Department of Defense Education Activity: Literacy Instruction Improvement Training
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) serves the educational needs of the departments of military and civilian employees by providing PK-12 instruction to approximately 95,000 students in seven (7) states, fourteen (14) foreign countries, Guam, Puerto Rico. DODEA offers an education found in typical American public schools and utilizes materials and equipment comparable to stateside schools.
The target audience of this online course is the teachers of Kindergarten to Grade 2 of DoDEA schools. The instructional goal of the course was to train teachers to identify children at risk and to help improve the literacy instruction provided to students with reading difficulties and dyslexia. This transfer of training is essential for them to meet their job requirements successfully. Requirements that have changed, as a result of legislation, policies and the movement towards including students of various abilities in the same classroom.
Tata Interactive Systems deployed a multidisciplinary team of project managers, instructional systems designers, graphics designers, and software engineers to develop the Fundamental of Reading (K-2) Course for DoDEA.
The process followed there in included the designing of the course curriculum by the Subject Matter Expert (SME) and TIS Instructional designers. The course content was scripted and structured by this team into six modules. This content was then developed into storyboards where instructional design principles for presentation and organization of content were focused upon.
The grade specific modules help teachers identify the child’s strengths and areas for instruction. Teachers are able to gather material and strategies to develop interest and motivation. They then identify learning targets based on the strengths and weaknesses of the particular child. The teacher develops an instructional plan for each learning target based on best practices.
The instructional procedures included in the grade-specific modules are based on models recommended by leading experts in the field of reading. These models are the 3-Tier Model and the Gradual Release Model. In some instances, video clips depicting specific problems are displayed and teachers asked to suggest a remediation or modification in instructional strategy to address the problem. There are videos that demonstrate the application of some strategies in classrooms. The videos have been shot exclusively for this product. They are not ‘staged’ and have been captured ‘live’ in real classrooms with permission from the schools.
Scenarios and examples were included to provide a real-life context for the teaching and help the learners relate to situations in a personal manner. For example, the case of a student in Kindergarten student who is a struggling reader is presented. The participants are told that they have to base their teaching procedures on the Gradual Release Model. The instructional plan they have to develop has to be based on the strengths and areas of instructions identified for the student.
A similar course is also being created for teachers of Grades 3-5. The approach and curriculum structure is similar to the K-2 course but has customized content relevant for teachers of Grade 3-5. This new course is designed to comply with Section 508 guidelines.