Reader's Digest Condensed Version...to catch up...

Since that great 1st training...there have been 3 others. The second was okay, the third I learned a hard lesson regarding collaboration and supervision and had to regroup, and the last was everything I had hoped for and not only capped off this year for the Academic Support Teachers (AST) it set up the structure we'll have in place for next year. Supporting the Elementary Math ASTs this year has been a priority and a focus of my action research as we're moving to increase math interventions within our RTI process. Integration and Collaboration are time consuming! Participating on the Elementary Math Advisory Group and facilitating the RTI Advisory Groups has kept me busy. In order to meet and collaborate with different groups then go back and synthesize information/data gathered and research alternatives/solutions it take lots of time. Once the math advisory group put forth their recommendations...the purchasing process begins and it takes lots of time as well. Even though we're making progress it's slow and the other aspects of the RTI process revision have moved to the forefront. My action research project will need to be revised to indicate this shift in focus. My original plan was way too broad in scope. For now, we're beginning to work on the actual revisions to the manual based on feedback and collaboration with the advisory groups and other administrative departments. Our new and improved RTI 2.0 should be ready to present to principals at their administrative retreat in early August.

Awesome first training!

The training today with the elementary academic support teachers couldn't have gone any better. 48 teachers attended!!! They were very complementary in the use of the Google survey to conduct a needs/interest inventory. They were validated to see their input play a prominent role in the training. I think they will be even more willing to participate knowing that their input is valued. We're definately off on the right foot. A few tough questions were posed and I had to say "it's still under review" a few more times than I would have liked, but they understood that we're all still working out the details in the aftermath of so many changes due to budget cuts. They all agreed that the reorganization of our department was a change that was responsive to their needs. We brainstormed together how we can all interact and are going to look into creating a group within Project Share. I think that may be the best alternative because it accomplishes two things...one we can collaborate via the forum or discussion board within our group and it gets more teachers to dip their toe in the waters of Project Share. Also represented today were Title I teachers, a few instructional coaches, an assistant principal, and two representatives from the Dept. of Other Languages. One of the best discussions centered around interventions truely fitting the needs of the students. We discussed using a strength/interest to "hook" the kids into seeing the relavence of the math. I reminded them of some leveled math books that were purchased a couple of years ago and that reminded the DOL teachers of the leveled math books that were purchased for the ESOL students that could also be used in interventions. The brainstorming and collaboration was incredible! We're going to accomplish some great things - - together - - for our students.

Reflections on Action Research 5301

As teachers, we tend to place a great deal of value on being life-long learners. In some cases, that learning can be a solo experience embarked upon for a multitude of reasons. In this course, I learned that research is not just a means to finding an answer and moving on or merely “academic busy work”. The systematic way that this course outlined the purpose, framework, and ultimate value of action research has provided me with the means to be much more effective in my ongoing learning endearvors by being a much more systematic and collaborative problem-solver. During the first web conference, Dr. Abshire suggested we print out all five of the weekly assignments and look at them as a whole to understand the scope of this course. When I looked at the assignments at first, I felt like they were somewhat redundant. Make the plan, revise the plan, revise the plan again, get more feedback and revise once more. Being forced to slow down and seek out the input of others allowed me to create a much better plan. I feel confident that I have a plan that is comprehensive and manageable yet flexible enough to withstand revisions along the way. I appreciated being pushed just a little bit outside of my comfort zone in being asked to develop and reflect on a blog. I think during the week we created the blog I finally had the realization that they are not just telling us, they are asking us to explore, gather input, and reach our own conclusion. This course has modeled for me what we should be doing for all students: providing them with the context and means to test their own theories, collaborate, reflect, and ultimately draw their own conclusions. I have a new attitude toward research. I think  the quote by Kettering (as cited in Boyd, 1961, as cited in Dana, 2010) sums it up, “Essentially, research is nothing but a state of mind…a friendly, welcoming attitude toward change…going out to look for change instead of waiting for it to come.”


(I'm even learning to not mind APA formatting!)

Officially underway!

        My action research project is very much a job-embedded exercise for me as the math intervention specialist and my site supervisor is the coordinator over interventions. We have been brainstorming ways in which to establish and support a systemic means of providing math interventions since our departments were merged and we began working together. We have been asked to concentrate our efforts on elementary campuses first and work with the academic support teachers who have primarily been supporting reading.

       My action steps represent some of the things we’ve determined we need to have in place to not only manage the logistics, but to document the use of state compensatory funds and complete compliance reports for Title I and SSIG. This week alone, we met with the Assistant Superintendent for Governance, Legal Affairs, and Special Programs and reviewed and made recommendations for the current RtI manual in use in our district. I worked with the data and assessment department to learn how to pull historical data from Aware and track student groups as cohorts. We also worked with student data analysts to gather information regarding how many students have been and are currently being served in specific intervention courses. In my regular weekly meeting with my supervisor we reviewed the draft of my budget that reflects my goals and shows a direct correlation of budget requests to specific IES recommendations and their implementation within the district. My supervisor approved the survey I sent to the elementary academic support teachers. We are both pleased with the number of responses we’ve already received. I have been researching and sharing intervention strategies weekly via email with this group and they are very appreciative to have support from the curriculum department. I’m really looking forward to our first training together at the end of this month.

       Wednesday afternoon, my site supervisor said that my plan looked great and it was very comprehensive. I am sure as we progress there will be things we need to add or amend, but at this time we are proceeding with it as written. It is exciting to be “officially” underway and it is going to be incredible to collect data along the way and have documented results at the end of the journey.

Action Research Plan for Math Interventions

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools
(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

How did I get from there....to my action research topic?

One of the few good things to come out of restructuring due to budget cuts was the integration of almost all of the compensatory education programs into the department of curriculum and instruction.  In my interview for the Math Intervention Specialist position last April, I was extremely passionate about continuing the work the math curriculum department had done up to that point in clearly articulating their beliefs, guiding principles, and best instructional practices. My philosophy is that you have to know what good Tier I instruction students have received before you can carefully align and provide Tier II interventions to help all students experience success. According to Riccomini and Witzel (2010) I was definitely on the right track; I got the job and now have the opportunity to collaboratively develop a systematic intervention plan for mathematics and update the RtI manual for the district.  My “wondering” about how best to go about accomplishing this task and exposure to the IES report through several MSTAR trainings led to the following action research topic:

In what ways will implementing the recommendations in the Institute of Educational Science’s (IES) practice guide, Assisting Students Struggling With Mathematics: Response To Intervention (Rti) For Elementary And Middle Schools, increase math performance in KISD?

Using the IES as a framework for structuring our intervention program led to the following sub-questions:

• In what ways will an online book study of Response to Intervention in Math (Riccomini & Witzel, 2010) help clarify the IES recommendations and support teachers providing the interventions?
• In what ways does the math intervention budget support the recommendations in the IES report?
• In what ways can resources and strategies by aligned, yet differentiated, between Tier I and Tier II?
• In what ways will the data from the Universal Screener provided through Project Share/TMSDS be used to make intervention decisions?
• In what ways will providing an explicit and systematic approach to problem solving impact student achievement?
• In what ways will practicing fact fluency ten minutes per session impact student achievement?

References

Gersten, R., Beckmann, S., Clarke, B., Foegen, A., Marsh, L., Star, J. R., et al. (2009).

Assisting students struggling with mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for elementary and middle schools. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/ .

Riccomini, P. J. & Witzel, B. S. (2010). Response to intervention in math. Thousand

          Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Developing and Supporting Teachers

This week was all about developing and supporting teachers. I was able to attend two professional development sessions with the 98 instructional coaches in our district. Jim Knight was the presenter on Friday and he made quite an impression. His instructional coaching strategies were insightful and doable. The coaches were excited and nervous to get on with their work with teachers. Mr. Knight reported that his many years of research indicated that without support, teachers rarely followed through effectively with professional development. He charged the coaches with being the "memory" of what was learned and the guidance, support, and feedback as teachers worked on their instructional strategies. When I began working on the 9 Passions that are ripe for action research, I was struck by how many of the passions and my identified action research topics were about supporting and developing teachers. This quote in particular struck me:

According to Roland Barth (1982):

Nothing within a school has more impact upon students in terms of skills development, self-confidence, or classroom behavior than the personal and professional growth of their teachers. When teachers examine, question, reflect on their ideas and develop new practices that lead towards their ideals, students are alive. When teachers stop growing, so do their students. (p. 145 as cited in Dana, 2009, p. 32)