Human Performance Improvement Report

Client Pine Mountain Middle School Certified Staff

Organization: 2720 Pine Mountain Circle, Kennesaw, GA 30152

Team Members: Group #6:

Jennifer Cassidy, Robert Tyo, Susan Carothers, Sachet Lawrence, Carol
Mickus

Do not delete this text until you submit Assignment 4

Your instructors will make comments directly on this document throughout the assignment! Do not
delete/resolve these comments. As you prepare your Assignment 4, you will be responsible for
responding to and making changes based on the feedback.

**Remember, if you have a question regarding a comment, don’t reply and ask your question, but instead
email the instructors.**
Executive Summary
Complete this section as the final component before you turn in Assignment 4! In this section, you
will essentially summarize the entire report below in no more than 2 pages. This condensed report should
synthesize each of the below components (the other deliverables in this assignment).

Performance Systems Analysis Alignment Tables

In the following table, provide a high-level
overview of the HPI process. You will complete the following sections along with the corresponding
assignments as listed below.
● Problem Statement with Assignment 1
● Data with Assignment 2
Data Collection Alignment Table
Data
For quantifying the
performance gap (e.g.,
Current and Ideal
Problem Statement Performances)
Educators at Pine In each cell, briefly
Mountain Middle describe the type of data
you’re collecting. Make
School are not sure it is connected to the
implementing the appropriate heading (e.g.,
new instructional Interviews with 8th grade
technology resources science teachers).
supplied by the
Interviews with 6th, 7th,
district. and 8th grade science
teachers at PMMS to
discern the confidence
level they have with the
current technology
resources available and
their ability to implement
the use of these resources
successfully with their
students.
Have the technological
resources provided by the
district in the last 18
months provided valuable
assistance for you in
planning and executing
lessons?
Have the technology
resources made available
been usable in your
current lessons?
For understanding the
context or environment
In each cell, briefly
describe the type of data
you’re collecting. Make
sure it is connected to the
appropriate heading (e.g.,
Interviews with 8th grade
science teachers).
Interviews with 6th, 7th,
and 8th grade science
teachers to gather data as
to the actual problems
they are having, if any,
with implementing the use
of these technology
resources in their lessons.
What is the level of access
to technology to
implement the use of
these resources?
How does the new
resource lend itself to
authentic instruction in
your class?
For identifying potential
causes to the problem
In each cell, briefly
describe the type of data
you’re collecting. Make
sure it is connected to the
appropriate heading (e.g.,
Interviews with 8th grade
science teachers).
Interviews with 6th, 7th,
and 8th grade science
teachers to discuss what
would be of assistance in
helping them to better
utilize the available
technology resources
provided by the district.
Do they feel there is
adequate training prior to
implementing a new
resource?
Do they believe there is
local (building-level)
support and advocacy for
the new technology?
In the following table, provide a high level overview of the HPI process. You will complete the following
sections along with the corresponding assignments as listed below.
● Problem Statement with Assignment 1
● Performance Gaps and Identified Causes with Assignment 3
● Proposed Intervention with Assignment 4

Solution Alignment Table

Problem Statement Performance Gaps Identified Causes Proposed Intervention(s)

Science and math Based on our study, the Potential Cause 1: Identify the proposed
educators at Pine performance gap Repertory of the intervention that directly
between the actual Individual: targets the causes.
Mountain Middle
School are not performance and the Knowledge
desired performance of A potential cause on the
implementing the
teachers implementing individual level was
new instructional use of district provided identified as a lack of
technology resources resources in their confidence in the
supplied by the lessons is 73.3%. teachers
district. own knowledge of the
resources being
provided. The interview
data identified a
common theme of
teacher concerns
regarding their ability
to appropriately
implement use of the
resources in their
classrooms. From the
study responses, 83% of
teachers reported
feeling ill-prepared to
assign content to
students through these
resources.
Potential Cause 2:
Repertory of the
Individual:
Knowledge
As identified through
the surveys and
interviews in this study,
100% of participating
teachers with access
the resources in
question believed that
the training was
inadequate or irrelevant
to appropriately train to
use the resources
provided by the district.

Potential Cause 3:
Environmental: Data
On the environmental
side of this
organizational study,
educators were
uncertain of what was
expected of them and
there was a lack of
communication
between the district and
educators regarding the
expectations for using
these resources with
their students and the
purpose behind the use
of these resources.
Assignment 1: Identified Performance Problem -
Module 1
Organization Description

Pine Mountain Middle School is a relatively small suburban middle school housing

approximately 620 students in grades six through eight and 42 faculty members. Pine Mountain

Middle School is located in Kennesaw, Georgia and is one of twenty-five middle schools

operating as a part of the Cobb County School District, the second largest district in the state of

Georgia.

Mission and Purpose

The mission statement of Pine Mountain Middle reflects the mission statement of the

Cobb County School District. One team. One goal. Student success. The school’s vision is to

prepare students for high school success.

Physical Characteristics:

Pine Mountain Middle School is located at 2720 Pine Mountain Circle in Kennesaw,

Georgia. A relatively small suburban middle school campus set in a neighborhood approximately

ten miles off of I-75. The building is over forty years-old and shows its age despite the efforts of

each subsequent administration to keep up with changes in infrastructure, community and

technology. The school houses three grade levels and connections in four pods branching off of a

central office area. The interior of the school is painted in a primary collection of differing bright

colors on each wall with a designated color to represent the doorways to a specific grade level.

At this time, sixth grade is pink, seventh grade is green, eighth grade is orange, and connections

are yellow; the key idea is that no one should get lost.
 Technology available for use in the classroom at Pine Mountain is minimal, and

opportunities to engage students through technology within the building are difficult due to this

lack. There is one stationary computer lab furnished with older desktop computers and a mixture

of tables and desks from another time. Also available is a media center equipped with reading

areas, tables for work sessions, and approximately forty desktop computers. Prior to this spring,

each of the three grade levels had a laptop cart available which housed thirty laptops and could

be signed out by teachers on the grade level. As we navigate the return to some derivative of

face-to-face learning, these laptop carts will no longer be a resource as the laptops were parted

out to our community for families who could not obtain access to technology without assistance.

Contextual Factors

Pine Mountain is not recognized as, nor does it receive the benefits of, being a Title I

school. This determination is due to its geographic location, not the socioeconomic status of its

population. The school is located in a suburban area of homes with high real-estate values and a

matching property tax basis. The majority of these families can afford and choose to send their

students to a variety of private schools conveniently located in the same area. Pine Mountain

receives a majority of its students from lower income families located approximately three miles

away from the school. Even though it is a walkable neighborhood school, most of the students

travel a distance by school bus or car to school each day. The overall objective of the school's

administration is to improve what we offer to the community and encourage these students away

from the private school venue and back into the doors of Pine Mountain Middle.

Employees and Clients

 The employees of Pine Mountain Middle School are also the clients in this human

performance improvement case. The population consists of forty-two educators with a range of 0

to 27 years of experience. Others to be considered in this study would be the principal, who has

three years of experience at Pine Mountain Middle School and ten years of administrative

experience total. Additionally, there are two assistant principals, one with four years of

experience and one with two years of experience; both have only three years experience at Pine

Mountain.

The student population of Pine Mountain Middle ranks within the top five-percent of

schools in the state for diversity. In the 2019 - 2020 school year, the diversity of learners in the

school was: White: 30%, Black: 37%, Asian: 6%:, Multi-racial: 6%, Hispanic: 21%. The

minority enrollment for the same school year was seventy-percent. One-hundred percent of the

fifth grade students from Hayes Elementary are districted to matriculate to Pine Mountain; this

elementary school is approximately 0.3 miles away. Cheatham Hill Elementary, located 6.2

miles from Pine Mountain, is districted to send 15.4% of its fifth graders to Pine Mountain.

Approximately 5% of the student population is school choice which is a part of HB251. This bill

allows parents to choose any school within their district as long as there is available space for

their student within that school. Pine Mountain Middle School students are districted to attend

Kennesaw Mountain High School, located approximately one mile away. Academically, Pine

Mountain Middle School ranks 183 out of 559 middle schools statewide.

Within the overall population of the school, fifteen-percent are identified as ELL (English

Language Learners), eighteen-percent are identified as economically disadvantaged, and fifteen-

percent are identified as students with disabilities. As of the 2019 - 2020 school year,
approximately sixty-seven percent of students were receiving free and/or reduced breakfast and

lunch.

Problem Description

Current Performance

Educators at Pine Mountain Middle School are not implementing the new instructional

technology resources supplied by the district. The current state of public education due to the

advent of COVID-19 has exacerbated a problem for Pine Mountain that was evident prior to the

onset of this epidemic. As is the case with any unexpected and extraordinary issue facing an

organization, there is a knee-jerk reaction to quickly identify and mitigate issues that would

impede the organization’s continued success. This human sense of urgency sometimes can cause

too many potential solutions and confusion ensues as too many solutions are being attempted

without a clear plan for mastering the application of any one of the potential solutions.

Within the troubleshooting efforts of the school district to meet the needs of the student

and educator populations as they navigate the paradigm shift in education caused by the sudden

onset of COVID-19, the platform of resources began to expand at an increasing rate. So many

resources, so little time would be an appropriate way to identify this problem. Resources were

being implemented with little training being provided to educators. One of the big setbacks

within building was the lack of support for the school population. If an educator is unable to

appropriately use a resource, they are also unable to provide support for their students and their

families. This causes frustration for all concerned and does not promote the use of these valuable

resources. The problem became evident as the virtual platform opened up and educators found

themselves perplexed as to which resources to use to successfully engage learners. Educators

were attempting to implement the use of resources that they were not prepared to work with in

the field simply because the resources were available.

Evidence of this problem began in the district over the past few years as they worked to

provide more and more resources to their schools. Since the global pandemic began in the spring,

new resources seem to be coming from every direction. To their credit, this district has always

worked to put the best tools in the hands of their educators and has historically done a competent

job at doing so. The district is professional and supportive when implementing new resources.

The problem arises within the magnitude and frequency of the attempts to impart new

educational technology resources into the hands of their teachers and students. The lack of

appropriate training district wide and the lack of in-house hard technology resources at Pine

Mountain Middle School has caused many of these resources to become dormant despite

financial investment by the district and potential value added for the school.

Problem Identification

The individuals identifying this problem are Carol Mickus, math/science educator and

department chair, Susan Carothers, English/language arts educator and department chair, and

Jennifer Cassidy, math educator and Advance Content department chair. The problem identified

is high stakes for all three of these educators and their respective departments. These educators

represent four departments in the school and a substantial part of the leadership team. Their stake

in this problem is high as it affects the educators and students they represent.

Identification of the problem was not difficult as it became a discernible issue during the

2019 - 2020 school year as new technological innovations continued to be added to the list of

resources available in the district. Teachers were excited about the growing selection of

resources, yet apprehensive about how to use these innovations to further the school's vision of

preparing students for high school success. Training was available, but lasted only a short time
without substantial follow-up to support educators through implementation. As building leaders,

understanding of the issue and identification of the need for possible solutions was identified.

Parties Affected by the Problem

Currently, the problem of inadequately vetted technological resources and the need for

more appropriate training for those involved in the adoption of the innovation affects

administrators, educators, students, and families the same. At present, educators, students, and

families are feeling a strong current of frustration and dissatisfaction with the educational

process due to the virtual learning requirement stemming from COVID-19. As educators attempt

to implement the use of many new resources in virtual classroom environments, they are finding

it difficult to keep up with the quickly changing landscape. Students disengage at a high rate due

to frustration, teachers are embarrassed and frustrated due to inadequate experience when

attempting to use the resources. Families appear to have become agitated in their response to

these perceived issues. Even the front office staff at the school is inundated with phone calls,

many of them hostile, regarding the technological issues the school is having during this time. It

is of value to state that this is a difficult time across the country for education and Pine Mountain

Middle School is not alone in its efforts to do the best job in the virtual learning environment

while keeping constituents satisfied with the lessons being delivered to their students.

The greatest area of impact is in the virtual classroom and affects both students and

teachers. Educators are being advised of TKES (Teacher Keys Effectiveness System)

observations and increased demands by administration. Students are checking out of the learning

environment at a high rate due to lack of supervision at home and general frustration with the

learning platform. Educators understand the difficulties in keeping adolescents engaged and fully

involved in a lesson. Doing so online seems an almost insurmountable task for them. As students
populate the virtual classroom via the educator’s computer screen, which takes no less than thirty

minutes, they present a variety of ready-to-learn situations. Many are wrapped in blankets, some

are still sitting propped up in bed, and while others are trying to sit at a makeshift desk with two

toddlers crawling all over them during the lesson. These are only some of the difficulties

presented to the teacher and the student. All it takes to sever the already precarious virtual

domain for this educator is an attempt to use a resource and have it not operate appropriately.

It is important to address this problem due to the impact it has on all involved in the Pine

Mountain Middle School teaching and learning community. The problem presents a heightened

level of stress for educators and students. In researching the components of a competent virtual

learning environment, the most successful models seem to contain a common thread. These

successful models are structured and repetitive in nature. The same resources are used repeatedly

and have been vetted for success and to troubleshoot possible problems prior to implementation.

At this time, disconnect between teachers and students is at an all time high and at the forefront

is the lack of structure and fidelity in the process. Having appropriate training, streamlining the

type and number of resources used, and vetting these resources prior to implementing them in

classroom situations is necessary to support successful teaching and learning.

In the event an assessment needs to be administered, educators are required to use a

specific platform. The platform is mandatory to use and all data will be collected through this

resource. The educators then attempt to administer the assessment in real-time and are met with

roadblocks including inability to access and miscored items. Again, the educator is left feeling

embarrassed and frustrated, and students are feeling frustrated as well due to the incompetence of

the resource or the lack of training for both sides on how to appropriately use the resource. This

particular problem with assessment affects achievement and classroom outcomes in a negative
way. Time is lost as the educator is attempting to troubleshoot issues with the resource and

students disengage as minutes pass by without entry to the assessment or as they process

miscored items and feel negative about their performance.

The quick scramble by districts throughout the country to get ahead of the curve where

the virtual learning platform is concerned has provided many gaps in learning for both educators

and students. The COVID-19 debacle has brought this problem more to the forefront for this

group of educators, but has been in existence for some time. In prior years, expensive resources

were added to the platform without appropriate training for educators, a lack of advocacy for the

resource once in the building. The current virtual classroom has provided a view of the severity

of the problem and the importance of mitigating these issues as soon as possible.

As educators, we are privileged to be employed within a system that supports us so

heavily in every aspect of the teaching profession. We are afforded as many resources, benefits,

and opportunities as can be provided. The issue seems to represent an effort to continually

improve our learning platforms and substantially support educators in their craft. The district

strives to provide the best experience for employees and students alike. Somewhere in this effort,

the recognition of a need to provide continued support and training has been sidelined and seems

to be affecting the appropriate use of these valuable resources.

Assignment 2: Data Collection Plan - Module 2

Restated Performance Problem Description Sentence:

New technological resources supplied by the school district are not being utilized for instruction by the
6th, 7th, and 8th grade science and math teachers at Pine Mountain Middle School.

Math and science teachers in grades six, seven, and eight do not utilize new technological resources

supplied by the school district for instructional purposes at expected levels.

Data Type Method of Rationale for Data Collection Data Data
Source of Data Data Collection Collection
Collection Purpose Completio
n Date*

6th, 7th, Qual Interview Teachers are not using many of the district Quantifying 10/7/2020
8th grade provided technology resources within the potential use
science classroom for instructional purposes. An of resources
and math interview, which is an appropriate data being provided
teachers - collection method because of the small number by the district.
n=6 of teachers, will help our team identify not only
teachers how comfortable teachers feel in competently Identifying
(two per using the resources being provided with their potential
grade students, but potential reasons for the lack of causes for
level) meaningful technology integration with these
educator
same resources. Sample questions will include:
● How often do you incorporate resources disconnect
such as Dreambox, Freckle, and from the
USATestPrep in your classroom for resources
instructional purposes? provided.
○ Can you provide an example of
how you might use one of these Understanding
resources?
the
○ Can you provide a justification
for not using one of the environment
available resources? in which the
● What aspects do you consider before use of these
implementing a technology-based technological
resource with your students? resources is
● What barriers do you feel impede your being applied
ability to implement use of these
and basic
resources successfully with your
students? reasoning for
the use or non-
use of these
technologies
by math and
science
teachers with
their student
groups.

6th, 7th, Mixed Survey Given the problem described above, students Quantifying 10/7/2020
8th grade are potentially impacted by the lack of Current
science instructional uses of technology. This survey, Performance:
and math which is being used as a method of collecting
teachers - varied data from a somewhat large sample, will
n=6 ask teachers their thoughts on technology Quantifying
teachers integration with their students. This survey will the current
(1-3 per cover such aspects as how often teachers use performance
grade technology within their courses for learning. of educators
level) This data will be used to help identify the implementing
current and ideal performances through the
use of the
perspective of the teacher, as well as any
potential barriers that are identified from the district
“user” level. provided
technological
resources in
their classes.

Assistant Mixed Interview/ The rationale is to retrieve a clear perspective Quantifying 10/7/2020
Principal Data on the value added of these resources and the Ideal
for math collection effect they have on student success at the school Performance
and (especially considering the present nature of the
science learning community) for all three grade-levels Quantifying
in the area of science. Have there been marked Current
improvements in student achievement since the Performance
district’s initiative to add the new resources?
Are performance gaps decreasing with the use Qualitative
of these resources? Do you see teachers and evidence
students using these resources on a consistent based on an
basis with differing levels of learners? interview with
administrative
staff.

Media Qual Interview The rationale of these interviews is to create a Quantify 10/7/2020
Center - sense of what is happening in the building current use of
n = 2 staff where these new, district provided resources are systems
members concerned. The media center staff has a unique
view into how desirable a resource is for Qualifying the
teachers to use in their instruction. The media resources from
center staff is the school’s go-to for assistance the perspective
with new resources and online learning tools. of the media
Questions asked within the interview will be an center staff.
effort to retrieve information regarding what the
media center staff is seeing on a regular basis. Quantifying
How many teachers do you see attempting to the time spent
use these resources? Are you able to provide within the
assistance to teachers for these resources? How building
much time are you spending each day/week on trouble-
troubleshooting issues? What do you see as the shooting
main problem, if any, with the implementation issues with
of these resources in the classroom at Pine these
Mountain? Are there teachers successfully resources
using these resources with their students? If so,
what level of students are showing the most Understanding
success with the resources? Which resource the
seems to be the most desired or used? environment
the problem is
 occurring in if
it is occurring
at all.
*Remember, all data must be collected by the end of Module 3.

Assignment 3: Gap Analysis Report - Module 3

In this section of the report, you will conduct three different types of analysis. These analyses should
build directly on the data that was collected above as part of your data collection effort. You should tie
the data in and include appropriate charts and figures where necessary.

The purpose of an environmental analysis is for you to get a better understanding of the context within
which the performance problem is occuring. When we consider the context within which a performance
problem occurs, there are four levels to consider (i.e., world, workplace, work, and workforce). For this
project, we’re just focusing on the last three components. To complete your environmental analysis,
describe the environment below in narrative form by addressing the following factors:
● Workplace (e.g., resources, tools, information, feedback and consequences/rewards/incentives for
performance or nonperformance)
● Work (e.g., job tasks and processes, job policies, employee responsibilities)
● Workforce (e.g., knowledge, skills, motivation, expectations, capacity)

You should use each of the three bullet points as your headings for this section. Additionally, you
may use the examples in parentheses to represent subheadings. You should attempt to address as many
elements as applicable to your problem/setting, even if some of the items are not well spelled out. That
absence could be an indication of a problem.
Restated Performance Problem Description Sentence:

Math and science teachers in grades six, seven, and eight do not utilize new technological
resources supplied by the school district for instructional purposes at the desired level.

Environmental Analysis
Workplace

● Resources
Technological resources are provided to Pine Mountain Middle School by the

Cobb County School District to support and promote a substantial learning platform as

teachers work with both virtual and face-to-face instructional environments. The school is

heavily loaded with technological resources including a BETA learning management

system which emcompasses all aspects of the teachers’ work day. The LMS incorporates

everything from virtual class meetings and communication with students and families, to

attendance and assessment. The district directed use of this system across all schools in

an effort to streamline data collection and system-wide access to necessary information

and additional resources. As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread, the learning

management system became more necessary as a vehicle to communicate with students,

families, and district employees with higher fidelity. Pine Mountain Middle School also

has access to software resources for many different content areas. USATestprep, Prodigy,

Dreambox, Freckle, SLO, Legends of Learning, and many others are all data-collecting

phenoms assisting teachers not only with daily instruction and assignments, but with

appropriately differentiating instruction to reach all students' needs. The following chart

displays data from our surveyed respondents and shows the many resources being
employed by educators at Pine Mountain Middle School in their efforts to reach learners

in both virtual and face-to-face instruction.

The data presented shows the difference in teacher usage of resources that they

researched. The resources in green were found to be more successfully used in their

lessons compared to those the district provided. The resources listed in the histogram

above in green are resources chosen by educators based on their own research,

experiences, and comfort level. The resources listed in red are district provided resources

which are the focus of this analysis. The district’s offered resources show smaller

numbers of respondents implementing the use of these resources in their classrooms.

Feedback from the interviews conducted with teachers directly correlates their reluctance

to use a resource with their comfort level with the resource. When asked why they were

not using Dreambox or Freckle in their math classrooms, many teachers responded by

stating that they were uncertain how to instruct their students how to use these resources

or how to troubleshoot an issue if it were to arise. In 100% of the interviewer responses,

this was the overarching theme: teachers are not comfortable with their level of

understanding of the resources, therefore they are not comfortable assigning the

resources to students. This was found to be a recurring theme in our study; the math and

science teachers that were interviewed are not using resources that were purchased

directly for use in their classroom due to a lack of confidence in the resource or in their

ability to appropriately assist their students with using the resource.

Many of these resources are leveled, meaning that student skill mastery is

systematically identified within the students work, and the assignment levels are

increased or decreased as their performance level on a standard increases or decreases.

The ability of a system to identify mastery of a topic allows students to move on when

ready, as opposed to waiting for someone to review their work and assign additional

topics at the appropriate level. The recognition of a deficit in student understanding

carries equal value according to those individuals interviewed in this case. A resource

that can identify strengths and weaknesses simply through a student's activity on the

standards is highly valued and will contribute a simple method of differentiation for

teachers and students. This genre of resources promotes remediation and extension within

the coursework for all levels of learners whilst providing a valuable data collection tool

for teachers.

Another issue brought forth through a review of the data collected for this study

was that teachers are willing to spend their own personal resources to obtain a working,

user-friendly product. The research showed that 84% of the educators interviewed, and

92% of the educators surveyed believed the resources they use in their classroom are

utilized most effectively, because they are the best resources to use when teaching the
 standards. Websites such as Classkick, EdPuzzle, and Nearpod are some examples of the

resources being paid for by the teachers out of pocket, in the study. Interestingly, the

small percentage of teachers interviewed or surveyed who chose not to purchase

resources to use in their classrooms, was not that they were comfortable using the district

provided resources. Their reason for not spending their personal household income on

resources, was that they simply could not afford to do so.

● Tools

The data revealed that the majority of teachers (83.3%), do not feel that they are

able to implement use of these learning resources with their lessons due to a lack of

understanding for their appropriate use. Additionally, they indicated a lack of in-house

hardware to use with their students on a regular basis. The majority of educators

interviewed expressed concern regarding their ability to have daily access to a class-set of

computers or laptops to use the technology with their students. Of six math and science

teachers interviewed, 100% reported that they were remiss to include a resource in the

face to face classroom which required the use of technological hardware. The school has

implemented a rule disallowing the use of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in the

classroom. Educators are required to go through a training and certification program in

order to be permitted to have students use their own technology in the classroom. Due to

the lack of technology based tools for teaching and learning at the school, teachers are

more likely to pass on technology based resources to their face to face students. This

difficulty or lack of hard-technological resources proves to be a deciding factor for these

educators when planning lessons. Educators expressed concern that when they put time
 into planning lessons for their students, if the appropriate resources will be available to

carry out the plan and what to do when they are not.

● Information

The teachers expressed that one positive reward for using district provided

resources is the data collection piece. These teaching tools provide comprehensive, data

dissemination systems to teachers, students, and families. Many of the resources being

provided are leveled, allowing students to move on when they are ready without the

teacher making direct alterations to the resource they are working on at the time.

Essentially, the reward for using these resources is individual to the educator and each of

their students. The interviews did not identify a reward, consequence, or incentive for

performance or nonperformance in this area. With the exception of the availability of

comprehensive, individualized data for review, a true effect on the teacher to use, or not

use, these resources was not identified by the gap analysis.

● Feedback

In regard to feedback for teachers, unless they are able to implement the use of

these resources on a regular basis, feedback is not a consideration for use. With the main

issues for the performance gap being identified as inappropriate training, non-existent

local school support, and lack of access to hardware technology within the school,

feedback provided by these resources is not a strong enough indicator to justify the effort

required for educators to put them into use in their classrooms.

One area where feedback was an indcatorcosisted with the use of CTLS (Cobb

Teaching and Learning System), the district’s LMS. Prior to COVID-19, CTLS was a

tool that was created completely in-house by the district for use in classrooms. The
system began as an assessment tool and as an instrument to consolidate resources for the

different departments in the district. On March 13, 2020, as the country began to shut-

down and social-distancing became a mandate, students were sent home and staff were

given approximately twenty minutes to collect their materials and vacate as well. After a

few days, the district came back with a plan for educators to complete the school year

through remote learning. Educators were instructed to set-up virtual classrooms at home

with the tools which were available. Teachers had been required to maintain a blog to

assist students and families with resources, plans, and communication regarding their

courses. Each blog was unique to the educator with no restrictions to the structure,

content, or level of use for these blogs. Of the educators, 65% paid a monthly fee out of

their own pocket to have a comprehensive blog maintained and running for their students.

In spring of 2020, the virtual classroom learning model replaced the face to face

classroom for all students in the district. This was a difficult transition for everyone

involved and exposed some issues with the individual teacher’s blogs. Families and

students were unable to navigate the many different avenues of connecting with teachers

and became frustrated. Continuing through the summer, the district increased its effort to

get the CTLS program up and running and begin the school year. The system is designed

to be a complete and comprehensive teaching and learning tool. The educators

interviewed did recognize the comprehensive and intrinsic value of the LMS, but

reported at 100% that they were ill prepared to use the system. Professional development

sessions on this system were offered frequently and efforts were made to teach the

platform to administrators, educators, and families. The effort and intent was there, but

the time was not. Due to the emergency situation of districts attempting to alter an aging
 system of teaching and learning in a matter of a few short months, it was resigned to each

individual to get what they could from these training sessions. According to the interview

responses, it was impossible for educators to become experts on the resource in the short

time frame allotted.

● Consequences

The current climate in the district is positive and there are high expectations for

the results of the virtual/face-to-face model choice. Within this model, students and

families are choosing to send their students into the school buildings or to keep them at

home in a virtual learning environment. Virtual students are behaving differently and

many become completely disconnected in the new process. There have been many

resources brought to them and many different platforms from which to learn. A

consequence of nonperformance in this effort is students missing out on the availability

of the resources. If a resource was purchased for the district, it is expected that all staff

teaching the content areas implement its use. At this time and in the current teaching

environment, most teachers report being left alone to consider resources for their

classroom that work with their students. The consequences of nonperformance based on

interview results are that students are possibly missing out on basic skills practice and

educators are missing an additional piece of data regarding their students' progress. The

resources are too newly acquired for any standardized test data to be available for

analyzing whether the performance or nonperformance carried any level of consequence,

positive or negative.

● Incentives
 At this time, there are no incentives for using these resources. It is simply the

prerogative of the educator on how to set the resources up for their students and train

them on how to appropriately operate them. According to the analysis of the interviews,

the proposed incentives for using the district provided resources are considered to be a

simpler data collection model, automatic facilitating of differentiation, and overall

improvement in basic skills. According to the data collected through interviews, these

incentives for performance are valuable to both teachers and students, but the lack of both

comprehensive professional development and hard-technology resources in the school

overshadows the benefits for all. The gap analysis reports that 83% of the teachers

considered in this report have given no consideration to the resources since the one time

professional development sessions they were required to attend the prior spring. It is

important to note that it was reported that there is a group of 13 small group math

students in the building who have access to the in-house hardware technology at Pine

Mountain Middle and are using a few of the programs for basic skills development at this

time.

Work

● Job Tasks

Within the interviews, it was discovered that teachers have concerns about job

tasks as they consider using these resources. A confidence level of 92% was calculated

for these educators concerning whether or not the district provided technological

resources directly affected their ability to plan and teach. The majority of the educators,

as well as the administrator interviewed, responded that the incorporation of these

resources, without the proper in-house technology to implement their use in the
 classroom is detrimental to the effectiveness of the teachers lesson plans. Considering the

response data, it was determined that providing these resources with the expectation of

implementation of use for teachers and students is unrealistic due to the inability of the

students to access in-house hardware technology and implement its usage.

● Job Policies

It is the policy, or general, schoolwide guideline that teachers adhere to a very

specific set of professional standards. These policies are first created by the Georgia State

Board of Education and the state licensing board for educators. Districts adopt these

policies in whole or as a derivative of the originally written policy. Individual schools

adopt these policies and use them as a basis for their own in-house handbook for all staff

members. These policies are written out in the Pine Mountain Middle School teacher

handbook which is delivered electronically to educators at the beginning of each school

year. This electronic document is updated continuously throughout the school year as

administration sees the need to add to the policies of the school.

The policies of the school are set by the school principal. This handbook allows

that the policies can be altered if the school principal sees fit. District created policies are

then discussed at the local schools and principals decide how to best use them in their

building or to not use them at all. One example in our district is the new BYOD

certification. The district created a series of classes that educators can take to become

district certified in BYOD classrooms. The administration at PMMS made the decision to

make the BOYD certification a mandatory training program for educators wishing to use

the BYOD platform in their classrooms. At this time, educators are not able to use this

platform in their classes if they have not completed the semester long training program.
 The BYOD policy is one of the newest additions to an already overwhelming document

and is an additional deterrent to teachers being able to use the district provided resources

in daily lessons.

In reviewing the data provided through teacher interviews, it is evident that this is

yet another point for non-performance when considering whether to use or not use the

district provided technological resources. According to our data, 100% of educators

surveyed indicated that if the school policy permitted BYOD without the mandatory

training, they would consider it as a usable classroom platform and it would encourage

them to use some of the district provided resources. This alone would change the

performance of educators on this issue.

● Employee Responsibilities

Educator job responsibilities at this middle school as determined and agreed upon

by 100% of the interview respondents include, but are not limited to, planning for

lessons, data dissemination and reporting, RTI tracking and placement, continuous

sanitizing of classrooms, collaboration with colleagues, sponsoring clubs, car/bus duty,

and providing scheduled weekly help-sessions for student groups and individual help

sessions as requested by student or their family, parent contact. The data supported many

other teacher responsibilities that existed in the school but these responsibilities were

specialized to the teacher. These jobs include, grade level chairs, content coordinators,

committee members, teacher-mentors, and many others. The resources being discussed

through this study are not used for any of these activities. Teachers are not comfortable

relying on these resources for planning and it was determined that they do not spend

much time discussing the resources in their collaborative planning sessions. Based on the
interview and survey responses, sixth and seventh grade math and science teachers

consider these resources in less than 10% of their collaborative planning meetings or

approximately 10 minutes per week. Eighth grade math and science teachers reported a

slightly increased time spent discussing or considering the resources at 15% of their

collaborative planning time or approximately 13 minutes per week. Through the

interviews it was determined that the eighth grade teachers were able to engage students

slightly more with some of the resources by allowing students to work with their cell

phones during class. It has been evident at this middle school that students' access to

personal devices increases from sixth to eighth grades. Eighth grade teachers are able to

rely on students taking ownership of their learning and using their personal device to

complete some activities online. It is important to note that 40% of students in eighth

grade at PMMS are taking at least one course for high school credit. This provides a

motivator for these eighth grade students to utilize every possible resource made

available to them to succeed in these courses.

When determining individual students' need for help sessions, teachers are using

actual data retrieved from in-class activities, assessments, and observations made during

student work sessions. Test data is also used when planning for remediation. This data is

provided by CTLS (Cobb Teaching and Learning System) and is considered to be

accurate within the context of our assessment needs. One job requirement for teachers in

our district is that they use CTLS for testing at all levels. It is the responsibility of each

employee to create and administer assessments through this system and to give

consideration to the subsequent data from these assessments when planning for teaching

and remediation activities. The interviews reported that 100% of educators participating
 in the study felt there would be consequences for nonperformance on this task. It is a

school mandate to use the CTLS system for all assessment and is a consideration during

TKES (Teacher Keys Effectiveness System) observations and subsequent meetings.

Where the use of the CTLS resources are concerned, there is an implied

consequence for nonperformance through TKES evaluations. Administrators put this

requirement in the teachers job description; the teacher then must sign agreeing to all

facets of the job description. According to the interviews with both the administrator and

with the educators, there is a concern on both sides regarding the use of the CTLS tool.

Administration is discussing the CTLS requirement piece in pre-observation meetings, as

well as post-observation meetings with the school teaching staff. Educators are aware that

the consequence of lower TKES scores are a possible consequence of non-performance in

using this resource. As with all of the other resources provided through the district, the

same issue exists in the binding lack of hard technology for implementing use of the

CTLS resource. Tests must be planned months in advance to consider the lack of

availability of the two computer labs available at the school. The survey respondents do

suggest that the CTLS job responsibility and the degree to which teachers in this school

are attempting to align their instructional practices with district rules is a direct effort on

their part to avoid the consequences of nonperformance.

Workforce

● Knowledge

The six teachers participating in this study by completing interviews and surveys

have an average of 18 years of teaching experience between them. The newest teacher

actually has six years of experience in the field and the teacher with the longest
experience record being 29 years. At least three of these teachers have been at PMMS for

their entire career. Insert graph - CORRECT!!!

These teachers are knowledgeable in their respective content areas of math and/or

science and in planning to engage, motivate, and teach their students. Responses from the

educators newer to the field indicated that they were somewhat more receptive to

employing the technological resources the district is offering in their classroom and had

less trepidation about doing so. These educators had a 32% rate of at least attempting to

employ some of the district provided resources in their classrooms. Though the shorter

service educators were more willing to try the resources, they were in agreement with all

of the respondents regarding a lack of formal training on the use of the resources. The

interviews reported that overwhelmingly, 100% of the educators felt a lack of training on

these resources existed which further discouraged them from implementing them as a

classroom and lesson staple with their students. The study results reported that 83% of

the educators responding felt unprepared to use the resources in their lessons due to a

lack of training and prior knowledge of similar resources. The remaining 17% were

comfortable due to an earlier experience with the online tool in another district.

It was discovered through this data collection that all of these teachers had very

high standards for and expectations of any resource presented for use in their classroom,

be it technology, textbook, or other strategy. All of the respondents felt concerned over

their level of comfort with these online resources and were not inclined to attempt to use

them without being able to answer questions and troubleshoot issues that might arise with

their students. In this study, one hundred percent of the interviews reported inadequate

training and a lack of in-house support for the resources. The overarching theme of all
 respondents was “if I am unable to login to a system with fidelity, how can I expect that

of my students?”

● Skills

To say that teachers must have a very broad scope of skills to perform their

everyday job duties and responsibilities is an understatement. Especially prominent in the

current virtual and face to face blended learning environment in this district, teachers

have to be more versatile than ever before. In accordance with the interview response, the

respondents express that they were doing many more jobs than in the past. Expectations

for educators to display additional skills are high and pressure for teachers to perform in

these additional duties is reported to be intense.

In the current blended classroom environment at this school, teachers are

managing students in a face to face venue, as well as bringing online students into the

classroom. All of this is accomplished while preserving privacy for all students and

teaching two lessons per class per day. Keeping students engaged for ninety minutes at a

time while trying to manage half of them in person and half of them online provides

cause for an entirely new skillset.

Educators are skilled in curriculum, content, differentiation, classroom

management, and relationship building. All of these skills lend themselves to success in

the current blended learning environment. According to teachers interviewed for this

study, these skills are not sufficient anymore. With all of the new resources being offered

within the district, there is an implied pressure to perform with these resources as well. It

was reported by 83% of the educators surveyed that they did attend one training session

for both Dreambox and Freckle with no gain in understanding the resources. These
 teachers stated that the trainings were disjointed and were presented by employees of the

organizations providing the resource. Attendees of the training sessions reported through

their survey responses that the sessions were unprofessionally presented and questions

asked by the attendees were, for the most part, left unanswered. According to the

teachers, they had no more knowledge of the resources after the training than they did

before the training which left them unlikely to use the resources with their students. One

educator and one administrator interviewed did not attend either training and reported no

change in their confidence with using these resources. They have not seen them used in

the school by many students or teachers.

Training sessions for the district created resources have been numerous, most of

these were mandatory for all district teachers. All interview participants reported

attending these training sessions and that they felt about 50% confident in regard to

beginning the new school year completely dependent on these resources based on their

knowledge of using them with students.Teachers reported that, due to lack of relevant

training, they do not have adequate skills with using these resources to attempt use of the

resources with their students.

● Motivation

The district provides motivators for students through contests with incentives such

as parties and prizes for time spent on the system or for increasing their level. There are

also contests between schools and educators for time their students put into working on

their basic skills progress through these systems. Although the challenges are interesting

and could serve to motivate educators and students to begin using the resources in more

productive ways, the lack of

 ● Workforce (e.g., knowledge, skills, motivation, expectations, capacity)

Gap Analysis

Complete the Table below. For what is expected in each of the following sections, see the details below
highlighting exactly what should be included. You are only required to identify at least 1 gap. However,
other gaps may be evident (or you may identify gaps that fall within the overarching gap [e.g., there may
be a technology usage gap, but specific technology tools might be part of the desired performance, such
as USA Test Prep]).
● Actual Performance - Quantify what is actually happening (e.g., 35% of teachers are
incorporating technology into their classroom to benefit student learning at least three times a
week).
● Desired Performance - Quantify what the ideal scenario would be (e.g., 85% of teachers are
incorporating technology into their classroom to benefit student learning at least three times a
week). Remember: Your client or other key leadership establish the desired performance.
● Performance Gap - What is the quantifiable gap between the two scenarios (e.g., 50% more of
teachers need to incorporate technology into their classroom to benefit student learning at least
three times a week).
● Data and Rationale - What data did you use to identify this gap and explain how that data assisted
in the identification (e.g., teacher survey, the survey specifically asked teachers to indicate how
often they used technology in their classrooms for student learning).

Actual Performance Desired Performance Performance Gap Data and Rationale

16.7% of teachers are 90% of teachers are The performance gap Data reported that out
using district provided using district provided between the actual of n=6 math/science
technological resources technological resources performance and the teachers interviewed, 1
within their lessons. within their lessons. desired performance is of the 6 reported using
73.3%. the district provided
resources on occasion
in their classes, but did
not report a high level
of comfort with the
resources. Rationale for
this performance gap
correlates with the
comfort level of
educators at the school
with the resources
available to them and
the degree to which
they were provided
 training to prepare them
to implement use of the
resources.

Cause Analysis
In this section, you’re going to identify the potential causes of the performance gap that was identified in
the table above. In identifying these causes, you’re going to discuss all possible causes as they are related
to the environment and the individual workers. Additionally, you will explain what from your data
collected supports each of the causes identified.

Below is an outline for you to use in this section (the outline is between the dashed lines):
----
Performance Gap:

Based on our study, the performance gap between the actual performance and the desired

performance of teachers implementing use of district provided resources in their lessons is 73.3%.

Potential Causes

Potential Cause 1: Repertory of the Individual: Knowledge

A potential cause on the individual level was identified as a lack of confidence in the teachers

own knowledge of the resources being provided. The interview data identified a common theme of

teacher concerns regarding their ability to appropriately implement use of the resources in their

classrooms. From the study responses, 83% of teachers reported feeling ill prepared to assign content to

students through these resources.

XXXXX (Category from Gilbert’s BEM). A rationalization explaining what data you collected and
how it is connected to the cause (how it led you to that cause).

Potential Cause 2: Repertory of the Individual: Knowledge

As identified through the surveys and interviews in this study, 100% of participating teachers with access

the resources in question believed that the training was inadequate or irrelevant to appropriately train to
use the resources provided by the district.

Potential Cause 3: Environmental: Data

On the environmental side of this organizational study, educators were uncertain of what was expected of

them and there was a lack of communication between the district and educators regarding the

expectations for using these resources with their students and the purpose behind the use of these

resources.

XXXXX (Category from Gilbert’s BEM). Same as above.

----
You will repeat the outline above for each performance gap you identified in your Gap Analysis.
Assignment 4: Human Performance Improvement Report
- Module 4
This section is where you will suggest recommendations related to solutions and possible interventions.
Suggested solutions and interventions should be based on identified causes of the performance problem or
barriers to the performance opportunity. You should write your recommendations in narrative form.

Additionally, you will complete the Executive Summary (second page of this document) and respond to
all instructor feedback when you submit this document.

Use the following topics for your headings (you would do this for each recommendation you’re
making):
----
Recommendation 1: XXXXX (what is the intervention you’re recommending)

Description
Describe what the recommendation looks like and what category it comes from in the HPI text.

Addressed Causes
Identify which performance gaps and which causes this recommendation addresses.

Rationale
Discuss your rationale for using this intervention over others (i.e., incorporate data from your
analysis and/or research that supports your decision making).

Barriers to Success
Describe the barriers to success of the intervention that you’re likely to encounter based on your
data.

----
Checklists/Assessment Criteria

Assignment 1: Identified Performance Problem

● Professionalism (15 points)
○ Completed the applicable sections of the Performance Systems Analysis Alignment
Tables (5 points)
○ Submitted a document in narrative form with no grammatical or formatting issues (5
points)
○ Met the required page limit (5 points)
● Organization Description (15 points)
○ Described the organization’s purpose and mission (5 points)
○ Described the organization’s physical setup/location/contextual factors (5 points)
○ Described the organization’s employees and clients (5 points)
● Problem Description (20 points)
○ Described what’s currently occurring, including an actual performance (10 points)
○ Described who identified this as a problem and how (5 points)
○ Described all parties who are currently impacted by this problem (5 points)
Assignment 2: Data Collection Plan
● Professionalism (10 points)
○ Completed the applicable sections of the Performance Systems Analysis Alignment
Tables (5 points)
○ Submitted a document in narrative form with no grammatical or formatting issues (5
points)
● Data Collection Plan (40 points)
○ Identified the following components for at least 4 sources
■ Data source and sample size (5 points)
■ Type of data (5 points)
■ Method of data collection (5 points)
■ Rationale for data collection that connects the type of data collected to the
performance problem and the facet of the problem (i.e., does the data address the
performance gap[s] or the causes of the gap[s]) (20 points)
■ Data collection completion date is provided for each source and is projected to be
complete by the end of Module 3 (5 points)
Assignment 3: Gap Analysis Report
● Professionalism (20 points)
○ Completed the applicable sections of the Performance Systems Analysis Alignment
Tables (5 points)
○ Submitted a document with no grammatical or formatting issues (15 points)
● Environmental Analysis (40 points)
○ Described the following components of your selected environment (40 points)
■ Workplace (e.g., resources, tools, information, feedback and
consequences/rewards/incentives for performance or nonperformance)
■ Work (e.g., job tasks and processes, job policies, employee responsibilities)
■ Workforce (e.g., knowledge, skills, motivation, expectations, capacity)
● Gap Analysis (60 points)
○ Quantified the actual performance (what’s actually happening) (15 points)
○ Quantified the desired performance (what the ideal scenario is) (15 points)
○ Compared the actual and desired performances and stated the performance gap (15
points)
○ Described the data, data collection, and data analysis (15 points)
● Cause Analysis (80 points)
○ Identified the potential causes of the performance gap (30 points)
○ Identified the appropriate category from Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model that
relates to the cause (20 points)
○ Explained a rationalization from the data collected and the connection to the identified
causes (30 points)
Assignment 4: Human Performance Improvement Report (Executive
Summary and Recommendations)
● Professionalism (20 points)
○ Completed the cover page (5 points)
○ Submitted a document with no grammatical or formatting issues (15 points)
● Incorporation of Feedback (20 points)
○ Addressed comments raised by the instructors in Assignments 1-3 (20 points)
● Executive Summary (60 points)
○ Summarized the purpose of doing this project (15 points)
○ Summarized the findings related to this project (15 points)
○ Summarized the recommendations (15 points)
○ Used concise and client-friendly language (15 points)
● Performance Systems Analysis (PSA) Alignment Tables (20 points)
○ Completed the PSA Alignment Tables with aligned information throughout (20 points)
● Recommendation for Closing Performance Gaps (60 points)
○ Identified interventions that match with the type of cause (30 points)
○ Explained the rationale for choosing the specific intervention (30 points)
● Identified Potential Barriers to Success for each Recommendation (20 points)
○ Described barriers that might affect the implementation of the recommendations or
impact its positive results after implementation (20 points)