RESULTS AT-A-GLANCE
Background and Introduction

TaskBuilderOnline™ is an integral part of the LearningFront™ Learning Improvement Project: "Improving Student Achievement Through Quality Teaching." This Project has been successfully adapted and carried out with a variety of schools, especially urban, low performing schools. These school-based projects offered numerous teachers and administrators monthly opportunities to plan, teach, check, and act on the results of standards-based instruction and assessment tasks delivered in their schools. When implemented as part of a school improvement plan, the projects assisted these educators to improve teaching in the classroom and student performance on both selected and constructed response classroom and state assessments.

The following sections provide results and insights about "Improving Student Achievement Through Quality Teaching and TaskBuilderOnline™:"

The information was collected by LearningFront™ as part of its commitment to describe the results of its products and services and to generate recommendations for making adjustments and improvements in "Improving Student Achievement Through Quality Teaching."

The results of implementing "Improving Student Achievement Through Quality Teaching" with additional schools will be posted on this web site as they become available.

"Lessons Learned" for Making Adjustments and Improvements

"Lessons Learned" describes what LearningFront™ has observed in schools that use TaskBuilder™ successfully to develop standards-based tasks and to teach, score, and analyze the results of student performance. The Lessons Learned may be used as guiding principles to follow in making adjustments and improvements each school year.

  1. Vision: Schools making progress have a compelling vision of student learning and are able to align the effective use of standards-based instruction with both student and school performance.

    Schools throughout Maryland and other states have developed standards-based lessons that reflect their vision of student learning. When this vision drives people, time, programs, and fiscal resources, the effective use of standards-based instruction is increased because students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members work together to achieve a common goal. And having a vision of student learning is especially important when considering emerging technologies such as the Internet and other worldwide information services to ensure they are targeted to student learning. LearningFront™ adapts its services to support a school’s vision of student learning.

  2. Planning: Schools making progress plan for improvement and correlate curriculum, instruction, and assessment with the effective use of TaskBuilderOnline™.

    Schools are facing challenges that involve improving student performance in both the basic skills and high, rigorous content standards. Teachers in schools that are improving have time to plan their daily lessons and tests to correlate with local and state standards of learning. When this systematic planning is supported by TaskBuilderOnline™ both teaching and student learning are enhanced. LearningFront™ works collaboratively with schools to correlate TaskBuilderOnline™ with basic and advanced learning standards such as the basic skills measured by standardized tests and content standards measured by the Maryland School Assessment and High School Assessment Programs.

  3. Professional Development: Schools making progress offer ongoing professional development to assist teachers in the use of TaskBuilderOnline™ to develop standards-based lessons and assessments.

    The TaskBuilderOnline Figure 8 Strategy™ offers a quality way to meet the professional development needs of teachers. On the one hand, when adequate time and training are offered on a regular basis, teachers generally become comfortable, confident, and creative with the use of standards-based instruction and technology in classrooms and computer centers -- and student learning opportunities are increased. Moreover, teachers begin to use technology as a productivity tool for their own improvement purposes. On the other hand, when training is not offered, both teacher interest and opportunities for standards-based instruction and technology decrease. LearningFront™ is committed to provide professional development that is tailored to meet school and teacher needs to support success. Its new online professional development approach, eLearningTeacher.com, is another example of the LearningFront™ commitment to support teachers.

  4. Leadership: Schools making progress have someone who is a champion for improving teaching and student performance as a work expectation.

    This person -- who might be the principal, a teacher, or a master teacher -- understands the potential of standards-based instruction and technology for improving both teaching and student learning. This means standards-based instruction and technology are expected to be an integral part of school improvement, classroom teaching, and student learning. LearningFront™ assists schools and its leaders through leadership training seminars and coaching opportunities to evolve with advances in teaching and technology.

  5. Ongoing Support System for Teachers: Schools making progress provide the time and resources needed to operate computers and computer networks effectively.

    Computer hardware, software, and networks need daily attention to operate effectively. Teachers and students become frustrated and loose interest in instructional technology when computers don’t work, printers don’t print, and Internet connections don’t connect. In schools that effectively use technology there is a computer resource person who teachers can call on when all of these problems occur, when instructional software assignments must be loaded for student use, and when teachers want to explore new possibilities for the use of technology to improve student learning. LearningFront™ assists schools with ongoing support for TaskBuilderOnline™ and eLearningTeacher™ to ensure success by teachers and students.
Results from a Three-Year Project with One School

In January 1998, the Maryland State Board of Education identified Rognel Heights Elementary/Middle School of the Baltimore City Public School System as a Reconstitution Eligible school. Since then the School has been striving to improve its instructional culture and practices to help all students become high performance learners. The school improvement team has led the way with a vision for the 21st century and an action plan that includes the use of TaskBuilder™ that has resulted in substantial and consistent improvement over three years. Because of these efforts, Rognel Heights Elementary/Middle School has been designated a "Best Practices" school in the Baltimore City Public School System. For more information, click on the "Standards-Based Instruction" and "MSPAP Results" links on the following web site:

http://www.taskbuilderonline.com/RognelHeights/
Results from a Sample of Schools in a Title I School Improvement Project

During the 1999-2000 school year five Title I schools were supported by "Improving Student Achievement Through Quality Teaching" to develop and launch a TaskBuilder™ instructional web site. One additional school used other resources to support a TaskBuilder™ instructional web site. The six web sites provide samples of the results of this learning improvement project and can be accessed by clicking on the following URLs:
Links to Schools in the TaskBuilder™ Network of Learning Communities

Since TaskBuilder™ (1997) and TaskBuilderOnline™ (2002) were launched individual teachers, schools, school districts, and colleges that prepare classroom teachers have used TaskBuilder™ and TaskBuilderOnline™ to develop standards-based instruction tasks (lessons) and assessments (tests). The following URL provides “Hot Links” to schools that have TaskBuilder™ web sites and offer example standards-based tasks developed by their teachers. Additional schools will be added to the TaskBuilderOnline™ Network of Learning Communities in the 2003-2004 school year.

http://www.taskbuilderonline.com/TBOLlearncomm.html