Systematically examine the problem of students not achieving at the desired level in mathematics.
Planning
The planning stage: Identify the topic--students are not achieving at the desired level in mathematics; develop the driving question. Is the question how can we help students achieve at the desired level in mathematics? Or do we drill down further to a more specific piece of the mathematics puzzle? Do we need to consider the individual pieces that help students be successful and be sure we have a systematic approach to teaching concepts like number sense? There are systematic ways to teach foundational reading skills and we may need this for math as well.
Gathering information: By looking at the standards and reviewing assessment trends we will see gaps in our students' learning. We will need to look at the math curriculum for ideas on how best to teach the concepts. This will also include reviewing the instructional practices we are using as well as that of of colleagues in the grade levels before and after our own.
Reviewing related literature: Talk to colleagues at your site, at other sites and look for blogs related this topic. Look for research studies surrounding the topic and what has come before. Search for other math curricula that may teach the concept in a new way. For example, if the focus is number sense does another curriculum have a more hands on approach through the grade levels? Are there concepts that spiral better than others? Is there a thorough enough foundation built in the lower grades?
Developing a Research Plan: State the hypothesis (question.) By providing a better foundation in number sense, students will increase their scores on the Spring benchmark.
Acting
Collecting data: Observations (with notes),teacher and/or student surveys, reviewing previous years' data, reviewing the current year's data,
Analyzing data: What trends or patterns do you see?
Developing
Developing the action plan: Make a SMART goal. Who are your target students? What research based instructional strategies will you use? Will one teacher use this approach? Or an entire grade level? Take detailed notes so you can replicate the process.
Reflecting
Sharing and Communicating the Results: Who will benefit from hearing your findings? Sharing results at your PLC would be a great first step. Next would be the principal and leadership team. A step further is the entire staff. From there it might even go to other schools or the entire district.
Reflecting on the process: This happens at the end of the process, but should also be happening throughout the process. For example, if you have chosen an instructional strategy that isn't working, or not as well as you thought it might, you would want to try another instructional strategy. Or you might come across other resources along the way that will help achieve the desired results. At the end of the process it's a good check to see if your hypothesis was correct. Are students making gains in number sense? Is this translating to the rest of their math learning? Should we try to replicate the process for others? What are our next steps?
Planning
The planning stage: Identify the topic--students are not achieving at the desired level in mathematics; develop the driving question. Is the question how can we help students achieve at the desired level in mathematics? Or do we drill down further to a more specific piece of the mathematics puzzle? Do we need to consider the individual pieces that help students be successful and be sure we have a systematic approach to teaching concepts like number sense? There are systematic ways to teach foundational reading skills and we may need this for math as well.
Gathering information: By looking at the standards and reviewing assessment trends we will see gaps in our students' learning. We will need to look at the math curriculum for ideas on how best to teach the concepts. This will also include reviewing the instructional practices we are using as well as that of of colleagues in the grade levels before and after our own.
Reviewing related literature: Talk to colleagues at your site, at other sites and look for blogs related this topic. Look for research studies surrounding the topic and what has come before. Search for other math curricula that may teach the concept in a new way. For example, if the focus is number sense does another curriculum have a more hands on approach through the grade levels? Are there concepts that spiral better than others? Is there a thorough enough foundation built in the lower grades?
Developing a Research Plan: State the hypothesis (question.) By providing a better foundation in number sense, students will increase their scores on the Spring benchmark.
Acting
Collecting data: Observations (with notes),teacher and/or student surveys, reviewing previous years' data, reviewing the current year's data,
Analyzing data: What trends or patterns do you see?
Developing
Developing the action plan: Make a SMART goal. Who are your target students? What research based instructional strategies will you use? Will one teacher use this approach? Or an entire grade level? Take detailed notes so you can replicate the process.
Reflecting
Sharing and Communicating the Results: Who will benefit from hearing your findings? Sharing results at your PLC would be a great first step. Next would be the principal and leadership team. A step further is the entire staff. From there it might even go to other schools or the entire district.
Reflecting on the process: This happens at the end of the process, but should also be happening throughout the process. For example, if you have chosen an instructional strategy that isn't working, or not as well as you thought it might, you would want to try another instructional strategy. Or you might come across other resources along the way that will help achieve the desired results. At the end of the process it's a good check to see if your hypothesis was correct. Are students making gains in number sense? Is this translating to the rest of their math learning? Should we try to replicate the process for others? What are our next steps?