Action Research Case Study Part ll

This is a continuation of May’s Action Research Case Study in which I have had the opportunity to analyze.  A link to the Action Research has been provided below for those of you who are interested in learning more. Feedback to my perspective is much welcomed.

Prompt #5 Questions: There were four observations that Sienna conducted over a two-week period to document May’s redirection behaviors. First, you will examine the series of observation reports. Second, identify any trends and themes you find in the data. Be sure to consider the observational notes that Sienna included. Look to find and share any triangulation processes in May’s data collection and analysis work. Third, evaluate the data and provide reasonable explanations for what you think might be happening over time that would explain the story the data are revealing.

Response: 7/21 (1/3)kids wish for more fun and less pressure from school, 5/21(1/4) wish for more calm and respectful environment, 9/21 (1/2ish)wish for more consistency in class routine. The first day out of four, there was at least one redirection given almost every minute.  I have not been able to find how long the class period is. One thing that I have noticed is that there is no positive redirection.  I believe that it would be helpful to catch a student who is on task, and reward them with positive feedback.  This would be a good strategy for May to use, as it would probably influence other students to try to receive positive reinforcement. In the other 3 out of 4 days, the number of redirections went down 18, 15, and 13.  The type of redirection did not change. Activity during bell work was fun and not the same as usual. It kept the students engaged. The advice to change seating arrangement was good, and appeared to help. Without seeing the other data at this point, it is difficult for me to find a triangulation processes to compare. While reviewing Sienna’s comments that there was no redirection for the first 10 minutes after bellwork was over, I would guess that it may be due to May graphing the results for the class might be the cause of student engagement.

Prompt #6 Questions: Describe May’s class graph. What happened over time, and what are some possible reasons for the trends and patterns you notice? What new goals do you think May should set for the class as a whole based on her students’ response to the timed agenda challenge?

Response:

The graph shows that on day one, eleven out of twenty-one students could have their agenda written out and be ready to learn within five minutes.  The number of students who were able to meet this challenge increased gradually.  By the ninth day, twenty out of twenty-one students were able to meet the five minute challenge. I feel that the more students that took the challenge seriously had an influence on other students wanting to apply them selves.  By looking at the graph every day as a whole class, it showed the lagging students that the goal was doable. It also showed that if they didn’t join in, the whole class would be waiting on them to learn. May’s observation of the data showed her that the most redirection came from transition time. I would suggest a similar student survey, ideas from her students and team, data collection, and a similar graph for a quicker and smoother transition time.

Prompt #7 Questions: Describe Anthony’s and Leah’s data. What happened over time? What do you think May might do in the future to capitalize on Anthony and Leah’s success and keep them on track during the entire class period?

Response:

Both Anthony and Leah were able to beat the goal set for the whole class, but not only that, they challenged their selves to a more difficult goal each day and met those as well! I feel that the one on one interaction, the positive comments and support from Darby was very helpful to empower these two students. It also motivated them that Darby challenged the rest of the class to try and keep up with them, which the whole class did not do. The visual representation of the graphing made it easy to see progress made, which is also an influential piece to the success of reaching those goals. I think that the graphing helped motivate all of the students, and May could capitalize on that strategy to increase student engagement, and for smoother transition times.

Prompt #8 Questions: Pretend you are May, and it is now the start of the next school year. Your assistant principal, Mr. Brown, asks you to talk about your inquiry journey at the first faculty meeting of the year. Discuss a plan for your presentation. What will you share and how will you share it? Refer to Chapters 6 and 8 of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research for support in responding to this prompt.

Response: I think that it would be an honor if my assistant principal asked me to share my inquiry journey at the first faculty meeting of the year.  Considering there is a lot to go over at the first faculty meeting, I would prepare a poster board to put on display along with a brochure.  After the meeting, I would keep the display in the staff room and ask for feedback. There is a lot of information to share, and this would allow teachers to take another look at their convenience. There are several things that I would share about my wondering: “How can I create the classroom conditions needed so that my students can be successful in supporting my instruction?”  First, I would give credit to my team for all the time and effort that they dedicated to helping me. They helped me come up with my wondering question, and suggested that I do one class instead of 5 so it would be more doable. They helped me to categorize the students into 3 different behavioral tier interventions, then analyze the data.  I would then share how my inquiry benefited my life as a teacher. I would ask my team I learned how to improve my own instruction.  I would then point out the data collection, with a spot light on the 5 minute challenge, and how it motivated my students as we reviewed our goals and results as part of our lesson. I found that by using a student to assist me in data collection, it gave her the empowerment and self worth that she was hungry for, and increased her behavior as well.  I would make all of my data available for later review because as we know, “The case is stronger when evidence is provided from multiple sources. (143)”   Since the recursive nature of action research has a tendency to lead to more wonderings…

  I would share the commitment that I have made in researching a new wondering question.  The question will focus on how I can incorporate culturally relevant experiences into my teaching.

Last but not least, I would invite my team to give testimonials as to how my inquiry benefited them. As author Dana so eloquently explains in chapter 8 of our resources, “Fellow professionals also benefit from the knowledge you created. (188)”

I feel that any teacher who goes the extra mile to attempt action research for the benefit of increasing student learning is a hero among heroes.

Thank you for visiting my blog,

Cathryn

References:
Dana, N. F., & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2009). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Case study on Action Research

I have been learning about action research by teachers.  It is a type of research that is done by teachers, depending on the dilemmas in which they are faced with in the classroom. Answers to a burning question are sought out, data is collected and reviewed in order to find solutions or strategies that will increase student learning.  This type of research is new to me, and I have been given a set of prompting questions,  asked to review a case study and analyze how Teacher May carried out her research.  Her Wondering: “How can I create the classroom conditions needed so that my students can be successful in supporting my instruction?”

Prompt #1 Questions: Why is it important for May to look at literature as a part of her inquiry journey? What insights did May gain about her inquiry topic through her readings? In what ways might May’s readings inform how she will collect data for her study?

Using literature to inform someone during action research is a great place to start.  It is good to look outside of the boundaries in which someone works. I feel the literature that May reviewed was a great selection. I have not yet read the book that is included in her bibliography, but after reviewing this case study, I intend to.  The Pre-Referral Intervention Resource Manual (McCarney, Wunderlich, & Bauer, 1993). According to May, the book focus is around behavioral problems. May learned how to “clearly state observable behaviors, rather than making vague, emotional judgments about students.” I feel that this must have been very helpful for her data collection as she was better able to communicate to readers of her case study, specific behaviors to be documented. She was also able to take what she learned and apply it towards designing successful strategies in order to improve various behavior problems with her students. During her literature search, May learned about Seligman’s (2000) theory of positive psychology. According to May’s description, this theory explains, “No human being wants to fail or be difficult to love.” May also studied how other teachers collaborate with their “difficult to teach students”, and gained insight and ideas on new strategies that have been successful for others by forming research teams within the classroom. I feel that May chose literature that was relevant to her situation. 

Prompt #2 Questions: May, Naomi, Margaret, Darby, and Mr. Brown formed a professional learning community that met regularly to plan May’s first inquiry and to support one another in their work as educators. What specific benefits did May receive as a result of collaborating with her colleagues? Why is collaboration an important component of the action research process?

There were several benefits that resulted from collaboration between May’s group.  A very supportive relationship grew among them as they studied and participated in a book study of, The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research. As a result of this book study, they were all on the same page as far as how in depth and thorough that action research must be in order to make it an inquiry of quality. One of the benefits from her collaboration was a suggestion from her colleagues to “focus on one class period rather than five.” She also discovered that other people on her team shared two of her students of concern. Her team was eager to find strategies that May would use to increase positive behavior. Her team helped to search out suggestion strategies and ways to collect data that would work for May’s research. May benefited from her teams efforts by a collaborated plan to use Tier 1,2, and 3 interventions, what categories students would be placed, and how it worked with her students.  They also helped her decide on what strategies to use, and help with data assessment.

Prompt #3 Questions: A critical component of the inquiry process is designing a plan for data collection that is doable! Explain the importance of developing a data collection plan that is meaningful but practical to the life of a classroom teacher.

It is important to use data that is practical and easily integrated into the instructional plan. I believe that as long as it is practical, the researching teacher will be able to maintain the focus of what the inquiry is about (which is the student), and informing instruction, and not on the inquiry itself. May used various forms of data collection that I feel was very practical. As stated earlier, reflective journaling is imperative in order have quality research to be shared.  I felt that her decision to focus on one class instead of five, made it a doable for her, and not so overwhelming. Her use of literature was a great place to start.  Another form of data that I felt was practical, was graphing the results for the class, so they could see improvement.  The nonverbal representation also seemed to motivate them as well as reinforce other content area, which is a plus. I felt that there was great practicality in using one of her behavioral challenging students to collect data for her on how many times she had to redirect the class.  I was inspired by this idea because it apparently was a successful strategy in keeping that student focused on what the teacher was saying, and also, the responsibility that she was given had a positive change in her behavior. If the teacher were keeping this data herself, I do not feel that it would have been practical because it would interfere with her teaching. I feel her strategy was brilliant.  If I were one of May’s colleagues, I would suggest the use of peer input on self and others as far as how well they were able to meet their goals and complete the required tasks. I feel that this would add a bit more accountability of the students to each other, and increase motivation to raise scores.  

Prompt #4 Questions: Review May’s “Wish List” Student Response data. In your journal responses, share the categories you named, as well as examples of responses that were included in each category. If you were May, what do you think your analysis of this initial data is telling you to do next?

Motivated to help increase learning within environment:

• Give respect to our teacher and other classmates.
• Have our agenda done when the teacher comes into the classroom. We can have out our paper and pencil, be ready to learn, and have our homework out.
• Listen and be quiet.
• I want to show my teacher my respect. I want to have an S (Satisfactory) for conduct.

Lack of motivation to increase learning within environment:

• We need to have more fun, and more parties-and all A’s!
• To give me an A for no reason, and to just be kind to people.
• I wish I was the richest person in the world.

I agree with May’s thinking that it was best to keep students comments anonymous, so that they would all be heard.  She made some positive changes by having students look at their goals, and asking their input on how goals could be reached. In addition to that, I think I would take a look at the increased positive behavior and address the possibility of adding an S (Satisfactory) to student reports for good conduct.  A possible way to increase motivation for the students who are interested in fun and parties is to tell them that if as a class they managed to meet their behavioral goals, a celebration would be in order.

Visit case study: http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/56607/CRS-WUPSYC6205-4759292/Living_the_Process_of_Inquiry_CaseStudy_112210.pdf
Thank you for visiting  my blog. Further findings on this case study will be posted next week.
Cathy