MD4 dis1

For this Discussion, you will use data to develop a specialization-specific scenario representing a need for change in your educational or community setting. (BASED ON Early Childhood Education)
Note: You will develop the scenario in this Discussion for your colleagues to respond to and address the scenario from your perspective in Module 4 Discussion 2.

due Jan 11 at 10:00am

Module 4: Discussion 1

SCENARIOS FOR CHANGE

Consider the need for educational change facing the Grand City community and how members of the task force have begun working toward meeting that need. You have reviewed the data reflecting demographics for the community and reflected on how the data should inform decisions regarding changes to your specialization. While changes may be welcomed by some members in the community, as a leader of change, you must also take into account why some members resist change. Perhaps the issues facing Grand City are similar or reflective of the needs of your own community. How might you support your community in a change process? How might you encourage change-resistant community members to work toward necessary change?

For this Discussion, you will use data to develop a specialization-specific scenario representing a need for change in your educational or community setting. (BASED ON Early Childhood Education)

Note: You will develop the scenario in this Discussion for your colleagues to respond to and address the scenario from your perspective in Module 4 Discussion 2.

To prepare:

• Review the assigned Fullan (2016) chapters for this module. Consider the processes and concepts regarding change and how educational leaders can support both.

• In the City Hall location in Grand City, revisit the media of the task force’s opening meeting. Think about the issues addressed by the members represented and how communities strive to meet the educational requirements of their children/students and the needs of their members. Think about how the issues raised in the video and those by your colleagues thus far in the course resonate with your specialization in your own educational or community setting.

• Select an issue that represents a need for change in your educational or community setting and involves, or has the potential to involve, your specialization area. Locate and review the existing data related to this issue. What is the data telling you about the issue and potential educational and/or community changes?

Note: If you are unable to determine an issue from your own educational setting or find data related to your issue, you can select an issue and review the data provided in Grand City.

• Based on the data, develop a more detailed scenario of the issue for your Walden colleagues to respond to with evidence-based strategies for leading the change process.

Note: You may wish to base your scenario on a personal experience or on the information provided in Grand City.

ASSIGNMENT TASK PART 1

Write a scenario description that explains:

• The details of the issue, including the history of the problem, who is involved, and why the problem has occurred. Be sure to include specific reference to data to support your explanation.

• How the issue presents a need for change within your specialization in your educational or community setting.

For this Discussion, and all scholarly writing in this course and throughout your program, you will be required to use APA style and provide reference citations.

ASSIGNMENT TASK PART 2

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues in
150 word responses:

• explaining how you would address the issue they proposed using specific evidence-based strategies for leading the change process.

• Be sure to support your response with reference to the Learning Resources, research, and prior professional experiences.

MODULE 4: LEARNING RESOURCES

Required Readings

· Fullan, M. (2016).

The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

· Chapter 3, “Insights into the Change Process” (pp. 39–53)

· Chapter 5, “Planning, Doing, and Coping with Change” (pp. 82–96)

· Giancola, S. (2014). 

Evaluation matters: Getting the information you need from your evaluation
 Links to an external site.

. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/sst/evaluationmatters

· Jayaratne, K. S. U. (2016). T

ools for formative evaluation: Gathering the information necessary for program improvement.
 Links to an external site.

 
Journal of Extension, 54(1), 28. Retrieved from https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1930&context=joe

· Henson, H. (2016). 

Data quality evaluation for program evaluators
 Links to an external site.

. 
Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 21(1), 99-108. doi:10.3138/cjpe.261

· Document: 

Action Plan Template 1

 Download Action Plan Template 1

(Word document)

· Document: 

Action Plan Template 2

 Download Action Plan Template 2

(Word document)

Required Media

· Grand City Community

Go to the 

Grand City Community
 Links to an external site.

and click into City Hall to review the following for this module:

· Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2017a). 
Grand City opening task force meeting [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

· Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2016b). 
Grand City education and demographic data files [PDF]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Amanda Puryear

A significant issue in the Hearne ISD gifted and talented program is the lack of gifted-specific instructional strategies utilized in the classroom. This issue stems from the lack of gifted certified teachers in the district. Out of the 71 teachers employed from k-12, only 14, 19%, have completed the gifted and talented training course (A.Puryear, personal communication, December 26, 2022). This lack of enrichment can lead gifted students to become bored in the classroom. It is imperative to the gifted and talented program that more teachers become trained in gifted instruction and accommodate our higher-achieving students.

The first strategy I would use to target this issue is forming a professional learning community focused on gifted education. According to Fullan (2016), teachers need purposeful interaction like skill training workshops and time to converse with one another in order to give and receive help in learning new instructional strategies. Another strategy that I would use is applying the right pressure for change. Making training and the implementation of strategies a job-embedded requirement shows that gifted education is just as important as general education. This pressure can be applied through the use of a focus on the data, which shows an increase in the number of students classified as gifted. However, as Fullan(2016) describes, pressure should also be accompanied by time for teachers to process and react to the change and collaborate with others to find success. By creating a district-based gifted and talented training program, our teachers will be able to learn from each other on the best methods to reach our gifted students.

References

Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Katheryn Gonzales

The primary issue concerning the “Reading Wars” is that teachers are not being taught specifically how to teach reading in their schools. Many teachers are learning through school curriculum, professional development, and experience. However, many teachers are unaware of the science behind reading and the importance of teaching students to look at a word and decode it properly. The research suggests that 33% of teachers learned how to teach reading through professional development, 17% through experience, 14% through curriculum, and 15% said other and so on (Loewus, 2019).

The first strategy I would use to address this issue, according to Fullan (2016), is to “assume that lack of capacity is the initial problem and then work on it continuously” (p. 46). The assumption, to begin with, is that people in education do not know how to improve the situation regarding the best way to teach reading and also acknowledge that teachers need to be taught in college the science behind reading and how best to teach it before leaving for the classroom. Once the lack of capacity has been acknowledged, work hard every day to improve.

The next strategy I would focus on effectively addressing change is establishing positive pressure (Fullan, 2016). The crisis with the “Reading Wars” is not isolated to one school or school district; this is a problem nationwide. According to Fullan (2016), we need to take the excuses off the table to establish positive pressure. As resources, capacity, and positive examples of successful reading programs are working and distractions removed, positive peer pressure is essential to see actual change.

References
:

Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Loewus, L. (2019, December 4). Data: How Reading Is Really Being Taught. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-Links to an external site.

learning/data-how-reading-is-really-being-taught/2019/12