Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE) is a peer-reviewed virtual professional development resource. Modules within the resource are collaboratively authored by candidates in their final semester of coursework in the EdD in Curriculum & Instruction at Gardner-Webb University and promote positive, data-informed, sustainable change in instructional practices or organizational structures to improve student learning at the K-12 level and beyond.
The learning cycle featured in the modules in this resource is based on the STAR Legacy Cycle developed by the IRIS Center (2013); http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/) and based on the work of Dr. John Branford and colleagues (National Research Council, 2000).
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Deconstructing the Standards
Melissa Y. Pollard and Seon S. Sloley
The purpose of this Professional Learning Module (PLM) is to improve teacher understanding of academic standard deconstruction. We created this professional learning module to assist educators in better understanding how to deconstruct standards. In this PLM, you will find information about:
1.The need for deconstruction
2.The deconstruction process
3. Identifying learning Targets
4. Using a graphic organizer
5. Common assessments aligned to standards
We hope that both educators and district-level personnel will find this PLM instrumental in the training process of deconstructing standards. In unpacking, repacking, and organizing standards, teachers will develop a better understanding of what the standards are explicitly stating what isrequired of students academically. The deconstructing process will also give educators the opportunity to create quality assessments for students in improving mastery across content areas.
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Evidence-Based Reading Interventions for Middle and High School Teachers
Brittany Evans, Beverly Hart, and MaShonda Surratt
Welcome to Evidence-Based Reading Practices. This module is designed to help middle and high school teachers intervene with struggling readers in their regular education classrooms. This module will take you approximately three hours to complete. During that time, you will learn what to do when students are missing the necessary foundational skills to become skilled readers.
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Self-Mentoring: Discovering the Mentor Within
Lisa Savage and Pamela Williams
This professional learning module (PLM) was created to help educators, including classroom teachers, administrators, and instructional support staff learn about self-mentorship. The module will describe the concept of self-mentoring as a process for engaging in self-directed professional and personal growth. Districts may find it beneficial to use this PLM to train educators on how self-mentoring can be used as a leadership development tool for improving their professional and instructional practices.
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Travel Agent vs. Tour Guide: A Passport to Student Engagement
Alexis Greer, Demia Johnson, Jenee Peace, and Christopher Scruggs
This module is designed for all teachers (elementary, middle, and high) that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual and/or hybrid instruction and are currently teaching in a K-12 setting. This module will provide resources and information related to planning authentic learning tasks and re-engaging students! This module will take you approximately 4 hours to complete. The focus of this module is to provide introductory information, examples of high-yield strategies, and resources for future self-paced inquiry.
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A Guide to Standards-Based Learning
Geneva Bell, Sarah Rector, Elizabeth Schrecengost, and Beth Washle
This learning module educates parents/guardians and teachers new to the practice to understand what standards-based learning is, why a school system would use it, how to know when students are learning the standards, and the difference from traditional learning.
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Compassionate Care: Working with Students with ACEs
Leah Massey Huttlinger and Andrea Gardner Nordberg
This Professional Learning Module (PLM) was created for educators to learn more about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the negative impact trauma has on student learning. Participants in the PLM will learn about ACEs, the brain science related to trauma, behaviors associated with ACEs in the classroom, strategies to help mitigate the impact of ACEs in the classroom. Participants will have the opportunity to apply these strategies to real-life situations within the PLM. The PLM was meant to be completed independently, in small groups, or as whole-group faculty training. The option to submit a certificate for CEUs is provided upon completion of the PLM.
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Conceptual Math for the Math-Anxious Teacher
Rebecca Chapman, Heather Thomas, and Barbara Clarke
In this module we will explore many concepts supporting conceptual instruction of math from middle-elementary levels to lower-secondary level math. We help you teach not just how the math concepts work but why they work so students are empowered to engage! (Boaler, 2016)
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Designing Online Learning to Increase Student Engagement
Stacy Fuentes, Mary Newton, and Jennifer Reed
The purpose of this adaptive VPLM is to familiarize educators with how to design online learning to encourage student engagement. The VPLM is designed for secondary education or higher education professionals. The VPLM features three levels geared toward varying ability and comfort levels of educators with designing online learning. Glickman et al. (2018) highlighted the importance of offering differentiated choices to adult learners. Participants are encouraged to complete one or more levels based on their comfort and ability with designing online learning to improve their online learning environments and foster increased student engagement. Each level requires a different amount of time to complete, and the total number of hours for each level is reflected on each page. Participants can complete the VPLM at one time or in multiple sessions. The pre-assessment and educator scenarios are highlighted at the start of the VPLM to help participants determine which level to navigate first.