learning objectives, examples of classroom supports,visual supports,positive reinforcement systems,and assessment components. This could serve as a resource packet for writing the instructional strategies and materials for behavior intensive plans.
Plan of Action
Action steps to be taken / TimelinePlanning and Organization
Organize materials, outline study
content, research GWAEA
Professional Library resources
Study
Review theory and researach of Social
Emotional Learning
Review the work of Kenneth Merrell
and Beth Doll
Review practical applications of SEL
"Strong Kids" curriculum
Make connections
Transfer theory and research to
practical application
Determine applicability for use in
supplemental or intensive behavior
instruction
See how links can be made with
additional resources ie:visual
supports, positive reward systems
Identify applications and next steps
Final Transfer into practical application
Determine implementation plan
Finalize the permanent product and
and all supporting components
Implementation/Evaluation / June 2009 (4 hours)
June 2009 (12hours)
July 2009 (6 hours)
October 2009
November 2009
TQ budget and other resources
Number of hours 26@ $35/hour / $910.00Materials/books / $
List costs associated with implementation / $ $ $ Total $
Associated costs
Total / $910.00
Other Resources:
Supervisor feedback and date reviewed. 4/15,22,30, 2009 5/4,5,2009
Iowa Teaching Standards
Demonstrates ability to enhance academic performance and support for and implementation of the school district’s student achievement goals.
Demonstrates competence in content knowledge appropriate to the teaching position.
Demonstrates competence in planning and preparing for instruction.
Uses strategies to deliver instruction that meets the multiple learning needs of students.
Uses a variety of methods to monitor student learning.
Demonstrates competence in classroom management.
Engages in professional growth.
Fulfills professional responsibilities established by the school district.
Cg: Individual PD for TQ 3/5/09