Saturday, June 22, 2013

Pulatie's Action Research- Reading Intervention

Action Planning Template
Goal: To determine if the I-Station reading intervention program aids to increase the reading levels of the lower quartile of 8th grade students.

Research question: What effect does the I-Station reading intervention program have on the reading levels of the lower quartile of 8th grade students at San Saba Middle School?

Action Steps(s):
Person(s) Responsible:
Timeline: Start/End
Needed Resources
Evaluation
Gather STAAR data from previous year’s reading test to determine lower quartile of 8th grade students


Penny Pulatie
August 2013
STAAR individual results
Create a chart to compare data in order to determine lower quartile of 8th grade students
Conduct Star Reading Diagnostic test to help determine students reading level

Penny Pulatie and 8th grade ELA teachers
September
Star Reading Diagnostic Test
Compare the data with the STAAR results and determine students’ beginning reading level
Perform Beginning of Year AIMSWeb testing to compare results with Star reading results







Penny Pulatie and AIMSWeb testing coordinator
September
AIMSWeb benchmark probe
Compare data to see if fluency or comprehension may be the problem
Begin I-Station program with Diagnostic test to determine levels of performance- These will be automatically conducted at the beginning of each month.



Penny Pulatie and ELA teachers
September-May- at the beginning of each month
I-Station
Place students on appropriate level for remediation








Compile weekly reports from I-Station to determine students’ weaknesses
Penny Pulatie
Weekly beginning in September and completed in May
I-Station reports
Results will tier students as I, II, or III according to RTI level
Evaluate students’ scores on December reading benchmark tests
Penny Pulatie
December
Benchmark tests
Look at students’ scores and see if any improvement has been made


Conduct middle of the year Star Reading Diagnostic test
Penny Pulatie and ELA teachers
January
Star Reading Diagnostic Test
Results will show if any improvement in reading level has been made
Perform Middle of the year AIMSWeb test and compare to BOY results
Penny Pulatie and AIMSWeb coordinator
January
AIMSWeb benchmark probes
Results will show if any improvement has been made following 16 weeks of remediation
Review results from 8th grade Reading STAAR test
Penny Pulatie
April-May
STAAR test reports
Determine if any improvement from scores of last year’s test
Conduct End of Year AIMSWeb test for final results
Penny Pulatie and AIMSWeb coordinator
May
AIMSWeb benchmark probes
Continue to monitor results to determine if it is fluency or comprehension
Conduct End of Year Star Diagnostic Reading test
Penny Pulatie and 8th grade ELA teachers
May
Star Diagnostic test
Calculate students End of year reading level
Complete final I-Station diagnostic test
Penny Pulatie and 8th grade ELA teachers
May
I-Station diagnostic test
Determine if tier level has increased
Present results to principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent
Penny Pulatie
May
Power point, data, and report
Allow administration to view all of the data and the report to help determine whether the remediation program was successful

Sunday, June 9, 2013

What is Action Research and how can I use it?

Action research refers to when a principal or administrator studies his or her own practices and takes action based on what findings are discovered. It is also a powerful professional development tool or principals because it focuses on school improvement for all involved. I really did not know much about action research until this class, but I believe all good educators use it even if they don't know the name for it. I already use it in the classroom when I analyze my own teaching. I use my students' data to determine if I have taught a certain TEK and if I haven't, I reflect on a better way to teach it. Specifically for this course, I will be using action research for my project on reading intervention. I am going to analyze whether the reading intervention programs that we are using during our RTI time have an impact on test scores across the board. It is understandable that if kids do not know how to read, it is more difficult for them to take their math, science, and social studies tests as well as their reading test. We are implementing new reading intervention programs in our RTI time on our campus as well as a summer reading program. I will be studying the data from these programs and compare the test scores from the previous year to see if there has been an improvement. I am excited to see what the results will show.


How might educational leaders use blogs?

The Dana text refers to a blog as a type of journaling or an "online diary". Principals can use this blogging during their inquiry process to write down their ideas as they come to them. They can then get feedback from other educators to aid them in their research. The blog keeps the thoughts available to them to reflect anytime they wish. Teachers can also use blogs with their students to help with the writing process. Most students love to "chat" with their friends. Blogging can give them that same feeling, but the teacher is the leader and provides a safe path or them to follow. Blogging can also allow administrators to obtain support from colleagues. They will be able to solicit information about a certain problem that they have faced to see if anyone else has had the same issue and inquire as to their resolution. I can see where blogging is going to be very beneficial to me. It already has!