Dena D. Johnson Ashford University EDU 671: Fundamentals of Educational Research Instructor: Kathy Hoover September 3, 2015

Action Research on strategies to assist adult learners with employment assessments that will help them to obtain meaningful employment in the urban environment.

 (1) Area of Focus Statement  (2) Related Literature  (3) Defining the Variables  (4) Research Questions  (5) Descriptive Intervention(s)  (6) Data Collection  (7) Data Considerations  (8) Interpretation of Data  (9) The Action Plan According to Mills (2009), there are nine components of the Action research Plan …

The purpose of this study is to find effective strategies to assist adult literacy learners understand, comprehend, and pass employment assessments.

Useful literature to help guide practice:

Making Use of Independent and Dependent variables that work for the plan Independent Variables: Surveys and e- portfolios Dependent Variables:Assessments and in class instruction

1.Will the use of literacy strategies that address reading comprehension help learners find quality employment after taking these employment assessments? 2.How do adult literacy learning programs help to meet employment expectations and usefulness in under privileged environments? 3.How effective strategies may help adult literacy learners with comprehension when used for employment assessments in urban environments?

Make use of literacy programming to assist adult learners with gainful employment Make effective community based programming in urban environments where socio- economic disparities are a known factor of poverty. Validity, credibility, and reliability

Qualitative Data: Using portfolios will then measure students’ performance and give an idea of what they are learning and it will have them become active participants in the study. Quantitative Data: Surveys/assessments will give quantitative data to support findings in whether or not strategies are helping in the intervention of non-employment in a given area. These rubrics will help make decisions upon comparative measures. Considerations: Informed ethical treatment and unbiased learning environment to ensure implementation is focused on the embetterment of population.

At research end I will … Share data with community literacy organizations, self-publish findings of the plan, and make use of findings in further instruction with adult literacy learners.

InterventionAnalysis  Phase 1 :Week 1-3  Intervention  Instruction and data collection  Phase 2: Week 4  Data analysis  Final Assessment

 An effective Action Research Plan and its components are the key to the validity, credibility and success of its findings.  In Extension Education and Unbiased Research, Massey (1994) states, "An educator's role is to present knowledge in an environment conducive to learning.

Landrum, R. E. (2013). Research design for educators: Real-world connections and applications. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Massey, R. E. (1994). Extension Education and Unbiased Research. Extension Journal, Inc. ISSN Retrieved from: Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. *Please be sure you have this text by Day 1 of the course.