Using Action Research To Empower North Carolina Educators A Race to the Top Initiative NC Department of Public Instruction Educator Effectiveness Division

Interventions for Middle School Students Bobbie Barton Guilford County Schools Mendenhall Middle School

What is Action Research? Systematic inquiry conducted by teachers and other educators to find solutions for critical, challenging, relevant issues in their classrooms and schools. Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

What is Action Research? Main Goals Include: Positively impact student outcomes Identify and promote effective instructional practices Create opportunities for teachers to become reflective practitioners Share research results with other educators Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

What is Action Research? A systematic research process to: ● Identify an area of focus (critical, challenging issue) ● Develop an action research plan ● Implement action research plan in classroom/school ● Collect, analyze, and interpret data ● Share findings to inform practice Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

Literacy Interventions for Middle School students Do tier 2 interventions impact student reading scores? Why are we spending time and money implementing them? Classroom teachers and adminstrators would benefit from reviewing my research. Will students benefit from tier 2 inteventions?

Problems of Practice Post your thoughts to the questions on the chart paper and respond to others thinking. How do middle schools address the problem of what to do when a student cannot read? How do middle schools catch up students signficantly below grade level?

What Does Peer-Reviewed Research say about my focus area? The correlation between oral reading fluency and overall reading achievement is.91. Correlation between weight and blood pressure-0.40 Correlation between glucose level and weight-0.46 Correlation between SAT and college grades-0.50 Fuchs, Fuchs, and Hosp., 2001

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Collect Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Focus Statement How can I improve the oral reading fluency scores of select sixth grade students falling below the 35% as measured by aims web?

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Collect Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to examine how the use of a focused literacy intervention for struggling readers can raise test scores as measured by aims-web and the scholastic reading inventory.

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Collect Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Study Participants Twelve sixth grade students from two teams participated in the study. Two students identified as exceptional children. One student exited from LEP services.

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Collect Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Study Variables Struggling readers are defined as students falling below the 35% as measured by aims web. Aims web is an online platform with curriculum based measures to assess literacy skills. Scholastic reading inventory is an online assessment to measure comprehension and provide Lexile.

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Collect Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Research Questions Will using a tier two intervention twice a week for thirty minutes improve middle of the year oral reading fluency scores and scholastic reading inventory scores?

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Collect Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Innovation/Intervention Students will work in partner groups to complete fluency interventions. All students will participate in reader’s theater using select plays. All students will be progress monitored every other week and the intervention will be adjusted as needed.

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Data Collected Ten out of twelve students grew on average of 12.6 words per minute from beginning of the year to middle of the year. Students in the same group without the intervention grew on average 16.2 words per minute from beginning of the year to middle of the year.

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Collect Data Findings Students in the tier two group dropped on average of 131 Lexile points on the scholastic reading inventory. Students without the intervention dropped an average of 37 Lexile points.

Make Knowledge Public Analyze/Interpret Data Innovation/Intervention Action Research Plan Collect Data Recommendations Use a larger sample of students. Begin intervention in January and run through May. Increase number of days served from two to three.

Graves, Anne W.; Brandon, Regina; Duesbery, Luke; McIntosh, Angela; Pyle, Nicole B.(2011) The Effects of Tier 2 Literacy Instruction in Sixth Grade: Toward the Development of a Response- to-Intervention Model in Middle School Learning Disability Quarterly, v34 n1 p Lesaux, Nonie K., Harris, Julie Russ, Sloane, Phoebe, (2012) Adolescents' Motivation in the Context of an Academic Vocabulary Intervention in Urban Middle School Classrooms. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Nov, Vol. 56 Issue 3, p Lewis-Lancaster, Amity Reisiner-Carmen, (2013) Examining the results of a brief experimental analysis and reading fluency intervention with a middle school student. Reading Improvement. Winter, Vol. 50 Issue 4, p Faggella-Luby, Michael, Wardwell, Michelle,(2011) RTI in a Middle School: Findings and Practical Implications of a Tier 2 Reading Comprehension Study. Learning Disability Quarterly, v34 n1 p Slavin, Robert E, Chamberlain, Anne, Daniels, Cecelia, (2007) Preventing Reading Failure. Educational Leadership, Vol. 65 Issue 2, References

Conclusion of Presentation Thank you for your participation. Contact Information: Bobbie Barton Mendenhall Middle Schools, Guilford County Schools

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