Data Driven Student Growth- Standard 2

Data Driven Student Growth

Standard 2:

Teacher leaders will analyze learning to promote student growth.

Standard Aligned Course(s):

EDU6979- Action Research in School Settings

Reflection:

I have always been told it was important to look at data and use it to make instructional decisions to promote student growth.  It was not until this program that I was able to truly see how data could help drive student growth, instruction, and learning.  I also did not understand the depth of action research.  I was under the impression that looking at test scores was all I needed to do in order to see how my students were performing and to make decisions about next steps.  Through the action research class, I was able to look deeper into action research, what it meant, and how an action research project was created and carried out.  Before Action Research in School Settings, I was unaware of the benefits to doing an action research project.  I listened to the research that was presented to me at meetings and decided what to use in my classroom based on my style.  I did not realize there would come a time where I would have a situation in my classroom that lent itself to an action research project.

My Action Research Project took more time and effort than I thought it was going to.  When creating an action research project, you have to look at the research that has already been done in your focus area, you need to look for the missing information so that you are able to fill in a gap in research with your project, and then you have to decide what exactly you are going to do and how you are going to do it.  "The four stages of action research are as follows:
1. Clarifying vision and targets
2. Articulating theory
3. Implementing action and collecting data
4. Reflecting on data and planning informed action (Sagor, 2011, p. 4)

According to Wiliam, "the realization that teacher quality is the single most important variable in an education system has led to an exploration of how teacher quality can be improved" (Wiliam, 2011, p. 22).  This is the basis for action research projects.  Teachers want to make sure they are doing the best job they can do.  For my action research project, I looked at the possible benefits of running a parallel classroom.  I had two periods of students that had two different subjects being taught.  My second and third period were half International Baccalaureate Standard Level math students and half Advanced Placement Calculus students.  The IB students were expected to learn a wide range of math topics at a surface level and the AP calculus students were expected to learn the ins and outs of a few calculus topics.  "An optimal classroom climate for learning is one that generates an atmosphere of trust -- a climate in which it is understood that it is okay to make mistakes, because mistakes are the essence of learning" (Hattie, 2012, p. 29).  As you can see in my Action Research Presentation, I took my classroom and what was necessary for my students and turned it into an action research project.  We stumbled through this time together and continually talked about how it was working and if anything needed to change.  My students knew there would be mistakes along the way and that we would learn from them.  This project caused me to pause and truly think about how I was going to set my classroom up to collect data and serve my students to the best of my ability.  It also forced my students and I to take a look at how they would interact as a group.  "Using cooperative learning helps teachers lay the foundation for student success in a world that depends on collaboration and cooperation" (Dean & Marzano, 2012, p. 35).  Since every other day, half of the class would be self directed, we needed to know how the group was going to function and help each other be successful.  They would be doing true cooperative learning on days when I was working with the other group.

Throughout this project, I was able to work with my students to create an experience that would hopefully be beneficial to their learning.  I collected data from my students often, and was consistently asking for their feedback on the structure of class and if there were any changes they felt would benefit their learning.  The structure that I settled on to alternate days.  I switched between IB and AP so that on their day they would get my undivided attention.  We found that if we tried to do half the class IB and half the class AP whoever got the first half ended up getting more time.  While this was a beneficial process, due to the immense amount of learning about how to conduct an action research project, the parallel classroom model did not produce higher exam scores like I thought it would but it also did not produce lower test scores.  After completing my project, I would not recommend using the parallel teaching model if you are a single teacher based off of my one year of data.   

My research did not extend to co-teaching but I am interested to see what the results would be.  This idea of co-teaching has stayed with me since completing my action research project.  Next school year, my school will be moving to trimesters.  With the transition to trimesters we needed to determine a new way to continue having support for our lower level math students without forcing students to take two hours of math a day.  We will be piloting a co-teaching push in support model for our algebra 1-2, geometry, and algebra 3-4 support classes next year.  As seen in the table below from, Dieker and Murawski, there are distinct differences between what co-teaching is and what it isn't.

As we move towards this new model, we will need to be cautious that we stay true to the co-teaching model.  We will also be conducting an action research project with our students who are identified as support students and seeing if the co-teaching model is something that helps them to be successful in math.  I am excited to see where this new action research project will take the support math model in my school.

Sources:

- Dean, C. B., & Marzano, R. J. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
- Dieker, L. A., & Murawski, W. W. (2003). Co-Teaching at the Secondary Level: Unique Issues, Current Trends, and Suggestions for Success. The High School Journal,86(4), 1-13. doi:10.1353/hsj.2003.0007
- Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. London: Routledge.
- Sagor, R. (2011). The action research guidebook: A four-step process for educators and school teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
- Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.