actionresearch

Action Research Projects
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 * Getting Started**
 * [|Classroom Action Research Homepage] from Madison, Wisconsin is a great resource to help you brainstorm starting questions; consider why, when, where, and how you might collect your data; use writing prompts to guide your thinking through each step; and help you outline ways of writing up your final project. Especially helpful are the abstracts and samples of teacher's action research projects in the area of literacy - just go to the website's [|abstract database], select "literacy" from the list of abstract descriptors, and search for samples that might inspire ideas for your own project.
 * Some good examples to download a pdf version of their paper:
 * **[|Interactive Reading Guide: An Investigation of a strategy to support struggling readers in learning history]:** In order to investigate strategies that could both boost reading achievement as well as help struggling readers learn history, this high school reading specialist collaborated with a history teacher in a special pilot program for ninth grade students. Observational as well as performance data was collected to determine the effectiveness of the Interactive Reading Guide strategy, which was used twice with the students to facilitate their learning from difficult social studies text. In both instances, as students worked with partners to construct meaning from the passages, they showed an improvement in their ability to make sense of their reading as well as their willingness to undertake a challenging reading activity. Results of this study were used in planning a new initiative for struggling ninth grade readers in social studies.  [**Data Collection Methods:** Assessment Data, Observation/Field Notes]
 *  **[|Phonemic Awareness Instruction in a First Grade Bilingual Classroom]:** This classroom action research study explores Spanish phonemic awareness instruction in a 1st grade classroom. The research discussed in the paper relates to effective teaching of Spanish phonics to beginning readers using a teacher-made activity and Estrellita, a published accelerated Spanish reading program. Collected data included the Spanish Primary Language Arts Assessment Phonological Awareness subtest, observations of five targeted students during early emergent guided reading lessons and samples of student work. The researcher saw benefits to both the instructional strategies, but found the systematic, explicit Estrellita program to be the most beneficial for phonics instruction in a Spanish Balanced Literacy classroom. [**Data Collection Methods:** Assessment Data, Observation/Field Notes, Student Work]
 * **[|Differentiated Instruction: What is it and How Does Black Hawk Middle School Accomplish It?]:** A subcommittee of three out of a six-person team from Black Hawk Middle School examines the practices for differentiated instruction employed by our colleagues. Review of current literature about best practices or instructional strategies resulted in our use of a survey and a focus group to get a clear picture of what is in practice at the school and to identify strategies that would be of interest for future inservice training. **[Data Collection Methods:** Audiotape, Focus Group , Literature Review , Survey]
 * Some examples of questions teachers asked to shape their "[|Action Research Case Studies]"; the way the projects were written up does not match the rigor of the URI Reading Program expectations, but the questions teachers posed provide good examples of the types of classroom issues that prompted their research

> 2. I am perplexed by... > 3. Some people are unhappy about... > 4. I'm really curious about... > 5. I want to learn more about... > 6. An idea I would like to try out in my class is... > 7. Something I think would really make a difference is... > 8. Some I would like to do to change is... > 9. Right now, some areas I'm particularly interested in are...
 * **Starting Points: **
 * 1. I would like to improve...

**__Five Phases of Action Research__** Adapted from the St. Louis Action Research Evaluation Committee at the [|Classroom Action Research Homepag]e **__Phase I - Problem Identification__**
 * Why do you want to do it? Is it an important and practical problem, something worth your time and effort, something that could be beneficial to you, your students and others?
 * Is the problem stated clearly and in the form of a question? Is it broad enough to allow for a range of insights and findings? Is it narrow enough to be manageable within your timeframe and your daily work?
 * __Phase II - Plan of Action__**
 * Will you develop and implement a new strategy or approach to address your question? If so, what will it be?
 * Will you focus your study on existing practices? If so, which particular ones?
 * What is an appropriate timeline for what you are trying to accomplish?
 * __Phase III - Data Collection__**
 * What types of data should you try to collect in order to answer your question?
 * How will you ensure that you have multiple perspectives?
 * What resources exist and what information from others might be useful in helping you to frame your question, decide on types of data to collect, or to help you in interpreting your findings?
 * __Phase IV - Analysis of Data__**
 * What can you learn from the data? What patterns, insights, and new understandings can you find?
 * What meaning do these patterns, insights, and new understandings have for your practice? for your students?
 * __Phase V - Plan for Future Action__**
 * What will you do differently in your classroom as a result of this study?
 * What might you recommend to others?
 * How will you write about what you have learned so that the findings will be useful to you and to others?

Another format for thinking about action research (see McNiff & Whitehead, 2002) View [|this example] of how the following questions played out in an action research study: · What issue am I interested in researching? · Why do I want to research this issue? · What kind of evidence can I gather to show that I'm interested in this issue? · What can I do? What will I do? · What kind of evidence can I gather to show why I am interested in this issue? · How can I explain that influence? · How can I ensure that any judgment I might take are reasonably fair and accurate? · How will I change my practice in the light of my evaluation?