The Home of Ingenious Solutions for ASL Teaching Problems.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Professional Collaboration by Federico Quintana, M.Ed.
An inspiration for yall to work together to bring many levels of
achievements for ASL teachings. There are two different types of
teachers... A researcher and an innovator... A researcher digest and
compare the studied data to provide the solutions for the learning or
teaching problems. An innovator creates the meaningful learning or
teaching activities by connecting the dots of interdisciplinary. Both
can not successfully teach without collaborating. Like the hardware
and software working together to bring the purposes of life. You need my
skills and I need your skills. Growing foods but it doesn't cook
itself.... Let's collaborate and thrive our ASL (L1 & L2) programs
much stronger !!!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The purpose of my action research in Deaf Education by Federico Quintana (2012)
As a deaf educator, one main goal in my professional
career is to advocate for deaf students and work with schools to find
creative solutions to bridge the communicational gap between deaf
students and their teachers through, not only better instructional
practices, but also, through a better understanding of the deaf
culture, greater parental involvement, and deaf professionals in the
school.
I am firmly convinced
that research is needed in order to identify, understand, and propose
solutions to the various dilemmas that affect the deaf education
programs. An urgent task to be addressed in research practices is
determining the effectiveness of the current procedures to determine
qualifications of teachers and interpreters working with deaf students,
and means to increase participation of deaf professionals in careers
related to education. A personal experience may further illustrate my
point; two years ago, I attended a State Conference for Deaf Educators,
however, only 11 of the 200 members were deaf (including myself). In
addition, many of the “deaf/hearing educators” required sign language
interpreters because they were not proficient in sign language. The
question that had been bothering me since I was in elementary school
came back to me in the same simple terms and unfortunately, remains
without response; if deaf educators are not proficient in sign
language, how are they able to communicate and teach deaf students
effectively?
Research can bring new light regarding key questions; does our current educational regulation sets up appropriate procedures to qualify teachers to work with deaf students? Are there adequate workshops, trainings, and staff development activities that focus on improving sign language skills for deaf educators and enhance their knowledge about the psychology of deafness? Are our current teacher evaluation measures a true reflection of the teacher’s capacity to teach deaf students? School leaders need to take an active role in initiating a conversation about these issues and advocate for research that can bring new ideas about how to increase recruitment of deaf teachers and administrators, and ways to bring the parents of the deaf to become active participants in the educational process of their children.
I
am convinced that action research is needed in order to identify,
understand, and propose solutions to the various dilemmas affecting deaf
education programs. My focus will be on determining the effectiveness
of current teacher qualifications and interpreters working with deaf
students, and identifying means to increase participation of deaf
professionals in education-related careers.
This
research may hold significant benefits for school leaders in charge of
deaf programs. School leaders need to take an active role in
initiating a conversation about such issues and advocate for research
that can bring benefits to educators working with deaf students, such
as new ideas for increasing recruitment of deaf teachers and
administrators, development and implementation of effective staff
development, and ways to have teachers of deaf students become active
participants in the deaf students’ educational process for achievement
at numerous levels.
Leadership for Accountability: Course Relfection by Federico Quintana (2012)
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“Move
forward in time to the end of the school year. Imagine that you and
your staff implemented the action plan, which resulted in increased
student performance on the latest Academic Excellence Indicator System
(AEIS) reports. Your campus has moved a step closer to becoming
Exemplary, and you want to maintain the momentum. What will you do now?”
Federico A. Quintana
This course has provided me valuable lessons in techniques for gathering data information and using data to develop a solution to address any area of concern regarding students’ educational achievements and overall campus’ health. There are many research-based tools for collecting and using data to identify areas of improvement in students’ academic and test performance. Using data on students’ tests and overall campus performance gives us the opportunity to identity areas needing improvement to fill the gaps in student achievements and then develop the action plan for on-going improvements in our campus. However, it should not be the only criteria to evaluate their progress. Even though my campus, Memorial High School, according to AEIS report, is rated “academic acceptable,” our job as administrators is to continue joining efforts to improve our campus in order to maintain momentum.
The
next steps for continuous campus improvement cycle in our campus are
to identity any areas that are in need for improvement by studying
data information collected through appropriate research-based
techniques. Then, I will develop and implement the action plan for
improvement on our campus. The action plan will include (once again)
research-based tools to develop a rigorous professional development
trainig for teachers and administrators.
This
class provided me with valuable tools to put together an effective
professional development by incorporating a “Team Dialogue Guide” and
reflection guide (both tools are similar to assessments for evaluating
data and determining the most effective steps for addressing
concerns). Thomas wrote, “…the team emerges from the data analysis
process with a clear plan of action for identified students and for
class instruction…” (p. 42). He also wrote, “The reflection guide
included in this article is a helpful tool for team members to analyze
the current status of curriculum, instruction and assessment and to
identify instructional changes for the next unit” (p. 42); this data
analysis tool is beneficial for a school team to explore the
ineffectiveness and effectiveness of instructional practices and
curriculums.
The
benefits of “Team Dialogue Guide” and reflection guide in
professional staff development is to provide teachers an opportunity
to share input on student’ tests score improvements. This could be
accomplished by sorting through data to identify areas of needed
improvement. In general, the meetings would include discussion on data
regarding students’ tests and overall campus performance to meet
state standard requirements; this can be overwhelming and
time-consuming. Using the two
guides Thomas provides, would bring about great relief for this
data-driven dilemmas. These tools can help open dialogue with teachers
and promote collaboration on data analysis of students’ achievements
by presenting subgroups students’ academic performance and attendance
rates. The data will be presented in a systematic way to point out
strengths and weaknesses with combined data sources, and the factors
contributing to low performance scores would be explained clearly. I
would then provide recommended actions for improvementing, and opening
the floor to input from the meeting participants. Additionally,
on-going professional development for educators and administrators is
also a key for continuous campus improvement cycle to thrive the excellence quality of education for every individual student.
The
last step, I will use formative assessment to monitor the students’
performance and ensure that an action campus plan is in the place. Dylan
William from “Changing Classroom Practice” explains the role of
formative assessment as a professional tool to promote teachers into
action by using formative assessments for student performance,
“Meeting regularly in teacher learning communities is one of the best
ways for teachers to develop their skill in using formative assessment”
(William, p. 36).School leaders should use formative assessment as
part of their action plans when they see challenges or issues. As
William suggests, “Formative assessment has the power to produce
unprecedented improvements in student achievement in our schools” (p.
39). Using formative assessment will help me evaluate my campus and
students’ performances for efficacy. However, formative assessment is a
cynical process that requires a length of time as William emphasizes:
“Don’t treat formative assessment as just this year's quick fix” (p.
39). This course helped me gain a greater understanding of the
necessity of effective data collection and use, along with various
guidelines, implementing action tools to improve students’ academic
performances.
References:
Thomas, R. S. (2006). How to survive data overload. Principal Leadership, 7(2), p. 42.
William, D. (2007-2008). Changing Classroom Practice. Educational Leadership, 65(4), p. 36-41.
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Human Resource Management -Ethic of Code- by Federico Quintana (2012)
I
defined ethics as the principle of good morality behaviors. Myself as
deaf educator, my personal code of ethics could be tested in a
leadership position because I often faced numerous obstacles
communicating with administrators, staffs and parents beyond the basic
concepts.In my experience, conflict
occurs and exacerbate when communication channels are not set in place
or become disrupted. This situation is even more obvious when we are
talking about deaf teachers (like me) and it interaction with the
school administration and rest of the staff members. Only a great deal
of effort and creativity (problem solving outside the box) and the
commitment to improve communication can possibly help to solve the day
to day situations and conflicts. For example, when it comes to
emergency situations, in many cases I faced what I call “communication
slowdowns” because interpreters weren’t always available at those
times. This experience illustrates the example that my personal ethic
will be ultimately tested regarding to challenges of communication
barriers. However, my personal code of ethic guide my decision making as
a school leader, I will ensure to review and implement policies and
procedures, along with ethical codes, that promote professional educator
compliance in decision making, actions and behaviors and model the
highest standard of conduct, ethical principles and integrity in
decision making. It is imperative for me as school leader to apply
knowledge of ethical issues affecting education, follow laws, policies,
and procedure in a fair and reasonable manner, and communicate
effectively with a school stakeholders and appropriate authorities about
the decision making process.
(2012) "What do you feel would be the most difficult aspect of evaluating teacher and campus staff? How do you overcome that difficulty? What criteria do you feel is appropriate in evaluating teacher effectiveness, and how do you ensure fairness and objectivity during the evaluation process ?"
I believe that the most difficult aspect of
evaluating teachers and staffs is personal conflict of interest because
some of them may be associates close friends or even relatives. The
aspect that I would keep in my mind in order to overcome that
difficulty would be consider the evaluation process as a meant to
provide feedback and an opportunity for improvement instead of looking
it as a mean to intimidate or punish. In my experience as high school
teacher the performance evaluations can be nerve racking, and for this
very reason may not be a fair demonstration of the teacher’s
performance. Therefore, as an administrator, every time I plan to
evaluate a classroom teacher, I would inform him/her in ahead of time
about the mandatory for performance evaluation. I would set up a meeting
with the teacher few days prior to formal evaluation to discuss what
to expect during the evaluation and what observer is seeking for in
teaching performances. The meeting will benefit teachers because as
he/she would be learning and will enhance his/her skills and self
prepared, more confidence and do their best at the day of evaluation.
This criterion is appropriate in evaluating teacher effectiveness, and
ensuring fairness and objectivity during the evaluation process.
"My goals for partnership community to advocate the Deaf and Hard of Hearing" 2012 Published by Federico Quintana
My
campus is a public high school with a day school program for deaf
students; there are numerous challenges in deaf education The non-deaf
student population at our campus is just over 1,000, while there are 40
deaf students. Most of the deaf students have tested lowest in all
subject core areas, although this has had little impact on the status of
the AEIS report because it is such a small subgroup. The low scores are
still a significant concern for our program supervisor and deaf
educators. Additionally, the deaf student subgroup test scores have not
improved since 2008, which is a clear indication that this subgroup is
in much need of improvement.
Most
deaf students do not have adequate access to communication at home
because their families typically lack sign language skills or deaf
awareness/education. This program will benefit participants greatly,
especially parents improving their sign language skills to communicate
with their deaf children, and staff and families wanting better
awareness of resources and deaf culture. Partnerships like this increase
student achievement by:
- Providing full communication between parents and teachers to discuss concerns about deaf and hard of hearing students’ communication and educational needs.
- Increasing diversity awareness among all school stakeholders as it applies to deaf people.
- Finding a potential candidate or sponsor to donate money or supplies to the deaf education program.
- Having stakeholder access to resources for supporting deaf students’ educational achievements and post-graduation plans.
- Demonstrating significant improvement in academic grades and TAKS/STAR performances.
- Increasing parental involvement in deaf child’s education.
We
are committed to find solutions to improve deaf students’ test
performances, but it won’t be an easy task. Fortunately, there is the
annual State Conference for Deaf Educators, a great opportunity for our
deaf educators to work with other deaf educators from all over the state
to share ideas, explore alternate options to deaf education curricula
and acquire new research regarding deaf education. Deaf educators and
administrators should work collaboratively to find and develop
strategies for increasing parents’ involvement in deaf children’s
education by providing sign language classes, afterschool activities
and/or weekend activities. Additionally,
ongoing professional development for deaf educators is also a key to
improving deaf students’ test scores, academic achievements and full
communication access. Teachers and administrators should explore these areas to incorporate the effective partnership program as following:
-Provide strategies for increasing parental involvement in their deaf children’s education
-Provide full access to communication for deaf students
-Work collaboratively to develop an appropriate curriculum and instructional methods for deaf students
-Increase awareness among school stakeholders of diversity, including deaf people
-Work with agencies and associations serving deaf people to provide resources for deaf students
"Ethical dilemma" by Federico Quintana
One major challenge of
ethical dilemma I faced at my campus regarding to sign language
interpreter in classroom issues. Some of deaf students attend to an
inclusion class that requires interpreter to be present in the class to
provide a full communication access for the deaf students. When
instructor gives the verbal lectures and the interpreter’s job is to
facilitate and translate from verbal information into sign language
information and the interpreter service was accommodated by IEP
commission. Most of time, interpreters did not show up class on time,
interpreters failed to call in sick and interpreters being pulled out
of class for some reason- these issues had significant impact on deaf
students’ quality of education, decline in academic performance and
missing out the important information from instructor lectures. This
obstacle brings a great educational barrier for the deaf students. It
is very important to have an interpreter present in the class for deaf
students because they deserved education opportunities as any other
students. I had discussed this issue with my supervisors, campus
principal and school district and we still have not solved this issue
because there are not adequate qualified interpreters in our town. The
budget is also an issue because they couldn’t open more interpreter
positions in our school district.
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