Session 7 (masters proposal)

It's funny how when you work on a certain assignment your ideas on your project begin to change. I definitely made some changes that would work better with the ADDIE and for my school. A lot needs to be done before school gets out. YIKES! Here is the proposal:

Introduction
Building communication between the school, home and community has been a key component for student achievement. There is a need for this relationship because of the expectations that are demanded upon the students. With continuous reinforcement of these expectations at school and in the home, everyone has a part in producing an effective school.

At Urbita Elementary School, a number of opportunities are given for parents to participate in and learn more about the expectations of the students for academic and social achievement. The problem that occurs is that a number of these parents are unable to attend or choose not to. If the parents can’t make it to the school, then the school needs to make it into the homes. That is why a DVD is needed to provide the information that is vital for student success. The purpose of this DVD is to present the information from the school and to answer repeated questions that parents have.

This project will seek to develop this digital presentation using an instructional design process and will attempt to measure the effectiveness of building this relationship, communicating the expectations of both the school and the home, leading to the goal of student achievement.


Literature Review
The three areas of literature that will inform this investigation are positive communication between the home, school, and community, high expectations for all students, and teacher collaboration.


Method
The analysis phase of this project will include focus group discussions at staff meetings, interviewing and surveying. First, gathering information from teachers at staff meetings will begin the analysis phase, seeking information to determine the content that might be presented in the delivery.

Interviewing will be done with the school’s staff to determine specific standards and expectations needed for the school as a whole and at grade level. The decisions made by the staff will determine what information will be included in the digital presentation.

Parent surveys will be developed to determine what information is needed and wanted from the parents of the students.

This information, along with the research reviewed in chapter 2 will inform the development process. A DVD will be created and tested by the administrator, staff, and selected parents. Subject matter experts specializing in graphics and editing will be asked to evaluate the quality of the presentation, making improvements with the given suggestions. Through this testing, modifications will be made to the alpha prototype.

Once the alpha prototype has been tested and improved to the point that the developer is confident of its potential effectiveness, the DVD will emerge into its beta test stage. It will be given to one family for each classroom that will be selected by the teacher. With the DVD, a survey will be given for parents to evaluate the effectiveness of the information and presentation.

Full implementation will take place with the return of the evaluations. The DVD will then be given to all families who attend Urbita Elementary School.


Conclusion
This project will seek to develop a DVD that families can review to understand the expectations needed by both the staff and families at Urbita Elementary School. This digital presentation will help to communicate the expectations of both the school and the home, leading towards the purpose of student achievement.

The ADDIE instructional design model, along with rapid prototyping will be used for this project. The project is expected to commence in June 2009 and end in September of 2009.

I understand, affirm and agree that it is my responsibility to transfer my completed thesis to my first reader no later than 60 days prior to the format review deadline as established by Graduate Studies in order to avoid delays which might lead to my missing the format review deadline.