Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

Improving Academic Performance Among Economically Disadvantaged Students

Needs Assessment

A needs assessment was conducted on our campus that revealed a need for improvement in our Economically Disadvantaged (ED) students in Math and Reading.  According to the testing data, ED students made up about 42% of the 8^th grade student population in 2011-2012.

Curriculum Based Assessments are common assessments that all students in MISD take once per six weeks.  The district passing standard is 70%.

2011-2012 Curriculum Based Assessments (CBA’s)

8th Math	CBA 1	CBA 2	CBA 3	CBA 4	CBA 5
Campus % Met Standard	31.54	45.08	38.04	46.03	37.28
Economically Disadvantaged  % Met Standard	24.76	33.96	28.95	37.27	28.21
Difference	-6.78	-11.12	-9.09	-8.76	-9.07
Campus % Score	55.12	63.61	60.64	65.24	60.14
Economically Disadvantaged  % Score	50.86	58.62	54.89	61.56	53.75
Difference	-4.26	-4.99	-5.75	-3.68	-6.39

8th Reading	CBA 1	CBA 2	CBA 3	CBA 4
Campus % Met Standard	55.36	27.4	57.43	48.95
Economically Disadvantaged  % Met Standard	50	16.38	46.43	39.32
Difference	-5.36	-11.02	-11	-9.63
Campus % Score	70.87	64.41	68.85	65.84
Economically Disadvantaged  % Score	68.37	61.03	64.68	62.09
Difference	-2.5	-3.38	-4.17	-3.75

2012 AYP Results

According to the TEA Adequate Yearly Progress Results in 2012, our 8^th grade ED students had no change from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012, and 87% met the standard (which met AYP).  Our 8^th grade ED students had a -3% change from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012, dropping from 81% meeting standard to 78% meeting standard (which did not meet AYP).  The required improvement for Math in 2013 is 2% for ED students.

Objectives and Vision of the Action Research Project

The vision of my action research project is to improve the academic performance of ED students on our campus.  My goals for my action research are:

·      Decrease the difference between ED performance and Campus performance on CBAs in 2012-2013 from 2011-2012 by half in 8^th Grade Math and Reading

·      Meet AYP in both Math and Reading.  Have improvement of 5% in both content areas from the 2012 AYP results.

Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy

Two of the major readings that inspired my research were Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty and Under-Resourced Learners.  These two books have helped me better understand why there may be a gap between the academic performance of ED students and the rest of the student population.  These two works directly point at the need for action research on campus dealing with students who are economically disadvantaged and under-resourced.  Upon review of testing data from 2011-2012 and completing a campus needs assessment with my administrators, I immediately noticed a significant gap in performance among ED students.  After discussions with my administration, we could see that improving the performance of ED students, would drastically improve the overall performance of our campus.  I decided to do my action research project on improving academic performance and ED students because it not only interested me, but it could also drastically improve our campus.

References

Payne, R. K. (2005). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands, Tex: aha! Process.

Payne, R. K. (2008). Under-resourced learners: 8 strategies to boost student achievement. Highlands, TX: Aha! Process, Inc.

Articulate the Vision

I originally communicated the vision of my action research with my administrators shortly after the needs assessment meeting and discussion for the CIP for 2012-2013.  I communicated the vision with the 8^th grade Math and reading teachers at the beginning of this year, since they would be implementing the strategies in their classrooms and collecting data.  I communicated the vision with parents, students, and community members in a letter I sent with a survey attached to return to me.  This survey included questions about what perceived barriers could prevent students from performing at a high academic level.

Manage the Organization

The implementation of the strategies used and tasks for this research include several people.  I have several responsibilities for this research including designing the research, creating the parent letters and surveys, collecting and analyzing the surveys, analyzing data, and reporting my findings. The 8^th grade Math and Reading teachers on campus will be given a list and description of several effective strategies that will be used with ED students in the classroom, and collect data when they implement these strategies.  Student learning is a priority, and we need to be using effective instructional and relational strategies for all students.  Different types of students may need different strategies at different times.  Student learning and safety are the two most important items when dealing with students in an educational setting. 

Manage Operations

The main strategy that I will use to lead the operations of this research is organizational and servant leadership.  I will ensure that all parties involved in using strategies have the information and support necessary to effectively implement strategies and record data.  I will create and distribute a handbook to all 8^th grade Math and Reading teachers that includes guidelines, strategies, data recording sheets, and any other materials they will need for this research project. 

The research plan originally started with a needs assessment done late in the spring semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in which I participated conducting along with our administration.  We looked at several areas in need, and the one that seemed to affect the largest number of our students was the under-performance of the ED subgroup.  We discussed possible strategies for improving the overall campus performance, and we decided that the best pace to start was improving performance among students in the ED subgroup.

Respond to Community Interest and Needs.

This action research will serve the needs of our students by implementing strategies that are designed to help all students but especially those who are economically disadvantaged and under-resourced.  The strategies we implement are strategies that have been proven to be effective among students living in poverty and are under-resourced.  The ED population on our campus has almost doubled to almost half of our student population over the last 6 years.  Economic and demographic trends in our area show that the ED population in our attendance zone will continually increase in the years to come.  It is prudent to begin addressing the issue of under performance among these students, as our ED population grows steadily.  This research could drastically improve student learning and performance on our campus and in our district for years to come.  

Action Research Plan