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Improving Teaching and Learning through Action Research

REL AppalachiaKentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC)

June 19, 2015Hazard, Kentucky

Overview of Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Appalachia

Michael Flory, Alliance Researcher, REL Appalachia

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Please Tweet!

• To tweet during this event:– @REL_Appalachia

• Use hashtag: – #ActionResearchKY

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What Is the REL Program?

• Authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.• Charged with helping to build a more evidence-reliant

education system.• Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of

Education Sciences (IES).

REL Appalachia’s Mission

• Meet the applied research and technical assistance needs of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

• Bring evidence-based information to policy makers and practitioners:– Provide support for a more evidence-reliant education system.

– Inform policy and practice for states, districts, schools, and other stakeholders.

– Focus on high-priority, discrete issues and build a body of knowledge over time.

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How We Work: Research Alliances

• What is a research alliance?– A partnership between education stakeholders and REL Appalachia.

• What is the purpose of a research alliance?– Develop and carry out a research and analytic technical assistance

agenda on priority topics.

• Who are the education stakeholders in an alliance?– Schools, local education agencies, state education agencies, regional

cooperatives, and other organizations (e.g., colleges and universities).

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Kentucky College and Career Readiness Alliance (KyCCRA)

• Member organizations:– Southeast/Southcentral Educational Cooperative (SESC).

– Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative (CKEC).

– Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC).

– Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC).

– Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services (NKCES).

– Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC).

– West Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC).

– Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).

– Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE).

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KyCCRA Goals and Topics

• Goals– Understand the use and effectiveness of strategies to prepare students

for college and careers.

– Understand and increase student engagement in schools.

• Topics– Dual enrollment/dual credit programs.

– Student engagement.

– College and career readiness interventions.

– Educator effectiveness.

– Data use.

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Introduction to Today’s Workshop

Bernadette Carpenter, Instructional Lead, KVECAbbie Combs, Educator Effectiveness Lead, Appalachian

Renaissance Initiative (ARI), KVEC

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KVEC Schools and Districts Engaging in Action Research

• Purpose: Why conduct action research?• Benefits:

– Professionalize teaching and learning.

– Empower teachers.

– Enhance motivation and effectiveness of school faculty.

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Workshop Goals

• Learn about what action research is and its relationship to data-based decisionmaking.

• Learn the steps in the action research process.• Practice developing an action research plan around a specific

problem of practice.• Become familiar with resources to support action research in

the classroom.

Overview of Action Research

Patricia Kannapel, Alliance Coordinator,REL Appalachia

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References for this Presentation

• Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34-46.

• Mertler, C. (2006). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

• Mills, G. (2000). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

• Rust, F. O’C., & Meyers, E. (2006). The bright side: Teacher research in the context of educational reform and policymaking. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12(1), 69-86.

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What is Action Research?

• “Action research” coined by psychologist Kurt Lewin (1946).• Seeks to involve ordinary people in research to solve

problems.• Used in many fields, including education.

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What is Action Research?

• Various definitions in the educational literature, including:– “…the essential activity of a reflective teacher, as a viable means

for teachers to question the impact of their practice on student achievement and as a way of bringing teachers’ voices into the discourse around education policy” (Rust & Meyers, 2006, pp. 73);

– “…any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counselors, or other stakeholders in the teaching/learning environment, to gather information about the ways that their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn” (Mills, 2000, pp. 6).

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Data-Based Decision Making and Action Research

Data-based decision making

Action research

Collaborative inquiry

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The Action Research Process

Step Mills (2000) Mertler (2006) ARI Cycle (2014)

1 Identify focus area Identify/limit topic Identify focus/research question

2 Collect data Review literature Collect/analyze evidence (learn more about the issue)

3 Analyze/interpret data Develop research plan Develop action plan

4 Develop action plan Implement plan/collect data

Implement/monitor plan

5 Analyze data Communicate results

6 Develop action plan Continue reflection

7 Communicate results

8 Reflect on the process

A Sample Action Research Project:OneNote Close Reading and

Annotation

Rachel Holbrook, Ed.D., English Language Arts Teacher,Johnson County Middle School

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ARI Action Research Cycle

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STEP 1: Identify Area of Focus and Research Question

• Problem of practice: Effective reading strategies to improve comprehension of informational and literary text.

• Research question: Does the use of Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and OneNote software for close reading accompanied by annotation improve students’ reading comprehension?

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STEP 2: Collect and Analyze Evidence

• Research reviewed:– Personal connections facilitate valuable outcomes that result from

reading and interacting with the text (Brown, 2007).

– Linking personal experience with texts helps students make connections between existing literacy skills and those necessary for success in disciplines outside English/language arts (National Council of Teachers of English, 2007).

• Data reviewed: All students performed poorly (less than 70% success rate) on initial evaluation using Achievement First annotation rubric.

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STEP 3: Develop a Plan of Action

• Strategy: Implement close reading strategy accompanied by explicit instruction on annotation for each major teaching unit.

• Resources: Use Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and OneNote software as tools for enhancing close reading and annotation.

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STEP 3: Develop a Plan of Action

• Students: All students inDr. Holbrook’s 7th grade language arts class completed a selected reading strategy and annotations using traditional paper and pencil as well as digital tools (Surface Pro 3, OneNote).

• Timeline: October 2014 – April 2015.

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STEP 4: Implement and Monitor the Plan

• Evaluation plan: Monitor student progress using Achievement First annotation rubric.

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STEP 5: Communicate Results

• Findings: – Increase in overall interaction with text.

– Increase in textual comprehension.

– Increase in ability to make inferences.

• Dissemination: Findings shared with interdisciplinary team members, administrators, attendees at Action Research Summit.

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STEP 6: Continue Reflection

• Implications for practice: – Introduce to students early in school year. Before using

Microsoft Pro 3, introduce students to OneNote using Office 365.

• Strengths/limitations of strategy: – Improved student skills, enthusiasm, and responsibility.

– Surface 3 is fragile, limited to single student use at one time, and difficult for students to record voices. Students still needed hard copies of material.

• Next steps for teaching practice: – Obtain multiple devices, seek alternate devices to allow access

to OneNote.

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Sample Project: Table Discussion

• At your tables, discuss Rachel’s project:– How closely did the steps in this project align with steps in the ARI

Cycle?

– Do you have questions about particular aspects or steps of the project?

– Which aspects of a project such as this one would you feel comfortable implementing?

– Where would you need additional support? What kind of support?

– What questions do you have about conducting action research?

• Share out: – One key question or comment your group has about action research

or this particular action research project.

Planning an Action Research Project

Michelle Scott, Mathematics Teacher, Pikeville High School

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Problem: Teaching the Same Way to 28 Different Students

Each year I have a classroom of mixed ability students all trying to learn the same topic.• How am I supposed to teach Johnny to find the mean if he can’t divide?• What do I do with Ella, who already knows how to find the mean?• What is the best way to personalize learning for all students with just one

me?

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Planning an Action Research Project: What is the problem?

• Step 1: Identify area of focus and research question:– Problem of practice: Personalized learning in 7th grade mathematics.

– What is the research question?

• Step 2: Collect and analyze evidence (learn about the issue):– What research will you review to learn more about this issue?

– What data will you review (including data on current student performance)?

• In your groups: – Develop a research question and your plan for learning more

about the issue (10 minutes).• Share out.

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Michelle’s Question

• Research question: Will homogeneous, personalized learning stations improve academic performance?

• Learning about the problem: – I researched effective differentiation practices.

– I found information on homogeneous grouping, but mostly for gifted students.

– I learned about personalized learning stations at an ARI summer training and focused my research on this particular topic.

– Research is limited on whole-classroom personalized learning, but one study reported that it worked in the mathematics classroom so I had to try it.

• Questions about Steps 1 and 2?

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Break

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Planning: How will you solve the problem?

• Step 3: Develop a plan of action:– Strategy to address problem of practice.

– Resources/personnel needed.

– Students involved (who and how?).

– Timeline.

• Step 4: Implement and monitor the plan:– Evaluation plan.

• In your groups: – Develop an action plan that addresses the points above (20 minutes).

• Share out.

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Michelle’s Action Plan

• Step 3: Develop a plan of action:– Strategy: Teach first unit as follows:

Monday: Whole group. Tuesday: Practice with some sort of formative assessment. Wednesday–Friday: Personalized learning stations, students grouped

based on formative or summative assessment.– Resources: Khan Academy videos (cycle 1), electronic tablets (cycle 2).

– Students involved: This year’s 7th grade math students were compared with last year’s students, who were demographically and academically similar.

– Timeline: One (9-week) unit.

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Michelle’s Action Plan

• Step 4: Implement and monitor the plan:– Collect assessment data throughout the unit, compare with last year’s

scores.

• Questions about Steps 3 and 4?

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Did You Solve the Problem?

• Step 5: Communicate results:– What findings might result from this project?

– With whom would you share results, and how?

• Step 6: Continue reflection:– What are the implications of your findings for practice?

– What were the strengths and limitations of your research design?

– What are your next steps for teaching practice/action research?

• In your groups: – Consider the findings your research might produce and the

implications of those findings (20 minutes).• Share out.

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Michelle’s Results and Reflections

• Step 5: Communicate results:– Findings: Results of unit tests showed that personalized learning

stations improved academic performance and retention of information more than traditional whole-group instruction.

– Dissemination: Shared at faculty meeting. Invited to elementary school to share findings and discuss how to

implement personalized learning. Will present at Title I conference this summer.

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Michelle’s Results and Reflections

• Step 6: Continue reflection:– Results indicated that personalized learning was effective.

– Implement personalized learning with tablets available for each group, gather data on results.

• Questions about Steps 5 and 6?

Resources, Q&A, and Wrap-up

Patricia KannapelMichael FloryAbbie Combs

Bernadette Carpenter

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Resources

• REL document provided to KVEC earlier this year.– Describes action research,

data-based decisionmaking, andcollaborative inquiry.

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Q&A

• Summary of action research: It’s a process that will take time to learn and put in place!

• Lingering questions.

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Wrap-Up

• Next steps for KVEC teachers.

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Presenters’ Contact Information

• Patricia J. Kannapel, Alliance Coordinator; kannapelp@cna.org; (502) 581-0324; (502) 645-6423.

• Michael Flory, Alliance Researcher; florym@cna.org; (703) 861-9557.

• Abbie Combs, Educator Effectiveness Lead, KVEC; abbie.combs@hazard.kyschools.us; (606) 436-3161 X 5083.

• Bernadette Carpenter, Instructional Lead, KVEC; bernadette.carpenter@magoffin.kyschools.us; (606) 776-9930.

• Rachel Holbrook, Johnson County Middle School; rachel.holbrook@johnson.kyschools.us; (606) 789-4133.

• Edie Michelle Scott, Pikeville High School; michelle.scott@pikeville.kyschools.us; (606) 432-0185.

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Stakeholder Feedback Survey

Michael Flory

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Connect with us!

www.relappalachia.org

@REL_Appalachia

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Cited

• Brown, Matthew D. (2007) I’ll have mine annotated, please: Helping students make connections with text. English Journal, 96(4), 73-78.

• Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34-46.

• Mertler, C. (2006). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

• Mills, G. (2000). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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Cited

• National Council of Teachers of English. (2007). NCTE principles of adolescent literacy reform: A policy research brief. Urbana, IL: NCTE.

• Rust, F. O’C., & Meyers, E. (2006). The bright side: Teacher research in the context of educational reform and policymaking. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12(1), 69-86.