ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT PLAN

ACTION RESEARCH PLAN

 

GOAL: How can the development of a reading intervention strategy across grade levels for deaf and hard of hearing students in a self contained regional day school for the deaf improve the five areas of literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary? OUTCOMES ACTIVITIES RESOURCES /RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES TIME LINE Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT Determine beginning reading level Assess current beginning of year reading levels BAS scores (Benchmark Assessment System) for the beginning of the year Classroom teachers 3 weeks BAS Train participating teachers on reading intervention strategies that address each literacy area Utilize the video trainings as well as classroom observations to train teachers on the individual reading intervention strategies. Notebook with information about each strategy, video of the use of each strategy, planned professional development session to train teachers. Myself 1 month Teacher surveys after trainings regarding the need for more clarification Determine if reading levels are improving Document the use of reading strategies by teachers. Answer the following questions: How often were the interventions used? Are students improving comprehension? Are students improving reading levels? How accurately are the teachers using the materials? Observations, weekly checks of reading folders to determine quantity and quality of instruction Classroom teachers/myself 2 nine week grading periods Daily Log of comprehension and accuracy Analyze the most commonly used and most effective reading strategy Survey the teachers on which reading intervention strategies best fit the needs of their students. Cross reference this information with the reading logs and improvement data. Survey, reading logs Classroom teachers, myself 2 weeks Middle of year BAS assessment scores

Examining the work: Setting the Foundation – As the research shows and according to one study done by Mayburry, 2002, “Sixty percent of deaf high school students read at or below grade four, eight percent read at or above grade eight.” Due to these staggaring statistics, it is our job as educators of this population to find a way to bridge this gap between deaf and hard of hearing students and their hearing peers. Analyzing data – It is important to first analyze beginning of the year and end of the year district reading assessments. As implementation of reading strategies progresses, there will be surveys, and data analysis to determine the next step in the research process. Developing deeper understanding – Google research and supervisor input will guide what more in depth research needs to be done in this area versus what has already been done previously in our same field of study. Engaging in Self-Reflection – Are teachers receptive to changing their way of teaching reading? -Are student's really comprehending new text or just improving accuracy? -Can students generalize vocabulary and comprehension to other subject areas? -Do students gain confidence in other subject areas as reading increases? Exploring Programmatic Patterns – Some of the forseen problems are lack of time in the day if there are more than 8 students in a classroom, including other areas of ELA during the given time of day, adequate support staff for reading interventions to be successful, and teacher buy-in to the effectiveness of reading interventions versus traditional reading instruction. Determining direction – How can I better use the collaborative approach when presenting the various literacy interventions? Do I have a plan for teachers to monitor their own success weekly? Taking action for school improvement – Organize a literacy team to discuss problems and solutions that come up throughout the year. This team will meet twice a year at first to research literacy practices and evaluate the current interventions. They will plan professional development trainings based on need and offer feedback on programming. Sustaining improvement – In order to sustain improvement, there must be a philosophy shift. Teachers must have grade-level expectations for all students from the beginning of their academic career. With such expectations, we must constantly be monitoring, changing and adapting to new ideas, ways of teaching, research, and technology. In addition to each of these areas, our students are individuals who must be taught at their individual academic levels with the expectation of growth and improvement.