So, after a long talk with my principal, we decided to take a different dirrection for my reserach. We both agree that teacher stress is a huge problem, but can't see a real solution that doesn't involve money or eliminating the state testing...neither of which is realistic right now. Our school recently received some new technology so I am reseraching just how effective this will be on student performance.
Goal: To determine what effect, if any, the purchase and use of extra technology in the classroom has on student performance on local and state testing and on student behavior.
Action Step(s)
1. Study the amount of time students use the extra technology per month and compare that to amount of time technology was used last school year in the group of teachers that will be involved in the study. Study will be conducted over the last two 6 week periods and the first 6 week period of the next school year.
2. Compare behavior referrals for the determined amount of time from last year to this year. One team has received the use of the new technology so I will compare their behavior referrals from the same time last year to this year.
3. Over each of the three 6 weeks involved in the study, I will collect data from the local testing and state testing from the classroom that uses the extra technology and compare that data from the same team last year, when they did not have access to this technology.
Person(s)
Responsible: I will be responsible for collecting and analyzing data. I will be studying one team of three teachers who have received the new technology. I will be conducting interviews and gathering data from that team of teachers throughout this project.
Timeline:
Start/End This project will begin at the beginning of the fifth 6 weeks of the 2011-2012 school year and will end after the conclusion of the first 6 weeks of the 2012-2013 school year.
Needed
Resources:
1. Lesson plans or information from teachers involved in the study indicating amount of time the new technology is being used compared to last year.
2. CBA (local) test scores from students on this team last year and from students on this team this school year.
3. State test scores of students from this team last year and students from this team this year.
4. Behavior referrals from the same point in time last year from this team compared to behavior referrals from this team over the next three 6 week periods.
5. Articles/research on the effective use of technology in the classroom.
Evaluation and Monitoring
1. Monitor monthly behavior referrals and amount of time technology is used in the classroom.
2. Compare CBA scores each 6 week period to those of last year.
3. Compare state testing scores to those of last year.
4. Evaluation: At the end, will there be a significant difference in scores and behavior? If there isn’t a significant difference in either what will that mean? That the investment in technology may not be all that it seems? May not be worth it?
I think technology is huge for our students. They use it everyday and then come to school and are told "put it away". At my campus we have Ipad carts and WOW carts that classroom teachers check out using a google doc. If your campus has purchased these types of resources, you might want to create a google doc to see which teachers are using it and how they are aligning it to learning standards. We have interactive boards in all of our classrooms, but not all of our teachers use them:( I think referrals might show an increase because initially some kids try to test the boundaries:) I think your plan is very thorough and look forward to following your research.
ReplyDeleteTechnology should be used in every classroom as often as possible. I think some teachers are scared of it not working or students becoming off task instead of focusing on the task at hand. Technology can add to the stress of teachers if they don't know how to properly use it. Some teachers may think, why even bother if its not available to all students all day long.
ReplyDeleteI know in my school we have 4 laptop carts with 15 computers each for 10 classrooms of 25+ students. Every other classroom has a smartboard and every room has a doc. camera.
It is hard to be open to a lot of technology change when you are not comfortable using it or feel like you do not have the quantity of resources needed.
It will be interesting to see your findings! Now if we could just get rid of those state tests......