EDLD 5326 Week 5 Action Research Update

The goal of my action research project is to find out how differentiated instruction will increase student achievement?  This is an on-going research question that is asked at Watkins Middle School and attempted by few teachers.  I have been asked to join the DI Leadership Team to be trained by a differentiated instructional coach, Carol O’Connor from ASCD and develop strategies that will work for my students in my classroom.  As I become more proficient at DI, I hope to share ideas with my math team to show the success of my project.  People affected by my action research will include my 7th grade math students and my math department. Not only will my action research project add to the knowledge base of differentiated instructional strategies, I will be able to actively apply these strategies in the classroom.

To date, I have completed the “Introduction/Background” of my project, identified the teams that will be included and affected by my action research, the “Literature Review” and set up the “Action Research Design” including the subjects and the procedures for the research. 

This has been a very successful and interesting topic for me to research as it has had tremendous effects on my students success in Math.  Throughout the year, I have worked closely with my Mentor, Principal, CCIS, District Math Coach and DI Consultant Carol O’Connor learn new strategies to differentiate the curriculum in Math and how to continuously assess the affects of DI.  The more I learn regarding DI, the better my teaching practices solidify and I have seen a huge improvement in my student’s test scores.  Throughout the process, I have continuously graphed my students scores on each test and benchmark.  Although my students still struggle with the Math concepts, their test scores have begun to improve. 

As I continue on in my action research, I have two more training sessions with Carol O’Connor this year.  We will continue to work together to discuss various strategies I can use in the classroom.  I look forward to seeing the results from the 2013 STAAR Test scores.