Welcome, Committee Members!

1. Welcome, Committee Members! iNACOL Southeastern Regional Committee Webinar April 10, 2014 Committee Chair Debi Crabtree CEO, Village Virtual LLC www.villagevirtual.com Vice-Chair, Tara Rodriguez Kentucky Department of Education tara.rodriguez@education.ky.gov

2. Updates! April 2014 Rob DarrowDirector of Member Services • rdarrow@inacol.org

3. Palm Springs, Ca – Nov. 4-7, 2014 • RFP now closed. Received a record number of proposals – 558 (last year we received 432) • Registration available soon • Start planning now!

4. Updates! Upcoming [FREE] April Special Webinars • The Council of State School Officers (CCSSO) Innovation Lab Network Special Webinars – Series of 3 • April 10, 3:00 EST. How Competency Based Education is Transforming Assessment and Accountability Systems in Schools • Registration Link: http://bit.ly/1i4uVAY • Past CCSSO ILN Special Webinars • April 3 – Transforming Teaching and Learning Through Competency Education • April 1 – Transforming Systems Through Policy, Practice and Structure See iNACOL Website resource section under “archived webinars” - http://www.inacol.org/resources/inacol-webinars/

5. Competency Works Special Webinar April 24, 2:00 Eastern. • CompetencyWorks: Understanding Grading in Competency-based Schools • Registration Link: http://bit.ly/1h8pKoy

6. Updates! Upcoming [FREE] April Webinars • Leadership (April 9) – Protecting Student Privacy in Blended and Online Learning: New FERPA Guidance from the US Department of Education • Teacher Talk (April 17) – Finding an Online Teaching Position and Identifying the Needed Skills and Professional Development • Research (April 15) – The State of School Administrator Preparation for K-12 Blended and Online Learning Programs in the U.S. Register on the website (for anyone): http://www.inacol.org/events/webinars/

7. Updates! New iNACOL Documents – 2014 • A K-12 Federal Policy Framework for Competency Education: Building Capacity for Systems Change (ESEA) • http://bit.ly/cwk12fedpolicy • CompetencyWorks-- Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education • http://bit.ly/progressandproficiency • Special webinar on April 24 Documents on website: http://www.inacol.org/resources/publications/inacol-reports/

8. Updates! Student Privacy Document from US Dept of Ed (Issued Feb. 2014 from U.S. Dept. of EdPrivacy Technical Assistance Center) • Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services • http://ptac.ed.gov/document/protecting-student-privacy-while-using-online-educational-services • All issues related to FERPA and related student privacy on the website - http://ptac.ed.gov/

9. Updates! Join iNACOL’s Plugged In • Daily online and blended learning news updates • http://www.inacol.org/news/plugged-in/

10. Updates! • Other Questions, Input, Thoughts? • rdarrow@inacol.org

11. Our Presenter: Jennifer Cain Jennifer Cain is a veteran teacher and current graduate student researcher at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Her project “Using vCFG to Facilitate Culturally Responsive Teaching in Rural Alaska” has captured the eye of her university professors and members of Alaska’s state level Department of Education for its implications in reducing teacher attrition and positively impacting student outcomes, particularly for the native population. Her work also has powerful implications for online teachers and for teachers implementing educational technology in their classrooms who find themselves without peer groups in F2F settings.

12. Using vCFG to Facilitate Culturally Responsive Teaching Jennifer Cain Graduate Researcher University of Alaska Anchorage

13. Summer/July Welcome to Alaska! There is a joke that Alaska really does have all four seasons… They just happen to be: Winter, June, July, and August! Spring/ late May Fall/ August

14. Graphic Source: http://matadornetwork.com/trips/just-how-big-is-alaska-anyway/

15. A little bit about Alaska • Alaska is divided up into boroughs (not counties) • Total Population: about 735,000 • Anchorage: 300,000 • Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 95,000 • Kenai Peninsula Borough: 54,000 • Fairbanks/North Star Borough: 100,000 • Juneau: 32,000 • 48% of Alaska’s students are classified as ethnic minority • Nearly 25% of students in Alaska are Alaska Native • In Anchorage School District (ASD) the majority of students are students of color ( US Census Data, 2010; Hill and Hirshberg, 2005; Jester and Fickel, 2013)

16. Urban vs Rural Districts • There are five urban districts within the state: Anchorage School District, Matanuska-Susitna School District, Fairbanks/North Star District, Kenai Borough School District, and Juneau School District • Together they constitute 73% of all learners in Alaska • The remainder of the state’s 55 districts, are considered rural and constitute the remaining 27% of all learners in Alaska (Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, 2013)

17. Road Map of Alaska Graphic Source: http://www.alaska.org/assets/content/maps/Alaska_Map.pdf

18. “Urban” Schools vs. Bush Schools Urban Schools Bush Schools • 5 “urban” districts • Similar to lower 48 • Student population varies widely • Variety of choice public, private, charter, alternative, online • Teachers: • Predominantly White • Trained in Alaska • Turnover average 10% • 49 districts not considered “urban” • Many very remote and isolated • Majority of population Alaska Native • Public, boarding, online • Teachers: • Predominantly White • Trained outside Alaska • Turnover average 22% (Hirshberg & Hill, 2008)

19. A Closer Look at Rural Turnover

20. Culturally Responsive Educators: • Incorporate local ways of knowing and teaching into their work • Use the local environment and community resources on a regular basis to link what they are teaching to the everyday lives of the students • Participate in community events and activities in an appropriate and supportive way • Work closely with parents to achieve a high level of complementary educational expectations between home and school • Recognize the full educational potential of each student and provide the challenges necessary for them to achieve that potential (Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Educators, ANKN, 1998)

21. Implications for the Online Educator/Bush Educator • Geographic and Temporal limitations • Wide variety of online Teacher Professional Development (oTPD) • Most are large scale • Teacher driven in choice • Asynchronous • Teacher must create own PLN • Relevancy (Francis-Pocente and Jacobsen, 2013)

22. Professional Development

23. Core Features of Effective PD • Content Focus • Active Learning • Coherence • Duration • Collective Participation (Desimone, 2011)

24. What is CFG? • Critical Friends Group (CFG) is defined by the National Reform School Faculty (NRSF) as “A professional learning community consisting of approximately 8-12 educators who come together voluntarily at least once a month for about 2 hours. Group members are committed to improving their practice through collaborative learning.” ( McKenzie, M. and Carr-Reardon A.M. 2003, NSRF FAQ)

25. What makes CFG unique? • Norms • Coaches • Protocols • Relevant • Small • Teacher Driven (McKenzie, M. and Carr-Reardon, A.M. 2003. NRSF FAQ)

26. What happens during a typical CFG session? • Monthly Meetings 1-2 hours in length • Presenter and Coach pre-plan • Presentation • Feedback • Debrief (McKenzie, M. and Carr-Reardon, A.M. 2003. NRSF FAQ)

27. Translating CFG to vCFG • Establishing platform/troubleshooting tech • Establishing an online community • Smaller is better • Training of coaches • Establishing/prioritizing content (Francis-pocente and Jacobsen, 2013)

28. Questions? Jennifer Cain jmcain@alaska.edu jjmcain@gmail.com

29. References • Alaska Native Knowledge Network. (1998). Alaska standards for culturally responsive schools: Cultural standards for students, educators, schools, curriculum, community. Fairbanks, AK:. Retrieved from http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/ • Alaska Teacher Placement (2014). About Alaska, Fairbanks, AK: Retrieved from http://www.alaskateacher.org/about_alaska.php • Desimone, L. M. (2011). A Primer on Effective Professional Development. The Phi Delta Kappan, 92 (6), 68-71. • Francis-pocente, K., & Jacobsen, M. (2013, 14 3). Synchronous Online Collaborative Professional Development for Elementary Mathematics Teachers. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning , 319-343. • Gay, G. (2010). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice--2nd Ed. New York, NY: Teachers College, Columbia University. • Hirshberg, D., & Hill, A. (2008, July). Research Summary: Alaska Teacher Turnover, Is it changing? Retrieved Nov 14, 2013, from ISER: http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/formal/rsummary/RS69.pdf • Hirshberg, D., & Hill, A. (2006, April). Research Summary: Teacher Turnover in Alaska: How Many Leave Their Jobs? Retrieved Nov 15, 2013, from ISER: http://www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/Teacherfinal.pdf • Jester, T. E., & Fickel, L. H. (2013). Cross-Cultural Field Experiences in Alaska Native Villages: Implications for Culturally Responsive Teacher Education. (D. 10.1080/08878730.2013.793762, Ed.) The Teacher Educator, 48 (3), 185-200. • McKenzie, M., & Carr-Reardon, A. (2003, June). National Reform School Faculty FAQ. Retrieved April 2, 2014, from National Reform School Faculty: http://www.nsrfharmony.org/faq.html

30. Next Meeting May 8, 2014 Presenter: Dr. JeredBorup Assistant Professor Learning Technologies in Schools George Mason University Fairfax, VA Topic: A review of research conducted in Utah in area of Student Support