The one aspect of this course that resonated with me the most was hearing from the principal, director of research, and the superintendent that are actively involved in action research during the week 2 videos. So many times, ideas or ways of doing things come and go in education. But, hearing from educators who are making action research a prominent part of their practice helped me to realize that this isn’t a fad or phase in education. I really think that because it’s not specific way of doing things, but a way of investigating and evaluating your way of doing things, it’s really a practice that is valuable and here to stay.
The area of action research where I am hoping to learn more is the Implications for Practice piece. Because we’re at the start of the process and haven’t gone through this piece, I wonder if I’ll be able to see the data clearly and determine exactly what the implications for practice are.
I will definitely rely on my site-supervisor to help me see what the data shows and how to illustrate that to all of the stakeholders in the project. I will also rely on the questions outlined by Dana (2009, pgs. 183-184) for principal-researchers regarding Quality Indicator 5: Implications for Learning.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Approval from my Site-Supervisor
Today I got final approval from my site-supervisor for my action research project. The action steps remained the same, but a rationale statement was added to the plan. I'm posting the introductory section below:
Rational: My action research will focus on individual 2nd grade teachers at Becker Elementary School. Over the last ____ years, _____% of 2nd grade students at Becker Elementary have ended the year reading below grade level in their native language. At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the Becker Elementary School Principal, the reading specialist, and I (working as a language arts curriculum specialist) reviewed an accelerated reading program that is designed for 2nd grade students and is based on addressing the 5 components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension). After reviewing the program we agreed on two adjustments that needed to be made in order to fully address the needs of the incoming 1st graders. The reading specialist did a trial run of the program for 1 week with a small group of incoming 1st graders and this resulted in one more adjustment to the amount of time scheduled for comprehension instruction and practice. There are, of course, many factors that have led to this recurring problem at Becker. Among the issues that are within our control is the level of content and pedagogical knowledge of the 2nd grade teacher(s). This scripted program that will be used as the core reading program for 36 days of school by the 2nd grade teacher(s), relies on daily recursive instructional practices that are soundly based on research in each of the five components of reading. My inquiry will examine whether the implementation of this program has an impact on the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge to the extent that they are able to plan and facilitate effective lessons in reading around the 5 components beyond the 36 day program.
Goal: To determine whether a primary teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge in reading is increased to the extent that they are able to independently plan effective reading instruction based on the five components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension) by using a scripted accelerated reading program based on the five components of reading during the first 36 days of reading instruction in 2nd grade.
Outcome: If the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge is positively impacted, then students will have the benefit of receiving rigorous research based instruction in reading for the remainder of the year and should complete 2nd grade reading on or above grade-level.
Inquiry Question: How does the use of the recursive practices in the Region 4 Accelerated Reading materials by the 2nd grade teacher(s) at Becker Elementary as the core reading instruction for 36 days of school impact their level of content and pedagogical knowledge in the area of reading?
Rational: My action research will focus on individual 2nd grade teachers at Becker Elementary School. Over the last ____ years, _____% of 2nd grade students at Becker Elementary have ended the year reading below grade level in their native language. At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the Becker Elementary School Principal, the reading specialist, and I (working as a language arts curriculum specialist) reviewed an accelerated reading program that is designed for 2nd grade students and is based on addressing the 5 components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension). After reviewing the program we agreed on two adjustments that needed to be made in order to fully address the needs of the incoming 1st graders. The reading specialist did a trial run of the program for 1 week with a small group of incoming 1st graders and this resulted in one more adjustment to the amount of time scheduled for comprehension instruction and practice. There are, of course, many factors that have led to this recurring problem at Becker. Among the issues that are within our control is the level of content and pedagogical knowledge of the 2nd grade teacher(s). This scripted program that will be used as the core reading program for 36 days of school by the 2nd grade teacher(s), relies on daily recursive instructional practices that are soundly based on research in each of the five components of reading. My inquiry will examine whether the implementation of this program has an impact on the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge to the extent that they are able to plan and facilitate effective lessons in reading around the 5 components beyond the 36 day program.
Goal: To determine whether a primary teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge in reading is increased to the extent that they are able to independently plan effective reading instruction based on the five components of reading (phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension) by using a scripted accelerated reading program based on the five components of reading during the first 36 days of reading instruction in 2nd grade.
Outcome: If the teacher’s content and pedagogical knowledge is positively impacted, then students will have the benefit of receiving rigorous research based instruction in reading for the remainder of the year and should complete 2nd grade reading on or above grade-level.
Inquiry Question: How does the use of the recursive practices in the Region 4 Accelerated Reading materials by the 2nd grade teacher(s) at Becker Elementary as the core reading instruction for 36 days of school impact their level of content and pedagogical knowledge in the area of reading?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)