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Inquiring Teachers Want to Know!

Dr. Dennis S. Kubasko, Jr. Assistant Professor UNC-Wilmington. Inquiring Teachers Want to Know!. No Child Left Behind.

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Inquiring Teachers Want to Know!

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  1. Dr. Dennis S. Kubasko, Jr. Assistant Professor UNC-Wilmington Inquiring Teachers Want to Know!

  2. No Child Left Behind • “Improving student achievement is the goal of both the ABC’s of Public Education, launched in 1995 in North Carolina, and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, signed into federal law in January 2002.” • Promote local school accountability • Emphasis on closing the achievement gap -ABC’s of Public Education Connects with No Child Left Behind www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb

  3. No Child Left Behind • Quality Staff • “The Leave No Child Behind Act offers support to help schools recruit and retain excellent teachers and requires states to have a ‘highly qualified’ teacher in core subject areas in every public school classroom in five years” - Summary of Key Provisions, Content from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Website, http://www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb/summary.html

  4. NSTA: Key Definitions (NCLB) • Highly Qualified Teacher • Professional development • Improve teachers’ knowledge • Involvement in broad Educational Imp. Plans • Give teachers knowledge and skills to meet rigorous academic standards • Improve classroom management strategies • High quality, sustained, intensive, and lasting impact • Advance teacher understanding of effective instructional strategies that are… • Based on scientifically-based research • Improve student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers

  5. NSTA: Key Definitions (NCLB) • Scientifically based research • “Means research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge to educational activities and programs.” • Methods that draw upon observation or experiment • Rigorous data analysis • Relies on measurement (reliable and valid) • Experimental designs (control with random assignments) • Experimental studies allow for reproduction • Published and peer-reviewed

  6. Supporting the Inquiry Project An Overview of Inquiry Projects a. Rationale and purpose for Inquiry Projects b. Examples of Inquiry Projects c. How mentor/partner/colleague teachers can support an Inquiry Project

  7. Supporting the Inquiry Project • What does “Inquiry” mean? • The act of inquiring. • A question; a query. • A close examination of a matter in a systematic search for information or truth.

  8. Supporting the Inquiry Project • Rationale and purpose for Inquiry Projects • Teachers need to make an informed assessment of different approaches by evaluating the effects of the strategies on student learning. • While beginning (and experienced) teachers should be able to implement practices that "work," they should also be able to explain why a particular strategy is effective. • What is important? Teachers identify a meaningful question that relates to their instruction and that they have sought to answer the question, to identify the impact of the particular decision on their teaching effectiveness.

  9. Supporting the Inquiry Project “I think there is a really good connection. I think this project is very valuable….The IQP encourages a skill that every teacher needs.. to identify problems and ask what the difference would be if you do a specific thing.” --PDS Partnership Teacher

  10. Supporting the Inquiry Project • How Mentoring or Individual Teachers Can Support an Inquiry Project • The question to be investigated in the inquiry project should relate to the area that the teacher’s working in improving their instruction. • For example, if a teacher is focusing on improving classroom management, then an inquiry project could be connected to management style. • For all of us to see these projects as worthwhile, they need another teachers involvement.

  11. Supporting the Inquiry Project • Specific Teacher Involvement • Identifying an appropriate question: The question needs to be worthy of study and be connected to the individual’s teaching goals • Identifying a sound method to study the question e.g. “Will try approach A with first block and approach B with second block.” (Are first and second block equally matched? What data will be collected to make comparisons? How will the data be collected? What period of time will be used?)

  12. Supporting the Inquiry Project • Specific Teacher’s Involvement • Collecting and analyzing the data: What conclusions does the individual draw from the data? Are there other factors to consider that might have affected the results? If another teacher were to repeat the study, what changes might they make? • Sharing of results: Are the results of the Inquiry Project worth sharing with others? Is there a forum for presentation of the findings in your county?

  13. Supporting the Inquiry Project • Examples of Inquiry Projects • Taylor Abbott, New Hanover High School • Jessica Eborn, Laney High School • Kristie MacDonald, New Hanover High School • Lee Points, East Burke High School • Jessica Williams, Jacksonville High School

  14. Inquiry Project Jessica Eborn Laney High School

  15. Question: • Is there a difference in students grades when technology is incorparated into the review and testing process verses the typical review sheets or game and paper test?

  16. How did I test my Question? • Introduction to Jornadas and Quizstar • Practice Exam with Quizstar • Chapter 19 and 20 Test • Jeopardy Review Game • Chapter 21-23 Test

  17. Findings • The class average on the Quizstar test was 86.348 • The class average on the Paper test was 78.3 • Student survey

  18. Students Survey

  19. Conclusions • The grades were higher but only about 50% of the class liked taking the test this way and wanted to take more this way. • Many advantages and disadvantages • Needs to be done longer and multiple times for concrete evidence.

  20. Inquiry Project Taylor Abbott New Hanover High School

  21. The Question • If one class receives a different, more complete quiz, will their grades reflect the difference? • Third Block Chemistry quizzes same • Fourth Block Chemistry quizzes changed

  22. Results • No discernable difference between classes • A majority of all students had grades decrease

  23. Analysis • No guarantee that students used the quizzes to study for the tests • An entire semester has not passed • Grades will increase with absence checks • Two different teachers • Students did not receive exact same information

  24. Third Block Chart

  25. Fourth Block Chart

  26. Inquiry Project: EDN 408 The “Science” of Note Taking By: Kristie S. MacDonald New Hanover High School

  27. The Question If I implement an assessment strategy immediately following a note taking lecture where students can use their notes to attain answers to the quiz, will the frequency and completeness of student note taking increase?

  28. The Plan • Take an initial read (3/3/03) of all of my 76 Earth and Environmental students and place them into one of four of the following categories: 1. Always takes complete notes 2. Sometimes takes complete notes 3. Occasionally takes some notes 4. Never takes any notes • Take two more reads (on 4/7/03 and 5/2/03) and determine how many, if any, students changed categories by looking at the ratios and percentages.

  29. The findings There was a substantial 25% change just in those students who always took notes from the initial reading to the final reading.

  30. The Discussion • There was a direct correlation of students that took notes more often and with more completeness after the quizzing “experiment” was begun. • A greater majority, up from the initial 51.3% to 78.9%, of students fell into the first two categories (either “Always takes complete notes” or “Sometimes takes complete notes”). • By the end of my internship experience, only 3 out of 76 students, 3.9%, fell into category 4—never took any notes.

  31. The Conclusion(A.K.A. The End) • I confess, I did tinker with other parts to this inquiry project… • I converted the initial “college text based” Power Points into “Play Station II based” Power Points with more pictures/animations and fewer words. • I alternated using the traditional note taking methods with the guided note approach. • Overall, however, this inquiry project forced me to think more closely about note deliverance strategies as well as get a look into the psyche of a “normal” (if you can use that term) 9th grader!

  32. Writing Across Curriculum 1)Is there any correlation between poor student performance on written work, and the level of concern for student literacy on the part of the school community? 2)Is there any relationship between concern for student literacy and experience level of educators?

  33. Methodology • Eight question Likert scale survey. • Two open ended questions • Survey submitted to 100 faculty at New Hanover High School. • Response rate 30%

  34. Data • Average number of years in education = 15.2 • Min=1 Max=35 • Average number of years at current school = 9.7 • Miin

  35. Data Cont.

  36. Data Cont.

  37. Are Multiple Format Tests More Effective Tools for Assessing Students’ Acquired Knowledge Than Multiple Choice Tests? Jessica Williams Jacksonville High School

  38. Why? EXACTLY! Isn’t it better to have students use their critical thinking skills than guessing skills? Wouldn’t it be better to require them to tell what they know on a test than guess between a, b, c, or d, and t or f? If multiple format tests actually test what students know, rather than how well they can eliminate answers or make a complete guess, wouldn’t scores be better on multiple choice tests than multiple format tests?

  39. Three Multiple Format Tests ~Short Answer ~Matching ~Free Response Three Multiple Choice Tests ~Multiple Guess ~True/False Plan of Action Compared grades on two types of tests for two separate classes

  40. Results

  41. So What Now? • More tests • Longer time • More students • Leads to other Inquiry Ideas (something more exciting!)

  42. Connecting Technology to the Inquiry Project • “Several federal technology programs are consolidated under new technology provisions that are designed to ensure that more money goes to schools. Funds generally can be used for professional development, increasing access to technology, especially for high need schools, and promoting innovative state and local technology initiatives to increase student achievement.”

  43. Proactive Science Educators • Teacher leaders need to “work with your school district to determine how to use Title II funds.” • “Create an individual Professional Development Plan” • Include NSTA and NCSTA Conferences and Conventions • Take your plan to your professional development personnel.

  44. Inquiring Minds Want to Know • Work in groups of two or three • Define the classroom or teacher problem(s) • List 2-3 ideas for inquiry questions you would like answered about your classroom • Describe one of the ideas in some detail • Define the question. • List observable behaviors • Develop your procedures. • Are there any experts you can consult? • Make a prediction! • In which way can you of use technology to support your inquiry project?

  45. Supporting the Inquiry ProjectsUNC-Wilmington Dr. Robert Smith, Secondary Program Coordinator Dr. David Gill, English Education Dr. John Fischetti, Chair of the Department of Specialty Studies Dr. Laura Rogers, Science Education

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