8 Steps From Analysis to Action

SETTING THE FOUNDATION:  Some research has been written about after school tutoring.  The results have not been positive in terms of actual growth compared to students receiving tutoring during the day.  (Hattie, 2009) Not everyone agrees about the benefits of after school tutoring (Rothman & Henderson, 2011)  Within my own district I want to discover if what we are doing is working for our students; therefore, I will be comparing the data during one school year between 2 campuses.  ANALYZING DATA:  Several pieces of data will be observed throughout the school year to determine if reading levels are increasing both in fluency and comprehension.  Aimsweb scores, progress monitoring, and DRA levels will help determine to what degree scores are increasing or whether tutoring is having an effect at all. DEVELOPING DEEPER UNDERSTANDING:  Through conferencing with teachers, my site supervisor, and other curriculum specialists I anticipate having a deeper understanding of what the data means in terms of how it corresponds with what is happening during the tutoring time.  I hope to better understand what benefits teacher and student efforts so that students improve.  ENGAGE IN SELF-REFLECTION:  Embedded in each step of my action research is a blog entry of self-flection.  I want to be sure my data is providing the direction and information I hope it does. EXPLORING PATTERNS:  By looking back at the previous years to determine if the same students were tutored, I hope to see patterns in the results of the data.  These patterns will provide insight into whether after school tutoring has and is effective for these students. DETERMINING DIRECTION:  By continually looking at the different sources of data and conferencing with teachers, I hope to maintain the same direction and not let my inquiry into other areas lead me into other directions. I am comfortable with my timeline, my plan to gather data and conference with different individuals.  It may be difficult to determine what worked or what didn’t work.  Keeping focused on my purpose will be important. TAKING ACTION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT:  Through this research I hope it will bring better awareness for teachers who tutor.  By involving them, I hope to get valuable input as to what direction we need to go for our campuses.  I hope they will also see the benefit of looking over data, not as an absolute, but as part of the process.  Other variables, such as time and instruction, should help determine whether what we are doing is working or whether we need to make important and relevant changes. SUSTAIN IMPROVEMENT:  Teacher buy-in is important to sustaining improvement in the area of after school tutoring.  Time is valuable to teachers and by involving the teachers as part of the research, they will hopefully begin to see through the results of this research where improvement can be beneficial.  Hopefully, it will create further inquiry from teachers as well as myself in the areas of gender, ethnicity, and what things should continue and what things should change. Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning, a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. Rothman, T., & Henderson, M. (2011). Do school based tutoring programs significantly improve student performance on standardized tests. (2011 ed., Vol. 34, p. 6). Portland, Oregan: RMLE online Research in Middle Level Education.

After School Tutoring- Is It Still a Good Option?

Action Research      After School Tutoring – Is It Still a Good Option?
Goal:  To find out what benefit after school tutoring has on 2nd grade students and what factors influence the outcome.
Action Steps	Person(s)                                       Responsible	Timeline     Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Begin gathering data from the fall administration of Aimsweb from my campus and 1 other campus.	Me Supervisor or Other Curriculum Support	October 2012- November 2012	Aimsweb data for RCBM or fluency	Look at results of Aimsweb data to see if students falling well below average are in tutoring. Write a reflection about what was learned on my blog.
2.  Begin gathering reading results from DRA scores.	Me Classroom teachers	October 2012- November 2012	DRA scores from the prior year to check for comprehension.	Compare where students are in Aimsweb to where their reading level was the prior year. Enter thoughts on my blog.
3.  Find out if students were  tutored in Kindergarten and 1st grade.	Me Classroom teachers.	November 2012	Cum folders and teacher notes.	See if there is a trend in students repeating tutoring Enter thoughts on my blog.
4. Check to see if students are progress monitored and if so, follow the data points.	Me Classroom Teachers	December 2012	Aimsweb progress monitoring data.	Look at progress monitoring data to determine if there is an increase in fluency and to see if students are on target to meet their goals. Enter thoughts on my blog.
5. Gather results from the winter administration of Aimsweb of both campuses.	Me and Curriculum Specialist at the other campus. Classroom teachers	January 2013	Data from Aimsweb	Look over results of Aimsweb data and meet with teachers to decide which students should continue tutoring. Enter observations on my blog.
6. Meet with teachers to discuss allowing tutoring students to be progress monitored who are not currently monitored.	Classroom teachers and me.	January 2013	Aimsweb data and teacher expertise.	Begin setting new goals and levels for progress monitoring. Enter thoughts on my blog.
7.   Meet with supervisor to receive input on results up to this point.	Supervisor Me	March 2013	Progress monitoring data.	Observe results and begin gathering thoughts about how tutoring is affecting student learning. Write about these reflections on my blog.8.
8.  Gather results from spring administration of Aimsweb data for both campuses as well as end of year DRA results.	Me Curriculum Specialist at the other campus and campus teachers.	May 2013	Data from spring Aimsweb data. End of year DRA results	Observe and compare the results of Aimsweb data and DRA scores to determine the effectiveness of after school tutoring. Enter thoughts on my blog.
9.  Meet with teachers and supervisor to look over results of the research.	Me, supervisor, and campus teachers.	May 2013	Aimsweb data Progress monitoring data DRA results.	Make decisions about how effective after school tutoring is.  Determine how much growth students made.  Compare what teachers used for instruction and decide what factors influenced the success or failure of after school tutoring. Enter final thoughts and results on my blog.

Beginnings of Action Research

The process of beginning an action research project was actually a little more difficult than I first thought.  My idea of looking into researching the benefits of after school tutoring were pretty simple.....I thought.  As I began to think through it, I soon realized it was growing larger and larger.  Many times, computer based programs are used in tutoring, so I thought it would be only natural to include research on all those programs as well.  As I was printing off article after article related to my topic the light started to come on that I might be covering more than I could handle.  Thankfully, after visiting with my supervisor, he confirmed what I had suspected; my project was getting too big to handle.  I have scaled it back to only focusing on after school tutoring, but I may include 1 computer program because it is the main one used in tutoring; however, I can see a great topic for another action research project just around the corner!  :)

Why Blog?

Diaries, journals, and blogs.  What do these have in common and why would the average educator find any of these necessary?  All three are ways to communicate our thoughts, our ideas and opinions.  Diaries are personal, a journal invites a controlled audience, but blogging opens the door to an unlimited audience.  Personal writing of any kind helps a person develop not only as a writer, but as a thoughtful person.  Blogging however, brings about the strongest level of development because it allows ideas to be challenged resulting in more effective communication and stronger reflection.  What educator wouldn't see the value in that?  Not the average educator!

Professional Development Through Inquiry

The most important goal an educator can have is to improve student learning.  The world continues to change and so does student learning.  Educators are preparing students today for jobs and careers that have not been created yet.  This is a daunting task.  How best will these needs be met?  Certainly, professional development keeps educators ahead of the game, right?  Sitting and listening to the latest and the greatest information has always worked, right?  Well, maybe if there is lots and lots of written reflection.  Perhaps.  What if instead of sitting and listening and then reflecting, educators began to be active learners through research?  Instead of reacting to problems, educators would become proactive.  Outcomes or goals would be established early and student learning would be closely monitored.  Interventions would be deeply scrutinized and best teaching practices would be analyzed for effectiveness.  Careful notes would be taken and reflected on over and over.  Data would be collected and discussed among professionals perhaps changing the way PLC's operate.  Educators might begin to write and reflect on their own instructional practices.  They would truly become leaders of learning.  Sitting and listening to the latest and greatest would no longer be needed because the latest and greatest would already be happening through action research resulting in improved student learning!