Action Research Update

My action research officially began on September 2, 2013 and its purpose is to intervene and provide students with the opportunity to read fluently and as a result enter 3^rd grade reading on level as expected by the district.

I have been able to identify the students who are reading significantly below grade level by using the Developmental Reading Assessment and our new universal screener Renaissance Reading Assessment (STAR).  Due to changes in my role and increased district and Region XIII meetings, I have not begun the fluency practice with the students.   When this action plan was created I was the campus intervention teacher.  This role lent itself to this action plan.  At the beginning of this year, I was told my role would be more of a campus instructional coach.  Despite this change, I will have the opportunity to continue working with students as of now.  If nothing changes, I plan on beginning the evaluation portion of my action plan on October 7, 2013. 

My target group consists of ten second graders whose DRA ranges from DRA 6 through a DRA 14.  They should have started second grade at an 18 to be considered on grade level. Letters will be sent home to parents informing them of the fluency intervention-taking place.  Part of the intervention includes using a fluency practice kit.  With this I will be able to track growth on a weekly basis in fluency, comprehension, and reading level.  The STAR screener is an added benefit I did not expect to have when the action research plan was created.  This screener will provide detailed information in students’ strengths and weaknesses.  I am approximately 1 month behind in what my target start date should have been, but look forward to taking the next step.

Research 5301 Reflection

Blogs

The instant communication, interaction with peers who have similar interests was great. The self-reflection was also an important component made possible through my blog.  According to School Leader Internship, reflections allow one to have a deeper understanding and make connections to experiences and ideas and this allows you to learn what to take away from your own experience. Reflection plays an important role here because others are involved in the learning.

Lectures

The lectures providing a classroom like setting from the convenience of my home.  Through online lectures, I was able to hear differing perspectives of action research from a variety of professionals from varying districts.  This exposure is not necessarily available in the traditional classroom setting.  I believe the lectures had a more powerful impact because I have the opportunity to review at my convenience.  This allowed me to ensure I understand the concept or point of the lecture.  

Updated Action Plan

Goal:      The purpose of this action research is to determine the gains students can make in reading levels through explicit reading fluency practice. I will focus on 2 groups of 4-5 2^nd graders.  These students will be selected using the RTI process and DRA kit and will be receiving out of classroom intervention in addition to in classroom intervention. Through this action research I will be able to intervene and provide students with the opportunity to read fluently, as a result enter 3^rd grade reading on level as expected by the district.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Time Line:  Needed	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.  Determine students who are at risk	RTI committee; Campus Intervention Teacher for Reading (CIT) –Denise Ayala	9/2/2013-11/8/2013 Initial data analysis Continue to monitor progress through 2nd grading period 11/11/2013-12/20/2013	Developmental Reading Assessment Kit	Students who are reading significantly below grade level as 2nd graders will become the target group for this research.  Students are expected to be on Level 18 by this point and reading 60 wpm.  Students who are Level 14 or below at this point will become the target group.  Students who have already been identified as RTI II the 2012-2013 school year will start fluency intervention immediately. .  Letters will be sent home to parents informing them of the fluency intervention-taking place.
2.  Based on DRA, begin guided fluency practice on instructional levels	CIT to conduct running record and check for understanding; CIT to conduct lesson for improving fluency Parent Involvement	By September 2, 2013  Week 1  Day 1	Fluency Practice Kit (reading passage); student tracking sheet; sight word cards, chunking phrases, word reading strategies Decodable books for homework practice(MMH reading adoption)	Complete a cold read running record at the beginning of the week-based on instructional DRA; students will track reading fluency, DRA Level, and comprehension evaluation using 5 questions to check for understanding.  Begin small group fluency instruction.  Student will take home a decodable for reading practice.
3.  Reread and practice same story; guided reading group	CIT to monitor students on computer then move into guided lesson	Week 1  Day 2	Reading Fluency Passage, Itunes, headphones, sight word cards, chunking phrases, word reading strategies	Upon entering the classroom, the students will use Itunes and listen to the same passage from day one.  They will listen and follow along 3 times and then read to self 1 time. Begin small group fluency instruction.
4. Reread and practice same story; guided reading group	CIT to monitor students on computer then move into guided lesson	Week 1  Day 3	Repeat Day 2 using same story, sight word cards, chunking phrases, word reading strategies	Repeat Day 2 using same story; Begin small group fluency instruction.
5.  Complete running record of story of the week	CIT to conduct running record and check for new understanding	Week 1  Day 4	Fluency Practice Kit (reading passage); student tracking sheet; recording devise	Complete a running record tracking fluency and comprehension.  Students will use tracking sheet to document end of week fluency and compare to Day 1 tracking.  Review progress with students.
6.  Repeat Days 1-4 for the 6 week grading period	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above	Complete same process for days 1-4.  First two weeks will be same reading level. If comprehension is seen by week 2 day 4, then move on to next reading level.
7.  Repeat steps 1-6 throughout the school year for each 6 week grading period	CIT/Classroom Teacher	End of Year DRA	DRA kit	Reassess students at the end of the year to determine reading level.

This practice takes approximately 8-10 minutes once students are trained in the process.  After fluency action plan is completed in 8-10 minutes; students will receive explicit instruction in fluency including sight word reading, and chucking phrases.

Moving Forward

My action research is a high area of concern due to the number of students not reading fluently or on grade level when entering the 3^rd grade.  Her concern is the fast paced curriculum in 3^rd grade as well as the first year they will be assessed with the STAAR.  Currently there are no changes necessary.  Modifications might have to be made at the beginning of the school year due to possible changes in my position as the campus intervention teacher.  

Purpose of Sharing

Sharing is an important component in action research if change is the expected outcome. According to Nancy Dana (2001) Clarifying, pushing, and extending thinking helps lead to informed, positive change in traditional school practices-the critical action part of action research and the reason you began this whole inquiry journey in the first place (p. 136).   I plan on sharing my action research with administration and my campus teachers.  Based on the outcome, I hope to instill the effectiveness of fluency practice and it’s powerful impact on increasing reading levels.  The sharing would be done during faculty meetings through presentations on data collected, blogging and teacher surveys. 

During my presentation and blogging, I will provide background information, share the design of inquiry, state the learning and supporting statements with data, and provide my concluding thoughts.  It will be important to set the purpose for my action research by providing the foundation to my study.  I plan on opening the presentation with the number of students entering 3^rd grade below reading level for the 2012-2013 school year and provide data in how long it took for 3^rd graders to reach the end of year DRA by the end of the their 3^rd grade year, if applicable.  This will be critical for Kindergarten-2^nd grade teachers to hear the issues 3^rd grade teachers have when students are not entering the grade on the correct reading level.   I will share the initial data and my concerns as the campus reading intervention teacher.  In addition to this, I will share the procedures that take place with my action research.  In order to support the statements I make with data, I will generate reports for beginning of year statistics vs. end of grading period statistics.  I will have data to support where students are at the beginning of the grading period in DRA level and reading fluency (words per minute) and the progress or lack of progress at the end of each grading period.  Finally, I will share my concluding thoughts…I foresee my action research as the opening piece to Kindergarten to 2^nd grade teachers understanding the impact of fluency and implementing the fluency ideas I have on a daily basis.  We will have significant data to make informed decisions on how we get students reading on grade level.  I will use a comparison chart to compare end of year 2^nd graders for the 2012-2013 school year to the end of year 2^nd graders for the 2012-2013 school year.

Action Research

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Goal     Goal:  The purpose of this action research is to determine the gains students can make in reading levels through explicit reading fluency practice. I will focus on 2 groups of 4-5 2^nd graders.  These students will be selected using the RTI process and DRA kit and will be receiving out of classroom intervention in addition to in classroom intervention. Through this action research I will be able to intervene and provide students with the opportunity to read fluently, as a result enter 3^rd grade reading on level as expected by the district.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Time Line:  Needed	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.  Determine students who are at risk	RTI committee; Campus Intervention Teacher for Reading (CIT) –Denise Ayala	4-6 weeks September 2-October 11, 2013	Developmental Reading Assessment Kit	Students who are reading significantly below grade level as 2nd graders will become the target group for this research.  Students are expected to be on Level 18 by this point and reading 60 wpm.  Students who are Level 14 or below at this point will become the target group.  Students who have already been identified as RTI II the 2012-2013 school year will start fluency intervention immediately.
2.  Based on DRA, begin guided fluency practice on instructional levels	CIT to conduct running record and check for understanding; CIT to conduct lesson for improving fluency	By October 11, 2013  Week 1  Day 1	Fluency Practice Kit (reading passage); student tracking sheet; recording devise; sight word cards, chunking phrases, word reading strategies	Complete a cold read running record(recorded) at the beginning of the week-based on instructional DRA; students will track reading fluency, DRA Level, and comprehension evaluation using 5 questions to check for understanding.  Begin small group fluency instruction.
3.  Reread and practice same story; guided reading group	CIT to monitor students on computer then move into guided lesson	Week 1  Day 2	Reading Fluency Passage, Itunes, headphones, sight word cards, chunking phrases, word reading strategies	Upon entering the classroom, the students will use Itunes and listen to the same passage from day one.  They will listen and follow along 3 times and then read to self 1 time. Begin small group fluency instruction.
4. Reread and practice same story; guided reading group	CIT to monitor students on computer then move into guided lesson	Week 1  Day 3	Repeat Day 2 using same story (no recording); sight word cards, chunking phrases, word reading strategies	Repeat Day 2 using same story; Begin small group fluency instruction.
5.  Complete running record of story of the week	CIT to conduct running record and check for new understanding	Week 1  Day 4	Fluency Practice Kit (reading passage); student tracking sheet; recording devise	Complete a recording running record tracking fluency and comprehension.  Students will use tracking sheet to document end of week fluency and compare to Day 1 tracking.  Review progress with students.
6.  Repeat Days 1-4 for the 6 week grading period	Same as above	Same as above	Same as above	Complete same process for days 1-4.  First two weeks will be same reading level. If comprehension is seen by week 2 day 4, then move on to next reading level.

This practice takes approximately 8-10 minutes once students are trained in the process.  After fluency action plan is completed in 8-10 minutes; students will receive explicit instruction in fluency including sight word reading, chucking phrases.

Action research in action

This week, I have learned there are numerous places I can go to help develop my inquiry question.  The Nine Passions target the most critical components to any campus.  It is nice to know there are research plans and resources already available to use.  With the leg work done I can focus my energy towards my own campus improvement.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

Blogging for educators is a powerful tool because of the ability to collect data and the ability to receive responses to your blogs on a worldwide platform. Reflection is a rigorous way of learning; the ability to blog naturally lends itself to reflecting on what we practice.   Blogging also allows educators to serve as role models because they can display journaling and blogging to students.    

What have I learned about action research...

Action research is a tool, which administrators can use to investigate and solve issues with students, teachers, or themselves. When a concern has been identified and action research is implemented to resolve the problems, then the campus can learn and grow together. After the concern is identified, the action research consists of posing a question, collecting data to analyze, and making necessary changes to ensure improvement.  This process will provide administrators with complex yet productive results due to its power and generation of knowledge. Conducting action research also allows principals to tackle problems at their schools and make informed decisions to solve the problem. Through collaboration amongst leaders, change will take place for the school. 

Action research will allow me to move forward with a reading concern I have.   I have seen a correlation between low comprehension and low fluency, yet there is little time to fit fluency instruction and practice into the schedule.  I would like to know how fluency impacts the comprehension skills of these two grade levels and what impact explicit fluency instruction has on reading comprehension and reading levels.  Through this action research I can then share my research data and work with teachers on implanting various fluency activities in the classroom.