Reimagining Data Driven Decisions Making with the Use of Innovative Technology

Concurrent Session 5

Session Materials

Brief Abstract

Utilization of pre/in-service teachers targeted video analysis with the intent of instructional decision-making deeply rooted in assessment data.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Daniela Foerch, Florida International University

Daniela Fenu Foerch holds a doctoral degree from Barry University in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Early Childhood Education. She is a permanent faculty member of the Department of Teaching and Learning at Florida International University, Miami, Florida, where she teaches courses to prepare and mentor teacher candidates to work with diverse young children and their families. Her passion for teaching and learning was recognized with several teaching awards for her outstanding online teaching practice. Daniela belongs to two learning communities in Miami: the Faculty Learning Community at FIU and the Visible Thinking South Florida. Daniela attended Project Zero Classroom as a fellow in the summer 2013. Daniela currently conducts research with teachers in preschools classrooms to nurture global competence in young children.

Co-presenter: Andrea Adelman, Florida International University

Dr. Adelman is a faculty member in Early Childhood Education at Florida International University. She received her doctorate in Special Education from the University of Miami and her areas of specialization include: early childhood special education, child development, culturally responsive instruction, educational technology, teacher training, academic programming, classroom management, and emotional intelligence. Dr. Adelman has been involved in intervention and efficacy research projects within early childhood, particularly with low-income populations and those with various diverse backgrounds, since her academic career began. Prior to teaching, Dr. Adelman served as a language-stimulation therapist therapist for Head Start students through a grant funded project, Early Discovery, out of the Mailman Center for Child Development. Years later, Dr. Adelman was a key researcher in a University of Miami team that examined the efficacy of the Early Discovery program, which was recently published. Dr. Adelman worked as a prekindergarten teacher for students with special needs for three years; the population contained several students from low-income backgrounds and diverse races and ethnicities. During her doctoral career, Dr. Adelman worked on several projects involving research and/or teacher training for young students with various exceptionalities, diverse backgrounds, and who came from low-income areas. Dr. Adelman conducted a study comparing read-aloud strategies used in Head Start centers with those used in private learning learning centers, which was a published article. Following the research, all participating teachers were trained in best-practices for developing student vocabulary during real-alouds. Dr. Adelman developed a professional development program to train teachers in the language-behavior connection in a newly converted learning center, Thena Crowder, which housed a Head Start and a prekindergarten ESE program. Teachers had expressed concerns with behavioral management skills and were trained to help increase language skills in order to reduce behavioral challenges. Dr. Adelman also developed a professional development program to improve the cultural competence and use of culturally-responsive practices for undergraduate preservice teachers.

Extended Abstract

This presentation will explore the utilization of pre/in-service teachers targeted video analysis with the intent of instructional decision-making deeply rooted in assessment data. Research and educational stakeholders assert that assessment data is consistently not being integrated into instructional decision-making; teachers are not intentionally developing lessons based on individual student needs. The program addressed is a fully online program with pre-service and in-service teachers from around the world. One of the goals of the fully online programs is to provide pragmatic online experiences in real-world educational settings.

The course under examination was a fully online course titled "Assessment, Evaluation, and Diagnosis of the Young Child," which exposes pre/in-service teachers to a variety of assessment methods geared towards more individualized instructional decision-making. Course developers grappled with innovative approaches to learning opportunities grounded in real-world teaching experience.

The presenters designed a learning experience using unstructured and structured video analysis to demonstrate how observational assessments can be used to guide pre/in-service teacher instructional decision-making.The presenters used EdPuzzle for more focused video observations through the integration of voice-overs, embedded questions, and assistance in targeted noticing. Student outcomes will be examined.

Understanding goals:

By the end of this presentation, participants will understand:
1. How to use structured and unstructured video observation techniques
2. Innovative methods in video analysis coaching
3. How to use the EdPuzzle tool
4. The difference between unstructured video observations vs. structured video observations
5. And reflect on the information gathered from each video analysis method

Participants will be engaged in actively observing and analyzing structured and unstructured approaches to video analysis to understand the results from the various approaches and how to effectively integrate instructional decision making deeply rooted in data. They will also use Visible Thinking routines as they observe and analyze various videos. Lastly, participants will engage in dialogue on the urge to use structured video observation techniques to integrate instructional decision-making deeply rooted in data.