Draft Action Research Project Progress Report Continued!

Vision Implementation:

          My action research project is being implemented daily in my classroom.  The strategies I have found to work with my students are being implemented into my curriculum on a daily basis while I have observed their classroom behavior.  I have studied how they interacted with other students and the effort put into their classwork from  September to Feburary which was before any new strategies were tried.  Then I also noted behavior from February to May when new strategies were put into effect.  Other faculty members also noted their GT student’s behavior before and after implementing the new strategies.  These new strategies including giving the GT students a Tic,Tac, Toe board or 1,5,8 List to choose certain assignments to complete on their own.  Students are given approximately four weeks to complete choosen assignments and present to the class. 

Steward the Vision:

          The shared motivation for my project is that this is a campus need.  Our GT students at each grade level are only seen for one hour of enrichment each week so it is up to the regular education teacher to provide additional classroom enrichment.  When I approached my site supervisor about my project he was very excited to find some new strategies.  Other teachers that I have shared information with have also been very receptive.  I have been able to revise and evaluate my strategies as I implement them through classroom observation.

Promote Community Involvment in the Vision:

          I held a program evaluation of the Gifted and Talented program on our campus during May 2011.  One teacher from each grade level on campus was invited as well as parents of the GT students to communicate their ideas about the program.  I was able to involve the community as the parents voiced their ideas and concerns at the meeting.   The parents and teachers collaboratd with everything including the new schedule for the 2011-2012 school year and noting the curriculum used in the GT program.  The survey of teachers on campus who have the GT 30 hour professional development hours was also discussed.  Findings and recommendations were suggested for the 2011-2012 school year by the conclusion of the program evaluation. 

Manage Resources:

          Managing my human resources to support my action research had much strategic planning.  I kept in close contact with my administrators and site supervisor so I knew of any meetings or concerns that delt with the Gifted and Talented students at our campus.  I also learned of meetings at the district level that could effect the GT program at my campus.  I made made contact with the district curriculm development corrdinator as well as the Assistant Superindendent of Curriculum and Instruction to ensure I was able to manage my time and the human resources effectively and efficiently. 

Mobilize community resources:

            School resources as well as my own time and energy were used to support the vision of the action research project.  My research project is focused on a campus need so my principal was very happy for me to use campus time or allowed me to interview campus personel to find a resolution.  Also the GT students in my class were observed on a daily basis from February to May using the new strategies in the classroom.  The campus administrators and parents knew that I was implementing new strategies to improve my instruction to the GT students. 

Promote positive school culture:

          My GT action research project has defaniently inspired others and attributed to a positive campus culture.   As I have approached campus personel about my project they see that the only purpose and goal is to improve the GT program and the success of the GT students.  I have found books that give suggestions for differentiated instruction that I brought to the attention of my administrators and two sets of the four books were immediately ordered.  I have shared my information with others and found that others were intrigued by the strategies used with the GT students.  Also, during the GT program evaluation held at the end of the schoo year members were pleased that there was even an evaluation of the program that they were able to contribute their feelings and thoughts. 

Provide an effective instructional program:

The results and conclusions drawn from my research as well as the GT program evaluation are as follows:

• need a new GT pull-out schedule for GT students on campus
• students from multiple grade levels should be grouped together for additional quality enrichment time with their GT teacher
• teachers should also provide differenientiated instruction to all students so the GT student have additional enrichment time in the regular education classoom

          Note:  The strategies found for the regular education classroom that provide the most stimulation as well as giving the GT students the most choice are the Tic,Tac, Toe Board and the 1,5,8 Lists.  The students are able to choose any three from nine assignments on the Tic,Tac, Toe Board as long as they are “in a row”.   On the 1,5,8 List the students can choose which assignments they want to complete as long as the assignment points they choose add up to at least 10 points.   The first category assignments are worth 1 point, the second category assignments are worth 5 points, and the final category are worth 8 points.  Students can choose two 5 point assignment to add up to 10 points or any other combination they choose.    Student have approximately 4 weeks to complete the assignment.

Influencing the larger context:

          Meeting the needs of the GT students is a campus wide need, so providing concluding thoughts will be communicated through blogs, but also written up as a report and shared.  With the help of campus administration as well as my site supervisor I will be holding a presentation at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year to campus staff members as well.  My site supervisor and the members of the GT program evaluation are advocates of the findings and recommendations of my project so holding a staff meeting to present the information and strategies used they feel would be a benefit for the other campus members.  I will be holding the presentation in an informal setting where questions about the inquiry will be a positive moment where other teachers can gain knowledge from my action research.    Information from a colleague versus an “outsider” can be a powerful influence.  Teachers on campus could use strategies that proved beneficial in my research. 

Design a comprehensive professional growth plan:

          For the faculty to successfully realize the vision of my action research plan more campus personel need to attend the 30 hours of professional development to be GT “certified”.  This will allow all teachers to be able to meet the needs of the GT students in their regular education classroom while the students are only receiving one hour of enrichment with their GT teacher.   Also, teachers need to be trained more extensively on differentiation in the classroom.  The use of the Tic, Tac, Toe boards and 1,5,8 List also need to be communicated so that teachers have additional tools in their “toolboxes” to use to improve the education of the GT students. 

Key Words, Phrases or Terms describing your Action Research Project:

GT Students

Gifted and Talented Students

Regular Education Classroom

Differentiated Instruction

Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

Meeting the Needs of Gifted and Talented Students

in the Regular Education Classroom

The needs of all students are a constant struggle in the classroom.  A teacher’s job in Texas is to teach the standards for a given grade level at the same time meeting the needs of all students in a classroom.  At my campus there are RtI students in the same classroom at Gifted and Talented (GT) students.  Addressing the needs of Gifted and Talented students in the regular education classroom is sometimes overlooked since teachers are trying to help the slower learners.  Also, in my district the GT students are only seen once a week for one hour for enrichment with their GT pull-out teacher.  How are the needs of the GT students being met in the regular education classroom?  An action research plan must be implemented to find a way for the needs of the GT students to be met. 

The main vision and objective of the project is improvement of the overall learning of the GT students.  Student benefits of the program are the most important part of the whole GT program.  The students are to be pushed with their learning so they are challenged to be their absolute best.  To ensure students are brought to their highest level, the GT program must be performing at its best as well.  I will help to improve the GT program through conducting an action research project.

The process I plan to follow:

1.     Research internet, articles, other districts, and other sources outside the

campus on meeting the needs of GT students.

2.     Review GT requirements and state laws.  Acquire information and training information from Region IV.

3.     Interview and gain information from campus teachers as well as from curriculum department.

4.     Implement new information and strategies found into the classroom. 

5.     Observe student behavior in the classroom to monitor improvements

6. Survey teachers and parents on GT strategies and improvements to evaluate research. 

In this action research project I have had the opportunity to review literature and articles with my Action Research Strategy in mind.  One article I feel has best helped me learn another’s perspective on improving the learning of the GT student in the regular education classroom is by Carol Ann Tomlinson (1997).  In her article she asks the question, “Can the learning needs of gifted students be effectively addressed in the regular classroom?”  I feel that this article addresses the same question and need that I have found at my campus.  How can the needs of the GT students be met in the regular education classroom?  Tomlinson (1997) finds that a differentiated learning environment with differentiated materials is the best solution.  She also explains that teachers having enough time to plan for differentiated learning is also a best solution.  I have been trying to include the differentiated teaching style in my classroom through Tic, Tac, Toe boards etc. in addition to introducing new materials differently to students.  These are the strategies that I will be sharing in the future with colleagues. 

Sharing the vision of the action research with staff, parents, students, and other teachers, as well as community members is important so that they could benefit from the research I have completed.  I have provided my background information and the design of the inquiry through word of mouth and blogging to my administrators, team members, and others in the community.  Blogging and the use of the internet will be one of the ways I will be sharing my project with everyone.  Blogs are useful tools, because unlike word of mouth or power point presentations, blogs are a 24 hour, 7 days a week tool.  At any time anyone can pull up the information to view the background information and design of the research.  Also, meeting the needs of the GT students is a campus wide need, so providing concluding thoughts will be communicated through blogs, but also written up as a report and shared.  I will be holding a presentation to campus staff members as well.  Holding a staff meeting to present the information in an informal setting where questions about the inquiry will be a positive moment where other teachers can gain knowledge from my action research.  Information from a colleague versus an “outsider” can be a powerful influence.  Teachers on campus could use strategies that proved beneficial in my research.

During my action research project the best tool I have thoroughly used and referred to manage the organization of the action research project is the Action Research Plan.  When the plan was first written it allowed me organize the implementation of the project.  I saw the vision of the project in my head and I knew what materials I needed and who was involved, however, this was only thoughts until I was able organize and input the data into an easy to read table.  The Action Research Plan includes the steps needed, the persons responsible, timeline for completing the step, needed resources and/or materials, and the evaluation of the step.  I have been able to communicate with staff members and my site supervisor using the plan.  This plan has also streamlined student learning as I have implemented the new strategies in the classroom according to the timeline of the plan.  The GT students have benefited from the added classroom extension to push them in their learning. 

The Action Research plan has also benefited me as I manage the operations of the project.  The timeline written in the plan has allowed me to set priorities for completing certain steps.  This GT project is centered around the six Gifted and Talented students that were in my classroom the 2010-2011 school year because they are the largest group of GT students in a single grade level.  I was able to implement new strategies in the classroom that I feel others on campus will be able to use to benefit the GT student on their class roster.  At the conclusion of the school year I was able to complete the Gifted and Talented Program evaluation where I surveyed teachers from every grade level to build a consensus and resolved conflicts about the differences in the program at each grade level.  Parents were also involved in this communication so that all needs were met in the needs assessment related to the GT program on campus. 

The purpose of my action research project is to investigate needs of the Gifted and Talented students who live in the community.  These students are the learners who have exceptional needs from very diverse backgrounds.  The significance of this project is that the campus, teachers, administrators, and students will all benefit from this project.  Any student who is identified through the GT testing process will have their exceptional needs met, plus be challenged in the classroom.   Future GT students will also benefit as the teachers are more aware of the needs of the GT learners and GT program. 

References:

Tomlinson, C. (1997). Tempo. Meeting the Needs of Gifted Learners in the Regular Classroom: Vision or

Delusion? Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=658