Action Research Project Draft---

This is the draft of my action research project.  This project will not be completed until this summer but I am on track for this.

Beginning August 2012, the 99 students who will be studied were identified and basic results from previous STARR test and the pretest on academic vocabulary.  These 99 students have a regular geometry class; seventy of them have an additional tutoring before school, after school, or during school.  This process will end for the students the day of the Geometry STAAR test.  The final outcomes of the project will be when the results of the STAAR test return.    

The teacher will use research based strategies to introduce and reinforce academic vocabulary.  Students will play interactive computer games and paper to help build their skills.   The students will create interactive journal entries to reinforce the learning.    The child will have multiple modalities to practice and learn in his or her own way.

There is strong parental support for anything that will help students on the STARR test.  Our school had less than thirty-five percent of our students pass the STAAR test the first time.  The students had four weeks of summer support and most are assigned an additional tutoring time that starts at forty-five minutes before school or extends the school day by forty-five minutes.  With students failing multiple disciplines many of them have been assigned all support sessions.  Parents were provided with the initial selection of students and STAAR results will be released to them.  Parents were also provided with interactive websites to practice at home if the family had a computer. 

We have a classroom set of I Pads.  This allows each group to have an individual device.  The use of the I Pads made implantation of the games easy for the students since most have owned and I-device before.  The use of I Pads made the creation of interactive games much more difficult for the teacher.  I Pads do not use flash and many interactive games require the use of flash.  The paper activates were a huge hit since it allowed for working in pairs.  This allowed the students to build a coach-coach relationship.  Many times the paper activities helped develop a deeper knowledge base.    

The only resources used were the classroom set of I pads and paper activities.  No other funding or resources were required.

The study promoted a positive school culture of school improvement by allowing the students to play to learn.  Through the study, the children were having fun while gaining much needed vocabulary skills.  As the process continued the children began to develop self-confidence and their skill level and grades began to increase.  The students also became active members in the classroom setting.  The extra practice allowed students to become classroom leaders, for many this was a new role for them. 

This component is still in the works. Since the project is still in progress there have not been any feedback surveys.    

The results of the research have been shared with the Geometry team and the Caprock High School leadership team.  Information was shared in a written report and in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.  The feedback from the project has been varied.  The computer portion of the project has positive feedback.  The paper activities the feedback has had some negative feedback.  Some teachers felt that the creation of the activities was very time consuming.  If they were created for them the teachers liked them but they did not want to create their own.  

Based on the results of my action research project, teachers could easily implement the process into their own classroom.  I have simply provided a list of educational websites and paper activities that have been pre-created for Geometry.  The only other requirement the teacher needs is to ensure he or she has the necessary technology and time set aside to allow the students to work.

Key words for my action research project are I Pads, Response to Intervention, comprehension, confidence, technology, vocabulary, hands on activities, and interactive applications.  Additional words will be added as the report is finalized.

Action Plan Draft

 

 

 

This is my action research draft plan. 

1.  Title – Vocabulary in the Math Classroom  (5 points)

2.     Needs Assessment – Curriculum standards were designed to ensure every student gained the same education as his or her peers. However, these curricula did not account for the various types of learners each classroom possesses. Every student does not learn the same way nor do they come to us with the same vocabulary.  In mathematics the language of math is what causes many students to have difficulty.  Using research based strategies and a sampling of 90 students’ data will be collected to see if the use of mathematical vocabulary can be increased.  My increasing the mathematical vocabulary there should be a trend between the rise in knowledge and STAAR scores. 

          3.  Objectives and Vision of the action research project. (ELCC 1.1) –Since every student does not respond to the same method of instruction, it is the teacher’s responsibility to find various avenues to reach each and every student. According to Tracey Hall, senior research scientist for the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum, “To differentiate instruction is to recognize students varying background knowledge, readiness, language, preferences in learning, interests, and to react responsively” (Hall, 2002). Differentiated instruction is a method of changing teaching and learning for students with different abilities within the same classroom environment.  The use of research based vocubulary strategies falls into the category of differentiating instruction since every child comes to the class with a different level of knowledge.  "Technology also changes the way teachers teach, offering educators effective ways to reach different types of learners and assess student understanding through multiple means" (Edutopia, 2008). Utilizing technology in the vocubulary strategies also augments the relationship between teacher and student. If technology is used effectively, teachers take on the role of mentor rather than teacher. Also, using technology helps make the student's learning experience more meaningful and fun. This is critical with vocubulary.  Learning words outside of experience will not have true learning  experience. 

 

4.  Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy – "Technology also changes the way teachers teach, offering educators effective ways to reach different types of learners and assess student understanding through multiple means" (Edutopia, 2008).  According to the National Reading Panel Report, using technology to teach vocabulary and reading for content is a relatively new field.  The numbers of studies published in this field are very small; approximately 21 studies, but all have reported positive results (NEIRTEC, 2004). The limited research suggests that using computer technology to enhance reading instruction is worth further study. "In particular, the NRP notes seven studies found positive effects from the capability of computers to provide spoken versions of written text, which indicates that this may be a promising use of technology in reading instruction" (NEIRTEC, 2004).   This works with research based strategies to assist with vocabulary and reading for content. 

 

5.  Articulate the Vision (ELCC 1.2) – A group of teachers addressed the need to raise our student’s vocabulary and reading for content in the mathematical classes.    I proposed to use research based strategies to include the benefits of utilizing technology since our students come from a tech savvy world. 

 

6.   Manage the organization (ELCC 3.1) – As a part of the focus of study, I choose my four classes of regular level geometry classes.  Seventy –five percent of the classes are billegal and/or live in a Spanish speaking home. The goal was to work with these students for one hour five times a week for a nine month period using interactive vocabulary strategies to include games on the computers and IPods.  The study was to determine if promoting vocabulary will equate to higher STARR scores for the students.   Each student was provided with his or her own IPod or computer to work on during these sessions if technology was going to be used.  The teacher would set up the learning sites for the students to practice on during this time period.  The teacher would simply tell the students how to utilize the program and the hardware, but no information was given on how to complete the interactive games.  The games provided focused on building the students skills in text fluency, vocabulary, and spelling.  The teacher's primary role was to serve as a mentor on the use of the interactive games.  Since the technology was already available to the teachers, no money was necessary in conducting this study.  Some of the strategies are interactive but paper based.  At the end of the time period students will be given the opportunity to take a survey on which method they prefer. 

 

7.  Manage Operations (ELCC 3.2) – The student's progress through this study was based on various criteria.  The primary method of determining the student's success was the use of teacher observation on the completition of the various strategies/activities.   Each unit, the student would be tested to determine his or her overall growth in text fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.  The second last method of assessment was the students overall achievement on weekly reading activities and assessments.  The final assessment area will be the scores on the Geometry STARR test. 

 

8.  Respond to Community Interest and Needs (ELCC 4.2) – The action research project will serve the needs of the students with special and exceptional needs and students with diverse backgrounds (cultural, ethnic, economic, or special interest groups) is that it is helping the child build confidence in his or her vocubulary mathematical skills.  They are able to master each new vocubulary set of words and apply them to the mathamatical situations.  By building confidence, they are more willing to try in class and thus improving their grades and test scores on the STARR.  As the child's grades improve, they are less likely to be at risk of dropping out of school.  A lower drop-out rate means more people entering the community as productive citizens.