Christina Canavan IST 524 October 8, 2013 Capstone Proposal Problem The 2013 STAR testing results at New

Brighton Middle School showed an increase in students considered proficient in both 7th and 8th grade Language Arts, but showed a decrease by 3.5% for the 6th grade student population. Sixth Grade Language Arts had shown a steady increase for the previous three years. One note of possible correlation was the fact that two new teachers were hired for the 2012/2013 school year and only two veteran teachers with more than three years teaching experience in the sixth grade remained in the position. However, learner characteristics change from year to year so this should also be considered as a reason for the decrease in proficiency. The district wants to improve the achievement gap that exists with all students, but I will concentrate on improving the proficiency of 6th grade students. Target Users The learners will be the sixth grade teachers at New Brighton Middle School. I have spoken to all of them about their willingness to participate in my instructional design project. They are committed to trying new teaching methods in order to increase Language Arts proficiency in the sixth grade population. Solution In order to increase the proficiency of sixth grade students in Language Arts my solution is to train sixth grade teachers in the flipping the classroom teaching model. I will develop an online learning module for Language Arts that would include annotating texts, Cornell Notes, expository essays, and prewriting and editing. The lessons that would normally take place in the

classroom (annotating text, listening to lectures, taking Cornell Notes) would be completed by students at home for homework. This would leave class time available for active learning such as Socratic Seminars, philosophical chairs, creating videos, and other active learning activities. The units I will create will be cross-curricular with Social Studies a part of all the writing units.