1. Investing in Innovations: Investing in Innovations: Implementing Virtual Classroom Observations in Project ELLA-V Dr. Rafael Lara-Alecio Dr. Beverly Irby Dr. Fuhui Tong Cindy Guerrero Tamara Lopez Casey Elliot Region IV Digital Learning Conference October 25, 2014 Professional Improvement Through Video

2. Empowering teachers to reflect on, analyze, and share practice..... Since 2004 U.S. Department of ED Institute of Education Sciences Small Business Innovation Research Grant (SBIR) – 2007

3. Education experts will tell you that of all the things that go into improving a school, NOTHING -- not class size, not technology, not length of the school day – pays off more than giving teachers the time for peer review and constructive feedback, exposure to the best teaching and time to deepen their knowledge of what they're teaching.

4. Outstanding schools have to have Outstanding teaching …. “When it comes to student performance on reading and math tests, a teacher is estimated to have two to three times the impact of any other school factor, including services, facilities, and even leadership.” – The RAND Corporation 2012

5. (Joyce & Showers 1996)

6. thereNow Camera Systems

7. Reviewing interface Time-stamped text, audio, and video notes Load your own rubrics Create your own counters/timers

8. thereNow applications Coaching Supporting new teachers Self-reflection Professional Learning Communities More efficient/effective walk-throughs Best practice video of your own teachers Education Research

9. Project English Language and Literacy Acquisition – Validation (ELLA-V) Validation grant funded by i3 researching intervention components of the original Project ELLA 75 elementary schools across Texas, Grades K-3 Approximately 150 teachers Determine impact each intervention has on ELL’s English oral language and reading

10. School District Partners South Texas Laredo United Valley Brownsville Donna Central Texas Bryan Houston Area Aldine Houston Spring Branch

11. thereNow / ELLA-V Partnership Challenge: To observe 150 teachers across the state Solution: Install a camera in each classroom and collect secure observations virtually

12. Live Coaching To help insure fidelity (that the curriculum is implemented as intended), coordinators conduct live coaching sessions Teacher wears earpiece as coordinator gives real- time coaching At a later time, feedback is provided to the teacher to help improve student learning and engagement

13. Live Coaching Demonstration How could you use the live features of thereNow?

14. Recorded Observations Three 45 minute observations are recorded for each teacher (beginning, middle, end of year) Recordings are analyzed, focusing on teacher/student interactions Observations are coded using Transitional Bilingual Observation Protocol, based on the Four Dimensional Transitional Bilingual Pedagogical Theory

15. How are these pieces related to student learning and engagement?

16. Recorded Observations How could you use recorded observations?

17. What we have learned… District level IT support to assist with network access Campus level IT support to assist with setting up and testing the cameras (troubleshooting) Communication and scalability: Beyond email, we use Citrix GoToMeeting to conduct virtual conferencing when communicating with district and campus contacts – Provide clear instruction/training on charging and syncing microphones – Clearly communicate with teachers the purpose and frequency of observations (not spying) – Communicate the security of the observations What do you anticipate could be some barriers/challenges in using cameras to conduct virtual observations?

18. Secure virtual observations via thereNow web cameras Uses secure server Secured with password protected account, similar to banking online Videos are secure for teachers and students and reside in a password protected Cloud server Observations can only be accessed by authorized research team Not even the company of thereNow, nor anyone in any school district or university, can access the ELLA-V classroom observation videos without TAMU IRB and Principal Investigator permission Only permitted personnel from the Research Team will monitor the observations and will analyze the content After observations are analyzed they will be permanently erased

19. For more information: Cindy Guerrero, Lead Coordinator Project ELLA-V, Texas A&M University cguerrero@tamu.edu Tamara Lopez, Observation Coordinator Project ELLA-V, Texas A&M University talopez@tamu.edu Language Diversity Network ldn.tamu.edu/ella-v Casey Elliot, CEO thereNow casey@therenow.net **If you are interested in receiving a free Citrix GoToMeeting license, please email me **