Even though it shows group it’s only one person template below, the subject is area of reading.
Description: Inquiry research (IR) – often also called ‘Teacher Research’ or ‘Classroom Research’ – emerges from a teacher’s immediate concerns and problems in his or her classroom. Inquiry research in literacy education is aimed at advancing knowledge and understanding of various research methodologies and issues that impact the instruction and learning of reading in the K–12 setting. The pre-service teacher will identify pre-tests utilizing a variety of traditional and authentic literacy formative and summative assessments to monitor students’ literacy progress, achievement, and learning gains. The assessment data will be identified and described on how to monitor students’ progress and guide instruction over time to ensure an increase in student learning. The pre-service teacher will plan a minimum of three (3) remediation activities based on reading component skills. Planned activities must require students to demonstrate a variety of applicable skills/competencies and respond to students’ preconceptions/misconceptions. Upon completion of the remediation activities, students will identify which assessments would be used as post-test data. The purpose of Literacy Inquiry is to:
Answer questions about literacy instruction/learning arising in the classroom:
Gather data in the instruction-learning context pertaining to the literacy question(s) raised
Interpret data in the context of the literacy instruction-learning situation
Provide oneself (and others) with better insights into literacy instruction/learning (Publish/disseminate findings)
Open a teacher’s mind to new ways of looking at his/her literacy classes systematically
Involve the literacy learners (e.g. ask permission to collect data and the teacher reports back)
Increase knowledge about the literacy curriculum, the classes, and about the literacy instruction and learning
Description: A Project Team will collaborate on a literacy inquiry project. Work together to identify a reading question of relevance and interest to each team member, relating to the needs of the struggling readers in K12 MDCPS classrooms. Weekly team meetings will include sharing, analyzing, and providing critical feedback to each team member’s research.
Assignment Directions:
Directions:
PART I:
Establish working teams– Teams of 3 students will research reading project questions. At least two different grade levels (elementary, middle, or high) will be included in the team’s research.
Collect and Review Data Sources – Each student will collect and review at least three classroom-wide data sources for the identification of a potential research focus. Describe your classroom context and the trends in MDCPS K12 classrooms. Then, focus on the struggling readers that will potentially comprise your reading intervention group. Description of this data will be used to describe your methodology. These include:
classroom observations of children’s active engagement and challenges
parent questions or concerns
school-based reading assessment data
Quantitative
Informal Reading Inventory
Running Records
Phonics Informal Inventory
Vocabulary Informal Inventory
SAT-10
FAST
Language Arts grades
Reading Plus
I-Ready
AR-Star test
informal/teacher created reading assessment data
Qualitative
Classroom observations
Interest Inventory
Teacher/student interviews
What assessment will be used/modified for use with ELLs? How so? Be detailed and specific.
Summarize and submit this information in a jointly authored paper (1-2 pages per group member). You may organize your information using subheadings centered around either classrooms or data sources.
PART II:
Develop a Research Question and Rationale Statement – Share individual data reviews with the team. As a team, select researchable project questions that can inform planning for reading. Project sub-questions may vary among team members but must be connected in some way to the main overarching research question. Team members will list research questions and sub-questions in order to jointly author a one-page rationale for their group research project to be approved by the professor.
Questions to consider:
What literacy instruction/learning problem does your group want to examine/investigate/research? Is it an important and practical problem, something worth your time and effort, something that could be beneficial to you, your students, and others?
Is the literacy instruction/learning problem stated clearly and in the form of a question? Is it sufficiently broad to allow for a range of insights and findings? Is it narrow enough to be manageable within your time frame and your daily work?
Has the literacy instruction/learning problem been previously examined by other researchers?
PART III:
Conduct a Literature Review – Once the project has been approved, Project Teams will jointly author at least a 10-page paper that reviews the relevant literature (research, professional policy briefs, and position statements), relating to the group’s research question and sub-questions. This literature review must include 15 current articles (no later than 10 years, unless seminal work approved by the instructor) of at least two grade levels, children with special needs, and children from diverse cultural/linguistic populations. Three articles must be based on the educational neuroscience perspective on how the brain learns to read, as it pertains to your research focus. Textbooks and/or websites may only be used in addition to the 15-article minimum. The group will develop a reference list, using APA format, with each team member making a minimum of five contributions. Share, critique, and analyze ongoing documentation within your Project Team for purposes of clarification, alternative interpretations, and generation of new hypotheses.
Questions to consider:
Will your group focus the study on existing literacy instructional practices? If so, which ones?
What research currently exists which addresses your group’s literacy instruction/learning problem and practices?
What general information exists discussing your group’s literacy instruction/learning problem and practices?
What conclusions and questions have been posed in the research your group read?
PART IV: Methodology (includes data collection, intervention, and data analysis)
Design Methodology– Introduce your group’s overall methodological approach for each research question. Indicate how the approach fits the overall research design – make clear connections with your research questions. Describe the specific methods of data collection- e.g. I-Ready, SAT-10, STAR, informal/formal reading assessments, etc. Explain how your group intends to analyze and interpret the results. Identify and address potential limitations of your group’s study.
Methods of Data Collection: Explain all the methods of how data would be collected utilizing the pretest, reading intervention program, and posttest.
Reading components are so interconnected that it is impossible that each component be taught in isolation. Consequently, as your literacy inquiry project will focus on one area that the students are struggling with, you will integrate all reading components and elements necessary for reading instruction.
Questions to consider:
What area of literacy instruction/learning do students have difficulty with?
What question(s) can your group formulate from this information and what would it take to rectify this lack of student knowledge/skills?
What resources exist to help your group attain your goal(s)?
What information from others might be useful in helping your group to frame your research question?
How would your group decide on the types of data to collect?
What help would your group interpret the data?
What types of data should your group try to collect to answer your question(s)?
How will your group ensure that they can formulate multiple perspectives (triangulation)?
Develop Interventions – Based on the grade levels selected, develop a reading intervention program that addresses an increase in student learning, according to students’ needs. Describe this plan in detail.
Provide a Data Analysis – Examine and evaluate the events that occurred within your clinical experience. Draft a description providing information about the effectiveness – or not – of the pedagogy used, adapted, and applied in your setting. Then, embed the following chart within your analysis—
Practicum Intervention
Pretest and Posttest Data
Program: Teacher Education Programs- Exceptional Student Education K12
Professor: Helen Flores
Course Prefix/Code (Reference #): EEX 4833-xxxx
Name/Description of Intervention:
Standard(s) Assessed:
Student
Pretest Score
Posttest Score
Change/Difference 1 = positive change
0 = no change
-1 = negative change
A
B
C
D
Questions to consider:
What can you learn from the data? (Compare baseline data to the data after the intervention. Identify patterns, insights, new understandings, and so on.)
What implications do these patterns, insights, and new understandings have for your literacy instruction/learning practice?
What implications arise for your students?
How do your findings relate to the research discussed in your Literature Review?
PART V:
Discuss the Significance of the Study/Implications for the Future: state the methodological, substantive, and/or theoretical contribution(s) your group anticipates making to existing knowledge in education and MDCPS. State the practical and/or theoretical importance of the problem, your group’s objectives within the study, given the current knowledge and practices. Explain the usefulness or benefits of the study, both to MDCPS and the research community.
Questions to consider:
Summarize your project-What did you attempt to find out? How did you go about doing so? What did you find?
What will you do differently in your classroom as a result of this study?
What might you recommend to others?
Correlate your recommendations to the research discussed in your Literature Review.
PART VI:
Conclusion – Discuss the project as it contributed to:
Increased understandings of children with disabilities and/or reading difficulties.
Creation of more supportive learning environments.
More effective and developmentally appropriate instructional practices.
Did your findings support what you learned in the literature review? Why or why not?
Did your findings support the educational neuroscience perspective on how the brain learns to read?
New questions and hypotheses for future action research regarding reading instruction.
The development of an inquiry stance to your future practice.
PART VII:
Write a final individual reflection that includes:
The story of your journey as a teacher, how inquiry improved your practice, and how it helped you grow as an educator.
Description of communication of working cooperatively with colleagues.
How you would use the data to improve instruction and student achievement.
Your own professional development goals as well as growth opportunities and reflective practices.
How you will implement what you learned in the teaching and learning process.
How knowledge of the educational neuroscience perspective on how the brain learns to read helped you plan appropriate and challenging lessons.
How you will use a variety of data, independently, and in collaboration with colleagues, to evaluate learning outcomes, adjust planning, and continuously improve the effectiveness of the lessons.
How you applied the Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct during this assignment.
What have you learned about the procedures for disciplinary action that can be imposed by the Educational Practice Commission and the appeals process available to teachers based on this assignment?
Outline, Templates, and Exemplars:
Project Outline (Final Paper) – The group must submit a comprehensive paper with the following:
APA formatted title page
Abstract
Introduction/Background of Study (Part I)
Research Question/Rationale Statement (Part II)
Literature Review (Part III)
Methodology (Part IV)
Interventions
Data Collection
Data Analysis with pre/posttest data table
Significance of the Study/Implications for the Future (Part V)
Conclusion (Part VI)
Individual e-portfolio reflections (Part VII)
References in APA format
