Intervention works!

Well, the results are finally in and, after reviewing all the data, it looks as though the interventions we put into place had a positive effect.

I did have to make a few changes to my original plan, however, which while changing the scope of the research did not significantly alter the goal - to determine if intervention was going to make a difference for those students at risk of not passing the NJ ASK.

In order to limit the scope of the research and make it manageable, I decided to focus on just one grade - fourth - and work with the interventions that the teachers in that grade felt were most necessary for the students they chose.

And, when the results were analyzed, the test group did very well - having their scores rise over 11% from the previous year, with 50% of the group exceeding the Passing threshold and the remainder falling just short. Not a bad result for only 10 weeks of intervention.

The control group also improved, but not nearly as much. And what was more surprising was the the higher-scoring group from third grade did not improve nearly as much. In fact, 30% of those students ended up falling below the Passing threshold.

So, targeted intensive interventions can make a difference in language arts scores. Exactly what I had hoped to see.

In my next post, I will outline what I would have done differently and what I would like to see going forward.

Where is all the research??

While reading instruction is among the hottest topics in educational circles, and while standardized testing seems to be the key topic among conversation among those both within and outside of education, amazingly there is a huge lack of available research on the effects of supplemental instruction on improving reading test scores.

RTI is clearly the topic of the day and there are scores of articles and studies documenting the rise of this 3 tiered strategy that aims to improve instruction for all students by delivering increasingly intense interventions for students at varying levels of need. However, there is very little available that outlines the aftermath of these interventions in any detail.

This lack of resources has made completing my own action research a real challenge as there is very little for me to refer back to. And yet, despite this, the initial returns on my own research are indicating that interventions, implemented across a grade level and delivered with consistency, can improve test scores. I find this to be rather encouraging.

Preliminary Action Research Plan

Because our school did not make AYP this year, we have decided to put forth a year-long effort to improve the scores of those students who just missed the cutoff for "proficient" on our standardized tests, with the goal of raising the scores of enough of them to fulfill the AYP requirement.

To that end, I have decided to pursue a research project that will look at those students who are just below and just above the cutoff for "proficient". Following is the first draft of my research plan.

Goals and objectives/outcomes of the research investigation

The goals of this research investigation are as follows:

1. Validate the effectiveness of the new Language Arts curriculum on students who are just below and just above the “proficient” level on the New Jersey ASK exam.

2. Develop an understanding of how the use of new technology tools such as Promethean Boards impact student achievement in Language Arts.

3. Share the results of this research with colleagues, especially those who are reluctant to implement one or more aspects of the program.

Activities designed to achieve the objectives

For this project, we will work evaluate the effectiveness of this program by focusing on a select group of students across several classes in grades 3, 4 and 5. These grades were selected due to the fact that they are all required to complete annual statewide proficiency exams which will allow for benchmarking of previous performance and the tracking of ongoing performance.

The research will be conducted utilizing a variety of techniques such as the analysis of standardized testing data (both to identify potential student “targets” for the research as well as to evaluate ongoing results, interviews with participating teachers both individually and in grade-level groups to establish clear-cut objectives for each participating student and to gather anecdotal evidence on student progress, evaluation of student class work, unit and quarterly student assessment results, student surveys and literature study to provide context for the research.

Resources and research tools needed for data gathering

· NJ ASK student data from 2010 – grades 3, 4, and 5 – for identification/benchmarking

· Collected samples of student writing

· District wide writing assessments – Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011

· Unit assessment data for participating students

· Generate student surveys for mid-year and year-end self evaluation

· Generate teacher surveys/interview questions for quarterly group meetings

· Generate student achievement spreadsheets for data entry and analysis

· Identify scholarly literature on the topic for review.

· NJ ASK student data for 2011-2012 for tracking purposes

Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities

November, 2011

· Review 2011 NJ ASK data and identify students

· Recruit teachers to participate in the study

· Finalize objectives of the research

· Collect baseline data

· Literature Review

December, 2011

· Collect scored writing samples for benchmarking

· Collect unit assessment scores and Fall running record levels

· Prepare mid-year student survey

· Literature review

January, 2012

· Administer mid-year student and teacher surveys

· Collect unit assessment scores

· Mid-Year Teacher interviews

· Literature review

March, 2012

· Third Quarter Teacher interviews

· Collect unit assessment scores

· Literature review

April, 2012

· Collect scored writing samples – Spring district wide prompt

· Collect Unit Assessment Scores

· Prepare year-end student survey

· Prepare year-end teacher survey

· Literature review

May, 2012

· Administer NJ ASK – grades 3-4-5

· Collect Unit Assessment Scores

· Administer year end surveys

June, 2012

· Fourth Quarter Teacher Interviews

· Collect final Running Record data

· Collect final grades

September, 2012

· Receive and review 2012 NJ ASK data

· Prepare tracking reports based on 2011 and 2012 data

· Prepare final summary reports based on gathered information

October, 2012

· Present data to participating teachers for review and discussion

· Present data to faculty

· Prepare recommendations for ongoing research/analysis based on results

Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan

This plan will be implemented by Gerard Campione of Menlo Park School along with the assistance and cooperation of a minimum of three teachers in each grade (grades 3, 4, and 5) with a mix of inclusion and general education classrooms.

Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives

Individual student data will be collected on a monthly basis and tracked on spreadsheets to allow for easy comparison and to note ongoing trends. Regular discussions with the participating teachers will be used to go over immediate observations and to alter or adjust the study as necessary. Summary reports of the collected data will be distributed and posted to the Action Research blog at http://jerrysaar.blogspot.com

Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study

Student assessments as provided by the publishers of the current Language Arts curriculum will be used to evaluate and track ongoing student progress. Standardized test data (NJ ASK) will be used to establish benchmarks for individual and grade wide performance in grades 3, 4, and 5. In addition, the NJ ASK data from the current school year will be collected and analyzed to allow for comparison of year over year performance.

In addition, teacher surveys and interviews will be utilized with both participating and non-participating teacher to evaluate whether or not teachers have moved toward full participation in the new language arts curriculum.

How Educational Leaders Can Use Blogs

As one who has been blogging in the past, I realize that the most valuable purpose that my blogs have served is to provide me with a permanent record of my thoughts at any given time. As an educational leader, I can see how using a blog as a sort of permanent "journal" could definitely be a useful tool. Because while my other blogs have been for more "personal" or "spur of the moment" writing, a professional blog such as this can serve as so much more than just a repository for random thoughts. It can allow a leader to capture information on particular scenarios that have presented themselves and, hopefully, become a permanent record of how one handled that scenario - as it's likely to arise again at some point. It also allows for a centralized location for the educational leader to reflect on the actions and events of his or her recent or distant past.

The blog can also serve the educational leader in another, less self-centered way. Because the blog can be as public as one might like, the educational leader can also look for, and even solicit, others input into the information that is posted there - allowing the blogger to cultivate an entire cadre of "virtual advisors" who can share their own experience and wisdom with the blogger, thereby allowing him or her to tap on a vast store of experience from both within his or her own school district to as far as the internet can take you.

Finally, the blog allows the educational leader to share his or her own research findings and experiences with others across the internet world. This form of "publication" is both immediate and far-reaching, and allows others to share in the work that the blogger has done. It also can provide immediate feedback as to the validity of such work.

This sort of professional blog is a new thing for me, and one that I hope to rely upon as an aspiring educational leader and as an "active researcher."

Just what is Action Research?

After having spent a great deal of time in a previous career utilizing more traditional research, I never thought the idea of "research" would be exciting to me again. But the concept of "action research" has recast the idea of research, taking it from the mere implementation of other's academic study to the development and execution of self-directed inquiry that is intended to a more select audience - you and your educational community.

Action research is focused on just that - action - on the part of the individual who will ultimately benefit the most from the efforts. Most often, this is the administrator or teachers within a school setting. These individuals begin by self-analyzing their own practices to identify an area of study that they believe can benefit from a deeper examination. These "wonderings" become the basis for a systematic review of existing data and relevant literature related to the topic.

While these first steps do involve some "action" the real action occurs when the "researchers" make changes in their own practice. Therefore, their inquiry generates genuine results that are seen locally within their own school or district. Finally, in the ultimate act of "pay it forward," the researchers share their findings with others, through local presentation or on the internet, thus making it easier for future generations of action researcher to learn from their experiences.

What I find exciting about action research is that it provides a way to focus on continuous self-reflection and improvement, while also allowing for collaboration through the sharing component. While one may be working as an individual on a specific project, with the community of other "action researchers" sharing their wonderings and findings, one is never truly alone in the process.

As I begin my own journey to what I hope will be an administrative position, I look forward to using the process of administrative inquiry, or action research, to further my own understanding of specific things within my own school community. For instance, our district has recently gone on a tremendous technological upgrade initiative, with the goal of bringing interactive learning to as many classrooms as possible. As someone who is not involved in the decision making, but who is involved in the implementation, I wonder whether these new interactive tools enhance and improve student learning, especially in the elementary classrooms. I hope to utilize the action-research process to better understand this and to hopefully have it improve my own classroom practice.

I don't doubt that action research can be a time-consuming task, but unlike traditional research that goes into some "black hole" of academia, this type of research will have a willing consumer - myself.