GAPSS PART A

Professional Learning Current Reality and GAPSS Review

Adam Rich
PL & Technology Innovation (ITEC 7460)
Kennesaw State University
Instructional Technology, Fall 2016

GAPSS PART A

Current Reality & GSAPS

1. GSAPS
a. The GSAPS analysis is performed to help schools understand their strengths and
weakness and make plans to maintain the strength areas and to improve the areas
that are lacking. It is performed by a collaborative team of teachers and school
leaders combining views to create a true analysis of the school. The GSAPS
Analysis provides tools to collect quantitative and qualitative data from classroom
observations, an online certified staff survey, student achievement results, and
interviews with individuals and groups of teachers, administrators, support staff,
students, and parents. (GaDOE, 2015) Instruction Standard 6: Uses appropriate,
current technology to enhance learning is how GSAPS judges technology use.
You can also state that on concepts of differentiation, research based practices,
challenging learning environment and even communication all have factors in
which technology can be involved. However there is no true mention of
technology support or training.
2. School Improvement Plan
1. What is the vision for the use of technology in your school? In other words,
describe the school's aspirations and intents for how teachers and students will use
technology in the teaching and learning process. (PSC 1.1) I want to make sure that
technology is used for the creation of new knowledge rather than just for technology
sake. I would love to have enough chromebooks (or other such devices) so that
every classroom has access to at least 15 at any time.

GAPSS PART A

2. How are the professional learning needs identified in your school? Are they data
driven? (PSC 5.1) Date Driven and based on EOCT scores and practices that will
help increase the scores. As well as teacher surveys and needs based on their input.
3. What forms of professional learning are provided in your school? (study groups,
learning teams, book studies, workshops, mentoring, peer observations, coaching,
examining student work using protocols, lesson planning, etc.) Is it mainly
individual or collaborative? Explain. (PSC 5.2) Monthly planning meetings,
collaborative content area meetings, collaborative interdepartmental meetings,
individual goals, workshops, book study, mentoring, peer observations, study groups.
4. What types of technology-related professional learning have been offered at your
school within the last year? (Ex: whiteboards, wikis, blogs, etc.) (PSC 5.2)
Technology Tuesdays, Infinite Campus, Projector, and canvas
5. What type of follow-up support is provided AFTER a professional learning session
in order to help teachers master new strategies and content and integrate them into
their classroom practice? (PSC 5.2) 6.

Is the professional learning aligned to the

school improvement goals? If so, how? (PSC 1.2) Website, coaching, yes they are
based to improve our school EOCT scores
6. How is professional learning funded in your school? (PSC 1.3) Professional
learning is funded through local county funds and through Title IIA monies. Total,
that equals about $6000. Anything above and beyond that is funded by the local
school.

GAPSS PART A

7. What are the incentives for teachers to participate in professional learning and to
improve their practice? (PSC 1.3, 1.4) In education, the only monetary incentive is
to complete an additional degree. My hope is that educators intrinsically want to get
better and therefore are willing to participate in professional learning. There are
incentives of extra add-ons such as the gifted or ESOL endorsement that also help.
8. Is professional learning offered that assists teachers in working with students with
special needs and those who come from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds? If so, describe. (PSC 4.3) I believe that good teaching is just that
good teaching for all students. However, I do understand that there are specific
strategies that help subgroups that you mentioned. We have our ESOL teacher do an
annual training to make sure we know what language level our ESOL students are
operating on and then give tips to teachers to help them implement appropriate
leveled strategies.
9. In what types of collaborative school-wide professional learning teams do teachers
participate? How are these related to the school improvement plan? (PSC3.7) yes,
their choice, content and department, yes
10. How is the impact of professional learning on teacher practice and student
learning evaluated? In other words, how do you know whether the professional
learning is translated into practice? How do you know if the professional learning
improves student learning? (PSC 5.3) Survey, observation, test scores
Part A Summary

GAPSS PART A

Vision
At Chestatee High School, the use of technology in the classroom is something that is
taken seriously as we believe that technology is on the forefront of education, however we dont
believe in teaching technology for Technologys sake. We want technology to be introduced in
order to make an impact on learning and because of this all of the technology introduced is based
upon the school needs. We feel that technology should be used to introduce, compliment or
enhance the current instruction. The plan would be for teachers who are comfortable to bring in
flipped classrooms to introduce the course content and use the class time to build upon the
content presented during the flipped session. Using various tools to help teacher differentiate in
the classroom and bridge the gap between all students as well as using Adaptive Technology to
help students with learning disabilities. Complimenting and enhancing the instruction through
research based practices to enhance current instructional methods. We also believe using
technology we can enhance our communication amongst all stakeholders in order to help
promote and enrich the message currently being delivered by Chestatee High School.
Administrators can also use the technology to send quick, concise feedback on teacher
performance as well as to communication amongst teachers.
Needs Assessment
At Chestatee High School we fill our professional learning should be data driven and
used to benefit teachers instruction to provide students with the best learning environments. The
data we derive our needs from come out of multiple resources, EOC scores, Climate Surveys,
Department Needs, and Teacher Self Assessments. Using all of the information available our
staff deliberates as a whole, departments, and small subgroups along with the administrators to

GAPSS PART A

decide the best course of action needed for the school. Our goal in each is to derive the best
teaching practices to enhance not only our scores but beneficial to our students as they advance
into the business community. In order to fully help develop our students to be active participants
in the community we use community surveys as well as parent surveys to find the soft and
academic skills that can be completed at Chestatee. Through all of this information the
administration and faculty search for the best professional learning experiences that can achieve
all of the current goals.
Professional Learning
Professional Learning at Chestatee High School is completed in multiple ways, first we
have teacher derived professional learning that must be research based and follow a teachers goal
and fit within the School Improvement Plan. For this particular Professional Learning we use the
Ed Camp method in which we allow teachers to pick a group and a topic and they work together
to create a product to present to the entire faculty. These groups would meet once a month to
discuss their research and collaborate on how to implement what they have found. We also have
administrative specific Professional Learning in which our administrators pick topics based on
the School Improvement plan on methods proven to help build specific student needs. In these
groups our administrators divide us into subject groups and we observe teachers teaching the
specific lessons and then we critique them and have them reteach the lesson. We then report
back on how these lesson worked with our classes and what worked and what didnt work. We
also have a Professional Learning group called Tech Tuesdays designed to provide teachers
with technology resources they can use in their classroom. During Tech Tuesdays the focus is
to introduce the new technology but mainly helping teachers learn how to use the technology.

GAPSS PART A

During this we teach them how to use it, provide in class modeling and provide one on one help
as well. Finally we meet with our administrator and discuss the Ed Camp, Tech Tuesday,
subject professional learning and any individual goals and professional learning we have
undergone and how it influenced and impacted our teaching.
Alignment to School Improvement Goals
All Professional Learning at Chestatee High School is designed to meet the needs of our
school by bridging the gap of student achievement on the EOCs, SLOs, ACT/SAT scores and
other various tests. It is also designed to help students prepare to become productive members of
society as they graduate and move into the workforce. In order to understand where we are
lacking in these areas we use a variety of sources to help create our School Improvement Plans
and our Professional Learning. These resources are: EOC scores, using the score breakdown to
see what topics we taught well and what topics we need to focus on and learn better methods to
help our students improve in these areas. We also use multiple surveys to evaluate where we
stand, surveys such as TKES self-evaluations, student evaluations and administrator walk
through and evaluations. Other surveys would be climate surveys by the community, teachers
and administration, Staff Perception Surveys and informal feedback given by teachers,
administrators and community members. Areas of this years School Improvement Plan of
Professional Learning focus are 1. Improve student performance in EOC courses. 2. Increase
ACT/SAT scores. 3. Improve Graduation Rates / Career Readiness. In order to improve on EOC
scores we are creating Ed Camp Professional Learning and Administrator subgroups training
focusing on differentiation in the classroom. In order to help teachers with career readiness we
are going to host professional learning with the business communities focused on soft skills and

GAPSS PART A

ways to bridge the gap between school and business. Finally to improve ACT/SAT scores we are
going to focus on rigor in the classroom and professional learning to improve rigor as well as
student based tutoring. Using multiple forms of data provide our School Improvement Team
great resources to help focus our school toward goals that follow along our school vision and
help create plans to achieve these goals.
Funding & Incentives
Professional learning is funded through local county funds and through Title IIA monies.
Total, that equals about $6000. This money this year was allocated the following ways Ed Camp
($2,000 for text books and teacher resources), GaETC ($2,000 sent teachers to attend additional
technology training) Pioneer Resa technology and administration training ($2,000) Hall County
Schools has also paid roughly $2,500 to send teachers to AP training. Other various trainings
and professional learning opportunities have been no cost to the school aside from time and
substitutes ($4,000 from school sub allocations) The substitutes were used to allow teachers a
half day workshop to observe teacher lessons.
Incentives for professional learning come from multiple sources, most of which are
intrinsically based. For AP training it would be the ability to work with higher level students and
challenging yourself to pursue the most rigorous of courses. Monetarily the motivation would
only occur if you were pursuing a higher degree which would increase your pay and provide you
chances for promotion or another chance to add on to your certificate such as ESOL or gifted.
However the biggest motivation would have to be intrinsically motivated which would be to
achieve the highest score on your TKES ratings by teaching various teachers new methods, as

GAPSS PART A

well as pushing yourself to stay ahead of the curve in your field as educational strategies are ever
evolving with the advent of more technology.
Diversity
At Chestatee High School many of our trainings in our Ed Camp sessions were dealing
with two concepts: dealing with low socio economic students and how to provide them resources
to help differentiate the gaps and their fellow students as well as working with our ESOL
students as we have a large population of Hispanic students in which many of them are native
Spanish speakers. We also have multiple trainings for our SPED co teachers and teachers of
SPED students on how to bridge the gaps and help provide these students the best academic
setting in the least restrictive environments. In all of these professional learning environments
we discussed various technologies that can be used in class to help bridge the gaps, such as News
ELA to help with the Lexile level readings or providing screencasts of lectures for students to
watch on their own time and at their own pace to help them truly understand the topics. Finally
our administration has placed a lot of emphasis this year on differentiation and creating lessons
that are rigorous for our higher level students, yet have the ability to help our lower level
students build a solid foundation and keep pace with all students.
Collaboration
There are multiple collaboration groups designed in order to help accommodate the
School Improvement Plan. Implement Ed Camp professional development for monthly faculty
meetings to help increase SAT/ACT scores (Chestatee SIP, 2016). During these Ed Camps our
strategies are finding ways to differentiate, promote rigor and build upon the current school
climate. Our Ed Camp is interdisciplinary as well as cross grade level, giving the school a

GAPSS PART A

10

variety of views toward how to improve in each of these areas. In order to help improve
performance in EOC courses, meet collaboratively with course teams to design engaging student
work, discuss test results and to identify subgroup students. Through this goal we are able to
focus on subject specific ideas to help improve rigor and differentiation in the content area.
Evaluation
Our school improvement professional learning goals are evaluated in multiple ways.
First teacher feedback and observation of lessons as well as score improvements based upon the
new instructional practices. The EOC and SAT/ACT score reports and the appropriate growth or
decline in various areas of emphasis. Parent, teacher, student and administration surveys such as
the climate survey and TKES surveys help also provide anecdotal evidence from their comments
regarding education. Finally the strongest evaluation would be provided through TKES
administrator evaluations. Administrators provide an in depth teacher review of walk throughs
of the classroom or formal observations, and they grade the teacher on various categories.
Teacher ratings as well as feedback which provide the teacher recommendations on how to
improve the lessons as well as areas they excelled in. Through all of these measures
administrators are able to have a true indication on whether the School Improvement Plan goals
were met.

GAPSS PART A

11

GSAPS Review

PROFESSIONALLEARNING
Themeansbywhichteachers,administrators,andotherstaffacquire,enhance,andrefinetheknowledge,
skills,practices,anddispositionsnecessarytocreateandsupporthighlevelsoflearningforallstudents

ProfessionalLearningStandard1:Alignsprofessionallearningwithneedsidentifiedthroughanalysisofavarietyofdat
Level4
Exemplary
Professionallearningneedsare
identifiedanddifferentiated
throughacollaborativeanalysis
processusingavarietyofdata(e.g.,
studentachievementdata,
examinationofstudentwork,
processdata,teacherandleader
effectivenessdata,actionresearch
data,perceptiondatafromstudents,
staff,andfamilies).Ongoing
supportisprovidedthrough
differentiatedprofessionallearning.

Level3
Operational
Professionallearningneedsareidentified
throughacollaborativeanalysisprocess
usingavarietyofdata(e.g.,student
achievementdata,examinationofstudent
work,processdata,teacherandleader
effectivenessdata,actionresearchdata,
perceptiondatafromstudents,staff,and
families).

Level2
Emerging
Professionallearningneeds
areidentifiedusinglimited
sourcesofdata.

Profe
areid
noda

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above Scho
Plan provides a plan for all professional learning to be to improve ACT/SAT scores as well as im
performance on EOC scores both of which to help guide the content learned in the Professiona
also suggests to use survey data of various surveys and principal walk through evaluations to
effectiveness

RECOMMENDATIONS: Continue to use all the various resources available to guide the various
Professional Learning needed.

ProfessionalLearningStandard2:Establishesacultureofcollaborationamongadministratorsandstafftoenhanceindiv
performance

GAPSS PART A

Level4
Exemplary
Administratorsandstaff,
asafoundationalpractice,
consistentlycollaborateto
supportleadershipand
personalaccountability
andtoenhanceindividual
andcollectiveperformance
(e.g.,constructknowledge,
acquireskills,refine
practice,provide
feedback).
Teachersconductaction
researchandassume
ownershipofprofessional
learningprocesses.

12

Level3
Operational
Administratorsandstaff
routinelycollaborateto
improveindividualand
collectiveperformance
(e.g.,constructknowledge,
acquireskills,refine
practice,provide
feedback).

Level2
Emerging
Administratorsandstaff
routinelycollaborateto
improveindividualand
collectiveperformance
(e.g.,constructknowledge,
acquireskills,refine
practice,provide
feedback).

Level1
NotEvi

Administratorsandstaffroutinel
improveindividualandcollectiv
constructknowledge,acquireski
providefeedback).

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above Thro
Improvement Plan it is stated to meet regularly with our course teams to design engaging less
as collaborative Ed Camp groups and collaborative content groupings to help devise content l
how to assist those in other subgroups.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Continued use of collaborative groups to help bridge the gap in school s
more collegial assistance in the classroom.

GAPSS PART A

13

ProfessionalLearningStandard3:Definesexpectationsforimplementingprofessionallearning
Level4
Exemplary
Administrators,teacherleaders,or
bothconsistentlydefine
expectationsforthe
implementationofprofessional
learning,includingdetails
regardingthestagesof
implementationandhow
monitoringwilloccuras
implementationprogresses.

Level3
Operational
Administrators,teacherleaders,or
bothregularlydefineexpectations
fortheimplementationof
professionallearning.

Level2
Emerging
Administrators,teacherleaders,or
bothoccasionallydefine
expectationsforthe
implementationofprofessional
learning.

Administra
bothrarely
expectation
implement
learning.

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above For
there at times was a disconnect between what was needed, however with the content collabo
clearly defined research in creating engaging lessons.
RECOMMENDATIONS: To be sure to set a clear goal and expectations of what is to be learned
communicate this clearly to every teacher.

GAPSS PART A

14

ProfessionalLearningStandard4:Usesmultipleprofessionallearningdesignstosupportthevariouslearningneedsofth
Level4
Exemplary
Staffmembersactivelyparticipate
injobembeddedprofessional
learningthatengagescollaborative
teamsinavarietyofappropriate
learningdesigns(e.g.,
collaborativelessonstudy,
analysisofstudentwork,problem
solvingsessions,curriculum
development,coursework,action
research,classroomobservations,
onlinenetworks).Professional
learningincludesextensive
followupwithdescriptive
feedbackandcoaching.

Level3
Operational
Staffmembersactivelyparticipate
inprofessionallearning,mostof
whichisjobembedded,which
includesmultipledesigns(e.g.,
collaborativelessonstudy,
analysisofstudentwork,problem
solvingsessions,curriculum
development,coursework,action
research,classroomobservations,
onlinenetworks)tosupporttheir
variouslearningneeds.
Professionallearningincludes
followupwithfeedbackand
coaching.

Level2
Emerging
Somestaffmembersareengaged
inprofessionallearningthat
makesuseofmorethanone
learningdesigntoaddresstheir
identifiedneeds.

Staffmemb
standalone
eventsthat
mostlylarg
designs.

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above The
to allow the teachers to choose their categories of deeper learning and create a project showi
have learned truly allowed teachers to branch out and help themselves in areas of needs. As
collaborations which allow similar content sub groups to assist each other in teaching the sam
RECOMMENDATIONS: Continued use of ED Camp and teacher driven professional learning to
learning and motivated teachers using the new changes for the classroom benefits.

GAPSS PART A

15

ProfessionalLearningStandard5:Allocatesresourcesandestablishessystemstosupportandsustaineffectiveprofessio
Level4
Exemplary
Extensiveresources(e.g.,
substituteteachers,materials,
handouts,tools,stipends,
facilitators,technology)and
systems(e.g.,conduciveschedules,
adequatecollaborativetime,model
classrooms)areallocatedto
supportandsustaineffective
professionallearning.
Opportunitiestopracticeskills,
receivefollowup,feedback,and
coachingareprovidedtosupport
theeffectivenessofprofessional
learning.

Level3
Operational
Adequateresources(e.g.,
substituteteachers,materials,
handouts,tools,stipends,
facilitators,technology)and
systems(e.g.,conducive
schedules,adequatecollaborative
time,modelclassrooms)arein
placetosupportandsustain
professionallearning.

Level2
Emerging
Someresourcesandsystemsare
allocatedtosupportandsustain
professionallearning.

Few,ifan
systemsar
andsustain

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above Dur
and Collaborative Engagement Lesson groups teachers were provided substitutes to observ
books and supplies needed to create the presentations, as well as descriptive feedback by adm
they observed the teachers during each levels of the professional learning.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Continued use of administrators during professional learning, if possible

showing example lessons for teacher observations.

GAPSS PART A

16

ProfessionalLearningStandard6:Monitorsandevaluatestheimpactofprofessionallearningonstaffpracticesandstud
Level4
Exemplary
Monitoringandevaluatingthe
impactofprofessionallearningon
staffpracticesandincreasesin
studentlearningoccurs
extensively.Evaluationresultsare
usedtoidentifyandimplement
processestoextendstudent
learning.

Level3
Operational
Monitoringandevaluatingthe
impactofprofessionallearningon
staffpracticesandstudentlearning
occursroutinely.

Level2
Emerging
Monitoringandevaluatingthe
impactofprofessionallearningon
staffpracticesoccurssporadically.

Monitoring
impactofp
staffpracti
ever.

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above Adm
follows up very well during faculty meetings and provides insight as they observe teachers du
classroom observations. However at times different administrators arent on the same page w
goals and professional learning.
RECOMMENDATIONS: More communication with the administrator through lesson plans as to
professional learning goals that are being illustrated with this particular lesson.

GAPSS PART A

17

KSUITECProfessionalLearningStandard:Professionallearningreinforceseducatorsunderstandinganduseofstrateg
equityandhighexpectationsforallstudents,applicationofresearchbasedteachingstrategiesandassessmentprocesses,an
familiesandotherstakeholdersinpromotingstudentlearning.
Level4
Exemplary
Classroom practices (e.g.,
considering interests,
backgrounds, strengths, and
preferences to provide
meaningful, relevant lessons
and assess student progress,
differentiating instruction,
and nurturing student
capacity for selfmanagement) of all teachers
reflect an emotionally and
physically safe environment
where respect and
appreciation for a diverse
population is evident. There
are high achievement
expectations for all students
and teachers. The principal
and other leaders provide
professional learning for
teachers lacking
understanding of the impact
that attitudes regarding
race, disabilities,
background, culture, high
expectations, and social
class of both students and
teachers have on the
teaching and learning
process.

Level3
Operational

Classroom practices of
most teachers reflect skill
in communicating high
expectations for each
student and adjusting
classroom activities to
meet student needs.
Respect for students
cultures and life
experiences is evident
through the emotionally
and physically safe
learning environment
where students of diverse
backgrounds and
experiences are taught the
school code of conduct
(customs) to help them be
successful in the school
context.

Level2
Emerging

Classroom practices of
some
teachers reflect evidence
of teachers training in
understanding the impact
that attitudes regarding
race, disabilities,
background, culture, high
expectations, and social
class of both students and
teachers have on the
teaching and learning
process.

Classroom
ornoevide
trainingin
impactthat
race,disab
culture,hig
socialclass
teachersha
learningpr

EVIDENCE: In the space below, provide detailed evidence supporting your rating above Duri
collaborations there is a lot of emphasis on bridging the gap between various subgroups and e
differentiate lessons. There is also many cross curriculum professional learning opportunities
effective strategies for SPED and ESOL students. However I do believe there could be more ou
area to help inform parents strategies they can use to help their students or even input from
students about needs they feel could be addressed by the teachers.

RECOMMENDATIONS: I believe educational surveys for parents and students about teaching p
the most beneficial for the students needs to help guide further professional learning to meet
addressed.

GAPSS PART A

18

Resources
1.

http://www.gadoe.org/School-Improvement/School-ImprovementServices/Documents/School%20and%20District%20Effectiveness/GA%20School
%20Performance%20Standards.pdf
1. Chestatee High School: School Improvement Plan 2016-2017. (2016). Gainesville, GA:
Hall County Schools.