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.