simSchool Preparing Teachers to Improve Student Learning

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simSchoolPreparing Teachers to Improve Student
Learning

• David Gibson
• Bill Halverson

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Developing Teaching Skills

• Planning instruction
• Getting to know students through student records
• Creating pre-assessments
• Selecting teaching strategies
• Reading the classroom for information about
  whether to adapt or modify plans
• Planning post-assessments and using the results
• Reflecting on practice

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Samples of Work

• Standards-based lesson plans
• Teaching strategies that meet students needs and
  interests
• Assessments (tasks) that align with unit and
  lesson objectives
• Notes on adaptations and modifications
• Documentation of improved student performance
  resulting from teaching
• Candidate reflection on the whole experience

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Is Complex! Needs Practice

• For mastery, teacher candidates need many chances
  to practice their skills and receive feedback on
  samples of their work!
• (See Teacher Work Sample Methodology as
  articulated by Schalock Schalock, 1997 Girod,
  2002)
• Whose kids should candidates use for practice,
  prior to student teaching?

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simSchools!
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simSchool Activities

• Developing simulated K12 classrooms of students
• Implementing case-based simulations that increase
  preservice students' skills in results-driven
  classroom practices
• Documenting impact on effectiveness in achieving
  student results
• Disseminating the findings

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...Connect Teaching Learning

• Provides an experimental environment with
  simulated students who respond to instructional
  and assessment choices
• Allows repeated study of the impact of teaching
  decisions
• Focuses practice on specific instructional
  planning skills
• Highlights the complexity of teaching

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simSchool Outcomes

• Impact preservice curricula
• Enhance preservice teaching
• Increase the percentage of new teachers who
  possess knowledge and skills in results-driven
  classroom practices
• Gather baseline and change-over-time data on the
  status of student results

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Interacting with students
What teachers do
What teachers see
How simStudents react
simStudent outcomes
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simStudent Hidden Variables

• 600 males and 600 females - 6 races
• Performance profiles based on real students
• 43 Hidden variables

• Curriculum (18)
• Domain - levels (8)
• Assessment Type (3)
• Assessment Sequence (4)
• Strategy Type (10)

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simStudent Observables

• Student Records
• Student Classroom Behavior
• Assessment Results

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Example of a Student Record
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Teacher Actions

• Choose curriculum area
• Outline unit objectives, timing, mix of
  strategies
• Design and give pre-assessment
• Make adaptations and modifications before and
  during teaching
• Design and give post-assessment

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Example of Adaptation
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Seeing Results of Actions

• Observing classroom on-task and off-task
  behavior
• Observing assessment results

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Assessment Results
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How You Can Get Involved

• Learn more about Teacher Work Sample
  Methodology in teacher education
• Follow the simSchool research and development
  project
• Become an early user of the simulations and
  contribute to the research and development

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Contact Information
David Gibson, Ed. D. dgibson_at_vermontinstitutes.org
Bill Halverson Halversonb_at_wou.edu