Action Research / Intervention Project

1. Action Research / Intervention Project October 11th,2012

2. What is Action Research? • “The process of studying a real school or classroom situation in order to understand and improve the quality of actions or instruction” (Johnson, 2002). • Action research is professionally termed “data-based decision making” and is aimed at improving classroom instruction and positively impacting student learning. It is a simple process in which the teacher proceeds through the following steps: • 1. Identifying a question • 2. Reviewing the literature on the topic or problem • 3. Devising a plan and collecting the data • 4. Analyzing the data • 5. Reflecting on the data • 6. Creating an action plan to improve student learning • 7. Sharing results and implications of the research

3. Why is it important that you do action research now? • Action research acknowledges teachers’ experience and knowledge • Administrators value and appreciate candidates who have undertaken action research • Action research is practical. • In classrooms, a study of why behaviors or outcomes occur is most important to modifying and changing instruction. • Action research leads teachers in critical reflection

4. Is Action Research extra work? • In reality, it is not! Action research... • contributes to teaching skillfulness (Wile & Zisi, 2000). • allows you to document how well you are helping students learn by gathering data that supports your instructional strategies. • allows you to reflect on your pedagogy and think about the effectiveness of those instructional strategies in improving student learning. • Research and practice are two sides of the same coin; effective research and teaching strengthen each other.

5. What does this look like? • You will work with your mentor teacher to identify an “area of need” • You will do some background research regarding how others have addressedthis “need” before • You will formulate a questionrelated to that “area of need” and your classroom • You will design and conduct an interventionto address the need with the whole class or small groups • You will collect data to document the progress of your students Like What? Where do I find this? Why is this important? How do I do this? What kind of data will you collect?

6. Writing Up Your Research (4-5 pages) • Brief Introduction • Description of the Problem • Classroom Level • SIP • Why is this a problem? • Research Question • Methods • Description of the Sample (include demographics and explanation of why students are chosen) • Detailed description of the intervention, including a brief literature review, the steps in your process, a description of the data

7. Write-Up continued • Results • Summarize the results (differences between pre-test and post-test) • Present the data (in table or graphic form) • Explain what the results mean for your own classroom • Discussion or Reflection • Implications for future practice

8. Your next step... • Fill in your planning worksheet and review it with your mentor, send it to your supervisor for review • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puEZm98aFk8

9. Things to keep in mind... Your write-up needs to be formal. You need to do a project in each of your placements. Student Confidentiality is Extremely Important You must make a connection with the School Improvement Plan, School Performance Plan or the Common Core. Action research is a process that is very important to the teaching profession.

10. Questions? Additional Questions, contact seckert@ndm.edu