By (1) reviewing research on the link between relevance in the classroom and student engagement and (2) implementing research-based techniques for including relevance in lesson plans, instructors will increase students’ ability to state the relevance of the lessons being taught in the classroom to their personal or professional needs, interests, and goals. The objective will be measured by determining how many students can state one or more connections to real life with material taught during lessons that emphasize relevancy based on pre-and post-questionnaires and compare those results with the results of questionnaires administered after lessons that do not emphasize relevance. In addition, we aim to increase student participation in non-classroom centric, content-related activities, such as field trips, student driven research, etc., as they become more aware of how their academic studies apply — and can be applied — to the real world.  

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Baseline data: (Where are you now, in relation to the objective stated above?)  

Currently, instructors informally include discussions about the relevance of the materials they’re teaching to their students’ lives, but the approach is hit or miss, is too often ignored, and is not assessed for impact.

Target data: (Where do you aim to be at the completion of the action plan?)  

Our aim is to show an increase in the ability of students to state the relevance of their classroom work to their own lives to help them become more engaged and motivated learners. We will assess the results based on the outcomes of questionnaires, which will be administered before and after lessons that emphasize relevancy and compare them to the outcomes of questionnaires administered after  lessons that do not emphasize relevancy. Specifically, we will be looking at the pre- and post-questionnaires included with lessons that emphasize relevancy to determine if more students are able to state one or more connections between the lessons and real life in the post-questionnaires than the number of students who are able to state one or more connections on the questionnaires after lessons where relevancy has not been stressed. Ultimately, we hope that the data will show an increase in the students’ academic learning as measured by EFL gains and HiSET completions and their involvement in supplemental educational activities aligned with classroom instruction.

Mid-year data: (How will you know you are making progress towards your stated objective?)  

Instructors will review the findings of student questionnaires to enable them to determine if a formal focus on relevance leads to students better understanding the connection between what they’re being taught and their personal or professional needs, interests, and goals. Instructors will also determine whether students’ behavior has changed because of an increase in engagement resulting from a greater understanding of relevancy based on student comments, their involvement in outside activities, and increased class attendance.

How will the agency prepare staff with varying levels of knowledge and experience to participate in the PLC?  

Ongoing discussions will keep all instructors aware of the objective and how to meet it. Instructors will be provided with curriculum support for lesson plan enhancements.  Veteran instructors will support newer, less experienced teachers as needed.

What professional learning will the Professional Learning Community (PLC) engage in to meet the objective(s)?  

The PLC members will review research showing the link between relevance and engagement and determine which techniques suggested by the research to increase student understanding of relevance can be implemented in their classrooms based on their student populations and teaching styles.

1.) What do you want to know about participants’ reactions to the PLC?  (Why are their reactions important?)   Do they support the PI-PD plan objective? Are they familiar with the research showing the link between relevance and learning? Can they relate to the research findings while thinking about their own learning? Are they eager to implement the PI-PD plan in their classrooms? If the participants have buy-in, they will more enthusiastically implement the plan, which will give us more and better data. If they don’t support the objective, their implementation of the plan will be limited, which will dilute our findings.  

2.) How will you assess participants’ satisfaction with the PLCs?   

We will monitor comments, suggestions, and concerns during the meetings and follow up comments after the meetings.

1.) At the end of each PLC meeting, how will you know if participants acquired the intended knowledge and skills of the meeting?  

Participants will be encouraged to voice ideas, concerns, and comments during ongoing discussions throughout the meetings. They will share comments about the research-based techniques they are implementing in their classrooms to emphasize relevancy and discuss how well they are working. Instructors who are successfully implementing the techniques will share their experiences with their colleagues.

1.) How will you support the job-embedded professional learning of staff to meet the objectives? (What organizational changes do you need to make, sustain, or communicate with participating staff?)  

Teachers who are unsure of how to implement the process will be mentored by one of the two IHPDSs or another instructor.  

2.) On average, how many hours will each staff member participate in the PLC?

Between PLC meetings, lesson plan prep, and classroom time, participants will average 2 hours per month for a total of approximately 18-20 hours.

1.) How will you know that participants are effectively applying the new knowledge and skills from ongoing PLC participation?  

Participants will share the results of their questionnaires and discuss findings and student reactions throughout the process. The results of the questionnaires will clearly indicate whether lessons that emphasize relevance made students more aware of the link between what they were learning in the classroom and their lives outside the classroom vs. lessons that did not.  

2.) As a result of the professional learning for each objective, what evidence will you have of sustained staff change in practice?  

We probably won’t know this until the next program year when we learn if teachers are routinely focusing on relevance as part of their lesson plans.

1.) How will you know that the work of the PLC participants impacted learners?  

We will measure the impact on students by looking at the results of the questionnaires to determine if formally emphasizing relevancy while teaching lessons increased the number of connections students stated between the material covered in class and their personal and professional lives. We will also refer to anecdotal evidence from the instructors on such metrics as changes in student behavior, outcomes, attendance, and activities they engaged in outside the classroom that are aligned with in-classroom academic studies.  

2.) What specific evidence will you collect to show that the work of the PLC participants made an impact on learners?  

The student questionnaires will provide evidence of the impact or lack of it on learners. Specifically, we will count the number of connections students stated on pre-questionnaires before lessons that emphasized relevancy and the number of connections they stated on post-questionnaires after those lessons. In addition, we will count the number of connections students stated on questionnaires administered after lessons that did not emphasize relevancy and compare them to the number of connections they stated on questionnaires administered after lessons that emphasized relevancy.

What changes did you notice from your baseline data to your end-of-year data?   

What impact did your PLC activities have on participants’ professional practices?