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 ** Charles A. Price **  ** Your Student Number **  ** Charles.Price@waldenu.edu **

EDUC-7103-1/EDUC-8843-1 Leading and Managing Educational Technology  ** Dr. Rita Conrad **  ** Walden University ** ** January 13, 2011 **

 ** Executive Summary **

 ** Increasing Social Studies CRCT Scores Beyond State Levels **

** Problem Summary ** Point South Middle School scores are lacking behind the state scores in social studies. CRCT scores for the last three years have shown very little improvement. The lack of improvement in social studies has a direct impact on student success on the other four tests.

** Background of Organization ** Pointe South Middle School opened as Pointe South Junior High School in 1978, with a student population of 375, and a staff of seventeen. Since its inception in 1978 the school enrollment has risen from the aforementioned 375 to as high as 1238. The school is located in Jonesboro, GA. There is an almost 50/50 male to female split in the student body. 83% is black, 5% white, 5% Hispanic, and the remaining percentages divided into three other groups. In August of 2011 Pointe South Middle school is set to unveil a new wing of 12 additional classrooms and a new computer lab. Information on the school can be found at []. Reports about the school can be obtained from the Clayton County School district website, as well as the Georgia Department of Education website.

** Stakeholders and Decision-Makers. ** The students, community members, and the faculty at Pointe South Middle School will be affected by my plan. The literacy coach, T. Jay and J. Brigham the math coach will have to coordinate the schedule adjustments with the members of their departments. Principal Lillard will meet with the president of the PTSA and discuss any concerns parents may have with the ramifications of the changes in the time for content classes. Dr. Vickers, the head of academics, will be a key contributor in all discussions. The Leadership Team is the final decision makers within the school, but every faculty member’s ideas and suggestions have equal standing. All changes in the schedules will not require approval from county officials, but Superintendent Smith will be consulted. Specific concerns will be addressed through department and grade level chairpersons. Matthew Smith is the Social Studies coordinator for the district and his guidance will be crucial as we attempt to implement schedule changes.

** Performance Gap: Cause Analysis ** ** Actual Current Performance. ** For the 2010 school year, the passing percentage for the state was 70% for 6th grade, 75% for 7th grade, and 60% for 8th grade. The percentage of 6th graders who took the text in 2010 and passed was 39%, 48% in 7th grade, and 48% in 8th grade.

** Desired Performance. ** Pointe South would like a 10% AMO for the next three years in each grade level. Students exceeding should increase by 5% each year. ** Performance Gap. ** The difference is 33% in 6th grade, 27% in 7th grade, and 22% in 8th grade.

** Cause Analysis. ** Pointe South Middle School has relegated social studies to 225 instructional hours per week. In comparison, ELA and math classes meet for 450 hours and additional time is available through connection math and ELA classes for an additional 90 minutes. The lack of sufficient instructional time has handcuffed students and fostered feelings of indifference with the content. CRCT scores for the last three years have shown very little improvement

** Organizational History and Background ** ** Goals. ** Describe the organizational goals as they relate to the problem you are resolving. Relate this to the gap you identified that is the subject of your PII **History.** Start writing immediately after this level 3 heading and describe the history of the organization you are working with. ** Mission and Vision. ** What is the mission of this organization? Describe the Vision of the organization. Most organizations have adopted a mission and vision statement that provides a foundation for the decisions that are made.

** Pointe **** South Middle School Mission Statement ** “To prepare students to enter high school at or above grade level in all content areas while exhibiting good character and citizenship.” The vision is to foster a strong school culture and to strengthen community bonds. At Pointe South Middle School, we believe every student deserves a safe, positive, supportive learning community where mutual respect for academic achievement is the standard and our goal is to let excellence, purpose and high expectations drive achievement.

** Three Intervention Strategies **

The intervention strategies implemented will focus on curriculum, students, and educators. Students will participate in the AVID program, educators will utilize effective collaborative planning, and educators will incorporate flexible scheduling. Each strategy connects all stakeholders in supportive roles to provide an engaging and rigorous learning environment.

** Low end intervention. **

The interventions for this level are aimed at promoting a family environment. Celebrations, such as Parent University and Academic Night will be planned and provide a festive environment in which all stakeholders can stay informed in a relaxed setting. Peer tutors, backward designing of lesson plans, using power standards,

** Middle end intervention. **

Three interventions used will be the software programs Study Island, Turning point and BrainPop. Study Island has components which provide opportunities for parents to assist students in content mastery. Teachers can match what students are working on in Study Island to what they are doing in class. BrainPop has lesson plans, quizzes, and short and extremely entertaining videos on a variety of subject across all contents. Turning Point can be used with Study Island or as a stand along component. Staff meeting will be designed to provide an opportunity to plan as a content, team, and school wide.

** High end intervention. **

Students will take field trips to the areas they are studying. The exposure and extensive use of 21st century tools such as wiki's, podcast, and Skype will be implemented in the classrooms. Guest speakers and volunteers will provide the real world connect to enhance the learning experience. AVID will be the focal point of helping students prepare to be master students.

** Justification for Intervention Strategy ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Share which of your three intervention strategies you selected to propose to the organization. Describe the strengths and limitations of each of the strategies you selected. Share why the intervention strategy you selected is more likely to resolve the problem than the other two. Include data from documents provided by the organization, interview data, or other information gleaned from the Web to support your choice. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Share the strengths and weaknesses of each of the two intervention strategies you didn’t select. Describe why you rejected it supporting your decision with data and sound reasoning. Write one paragraph for each of the rejected intervention strategies. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Demonstrate how your chosen interview strategy best meets the organizational goals stated in the performance gap in Module 2. ** The Manager’s Many Roles ** Project management techniques: Explain your role as project manager for this intervention strategy. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Resource management techniques: Describe the resources that will be used for this intervention and how they will be tracked. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Delivery system management techniques: Identify the medium for the delivery of the intervention strategy and how the technology will be implemented within the instructional context. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Information management techniques: Describe how information related to this intervention strategy will be stored, accessed, and processed. This may include information that l be used for evaluation of the intervention. ** The Manager as Change Agent ** ** Financial and Budget Information. ** Tentative budget for your intervention strategy, along with supporting documentation; consider technology purchases, personnel training, additional support, and other considerations specific to your proposal. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Supporting documentation for your budget, including links to Web sites where purchases can be made and the costs of implementation. ** Project Assessment. ** Describe how the project objectives will be evaluated. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: 0in;">Describe the formative evaluation plan you will use. Include your formative evaluation instrument in an Appendix. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: 0in;">Describe the summative evaluation plans you will use. Include your summative evaluation instrument in an Appendix.

<span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: none; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">All references you used to develop your PII should be included in this list. Please remember to use APA 6th formatting for your references. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tabstops: .5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">You will also use hanging indentations for your references as shown in this example.