What are the goals of the Higher Education/ Research Subcommittee?

1. Provide research to determine the extent of integration of technology in the teacher preparation programs of West Virginia higher education teacher prep courses.

2. Provide research to determine the extent of professional development courses being provided to K-12 by:

• West Virginia University
• Marshall University

3. Provide research components to determine the degree of implementation of professional development.

• Evaluation of delivering of professional development.
• Evaluation of implementation.
• Was technology used in professional development delivery?

4. Provide research to determine the number of new teachers hired by West Virginia counties from West Virginia higher education institutions.

5. Provide research to determine the number of substitutes currently being utilized by West Virginia counties.

• West Virginia higher education trained substitutes.
• Alternative degree status (RESA Programs)

6. Provide research to determine the extent of unified regional professional development planning within each RESA.  WVU and MU will focus on the legislatively assigned RESA’s:

Barriers:

1. Staffing for research:

• Design consistent research tools that would be used by West Virginia University and Marshall University for research of previously mentioned goals.
• Funding for research staff.

How do we measure success?

Goal #1 The result of the research demonstrates that all methods courses in teacher prep demonstrate pedagogy that models integration of technology into content delivery.

Goal #2 The result of the research demonstrates that all professional development courses being provided by West Virginia University/Marshall University have integrated technology as a central component.

Goal #3 The result of research demonstrates:

1. Delivery of professional development is targeted to assessment needs of the counties.
2. Professional development is being “implemented” by all professional development users.
3. Technology was being used and integrated in all professional development provided by West Virginia higher education institutions.

Goal #4 The result of research demonstrates that all new teachers hired have been trained by West Virginia higher education institutions (in which integrated technology is a central component) “or” from other higher education institutions in which pre-service training has focused on integration of technology in content delivery.

Goal #5 The result of research demonstrates that all substitutes utilized by West Virginia counties have been trained on how to integrate technology into content delivery regardless of whether the substitutes have been West Virginia higher education trained or alternative degree trained (RESA programs).

Goal #6 The result of research demonstrates that unified regional professional development is taking place within specific RESA regions.

What programs are currently in place?

• Professional development courses are currently being provided by West Virginia University/Marshall University butthe research mentioned in goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is not currently in place.
• Professional development is being provided by the June Harless Center for Rural Educational Research and Development utilizing video conferencing format.  Research is currently being initiated to monitor the impact of professional development provided by video conference in mentoring and modeling format.
• Professional development is currently being provided by county/RESA/West Virginia Department of Education curriculum coordinators. The focus of the professional development is designed to meet a specific school or county academic need. The professional development is generally delivered in a workshop format or professional development course from WVU or MU.