I appreciate the comments I received from my colleagues on my Action Research Plan as I worked on revisions this week. When I discussed my plan with my site supervisor, he didn't suggest any changes. I asked him whether I should include a question about the impact of the intervention on the math special education sub-group meeting AYP, and he said that the changes possibly being made to determining whether a campus meets AYP might make it difficult to rely on that data. I agreed and didn't add this question to my plan. Next, he asked me if I would be tracking particular students. I explained that I would be focusing on trends rather than individual students, since my project is spanning more than one school year. I won’t have Scholastic Math Inventory data for next year’s 3rd graders or this year’s 5th graders, so I told him that I made the decision not to track individual students. I also told him that I understand the students will be receiving other interventions as well and will have different teachers next year, and that these factors could also impact the results. I explained that I am looking for a correlation, not causality, and he agreed that my study could achieve that goal.
My approved plan is below. I would appreciate any comments as I prepare to implement my plan. Thank you!
Corina Kelly’s
Action Research Plan
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Research questions: What is the
impact of the math section of the intervention program SuccessMaker on any
differences in third, fourth, and fifth grade special education students’
math performance?
· How does the intervention SuccessMaker math impact
report card math grades?
· How does the intervention SuccessMaker math impact Scholastic
Math Inventory scores?
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Goal: Determine the
impact of the SuccessMaker math intervention on third, fourth, and fifth
grade special education students’ improvement in math performance.
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Action Steps(s):
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Person(s) Responsible:
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Timeline: Start/End
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Needed Resources
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Evaluation
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1. Meet with some members
of the leadership team and SuccessMaker representative to discuss the purpose
of the SuccessMaker program.
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C. Kelly
Site supervisor
Campus Instructional
Specialist
Campus Technologist
SuccessMaker
representative
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March 2013
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SuccessMaker training
materials
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Meeting notes
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2. Attend training led by
SuccessMaker representative in order to learn about program’s rationale and
how to effectively implement the program.
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C. Kelly
SuccessMaker
representative
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March 2013
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SuccessMaker training
materials
Computer connected to the
internet
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Training notes
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3. Meet with 1st -5th
grade classroom teachers to discuss special education math concerns and the
use of SuccessMaker math as an intervention.
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C. Kelly
Site supervisor
Campus Technologist
1st-5th
grade classroom teachers
SuccessMaker
representative
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March 2013
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SuccessMaker PowerPoint
Computer and projector
Handouts for teachers
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Meeting notes
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4. Create a schedule to
ensure all special education students have at least four 15-minute sessions
of SuccessMaker math weekly that do not conflict with other interventions or
requirements.
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C. Kelly
Site supervisor
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March 2013
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Campus master schedule
Classroom teachers’
schedules
Speech and Dyslexia
teachers’ schedules
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Approval of completed
schedule by site supervisor
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5. Meet with Campus
technologist to arrange for 10 laptop computers to be updated and set up with
appropriate software for implementation of SuccessMaker.
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C. Kelly
Campus Technologist
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March 2013
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10 Laptop computers
Requirements to run
SuccessMaker program on computers
Link to SuccessMaker
program
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10 Laptop computers
located in special education classroom run SuccessMaker.
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6. Implement SuccessMaker
math program based on approved schedule.
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C. Kelly
Site supervisor
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March 2013 – January 2014
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10 Laptop computers
Approved schedule
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SuccessMaker report
showing students spending at least 45 minutes weekly on math program.
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7. Meet with SuccessMaker
representative to learn how to gather, interpret, and analyze program’s math
data.
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C. Kelly
SuccessMaker
representative
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March 2013
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SuccessMaker training
materials
Computer connected to the
internet
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Meeting notes
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8. Read relevant literature
to gather information about the success of SuccessMaker math or similar
web-based math interventions.
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C. Kelly
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March 2013 – May 2013
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SuccessMaker math
literature
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Reflection about
literature that evaluates the success of SuccessMaker math or similar web-based
math interventions.
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9. Collect, interpret, and
analyze baseline data from SuccessMaker math of students who will be in 3rd-5th
grades in the 2013-2014 school year.
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C. Kelly
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March 2013 – April 2013
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SuccessMaker math baseline
performance data for 2nd-4th grade special education
students
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Evaluation of 2nd-4th
grade special education students’ baseline math performance as measured by
SuccessMaker.
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10. Collect, interpret,
and analyze control group assessment data from the Scholastic Math Inventory.
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C. Kelly
Campus Instructional
Specialist
Site supervisor
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March 2013 – May 2013
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Scholastic Math Inventory
(SMI) scores for 3rd-5th grade special education
students from the beginning of the year (BOY) and middle of the year (MOY)
for the 2012-2013 school year
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Evaluation of 3rd-5th
grade special education students’ growth in math performance from the BOY to
the MOY for the 2012-2013 school year based on SMI scores.
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11. Collect, interpret,
and analyze control group assessment data from report cards.
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C. Kelly
Campus Technologist
Site supervisor
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March 2013 – May 2013
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Report card math grades
for 3rd-5th grade special education students from the
first semester of the 2012-2013 school year
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Evaluation of 3rd-5th
grade special education students’ math grades from the first semester of the
2012-2013 school year.
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12. Collect, interpret,
and analyze summative data from SuccessMaker math.
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C. Kelly
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January 2014 – February
2014
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SuccessMaker math data: current
performance of 3rd-5th grade special education students
at the end of the fall semester of 2013-2014 school year
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Evaluation of 3rd-5th
grade special education students’ growth in math performance from spring 2013
to the end of the fall semester 2013 as measured by SuccessMaker.
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13. Collect, interpret,
and analyze summative data from the Scholastic Math Inventory.
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C. Kelly
Campus Instructional
Specialist
Site supervisor
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February 2014 – March 2014
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Scholastic Math Inventory
(SMI) scores for 3rd-5th grade special education
students from the beginning of the year (BOY) and middle of the year (MOY)
for the 2013-2014 school year
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Evaluation of 3rd-5th
grade special education students’ growth in math performance from the BOY to
the MOY for the 2012-2013 school year based on SMI scores.
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14. Collect, interpret,
and analyze summative data from the report cards.
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C. Kelly
Campus Technologist
Site supervisor
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February 2014 – March 2014
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Report card math grades
for 3rd-5th grade special education students from the
first semester of the 2013-2014 school year
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Evaluation of 3rd-5th
grade special education students’ math grades from the first semester of the
2013-2014 school year.
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15. Compare data collected
in steps 9 and 12 to determine the impact of SuccessMaker math on improvement
in math performance as shown by SuccessMaker.
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C. Kelly
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March 2014 – May 2014
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Evaluations of data
collected in step 9 (baseline data) and step 12 (growth with intervention)
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Evaluation of data showing
students’ growth in math performance with SuccessMaker intervention as shown
by SuccessMaker.
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16. Compare data collected
in steps 10 and 13 to determine the impact of SuccessMaker math on
improvement in math performance as shown by SMI.
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C. Kelly
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March 2014 – May 2014
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Evaluations of data
collected in step 10 (growth without intervention) and step 12 (growth with
intervention).
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Evaluation of data showing
whether students had more growth in math performance with or without
SuccessMaker intervention as shown by SMI.
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17. Compare data collected
in steps 11 and 14 to determine the impact of SuccessMaker math on
improvement in math performance as shown by report card grades.
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C. Kelly
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March 2014 – May 2014
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Evaluations of data
collected in step 11 (without intervention) and step 14 (with intervention).
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Evaluation of data to
determine whether students’ had better math performance with or without
SuccessMaker intervention as shown by report card grades.
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18. Evaluate the action
plan by presenting results of action research to campus, site supervisor, and
online colleagues. Present an additional wondering: What impact does the
SuccessMaker math intervention have on STAAR Math scores?
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C. Kelly
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May 2014
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Literature review
Data obtained in all
previous steps
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Action Research Report
Blog Postings
Oral presentation at
faculty meeting
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Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools
(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)