Two months later, of course, world events conspired to alter the course of her research. Grades and learning patterns across the U.S. took a hit over the next several years with the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Winchester Public Schools was no exception. Low test scores confounded what might have been an empirical demonstration of the power of professional development, microcredentialing and project-based learning.
But far from being discouraged, LaBombard-Daniels was full of ideas as she explained her initiative Sunday at the National School Boards Association Annual Conference in New Orleans.
“With the impact of COVID, across the state of Virginia, our scores plummeted. They have not recovered where we would like them to be,” she said. “The two schools that I have did maintain (scores), so our little system actually did very well — very well is not such a good term, they’re still not where we want to be — but they did very well compared to how low the other schools went.”
LaBombard-Daniels had several suggestions for which components of the program were effective and suitable for replication in other districts. She talked about “unplugged coding” – games, play and methods of getting K-4 students to start thinking in computational terms, without sitting at a computer. For kindergarteners, she recommended sorting exercises; for first graders, educational toys called Bee-Bots for early directional language and programming; for second grade, coding robots called Ozobots; for third grade, modeling ecosystems; and visiting the oceans with ClassVR headsets for fourth graders.
She described project-based learning plans for each grade level, the placement of STEM labs and makerspaces at each school, and crucially, 60 hours of professional development per year for teachers, including either a microcredential or a focus on what she called “STEMersion.”
“Remember this is a huge grant over five years, so maybe there’s only one piece that you want to replicate in your area,” she said. “I think our best classes that really took an active interest in this and really succeeded in this were the ones that really worked with my coaches, so it was the one-on-one working with teachers and coaches, and also the ones that did the microcredentials and the STEMersion.”
To get most out of the METRICS program, LaBombard-Daniels said districts would need to look at costs and what resources they already have, and give their teachers focused and continual professional development with consistent support from administration. She stressed the threat of administrative turnover: While professional development can be fluid and evolving, it won’t yield the same results if a new principal abandons it the next year.
“If it’s something that they are truly interested in, and truly something that they want to continue to support, I’d say that that is the key, pretty much to any professional development,” she said.
Looking ahead to next steps, LaBombard-Daniels said the federal government asked her team to document their work exporting METRICS to other districts, for which she created an LLC. Even though data on the program’s impact over the past several years was offset by the COVID pandemic, her qualitative observations gave her hope for its future.
“Some of our biggest takeaways are that when you literally immerse the students or the teachers into the projects they’re doing, they become more involved, they retain the information more, and also, they’re learning strategies. This is the thing that we would like to continue with — learning of the strategies that (students) are forming to solve problems,” she said. “The hope is, by continuing this, when (students) get to those state tests, they can more easily process the questions so they can answer the questions more fully.”
Would you like to read more about news, technology projects and initiatives related to K-12 education? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
