Closing the Gap

8636 Bacon, Latosha

Gap Identification Southside Middle School is located on the south side of Albany, Georgia. The school is a part of the Dougherty County School System. Southside's current enrollment is 467 students. Our campus is located between Albany Technical College and Monroe High School, which is the high school that receives 98% of our population. There are several governmental agencies nearby including Albany Regional Youth Detention Center, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Driver Services. Our school is located near low income housing, rental property, and single family dwellings. Our student population is 99% African American which is also reflected in both our staff and community demographics. In the past seven years, we have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) six times. As there is always room for improvement, it is necessary to address areas of weakness. Based on the data located on The Governor's Office of Student Achievement's website, students at Southside Middle School have a difficult time meeting the standards in science. Though science is the weakest area in all grade levels, sixth grade science is particularly low. The sixth grade science curriculum covers Earth Science which consists of three domains: Astronomy, Hydrology and Meteorology, and Geology. During the 2010-2011 school year, only 36% of students met the standard in sixth grade science. At the end of each nine weeks the students in the Dougherty County School System are administered benchmark exams in each content area. The exams

Closing the Gap

8636 Bacon, Latosha

are scored using Achievement Series, a Scantron based scoring system that produces standards based results. Data provided by Achievement Series reflects the same findings as the information provided by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, students are struggling science, primarily in sixth grade science.

Research In an effort to create staff development that is both engaging and beneficial, the developer must be mindful of the needs of the teachers, the content, and the students they will be teaching. According to Mainka (2007), institutions that recognize the value of innovation in modern education are therefore encouraged to adopt staff development methods that put staff first by following suggested guidelines:

Closing the Gap

8636 Bacon, Latosha

* treating academic staff as 'assets, not costs'; * acknowledging and incorporating prior knowledge and teaching skills into training; * linking training to content and curriculum: * integrating academics in all stages of development to ensure ownership of learning; * providing ongoing opportunity for peer collaboration and sharing of knowledge in communities of practice; * offering opportunities for refreshing learned skills to build selfconfidence; * supporting ongoing staff developmental programmes by adapting them to address the rapid advances in educational technology; * making staff development for technology an integral part of academics' lives. (159160) In addition to following the aforementioned guidelines, the developer of the professional learning plan must offer more interactive activities than the typical "sit-and-get" staff development format. It is understood that when teachers take an active role in classroom research they are able to see firsthand what interventions work and learn to make modifications of an intervention based on the needs of the students in their classroom (Alber & Nelson, 2010).

Closing the Gap

8636 Bacon, Latosha

Because many teachers are not comfortable with the use of technology for instruction, Alber and Nelson suggest selecting interventions based on the teacher's comfort level with the approach and feasibility in terms of classroom resources and scheduling (Alber & Nelson, 2010). To ensure the implementation of programs and resources practical timelines and strategies are modeled for teacher use. The more useful each teacher finds the program the more likely they are to use it more frequently. Alber & Nelson also believe that interventions should be relatively simple, low cost in terms of time and effort, and revolve around what the teacher is willing to do (2010). Not only do Alber & Nelson believe it should be low cost, current budget constraints indicate the same. Since there are many free downloads, Web 2.0 tools, and web-based activities, this is not a difficult task. During and after training teachers need opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues. In a survey conducted by (Engstrom & Danielson, 2006) found that collegiality among staff members at the building level is a major support mechanism for their continued learning by teachers. Fostering relationships among staff members is a beneficial factor for motivating teachers to pursue ongoing staff development. Engstrom & Danielson also found that professional growth is a developmental process that involves multiple dimensions, and that teachers need ongoing support as they translate their self-initiated efforts to learn

Closing the Gap

8636 Bacon, Latosha

about an innovation into classroom practices (Engstrom & Danielson, 2006) This simply means that teachers need ongoing support. One-shot staff development training is not as effective as on-going sessions with follow-up plans. Teachers do not wish to be left to fend for themselves with new strategies and technology dropped in their laps. They need someone to answer their questions once the ideas are put into practice. Training does not actually begin until students are in the classroom asking questions for which teachers have no answers. Having access to colleagues and the developer/trainer eases the teachers transition for learner to teacher.