Action Research progress

Ever since starting my action research I have more carefully studied the profiles of both ELL’s and SLL’s in the classroom. I have made it a point to establish a good relationship with all parents to better understand the home life of almost all my students. Visiting their homes and having conferences has really helped me understand their home environment which in fact greatly affects their school learning.

 

For my action research I have two goals: improve the cooperative learning effectiveness in a dual language classroom and providing information to families to help improve their children’s learning. So far I have incorporated a second language acquisition strategy that has facilitated the cooperative learning. The strategy is bilingual pairs. I have my students in bilingual pairs for each content area. Having the bilingual pair’s supports their interaction and help children connect what they each know about the world around them and their experiences. This strategy has created a community of learner’s environment in my classroom.

 

My second goal is being carried out by the Family Literacy project which I am part of. Every week another teacher and myself meet with a group of Spanish speaking parents. In our meeting we discuss how they can support their children’s literacy at home. We have culturally rich text that we read and discuss together. We talk about how they can use these books at home to create moments in which they converse with their kids about different things. The following week we leave the first half of the meeting to discuss the results of last week’s book with their children.

 

The only thing I have yet to do is record our learning in the classroom. I plan to do that later. I feel it won’t only help me but also my students.

Revisions to my action research...

Once my action research draft was put in writing and on a table, I doubted whether it was too broad and if there was an actual solution to the problem. I was very anxious to meet with my principal. I knew that changes would have to be made after meeting with him.

We both wanted for me to stay within the same topic which is dual language students. Closely after the beginning of this program we noticed some major differences between the LEP and non-LEP students. There were differences in knowledge, vocabulary, the most obvious…culture and participation. We worked on revising my goal. The most important outcome I want to see after doing my active research is an increased level of participation from my LEP students. My new goal is to increase LEP student’s participation during Science lessons in my dual language classroom. At first it was just to increase their participation, but we decided to narrow down into participation in a content area. I chose Science as the content area. Our first idea was to implement more parental involvement to see results in the student’s participation. After contemplating the idea of parental involvement we thought that it might take a while for the results to trickle down from parents to students. We concluded that implementing participation strategies and activities directly to the students would not only show faster but better results.

The first thing I have to do before starting is to clearly define what participation is. I will evaluate participation through the number of questions I get answered by LEP students during a lesson. I will evaluate the participation before implementing participation strategies and again after implementing the strategies.

After meeting with my principal we now have a clear and shared vision on my action research. I hope that my strategies will increase their self-esteem therefore affecting their participation in the classroom.

Dual Language Action Research
Goals: Ø Increase LEP student’s participation during Science lessons in a dual language classroom. Question: How can I increase LEP students self esteem and participation during Science in a dual language classroom?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Study economic profiles of ELL’s and SLL’s.	Alma Neira Principal	August 2012	Student Files PEIMS	Beginning of year routines requires teachers to fill out student data sheet.
Interview parents/ Questionnaire	Alma Neira Parents	1st 6 weeks Mandatory  Report Card Conferences	Questionnaire What learning activities are done at home to support learning? Family outings…	1st 6 weeks conferences are mandatory. Questionnaire will be filled out at time of conference.
Implement strategies to increase participation ·       Increase wait time for response ·       Think pair share ·       Bilingual pairs ·       Use popsicle sticks to call out students during questioning ·       Parent take home pckt. ·       use sentence stems	Alma Neira	September 2012- June 2013	Table to tally Graph to show growth. There will be a before and after (implementing strategies) graph	Quantitative evaluations ·       questions answered by LEP students in comparison to non LEP Students
Define Participation	Alma Neira	Beginning of year	N/A	Participation during Science lessons ·       Answering questions ·       Providing input
Video Recordings to observe and compare participation	Alma Neira	September 2012- June 2013	Video Camera	Dual Language teachers are expected to share recording at professional development meetings.

My Action Research Draft Plan

Dual Language Action Research
Goals: Ø Improve the cooperative learning effectiveness in dual language classrooms Ø Provide information to families to help improve their children’s learning.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Study economic profiles of ELL’s and SLL’s.	Alma Neira	August 2012	Student Files PEIMS	Beginning of year routines requires teachers to fill out student data sheet.
Interview parents/ Questionnaire	Alma Neira	1st 6 weeks Mandatory  Report Card Conferences	Questionnaire	1st 6 weeks conferences are mandatory. Questionnaire will be filled out at time of conference.
Cooperative  learning strategies	Alma Neira	September 2012- June 2013	Notes from dual language professional development/ Language acquisition rating templates	Second language acquisition sheet should be looked at, at beg, mid, end year. Anecdotal notes are required to rate language acquisition.
Video Recordings	Alma Neira	September 2012- June 2013	Video Camera	Dual Language teachers are expected to share recording at professional development meetings.
Administer Woodcock Munoz Language assessment	Alma Neira Luz Elena Ramirez (Bilingual Coordinator)	Before entering program-End of year	Woodcock Munoz Assessment	Assessment results need to be implemented as a requirement of LPAC.

 I am  extremely curious about the demographic makeup of Dual Language classrooms.  Dual Language has become rather popular in the recent years. Some might see them as “Boutique” enrichment programs that are more appealing to middle or higher class students. In mid or high class economic status schools students in dual classrooms have commonalties in having high prior knowledge and vocabulary skills. Therefore they are more suited to learning a second language without many challenges. In our school the English language learners entering the program are there by default because bilingual classrooms have turned into dual classrooms. The ELL’S come from a lower social economic status with less prior knowledge in content areas and lower vocabulary.  Because of these differences in backgrounds the SLL’S tend to take over the class. Through this action research I want to answer several questions through data exploration. I want to compare the economic profile of SLL’s and ELL’S. Who is attracted to dual language classrooms? How can I facilitate my students learning from one another? Who is gaining more from the program?

Educational Leaders can use blogs to give recognition to someone that has done something outstanding at his or her school. It could be a motivational strategy for both teachers and students see that they are being acknowledged for their work.

I have learned that action research is completely different from traditional style research. Action research is a reflective process towards improvement. It is a time to reflect on your wonderings and questions. Action research is conducted as you are actively participating in the organization you want to improve. It is interactive, collaborative and data driven. After identifying your organizations problem through questions and data you need to develop a plan of action. Make sure and share your plan of action with all the people who have a shared responsibility in your organization. After your plan has been implemented you need to collect data again to determine whether it has been successful or not. The process is continued until the problem is resolved and improvement is set in place. All leaders who wish to improve their practice should use action research. Leaders will learn together with teachers as opposed to being told what to do by outsiders create a culture of collaboration. By learning together you will lessen the chances of resistance to change and create real possibilities for positive change. Over time, action researchers will have a deep understanding of their organizations needs. It is an opportunity to be a “Head Learner” and role model for all teachers and students.