Principals participating in the IMPACT V grant program earned their Education Specialist degrees (Ed.S.) from the School of Education in May 2013.
By Bruce Buchanan
In recent years, the School of Education (SOE) has been successful in winning highly competitive federal and state grants to fund programs that promote educator preparation and professional development. One of those grants, the federal IMPACT V grant, just finished its two-year cycle, but this summer, the School of Education began a one-year Golden Leaf grant.
Dr. Ann W. Davis wrote the grants and is supervising their implementation. She said UNCG is playing a key role in the final cycle of the IMPACT grant program. The program promotes instructional technology in low-income, rural areas through training, leadership development and executive coaching. In North Carolina, implementing the IMPACT V grant has been a collaborative effort between UNCG, Appalachian State University, UNC Charlotte, North Carolina Central University and NC State University, with support from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and consultant Dr. Larry D. Coble.
The initial IMPACT grants (in 2003-06) saw sharp increases in both reading and math scores at the pilot elementary schools. The program also has led to measurable increases in the number of teachers using technology-enhanced classroom strategies as well as in students’ comfort level using technology to learn.
“For four years, they had been working with instructional technology facilitators and teachers,” Davis said. “What we found was that it’s all about principal leadership.”
Principals participating in the program earned Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degrees in Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations from the School of Education, while teachers earned Master’s of Instructional Technology degrees. Principals and teachers from 12 school districts from across North Carolina participated, with the principals having graduated in May 2013 and the teachers graduating this December. In addition, each participating school received technology money through the grant. The amount ranged from $40,000 to $300,000, depending on enrollment at the school.
Davis said the IMPACT V grant was written to be self-sustaining.
“In rural, high-poverty schools, they often don’t have the money to hire an instructional technology coordinator,” she said. So the IMPACT V program at UNCG trains teams of four teachers (English, math, social studies and science) per school and those teachers, in turn, will return to their schools and train their colleagues. The goal, Davis said, is to “grow leadership capacity in their buildings.”
In addition to providing coursework, School of Education officials traveled to all 12 districts to provide on-site executive coaching and support.
Davis said the two-year experience has improved the Ed.S. degree process. For example, the program is now available online, which is a major plus for busy, working principals. But School of Education officials in the ELC department also decided to bring in degree candidates for in-person sessions – a low residency requirement, largely due to feedback from IMPACT V participants.
“They told us they need to see each other occasionally,” Davis said. “They need that cohort experience.” The ELC department is known for providing rigorous instruction with a student-centered, relationship-oriented focus.
Davis also notes that IMPACT V already has generated numerous publications, and UNCG faculty members are in the process of gathering additional data. There will be follow up with graduates to ensure that implementation is going smoothly at the local level.
With the IMPACT V grant now winding down, School of Education leaders have turned their attention to the one-year Golden Leaf grant.
“The State Department of Public Instruction found that we do not have enough certified instructional technology facilitators in economically disadvantaged rural districts,” Davis said. So the SOE’s successful Golden Leaf grant application sought to change that fact.
The Golden Leaf grant provides 13 classroom teachers from across North Carolina with the chance to become certified instructional technology facilitators (ITF). Participants will take six courses through the 2013-14 school year, taking online courses through the SOE.
All of the participants come from small, high-poverty school districts. Districts involved in the training are Allegany, Bertie, Bladen, Clay, Edenton-Chowan, Edgecombe, Hertford, McDowell, North Hampton, Rockingham, Scotland and Stokes.
“Some of these teachers already are in the role of ITF, but are not licensed,” Davis said. And without that licensure, the state will not provide the school district with funding for an instructional technology facilitator position. But once the teachers complete this certification, their districts will qualify for those additional funds.
The grant also provides leadership development and action planning institutes six times during the course of the year for each school team. The team consists of the ITF candidate, principal, media specialists and technology director. The institutes are held on campus and led by Drs. Davis and Coble. The goal is for each team to develop a fully comprehensive strategic plan for transforming teaching and learning through the use of technology in their school and/or district.
The Department of Library and Information Studies coordinates the design and delivery of the course work for this program. In addition to the graduate-level academic component, Department Chair Clara M. Chu, said the Golden Leaf program has a strong leadership training component as well.
“The program is offered online,” said Dr. Anne Trice Akers, Clinical Assistant Professor in the LIS Department and School Library Media and Graduate Support Coordinator. “We understand that these students are working full-time in their school districts, so the students have the ability to log on and work on their assignments at their point of availability.”
Akers said that it is difficult for small, rural districts in the state to compete with their urban counterparts in recruiting and retaining instructional technology facilitators. The Golden Leaf program helps those districts find a solution, she said.
“This program gives these districts the opportunity to develop someone already in the community, with ties to that community,” Akers said.
Chu said the School of Education is a natural partner for a statewide instructional technology program.
“We have the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate program leading to 079 licensure already in place,” Chu said.
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