Proposal+Draft+Initiated+by+Deb+Bordelon

[|deb610] TPS PROJECT PLAN Governors State University

1. Overview: Governors State University is situated on the south side of Chicago. There are approximately 90 school districts in the regional area that GSU serves. Governors State Teaching with Primary Sources (GSU-TPS) is currently partnering with a local district and has served more than 22 of these school districts over the past six years. Additionally, the GSU program also has served pre-service teachers in the “Grow Your Own Program” and probationary teacher from the Alternative Certification Program. Expansion of these partnerships are key in the future development of the Teaching with Primary Sources program.

The school districts involved in this project represent a cross-section of demographics, however, there is an exceptionally high concentration of high-poverty, high minority, low performing school in the project which mirrors the regional demographics. GSU has served and will continue to serve a diverse cross-section of schools but concentrates on schools that have been targeted by the State of Illinois as high-needs districts. The majority of districts participating in this project are low SES based on free lunch counts.

A. Goals • During the two years of program implementation, up to 40 (20 each year) program participants will receive tuition and fees credit through the grant for the one course focused on Level 1 and 2 TPS activities.

• Integrate more online teaching modules and handheld device learning activities into professional development and courses to support inquiry-based learning using primary sources.

• Continue to provide face-to-face instruction that focuses on primary source-based professional development for K-12 educators, librarians and university level educators.

• Increase the ability of educators to design student-centered primary source-based learning experiences that use best instructional practices, primarily inquiry based.

• Continue to focus on standards-based, higher order thinking learning experiences that improve participants’ ability to critically examine primary sources.

• Expand efforts to further promote the Library’s digital resources which will enlarge the community of educators who are dedicated to the improvement of education through the use of primary sources.

• Provide useful, yet financial responsible, incentives that help educators access, manipulate, develop, and deliver educational experiences for students which addresses Illinois Learning Standards, uses the constructivist learning model, inquiry based learning, and incorporates primary digital sources from the Library of Congress.

• Continue to work collaboratively with the TPS consortium members from Loyola and DePaul universities.

• Support selected program participants to attend a week long training session in Washington, DC each summer.

• The GSU-TPS director will continue to serve and/or lead TPS advisories and committees and actively participate in LOC-TPS at the national level.

B. Strategy

Needs Analysis

The GSU-TPS project will send out a Needs Assessment to the teachers in the surrounding school districts to determine the types of activities that are needed to develop, integrate, and enhance the use of Library of Congress resources within the academic subjects, especially social studies and English.

A separate needs analysis will be sent out electronically to the university community to determine the level of interest and training needs across the disciplines.

Targeted Audience The targeted audience will be upper elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers. It is essential to involve teachers at all levels in inquiry-based learning using the LOC resources to actively engage students in learning. In addition to serving in-service teachers, the GSU-TPS program will actively engage in program activities with pre-service teachers in the undergraduate teacher education and alternative certification programs. Outreach programs to local librarians and local professional organizations will also be implemented. University faculty across all four colleges will be invited to participate in the seminars and training workshops.

Program formats The program format will make use of seminars, workshops, pre-service course sessions, graduate courses, and faculty development forums. These formats will be enhanced by large forums led by guest speakers that will be brought in twice a year to address topics of interest across program participants. These forums will also be available to the community at large which will enhance the community networking and outreach efforts.

2. RATIONALE FOR STRATEGY

3. PROGRAM

Description of Activities Associated with the Three Levels

GSU-TPS ascribes to the Constructivist Learning Model with an emphasis on inquiry-based learning. In brief, the model is an umbrella for all best-practices that includes inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning. These are instructional models that encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Our ultimate goal is for students to create new knowledge. All instruction regarding Teaching with Primary Sources is saturated with creating learning experiences within this model.

GSU-TPS will offer programming in a variety of formats. All formats reflect the goals that of the Library of Congress which are standardized for the Teaching with Primary Sources consortium members: 1. Level 1 Experiences: Level 1 experiences will be implemented through preservice classroom sessions, inservice teacher workshops, and guest speakers. This will allow participants to become familiar with the LOC resources and understand how to create learning experiences using the LOC resources and inquiry-based learning experiences. 2. Level 2 - Elite Training: Participants in this training commit to approximately 70 hours of training. GSU-TPS will target two to four school district partners each semester for this training. Elite Training is offered for 45 CPDUs or can be taken for 3 graduate credits in the College of Education. Up to 20 participants each semester will receive tuition and fees. There will be an application process and review for interested project participants. A low-priced netbook may be offered as an incentive to participants. This level meets all goals and requirements for Level I and Level II. This training includes a one-year-later workshop requirement where participants are to return, report and reflect on how the training has impacted their teaching and the learning that goes on in the classroom. The graduate level course will also be open to any qualified GSU graduate student. This level of training will especially target classroom teachers who have a GSU voucher to take a course where tuition is waived. 3. During the time period between completion of the Level 2-Elite Training and the annual follow-up meeting, the director and/or hired instructors (who are former program participants) will work with our Office of Digital Learning and Media Services to videotape lessons being taught in the classrooms bt program participants. These teaching sessions will be used as training materials on DVDs and on the website.

4. Level 3 – Train the Trainer model will focus on a deeper level of understanding of how the use of LOC resources can impact student learning. Mentoring colleagues, conducting workshops, conducting action research, and dissemination of results and information will be the focus of this level of training. Five to eight participants from the previous workshops will be identified to serve in this capacity. Intensive training will take place to prepare participants to take on these roles. These participants will work closely with the director of the GSU-TPS to prepare, implement and assess Level 1 and Level 2 workshops and seminars.

5. Workshop Training will continue to be a key component of the program at GSU. Workshops range from short introductions to the LOC’s digital primary sources to a series of 8-12 hour training modules that meet the goals of LOC-TPS Level I and II goals. It includes training sessions for alumni as well as involving alumni in the delivery of these workshops. Those workshops are designed as follow-up, introduction to new content at the LOC, and as a means to keep alumni involved and to offer continuing support.

6. Presentation at local, regional, and national conferences will be used as a way disseminating information about the structure and effectiveness of the project. Present project participants and alumni of the project will be involved in these presentations.

7. Support selected program participants to attend a week long training session in Washington, DC each summer. There will be structured process for selecting the program participants involving a written application and brief interview. A panel consisting of the director, two faculty members(who have gone through the TPS training), and two project alumni will review the applications. Applications will be due in early spring for the summer workshops.

8. University Instructional Staff Training: Workshops for university staff will be offered at the Level I and II training levels. Collaborative efforts with the College of Arts and Sciences will increase the level of outreach across the university. Faculty members who have participated in past trainings will be encouraged to participate in the delivery of these workshops.

Delivery of Instruction Instruction is delivered at GSU in the Senator Richard Durbin Adventures of the American Mind Training Room. Instruction is also delivered on-site at school districts. Outreach and dissemination will be conducting in a systematic way through print and electronic media. Presentations by the director and selected program participants will be used to disseminate information on the GSU-TPS program. Emphasis will be placed on the impact on student learning. GSU personnel spread the word of Teaching with Primary Sources by making presentations at local, state, national and, perhaps, international educational conferences. GSU-TPS has also offered blended training sessions with parts being offered face-to-face and parts online. The online format and modules will be developed during the coming year. The use of handheld devices to access and integrate LOC into the classroom instruction will be developed further.

Website/Dissemination GSU-TPS hosts a web-site ([|http://tps.govst.edu]) which currently contains about 300 projects in a searchable database. Many projects have multiple lesson plans within each. Instructional materials, both static and multimedia, are posted on the site for open use by educators in Illinois and around the world. The website is currently being updated to include the most current information on the GSU-TPS. A link to the GSU-TPS website will be placed the College of Education main website which will enhance the accessibility of the website and increase the amount of traffic. It is essential that the website be used as a tool for pre-service and inservice teachers for exemplars of inquiry-based lessons. The website will be a tool for dissemination of information on the work of the project.