TEAMS: A research-based, grounded higher education response

to meeting the needs of military-connected students through pre and in-service educator development

Pamela Arnold, Kathleen Levingston & Christine WardDarden College of Education

Old Dominion UniversityNorfolk, VA

Contact: parnold@odu.edu

Military Child Education CoalitionAnnual Training Meeting

2012, Dallas

Teaching, Education and Awareness for Military-connected Students

TEAMS is an interdisciplinary higher-education response to the needs of military-connected students and the schools that serve them.

The Center for Educational PartnershipsCounselor EducationCounseling and Human ServicesEducational Foundations and LeadershipTeacher Education Services STEM EducationEducational PsychologyTeaching and LearningNursing and Health Sciences

TEAMS advances a vision for Military Conscious Schools:

Where every military child is educated by individuals who are well prepared to effectively respond to the unique learning and social-emotional needs of military-connected children. TEAMS augments and facilitates, rather than duplicates, the missions of other agencies and programs.

TEAMS collaborates with multiple internal and external stakeholders.

• ODU Faculty, Staff and Administrators• The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)• The University of Southern California• Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)• Commander, Navy RMA, Fleet Readiness Program, Child and

Youth Program• Newport News Public Schools• Norfolk City Schools• Virginia Beach City Schools• Hampton Public Schools• Fort Belvoir

TEAMS INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

TEAMS coheres a multi-disciplinary research agenda around military-connected students and schools

• Educational needs and strengths of military-connected students

• Preparation of military-conscious teachers, counselors, administrators and service providers

• Special educational considerations for serving military-connected students

• Resiliency and academic engagement in the context of the military-connected student

• School-wide systems change towards military consciousness

TEAMS Needs Assessment of Military-Connected Schools

• Eight public elementary schools• Students from all military branches• Area with largest concentration of school-aged children of

active duty military families in U.S.

We knew military students can have unique life experiences that may interact with public school contexts to mediate their school experiences, potentially resulting in school challenges

• Frequent transitions

• Longer deployment• More frequent

deployments

Military Culture & Lifestyle

• Potential school-situated academic challenges

• Potential school-situated social and emotional challenges

Military-connected Student’s School

Experience • Localized curricula, assessments, pedagogies

• Localized behavioral expectations

• National climate

School Culture & Context

We also knew military students may develop unique buffers that they bring to their school experience (Weber & Weber, 2005)

Unique Stressors

Transition

Deployment

Unique Buffers

Improved Coping Skills

Resiliency

We thought seeing military students as a unique population would have specific implications for P-12 educator professional learning

• Students from diverse backgrounds have differing cultural repertoires that impact both learning and behavior in school settings (Utely et al., 2011)

• Culturally responsive educators understand their students’ cultural characteristics, experiences and repertoires and are able to adjust instruction accordingly.

Our research goals were to talk to the educators themselves to...

Investigate perspectives of those who educate military students in public school settings

Develop a grounded framework for educator preparation and professional development curriculum

Consider how to include military students in the framework of “all students” in educator preparation

Mixed Methods Data Collection

• Individual interviews with principals• Individual interviews with counselors • Focus group with teachers • Teacher questionnaire• N=81

Domains of School Personnel Needs and Response for Educating Military-connected Students

Academic SupportInstructional placement, assessment, curriculum, remediation, student academic performance.

Social-emotional SupportStudents’ mental and emotional wellbeing, social and peer relationships, emotional resiliency, social support, school counselor and teacher activities.

School Leadership and Student RecordsAdministrative processes or activities such as record keeping, data gathering and usage, student records transfer; policies including attendance, discipline, structure of the school day; activities of the principal or division leaders.

Cultural Awareness & ResponsivenessKnowledge and consideration for the life experiences of military children and families; utilization of experiences in the classroom.

School-military-community PartnershipsMechanisms for communicating with the military community, including the command post, school liaison officers and families.

Educators of military-connected students need to know how to provide quick and targeted academic supports “How do you fill the gaps in the amount of time you have with them? It does make it hard for them. Their social studies in another state is not going to look like what we teach here. They are playing catch up as well as trying to move forward.”

-Elementary School Teacher

Educators of military-connected students need to understand and address specific social-emotional needs

“Usually their academic problems stem from the social and emotional issues so addressing that kind of goes with that.”

-Elementary School Counselor

Educators of military-connected students need to be able to develop records, systems and policies for identification

“For many of my military children – I didn’t know for the first few months that they were military. There is nothing on paperwork that tells you.”

-Elementary School Teacher

Educators of military-connected students need to develop cultural awareness and understanding

“I came from an area that was not a military area at all so I didn’t know anything about the military lifestyle. It was all new to me when I started teaching. Students were coming and going every other week and I would have a brand new student for a couple of weeks and then they would leave again. Just adjusting to all of that!”

-Elementary School Teacher

Educators of military-connected students need to know how to connect school-military-community

“The parents are connecting at the school. Many times a parent will come to me and ask me something and I won’t have a clue but I am sure the military has a resource for it. It is maybe just having an awareness of what the resources are and where to refer them to.”

-Elementary School Teacher

I have been trained in needs of military connected students

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Strongly DisagreeDisagreeNeither Disagree or AgreeAgreeStrongly Agree

Few educators reported receiving preparation specific to military students

Educators reported a desire for more specific preparation in how to effectively educate military-connected children.

81% of teachers indicated it is a priority for them to learn more about military-connected students.

Old Dominion UniversityMilitary Child and Families

Graduate Certificate.

23

The ODU Military Child and Families Education Graduate Certificate prepares educators to provide sustainable, comprehensive school-based responses

Foundations Assessment Service Delivery Design

EmbeddedField

Implementation

Interdisciplinary cohorts of teachers, counselors, administrators, service providers 3 sequenced 4-credit courses 12 graduate credits total Integrated service learning components in each course Blended on-line delivery Customized partnerships with school districts and agencies

Course 1: COUN 689 Understanding Military Children and Families

• Course objectives: Understanding military structure and culture Understanding social, emotional, academic, and behavioral

considerations of military connected students and families in the schools

Recognizing the current status of educational opportunity for military connected students at the local, state, and national level, and advocating for

Learning, accessing, and applying applicable resources and policies impacting military connected students and advocating for students as necessary

• Pilot yearCohort from local school divisionCondensed to 6 weeks to accommodate teachers’ schedulesCourse material, discussion, and work designed to have

practical, usable applicationsAssignments:

Interviews Reflections Activity/Intervention plan Policy Manual Agency interviews

COUN 689: Understanding Military Children and Families

• Lessons learned: Longer session needed Multidisciplinary composition of class was beneficial on numerous

levels (administrators, teachers, school counselors, community mental health counselors)

Dividing professionals into small groups (all counselors, mixed professionals from one school, etc.) was an effective way to draw from individual strengths

More time on military culture – field trips, day in the life, etc. More time on academic interventions Interview assignments proved powerful In-class and online discussions were thought-provoking More role-play Students in the class are committed, passionate professionals who

already “get it”; reach out to new teachers and those withlittle or no military experience

COUN 689: Understanding Military Children and Families

27

Course 2: Comprehensive Assessment Tools for Schools Serving Military Connected Students and Families

Assess

Display

Plan

Participants will use the Military Consciousness Assessment Toolkit (Mil-CAT) to: • Identify the breadth of domains for school-wide provision

of educational services for military-connected students; select domains as appropriate for specific questions, objectives and needs.

• Develop a protocol for conducting a needs assessment or program evaluation in an authentic educational setting involving military-connected schools or students.

• Articulate appropriate action items and outcomes based on the results of the assessment process.

• Create a plan for disseminating the information to relevant groups.

1. Academic support

2. Social emotional support

3. School Leadership and Student Records

4. Cultural Responsiveness

5. School Military Community Partnerships

Needs Assessment

Logic Model/Formative Evaluation

Summative Program

Evaluation

Rubric Dimension

1. Comprehensiveness

2. Impact

3. Sustainability

4. Consistency

5. Customization

6. Research base

The Military Consciousness Assessment Toolkit (Mil-CAT) provides schools with tools to assess need and responsiveness

Need/Response Domain

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Course 3: Designing Comprehensive Service Delivery Plans to Meet the Needs of Military Connected Children & Families

Participants will:

• Work collaboratively to integrate a range of services to design a comprehensive school wide plan to effectively respond to the educational needs of military students and families in a specific setting.

• Develop a companion

evaluation model that will serve to provide formative data with which to modify the plan to improve its effectiveness, or to adjust it to meet the changing needs of the students and their families in a specific setting.

DESIGNSelect optimal

practices, resources and materials

available in a specific context

Integrate selections into service plan

Develop protocol to evaluate efficacy of plan components

PLANConsider contextualized

assessment dataConsider range of practices,

resources and materials

Scaffolded Learning Assignments:Professional Learning Portfolio

Components

Foundations

• Resources Guidebook

Assessment

• Mil-CAT

Design

• Service Delivery Plan

Integrated Field Implementation

• Summative Report

The Military Consciousness Assessment Toolkit (Mil-CAT)

Why “Military Consciousness”?

We envisage that the best educational settings for military students are ones in which schools actively seek awareness of the environment they are providing for military connected students, and act intentionally and deliberately in order to improve that environment.

The Mil-CAT enables schools to plan and assess system-wide changes in the ability to respond to the needs of military-connected children

Mil-CATDISPLAY

Mil-CATRESPOND

Mil-CATPLAN

Conduct needs assessment Generate goals and strategiesDesign logic model

Assess implementation fidelity Monitor progressInform program changes

Apply rubric Communicate outcomes Display growth

The Mil-CAT can be made available to schools at a variety of support levels.

Coverage of Mil-

CAT domains

Data gathering

instruments

Data collection processes

Information richness

Data scoring and

interpretation

Interim reporting to stakeholders

Final reporting to stakeholders

Assistance with communication to stakeholders

Option 1:Rapid Appraisal

Broad

Pre-existing

Independent

Low

TCEP-TEAMS

No

Yes

Customizable

Option 2:Needs Assessment

Medium

Mixed

Customizable

Medium

TCEP-TEAMS supported

Customizable

Yes

Yes

Option 3:Program Evaluation

Focused

Customized

Customized

High

TCEP-TEAMS supported

Customizable

Yes

Yes

TEAMS Military School Partnerships

TEAMS translates research and theory into practice with military schools and students

Department of Defense School Military Partnership Grant

Academic Support

Math Coaches

ODU Math Specialist Certification

DCOE STEMPS

Social-Emotional Support

ODU Graduate Certificate in Military Children and FamiliesDCOE TCEP, EFL & Counseling

School Counselor Professional Development

DCOE Counseling

Contact Information

Pamela Arnoldparnold@odu.edu