Portfolio Project

EDUC 765: Trends and Issues in Instructional Design

By: Jessica Grambsch

Submitted May 13th, 2018

 Project Proposal – Module 2

PROPER PARENT PERMISSION FOR SPECIAL LUNCH AND EVENTS IN A PRESCHOOL

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION
Kids Express Learning Center

Kids Express Learning Center is a preschool for children 0-5 years old. The goal is to provide
a safe and quality learning environment for children in Madison.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Families like to bring in special treats or lunches to the preschool. Often this is mentioned
the day before they would like to bring it in. Currently, the process has to go through three
different people in order to get a permission slip printed for parents to sign. This process
takes too long and often teachers either don’t follow the process, which is not following
licensing rule, or teachers have to turn the parents down, which is disappointing to the
parents and kids. With the higher employee turnover, each classroom has a different
process for getting parent permission. Opportunities to improve the process include:
 developing a school-wide method for gaining parent permission
 ensure that all classrooms are following the same policy in gaining parent permission

future opportunities include:

 provide an online form for teachers to submit to administration to speed up the
process in getting the paper permission slip
 develop an online method for gaining parent permission

1
AIM
Promote a quick, efficient process to ensure parents give permission for their child to
participate in special lunch while also following appropriate licensing policies. Target
Audience
 Administration
 Teachers

DELIVERY OPTIONS
Face-to-Face delivery makes the most sense for this training so that questions can be asked
of the teachers and understanding of the policies is understood.

2
 Front-End Analysis: Instructional Need – Module 3

INSTRUCTIONAL NEED
When parents want to bring in a special lunch or treat, teachers must get the permission
from parents of each student in class. This must be done by the teacher filling out a half
sheet of paper with who is bringing the food, what they are bringing and from where. The
form needs to be turned into our office assistant who then gives it to one of administrators.
This administrator then must type in the name of each student in the classroom, print it and
then the form has to be delivered to the classroom by the office assistant. The teachers
must than make sure that each parent prints and signs their name next to their child’s name
on a piece of paper which is then given to the office assistant who has to give it to an
administrator to file. After conducting a brief survey via email about the process their
classroom follows regarding special lunch, I found very few classrooms follow the correct
procedure. Some classrooms only require parents to respond to an email for permission,
some allow verbal permission, and some have their own classroom form that parents sign.
There are a few different reasons why classrooms have different ways of handling special
lunch permission: they have been working at the preschool for several years and don’t feel
like it is necessary to go through the long process, they are new employees and have not
been trained on the correct process, or they don’t have time to go through the long process
before the special lunch is set to occur. Although many may not think it is a big deal to not
follow through with this process, it does not follow the licensing policies.
There are two problems:
 teachers need to be trained on the proper way to obtain parent permission
and why they must follow these policies
and
 the process for obtaining a permission slip to sign is too long

3
Opportunities to improve the process include:
 developing a school-wide method for gaining parent permission

 ensure that all classrooms are following the same policy in gaining parent permission

Future opportunities to improve the process include:

 developing an online method for gaining parent permission (communication
between administration and parent)
 provide an online form for teachers to submit to administration to speed up the
process in getting the paper permission slip

4
 Front-End Analysis: Learner Characteristics – Module 3
LEARNER ANALYSIS
Primary Audience
 Lead Teachers
 Assistant Teachers
 Administration

Secondary Audience
 Substitute Teachers
 Specials Teachers

General Learner Characteristics

 Education: Most all are college educated with at least a bachelors degree
 Age: Young, mostly in mid 20’s-early 30’s
 Gender: Mostly women, 3-4 men
 Work Experience: 1 week-10+ years

Entry Characteristics
 Highly educated
 Most have a lot of experience with computers/technology
 Motivated by time-saving procedures

5
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Orienting Context
 One goal is to learn licensing regulations regarding getting parents’ permission for
food brought into the school by parents and field trips. Another goal would be
learning how to fill out and submit an online form to make the process of getting a
permission slip printed by administration quicker and more efficient.
 Since most teachers do not follow the correct process in obtaining parent
permission, they may view this instruction as unnecessary. Some may appreciate the
quicker, more efficient process.
 Most teachers are under the impression that they can obtain parent permission for
special lunches and field trips without having to let administration know.
 Some teachers may not think getting parent permission is necessary for a special
lunch brought in by parents. Or some may get permission from parents in their own
classroom but fail to let administration know about it.

Instructional Context
 Face-to-face meeting, during the school day offered several times throughout the
day ensuring that the teachers classroom has sufficient coverage. Each session would
be 30 minutes and there would be two sessions to cover all the material.
 All lights on but dimmed over projector.
 Meeting would take place in the conference room which has very little noise.
 Temperature is usually comfortable in the conference room and can be adjusted if
not.
 Arrange tables and chairs surrounding one center table so all can sit comfortably and
see the projector.
 Paper and pens would be provided for note taking.
 Computer, projector, cord to connect computer and projector.
 No transportation needed, conference room located on preschool campus.

6
Technology Inventory
 Learners would be learning and observing a walk-through example on how to submit
a special lunch/field trip permission slip. I would send an email prior to the learning
session asking anyone who could to bring their laptop computer. It would be ideal for
teachers to have a laptop to be able to walk through the process and ask any
questions they may have at each step either on their own or in groups of two.

Transfer Context
 This learning experience would be fairly specialized to our center but could use the
licensing regulations at future preschools.
 The learners would use the learned information each time they had a special
lunch/field trip or an instance where parent permission was required.
 Additional help would be available to anyone who feels they need it.

7
 Instructional Impact Based Upon Learner Characteristics

APPLICATION OF LEARNING THEORIES

As my target audience is young adult learners, I don’t think that flexibility in change will be a
big issue. Most teachers at the preschool are willing to learn new things if it means that it
will save time. Starting and ending the sessions on time will be extremely important due to
coverage for the classrooms and will expect the instructor to be prepared to give a lot of
information in a short amount of time. While there will be a lot of information to cover, it
will be important to give the teachers a little time to talk through their classrooms current
process, comparing them to other classes (without judgement), and why they do it this way.
Another important aspect of the adult learning theories that I want to make sure to include
is teacher feedback on the process being taught. If they have suggestions on how to make
the process even more efficient, I want to hear their ideas.

APPLICATION OF MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

I would apply Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivation. To gain the teachers attention, I would
have a few different examples of ways that classrooms get parent permission for special
lunches. Some of these would be correct and some would be incorrect. Teachers would
participate in a quick game of deciding which was right or wrong. We would then talk
through each example and break down why they were right or wrong. Because these
examples would be real examples from classrooms at our school, this would link the
learning to previous experiences. They would be able to see what they are doing right in the
process and what they are doing wrong. Another part of the theory that applies to this
situation is the perceived future usefulness. Special lunches happen often so learning the
licensing rules and our schools procedures for obtaining parent permission will be extremely
useful. I would then model how the process of obtaining permission for special lunches is
done at our school. After seeing how to go through the process, the teachers would have an
opportunity to go through the process themselves. The teachers would exchange their work

8
with another teacher and provide feedback. I would allow for questions or discussions at the
end of the training.

IMPACT OF A DIVERSE AUDIENCE ON INSTRUCTION

The primary audience consists of mostly women between the age of 25-35. Although there is
not a lot of diversity in my target audience, I will want to make sure that I incorporate
opportunities to discuss their current process with each other and how they would ideally
improve the process of gaining parent. Also, I will want to make sure that I am giving
opportunities for the teachers to actually use the process of obtaining parent permission.

9
 Task/Goal/Performance Analysis – Module 5
TASK ANALYSIS METHOD
The task analysis method that I am using for this project is the procedural analysis. I chose
this method because it seemed to fit best with my goal. The procedural analysis deals with
tasks that the person must complete and the steps that are required to successfully
complete the task. My goal is for teachers to complete a list of tasks in order to obtain
parent permission for special lunches at a preschool.

TASK ANALYSIS
1. Teacher receives an email from parents asking to bring in a special lunch
2. Teacher asks parent to give a specific menu of what they will be bringing in
3. Teacher fills out special lunch form with the specific menu items and the date of the
special lunch.
4. Teacher and administrator ensure that the food items being brought in following the
licensing requirements for a child’s lunch each day at the preschool
5. Teacher gets approval from administrator to allow special lunch
6. Administrator fill outs a special lunch permission slip with all the children’s names and
space for parents to print and sign their name
7. Administrator has the office assistant print the special lunch permission slip
8. Teacher makes sure to get all the parents permissions by printing and signing their
name on the special lunch permission slip
9. Teacher makes sure to not serve the special lunch to students who do not have
permission from their parents

GOAL ANALYSIS
Step 1 - Write down the goals.

10
Original goals: To ensure that all classroom teachers are following the correct licensing and
center procedures when obtaining parent permission for special lunches and field trips.

Step 2 - Write down everything a learner would have to say or do for you to agree that the
learner has achieved the goal. This is not a list of what you will need to do as the
instructional designer or teacher.

List the licensing requirements for a child’s lunch each day

List our centers requirements for obtaining parent permission
Know where to find the form to fill out for special lunches
Know how to fill out the form
Know how far in advance you need to submit the form
Know what food items the parents are bringing in for the special lunch in advance
Know which students have allergies and what they are allergic to
Be able to fill out a special lunch form without assistance
Know who to turn the form into
Know what parents need to fill out in order to give their child permission

Step 3 - Sort the items Listed in step 2.

Licensing/Center Requirements

 List the licensing requirements for a child’s lunch each day

 List our centers requirements for obtaining parent permission
Procedure

 Know where to find the form to fill out for special lunches
 Know how to fill out the form
 Know how far in advance you need to submit the form
 Be able to fill out a special lunch form without assistance
 Know who to turn the form into
 Know what parents need to fill out in order to give their child permission

11
Classroom Specifics

 Know what food items the parents are bringing in for the special lunch
 Know which students have allergies and what they are allergic to
 Know which students don’t have permission to have special lunch
 Know what parents need to fill out in order to give their child permission

Step 4 - Write a complete sentence to describe each of the items on your final list.

Licensing/Center Requirements: Teachers will communicate the licensing and center rules
and regulations regarding a child’s lunch.
 List the licensing requirements for a child’s lunch each day
 List our centers requirements for obtaining parent permission
Procedure: Teachers will be able to submit a special lunch form by filling out what the
parents will be bringing and the date the special lunch will happen.
 Know where to find the form to fill out for special lunches
 Know how to fill out the form
 Know how far in advance you need to submit the form
 Be able to fill out a special lunch form without assistance
 Know who to turn the form into
 Know what parents need to fill out in order to give their child permission
Classroom Specifics: Teachers will be able to gain parent permission for special lunch given
the special lunch permission slip.
 Know what food items the parents are bringing in for the special lunch
 Know which students have allergies and what they are allergic to
 Know which students don’t have permission to have special lunch
 Know what parents need to fill out in order to give their child permission

12
 Instructional Objectives – Module 5
INSTRUCTIONAL GOAL

The goal of this training is for teachers to be able to identify licensing and center
rules and regulations regarding a child’s lunch requirements and to be able to
correctly gain parent permission for a special lunch.

TERMINAL OBJECTIVES AND ENABLING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the training, teachers will be able to
 Identify licensing and center rules and regulations regarding a child’s lunch
requirements. (knowledge)
o List the licensing requirements for a child’s lunch each day (knowledge)
o List our centers requirements for obtaining parent permission (knowledge)
o Apply our centers requirements for obtaining parent permission to a given
situation (application, analysis)

 Submit a special lunch form when given the food items being brought in and the date
the special lunch will happen. (application)
o Understand how to correctly fill out special lunch form including date and
items being brought.
o Understand where to submit the form and who to submit the form to.

 Gain parent permission for special lunch when given the special lunch permission
slip. (application, analysis)
o Understand what parents need to fill out in order to give their child
permission to have special lunch.
o Know who can and cannot have the special lunch on the day.

13
 Enabling Objectives Matrix & Supporting Content – Module 6
Title of the unit/module: Proper parent permission for special lunch and events in a
preschool
Brief description of target audience: The target audience of this training is both
administrators and teachers at the preschool.
List Terminal Objective Here: By the end of the training, teachers will be able to identify
licensing and center rules and regulations regarding a child’s lunch requirements. (cognitive-
facts)
List Pre-Instructional Strategy: The learners will take a pretest which will ask them questions
about the procedures for obtaining parent permission for special lunch.

Enabling Level on Bloom’s Learner Activity Delivery Method

Objective Taxonomy (What would learners do (Group
to master this presentation/lecture, self-
objective?) paced, or small group)
List the Knowledge The learner would write Self-paced. Students would
licensing down the lunch be given the licensing
requirements requirements for a documents which lists the
for a child’s child’s lunch. requirements for a child’s
lunch each lunch.
day
List our Knowledge The learner would be Group presentation/lecture.
centers able to write out the The trainer would go
requirements steps needed to take to through our centers process
for obtaining ensure they are receiving for obtaining permission for
parent administration a child to participate in
permission permission and parent special lunch.
permission for the
special lunch.
Apply our Application, The learners would be Small group. The learners
centers Analysis able to correctly describe would be placed in groups
requirements how they would obtain and allowed time to discuss
for obtaining parent permission when the situation and how they
parent given a situation. would correctly gain parent
permission to permission.
a given
situation

14
 References

Mager, Robert F. Preparing instructional objectives: A critical tool in the development of effective
instruction (3rd ed.). Center for Effective Performance.

15
16