David Mahaley Franklin Academy June 2014

Franklin Academy 1:1 iPad Initiative

A Four Year Study & Review

Student Use & Behavior Analysis

1 648 Flaherty Ave Wake Forest NC Franklin Academy

2 648 Flaherty Ave Wake Forest NC Franklin Academy

Abstract

The Franklin Academy High School implemented a 1:1 iPad deployment a the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. Over the course of the next two school years, the pilot was expanded to include all grades 9-12 in the high school. This deployment has reached 475 high school students and all teaching staff. Out K-8 program deployed iPads across the grade levels in the form of class sets and mobile carts. This study targeted our 1:1 deployment at the high school to investigate the impact the device has had on teaching and learning. The survey used to gather the student data was administered in April of 2014. Students included in the survey used the device anywhere from 1 to 4 years. The students use the iPad while at school and home. Results of the survey hope to shed light on the impact the use of the iPad has had on academic gains as well as the development of the most important non-cognitive skills our program is founded upon.

3 648 Flaherty Ave Wake Forest NC Franklin Academy

Background

At Franklin Academy, we develop students through a rich incorporation of character, cognitive, noncognitive and technical education. In this, we have adopted several components to foster these educational priorities as we encourage our students to pursue excellence in all that they do.

The Academic Foundation

Direct Instruction - In grades K-5, we use a research-based teaching method known as Direct Instruction (DI), which employs rapid pacing, choral responses, and grouping by skill set so that teachers can lead class more efficiently, and students can learn more effectively. Our instructors maximize the brisk pace of instruction, ensuring that all students are engaged and neither bored nor left behind. As Zig Engelmann, proponent of DI, points out the “fidelity of the implementation is revealed through data and stability in the high performance of students” to which Franklin Academy has continually produced high results in standardized assessments.

Academics - All students complete the necessary coursework to receive their North Carolina High School Diploma. Additional local requirements of Public Speaking and Research & Writing are included in the course framework to ensure all students have the skills to express themselves in a variety of contexts. Courses are offered at Academic, Honors and Advanced Placement levels. Students and their parents work closely with the staff of the Franklin Academy to ensure a rigorous and appropriate academic plan over the four years of high school. Each year our top students compete for 10 school-based scholarships in the amount of $10,000 over four years of post-secondary education. The Robert L. Luddy Scholarship has helped over 50 of our graduates attend colleges and universities across the state and nation.

Rigorous Curriculum – With our curriculum, we are incorporating rigorous design. Rigorous curriculum design is needed to "raise the level of teaching so that students are prepared for the 21st century" with skills that "drive knowledge economies: innovation, creativity, teamwork, problem solving, flexibility, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning." This means that our faculty "intentionally aligns standards, formal and informal assessments, engaging student learning experiences, related instruction that includes a variety of strategies, higher-order thinking skills, 21st century life skills, [and] data analysis." This strong curricular foundation allows for the incorporation of our focus on character, cognitive, noncognitive and technical education through best instructional strategies.

iPads in the Classroom Initiative - In support of our quality curriculum, the Franklin Academy adopted the use of the iPad in a 1:1 configuration. This

adoption was early in the history of the introduction of the device. Now in our fourth school year of use, teachers, students, and the administration have found the device to be supportive of an efficient workflow, access to dynamic educational materials, and key toward building the 21st century skills with our students. Our faculty and students have become the model of successful implementation and receive many inquiries and visits each year to see the devices in action. The Franklin Academy hosts the longest running exclusive iPad conference in the nation each year in the fall with participants from around the country, Canada and Mexico. Currently, the staff is exploring the leveraging of Open Education Resources (OERs) to create textbooks for specific courses across the school program. This compilation of quality content allows our school to develop the resources best suited for our students and their individual needs at a reduced cost compared to traditional hard copy publications.

Building on the Foundation

Noncognitive Skills – Since the early 1980s, educators and employers across many disciplines have stressed the importance of noncognitive skills. However, recent studies have demonstrated that noncognitive traits might be as important - or even more so - as cognitive skills. At Franklin Academy, we stress the following noncognitive categories through a variety of curricular methods including motivation, effort, self-regulated learning, self-efficacy, academic self- concept, social behavior, and resilience developed through a collaborative meta- analysis by the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and the Spencer Foundation. These seven noncognitive skills, which focus on attitudes and behaviors, correlate most towards positive academic outcomes in our students.

15 Outcomes of a Franklin Academy Student – Recognizing the importance of character in becoming a good human being, we pay close attention to the formation of character by instructing and challenging our students to absorb and practice several strengths and virtues through variety of curricular methods including our own set of supporting standards incorporated into our rigorous curriculum frameworks. As such, we have an exceptional culture of civility, fairness, and respect at Franklin Academy. By graduation, each of our students will have mastered these fifteen character outcomes implemented through modeling, demonstration, lesson plans, and instructional strategies.

1. Self-Reliant 2. Critical Thinker 3. Virtuous Leader with Well-Developed Judgment 4. Continuous Learner 5. Competent Technical Skills 6. Truth Seeker 7. Unfailing Integrity 8. Astute Problem Solver 9. Cooperative and Contributive Team Member

10. Strong Work Ethic 11. Dreams and Aspirations to Change the World 12. Traditional American Values and Entrepreneurialism 13. Well Developed People & Communication Skills 14. Gratitude 15. Healthy Mind, Spirit, and Body

Enrichment Experiences – We want our students to graduate as well-rounded individuals prepared for all aspects of life. In addition to our strong academic curriculum, character education, and non-cognitive skills development, we ensure that our students go out into the “real world” to experience and learn from an accurate picture of reality. Students engage in community involvement, service projects, and field trips that enhance their knowledge of cities, government, arts, sciences, music, business, etc.

Extracurriculars - Every student at the Franklin Academy has opportunities to get involved in an extensive list of extracurricular activities. These include competitive athletic programs, clubs, honor societies, and competitive academic teams. These programs serve to compliment the academic and community environment of the school.

Risk-taking – At Franklin, we teach our students to be fully prepared in every situation and to think carefully about their decisions. Risk based on ignorance can be very destructive, so we help our students to take calculated risks through careful preparation. We also remind students that if they take a risk and turn out to be wrong, they should admit their error and begin again. Through this educational philosophy, we believe the 19th century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55) who wrote that, “During life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.”

Community - Each student participates in the community through a variety of organizations to accrue community service hours to fulfill the graduation requirement of 100 hours. Each year, our graduates leave campus having provided well over 10,000 hours to those in need in our community. These experiences have changed the lives of our students and those impacted by their dedication through service.

People who Build

Faculty – Franklin Academy teachers love working at our schools. They appreciate a fair working environment, an enjoyable atmosphere devoid of violence or bureaucracy, and a continual push to be their professional best. Our teachers are never tenured, and instead receive a yearly assessment of honest performance. There are no raises, longevity promises or special pay schemes. Instead, teachers are paid in accordance with their performance. Those who

pursue professional excellence are rewarded with significant financial incentives, and those who maintain mediocre or poor quality practices are not rewarded and removed when necessary. We have found that this accountability system not only enhances the job satisfaction of our teachers, it produces the best possible educational outcomes resulting in a distinct educational experience for our students.

Personalized Support - Our support staff takes time throughout the year to meet with students and their families to develop comprehensive plans for life after graduation. Many colleges and universities visit the school to present their academic programs and our annual career fair brings the community to the student sharing a wide variety of occupations to help refine their interests.

Study Background - The Franklin Academy iPad Initiative began in 2010. The first phase of the implementation consisted of a small number of iPads shortly after they were introduced to the market. Over the subsequent years the deployment was expanded and reached all students and teachers in grades 9-12. The total number of iPads across the high school is now of 500.

Students use the iPad in all classes to support a variety of instructional activities. Books, resources, materials, and other classroom content are accessible via the iPad to facilitate high engagement rate and supply multiple learning tools at the hands of the student. Teachers use the iPad for a variety of instructional tasks such as directed instruction, grading, reading, and other activities.

This survey was initiated by our drive to best understand how the students would respond to using the iPad as a tool for their learning. The results are connected to our belief that the iPad is used not only as a way for students to do the day-to-day tasks associated with classroom instruction, but also as a medium to teach the important noncognitive skills fundamental to our mission as a school.

References Zig Engelmann, Siegfried Engelmann and Direction Instruction, January 2012, http://www.nifdi.org/pdfs/ Dev_Guide.pdf, accessed January 15, 2014, http://www.zigsite.com/. Larry Ainsworth, Rigorous Curriculum Design: How to Create Curricular Units of Study That Align Standards, Instruction, and Assessment (Englewood, CO: Lead Learn Press, 2010), 5. Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley, The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future for Educational Change (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2009), 5. Larry Ainsworth, Rigorous Curriculum Design: How to Create Curricular Units of Study That Align Standards, Instruction, and Assessment (Englewood, CO: Lead Learn Press, 2010), 5.

Population Characteristics and Assumptions

Experience Level

The Franklin Academy High School students represent a variety of experience level with the iPad. In general, our twelfth grade class has the greatest experience level with 3 or 4 years of use of the iPad. Eleventh grade students have been using the iPad for 3 years, the tenth grade class - 2 years, and our ninth graders for 1 year. The administration has determined that managing the devices and limiting the iPad to the classroom and student apps keeps the focus on providing an educational tool rather than a distraction in the learning process. Students, teachers, IT, and administration have input as to potential apps to be used on one or more of the student iPads. The students do not have access to the app store on their school-issued iPad. Our goal is to provide each student with a variety of tools in the form of apps to create items, complete activities, and facilitate learning.

Teacher iPads

Franklin Academy has invested resources in providing initial and ongoing professional development to the teachers using the iPads in the classrooms. The expectation has been set that their fluency with the device is integral to the successful use of the device as well as promoting of known gains in resource savings (such as the reduction of copies, printing, and printing supplies). The teacher iPads have been opened up to allow for their exploration of all apps and functionality of the device.

Learning Management System (LMS)

In order to maximize the use and benefits of the iPad, the Franklin Academy has invested in an LMS that provides tools for the storage and retrieval of files, discussion boards, quiz and assessment features. This component is critical in sustaining a successful workflow. Information is shared quickly and efficiently and replaces many of the previously used hard copy papers.

Summary of Findings

Students were asked to respond to 10 questions using a 5 option Likert Scale with ratings from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. These questions were created based on assumptions by the administration on the impact the iPad has on teaching and learning in the classroom. the questions hope to target key behaviors, processes, and value added qualities of bringing this technology to the hands of the students.

The survey was made available for one school day to approximately 475 students. 242 students responded to the survey resulting the following demographics:

Males Females Total

Number of Responses

110 132 242

9th 10th 11th 12th

Total Responses 64 61 68 49

Percentage of Class 43% 52% 58% 53%

Survey Questions

• I am more efficient with completing my assignments using the iPad.

• I am better organized when using the iPad in my classrooms.

• I prefer to read textbooks and other readings for class on my iPad rather than hard copy.

• I prefer to type papers on my iPad versus a laptop, desktop, or hard copy.

• Use of the iPad helps me work better independently to complete tasks and solve problems.

• The iPad helps me work with my peers to complete tasks and solve problems.

• The iPad helps me to find out more about topics covered in my classrooms.

• I prefer using the iPad for my school work over notebooks, paper, and traditional textbooks.

• The iPad motivates me to produce higher quality assignments.

• The iPad makes me more confident with the use of technology in general.

Survey Likert Scale

Question 1

I am more efficient with completing my assignments using the iPad.

Increased efficiency with classroom processes was one of the goals for the students we identified when adopting the iPad platform. The responses show a notable positive results with 72% in agreement with the statement. Correlations with observations by teachers and administration are evident across the grades. While the individual grades varied slightly in their average responses, the difference is a range of only .23 points. We feel this difference does not indicate a great disparity between the groups feeling about the benefit of efficiency when using the iPad. The students clearly feel strongly that their personal efficiency with completing assignments is facilitated by using the iPad.