MIT 502

Systematic Perfomance Improvement Report: Increasing IEP Compliance

Competencies

Context and Conditions

This project was a requirement for MIT 502: The Systematic Approach to Performance Improvement completed in the Summer of 2006 under the direction of Dr. Arnold Murdock. New Hanover County, NC implemented new web-based Individualized Education Plan (IEP) software that would assist teachers with maintaining compliance in accordance with the Federal legislation of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004. I worked individually on this project. I had to conduct a needs assessment, analysis, solution theory, and job and task analysis. The schedule was to complete the project prior to the beginning of the 2006-07 school year. There was no budget for this project.

Scope

This project required the analysis of a performance problem. This was completed in collaboration with New Hanover County Special Education Division, North Carolina. The analysis consisted of 25 elementary schools and 12 secondary schools within the special education departments. Data was gathered by conducting a performance analysis which included organizational analysis and environmental analysis in order to discover the gap. The solutions were identified and a feasibility analysis was completed. The report was submitted to New Hanover County Special Education Division.

Role

I took on the role of instructional designer for this project. As the instructional designer, I worked in collaboration with the Special Education Division in New Hanover County, NC, I performed a performance analysis by serving on the IEP audit team, collecting the extant data from the audits, and conducting interviews. The data was analyzed and recommendations were made to the Special Education Division.

Reflection

I found this class very interesting. This project taught me that staff development and training are not always the solution to a productivity problem. It is about improving the performance so the business or organization is performing at their optimal level. An instructional technologist should not only take the staff into consideration but also the infrastructure of the workplace and the managerial setup.

Looking back on this project, I was pleased with the results and the fact that New Hanover County tried to implement the solutions given. Knowing what I do now, I would have also created a change management plan to assist in the diffusion of the recommendations.

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Domain of Instructional Design
Competencies	Job Description	Artifacts	Justification
Conduct performance analysis and determine the appropriateness of instructional solutions for the problem		MIT 502 – The Systematic Approach to Performance Improvement - Increasing IEP Compliance in New Hanover County	These artifacts demonstrate my ability to analyze a situation and identify the problem. Once the problem is identified then give recommendations for a solution.
Plan and conduct needs assessment.	Conduct needs analyses to develop overall curriculum goals, course objectives and requirements. Perform training Needs Analysis that includes consulting with internal and external clients to determine functional training requirements Complete needs assessments	MIT 502 – The Systematic Approach to Performance Improvement - Increasing IEP Compliance in New Hanover County	These artifacts show my ability to gather data from multiple sources and analyze the data to identify gaps between “what is” and “what should be”. It also shows my ability to translate the needs to goals and objectives and prioritize them.