ELED 495 :  Internship II Instructional Unit

(EdTPA)

Purpose:

            The overall purpose of the unit assignment in Internship II is to guide interns in the development of their competency in the complexities of long-term planning, in using assessments to guide instruction, and to evaluate the impact of their instruction upon the students in their class. The format, artifacts and commentaries will follow the requirements for EdTPA for the candidate’s designated grade levels and content. Each candidate will receive an EdTPA handbook in his/her EDUC 422 seminar course. Mentor teachers and supervisors will receive electronic access to the handbook as well.

            Specifically, through the unit assignment, interns will demonstrate the following knowledge and skills in the cycle of effective teaching: 

 Directions:

Candidates will be plan an instructional unit during the Internship II that includes at least 5 lessons. The unit topic(s) and timeframe will be designated by the Mentor Teacher. The unit topic is flexible, due to the variety of possible topics and curriculum requirements for the placement grade. Candidates are encouraged to integrate different content areas across the unit. It is important that the unit topic and teaching timeframe be determined within the first weeks of the Internship II. All Planning components must be completed before moving to the Instruction section.

Three steps should be followed in completing the unit assignment- Planning, Instruction and Assessment. Lesson plans, corresponding artifacts and commentaries on these three steps will be the essence of your instructional unit.  Before beginning the unit planning, review the full EdTPA handbook and the Frostburg State University Unit rubric that will be used by the mentor teacher and the university supervisor to assess the assignment.  (See included rubric)

The Internship II Instructional Unit will be housed in the candidate’s Taskstream Portfolio. A link to the portfolio must be sent to the Mentor and Supervisor at the beginning of the semester.   Both the Mentor and Supervisor should monitor the unit development. The unit will be scored by the University Supervisor and Mentor Teacher using the Frostburg State University EPP Unit Rubric once the unit has been taught and the unit materials are complete.  The Unit rubric will be submitted to the University Supervisor with the Internship II paperwork at the end of the internship. Candidates will also be submitting the completed unit for external scoring. Details about the external scoring submission will be presented in the EDUC 422 seminar.

In addition to the general release form for student work, phots and videos, candidates must also receive release approvals from parents for EdTPA collection of artifacts. An additional form should must be collected as well. Both forms should be sent home at the same time. Artifacts and video evidence should only include students who have parent approval. The EdTPA release form is included in this section.

Section One:  Planning

Thoughtful preparation for teaching is the first step towards effective instruction and student learning. A process of backward mapping should be used for the unit preparation, keeping the end result and unit goals in mind.  After consulting with the Mentor Teacher, candidates must identify the desired results for their instruction during the preparation stage. Below is a list of the preparation elements to consider as you plan long-term instruction.

1. Unit Overview: Identify the Unit topic, as determined by your mentor, the grade level and the curriculum expectations. Middle School Interns would need to confirm the class block with whom the unit will be completed. Identify the Central Focus for the unit, expressed through the overall goals, state standards and possible lesson objectives, as well as a pacing schedule. Consider opportunities for inquiry and content integration within the unit. Be sure to address the content/level specific requirements for EdTPA. The unit overview can take the form of a concept map, outline, flow chart, etc.
2. Context For Learning:  Collect information on the student characteristics, such as age, sex, socio-economic profile, race/ethnicity of the group. exceptionalities, achievement, developmental levels, culture, language, interests, learning styles, and skill levels Consider the geographic location of the school, community and school population. Release forms from students in the designated class should be sent home and received during this stage.
3. Assessments: Identify formal and informal methods of assessment for unit/lesson standards and objectives. Develop and conduct a pre-assessment to determine student’s prior knowledge of the unit topic. Analyze data and use results to plan lessons appropriately. Create an Excel Spreadsheet that will hold your pre/post assessment data. Based on your pre- assessment results, consider students who might serve as the "focus students" for the unit. At least one of the "focus students" must have a specific learning need (IEP, 504 plan, ELL, Gifted, or a student who is a struggling reader or has gaps in academic knowledge).
4. Academic Language: Consider the aspects of language that will impact the students' participation in the learning tasks. What are the language demands of the unit? Identify the thinking, reading, writing, listening and speaking (language function) that will support students' learning in the unit.  Determine additional language demands, such as required content vocabulary, how students will communicate (discourse) and the conventions for communication (syntax).
5. Instructional Materials and Resources:  Identify possible materials and resources for lesson planning, instruction and student use.
6. Teaching and Management:  Consider lesson progression and pacing, introductions and procedures, engagement and motivation practices, universal design for learning elements, flexible groupings, aspects of a positive learning environment and other classroom management practices.
7. Home Connection: Draft a home/school newsletter to inform parents about the unit topic. Identify possible topic-related activities that could be completed by parents and students at home. Mentor Teacher and University Supervisor must approve the newsletter before sending home with students. Principal signature might also be required.

Reflecting on the information gathered about the students, the unit content, and your consideration of the elements above, sketch out a visual overview of your unit (web, graphic organizer, etc.), with information about each of the listed planning elements above. This will provide a timeline and a sequence guide for the unit.

Once the above areas are addressed, complete the Planning Commentary questions for EdTPA, using the provided template. See page limit in your EdTPA handbook.

Once the Planning steps are completed, arrange to meet with your University Supervisor to complete the Unit Planning Interview. The Mentor Teacher should be involved in this interview, when possible. The University Supervisor will ask questions concerning the background information collected, the topic goals, timelined and the pre-assessment.  (See the questions on the Interview Form.)  The University Supervisor will offer suggestions and confer with the Mentor Teacher.  At the conclusion of the conference, the University Supervisor will sign the form. Prepare the following items to share with the University Supervisor and Mentor Teacher during the interview.

1. Unit Overview – a document which identifies the central focus, unit standards, lesson progression, academic language, assessments and materials
2. Context For Learning- a document that describes the school, classroom and student qualities that will be relevant for the unit
3. Pre-Assessment - A copy of pre-assessment tool, the pre-assessment results for each student and the class mean in an Excel spreadsheet and a graph to assist with data analysis
4. Home/School Newsletter for unit (draft)
5. Parent/Guardian Release Forms - signed from designated class

Once the Unit Preparation Interview with the University Supervisor and all unit preparations have been approved by the Mentor Teacher, the candidate should develop the lesson plans that will be used to teach the unit.  Each lesson will be completed on TaskStream using the long lesson plan form. All instructional materials and assessment items must be collected and complied into two files, once the lessons are developed. Any sources for instruction and assessment should be cited in a bibliography, using APA style.

Section Two:  Instruction

       During the second stage of the unit, the developed lessons will be taught. Daily lessons should be revised, based on the assessment results from previous lessons. At the end of each lesson, the candidate will reflect on the lesson and identify strengths and needs in their teaching, as well as changes to the lesson if it were to be taught again. The University Supervisor will observe one of the unit lessons, when possible. During the follow-up conference, the Supervisor may ask about other lessons in your unit.  Candidates should conference regularly with the Mentor Teacher about the unit during the Instruction stage.

Video clips are required for the Instruction stage, so candidates must plan accordingly to gather the necessary technology equipment and to acclimate students to the presence of the video camera. Interns are strongly encouraged to video all lessons, even though the video clips submitted to EdTPA are limited in scope. Mentors and supervisors can assist with video recording lessons during the unit teaching.

Once instruction is complete, the Instruction Commentary questions for EdTPA should be answered, using the available template. See page limit in your EdTPA handbook.

Section Three: Assessment  
During the final stage of the process, candidates will be analyzing students’ learning.  The following items must be completed and included in the unit materials.

1. Assessment Tools: Select and submit an example of one assessment from the lessons that will be used to evaluate student learning. Create and submit the evaluation criteria (rubric, rating scale, checklist, etc) that you used to evaluate students' ability to meet the learning criteria/standard.

2. Pre/Post Assessment Results: Collect and analyze student work from the selected assessment. Both quantitative (numeric) and qualitative (descriptive) analysis can be used to document patterns of student learning for the whole class. An Excel spreadsheet should include pre-assessment and post-assessment results for each student, the difference in scores for each student and the class mean for pre and post assessment.   Graphs from this data should be created to assist with analysis of learning.
3. Focus Student Work Samples: Select and submit work samples from the focus students from the one unit assessment. Analyze results and use student work to illustrate patterns of student learning for the whole class. Provide feedback on the submitted work for each of the focus students. This feedback should be specific to the learning criteria and the student's performance. The feedback can take written, audio or video form.
4. Student Language Use: Analyze evidence of student's language during the lessons. Evidence could come from the video clips in the Instruction stage, an additional video clip or from the student work samples. Concrete examples of language function, vocabulary and discourse or syntax are needed.

Section 4: Reflection

Reflection is an important step in the cycle of effective teaching. Once Sections 1 – 3 have be completed, answer the following questions in writing.

1. What are your overall take-aways from developing this unit?  How will you apply this learning in your future teaching?
2. How did you engage and motivate all students during the unit?
3. What challenges did you face in classroom management and how did you solve them?
4. What have you learned about the planning-instruction-assessment cycle?  How did your unit assessments inform your decisions?
5. How did your decisions for whole group, small group and individual instruction impact student learning and participation?

Once evidence and artifacts are collected, they should be added to the Taskstream folio. Next, the Assessment Commentary questions for EdTPA should be answered, using the available template. See page limits in your EdTPA handbook.

Grading: 

The Internship II Instructional Unit will be housed in the candidate’s Taskstream Portfolio. The unit will be scored by the University Supervisor and Mentor Teacher using the Frostburg State University EPP Unit Rubric.  The Unit rubric will be collected by the University Supervisor with the Internship II paperwork at the end of the internship. Candidates will also be submitting the completed unit for seminar and external scoring. Details about the external scoring submission will be presented in the EDUC 422 seminar.

The following items are to be included and submitted to the mentor and supervisor for review for the ELED 495 Unit assignment.

1. Identification of the Unit title, the candidate’s name, and the dates completed.
2. Unit Overview
3. Context for Learning (use edTPA template)
4. Pre and Post assessment tool (s), student and class spreadsheet and graph(s) for analysis
5. 5 or more Taskstream long lesson plans (with reflections completed)
6. Instructional materials (one file containing key materials used in lessons)
7. Assessment materials (one file containing assessment tools use in lessons)
8. Unit Reflection Questions
9. Bibliography - APA citations for instructional and assessment materials not created by the intern
10. Home-School Newsletter for unit

The Mentor Teacher and the University Supervisor work as a team to determine the score on the EPP Unit rubric after both have had time to review the materials in the completed Unit.  The rubric scores are shared with the candidate.  If any criteria score is in the unacceptable range, the Mentor and University Supervisor will conference with the candidate, explaining what unit sections or requirements need to be resubmitted.  The candidate needs to score in the acceptable range for all criteria in order to earn a passing grade in ELED 495 Teaching Internship II:  PreK-9 Programs.

A copy of the scored rubric will be collected by the University Supervisor and will be submitted to Office of Clinical and Field Experience at the end of the semester.