Assignment+II

**Needs Assessment**
Click [|here] to view our Needs Assessment PowerPoint

Click [|here] to download our Needs Assessment

Christie McMillan Mandie Thompson Matt Walter EDUC 533: Instructional Systems Design & Development July 8, 2009

Title 1 and low socioeconomic schools face struggles outside the school walls that have the ability to hinder or inhibit student learning. As teachers it is our job, our responsibility, to provide students with the best education possible, which, within these schools, can be difficult. Due to family and home circumstances outside the school many students are unable to complete homework assignments. This either provides an inequitable education to students whose home lives, for a myriad of different reasons, prevent them from completing homework, therefore preventing them from receiving the full educational experience, or brings down the grades of students who show mastery of skills and subjects through test and exam media but fail to turn in homework. The Problem-Finding, Problem-Solving Assessment model was chosen because we have identified a prospective problem in that a number of students in our class are underachieving and not receiving grades that reflect classroom performance, due to incomplete, missing, or below average homework scores. Our initial step was to determine if homework was the outlying factor inhibiting student learning. Without homework, would students be able to learn to the extent we see them able to in the classroom? According to Alfie Kohn, “There is not one single study that shows that homework helps kids learn (http://positivesharing.com/2006/08/homework-makes-kids-hate-learning/).” In our classroom we notice two types of student affected by homework. On one hand we have students who do not complete homework assignments, yet score exemplary marks on tests and quizzes. Due to incomplete and missing assignments this student receives average or “c” marks. The other student we notice is s/he who fails to complete homework assignments during given class time, and lacks a home environment conducive to finishing the assignments. This student generally does not receive high test scores due to lower or average natural abilities in various subjects, does not have time in school to finish class work when a teacher is available to provide help, and does not have the necessary support at home to learn the material. Teachers will be trained on methods that will result in the totality of information conveyed during the school day alone. A “homeworkless” classroom, however, does not imply any lack of rigor. The highest expectations will be held for all students within each classroom. Class time will be made available for students to work individually and cooperatively on skills and subject matter, and we will implement the use of peer tutors and high school volunteers. We believe in our teachers’ ability to teach. This new curriculum will, however, be new to our teachers, staff, and community, and we will provide the necessary training on how best to utilize time with the purpose of eliminating homework, on how to make the curriculum more project-centered, and how to communicate effectively with parents on this issue. Teachers will also be trained on the difficulties associated with low socioeconomic status and poor home environments. These struggles include: • uneducated parents • parents who are unavailable after school due to work and/or social obligations • issues of homelessness • chaotic home environment • students charged with the care of siblings The learning environment in this school will be much the same as it as always been. We believe in our teachers and their ability to teach. The following characteristics represent the teachers we are working with and the environment in which this system of schooling will be beneficial: 1. Characteristics of teachers – teachers who teach in low socioeconomic schools and are tired of fighting with students to get their homework finished and observing homework negatively affect student grades and learning. 2. This must fit into the entire curricula to be effective. No single subject falls victim to students’ lack of ability to turn in homework; all subjects are affected. 3. There is very little hardware available for use in the school or classrooms, and even less in the homes of our students. Curriculum must therefore focus on the resources we have, which will be monitored more effectively by teachers when all work takes place within the school walls. 4. School and classroom characteristics: few resources and limited technology, but teachers who are passionate about teaching and have the educational foundation to do so effectively. 5. Homework is so widely used and engrained into our system of education and societal expectations that a classroom or school without homework will fall under extreme scrutiny. People believe that homework is important, possibly vital, to student learning and trying to explain that homework is the problem (with the result being an inequitable learning environment that leaves behind more students than it helps) and may not be necessary to student learning may be difficult. 6. We will be implementing before school study hall programs with peer mentors and volunteer high school students, as well as teachers, to help students who are struggling or in need of any additional assistance. Our primary goal is the education of our students. The students in our school demonstrate the will to succeed, but lack the at-home resources to make any work outside the school walls beneficial. By implementing a homeworkless classroom and school we will ensure that out students have the resources necessary to learn at their disposal while they are actually learning the material. We know we have the best teachers for the job. Whatever system will be most beneficial to student learning our teachers will attempt whole-heartily. Our teachers are frustrated with the current state of affairs in the classroom and our students are frustrated with their lack of ability to complete homework assignments. It is time for a change, and this system represents the change we need.