Web Reflection

This was my very first time actually participating in a web conference since I have been in the program.  I must admit I have been missing out. The wed conference was not what I expected, it provided another way to communicate. It was very interesting communicating with and learning about other colleagues and what they do. Not having the opportunity to meet face to face has been a difficult part of the program for me. For the first time, attending the conference made me not feel alone in the program. A lot of my questions were clarified before I could ask them. I learned more about the course and also the program. 

Ball High School Technology & Readiness

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Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology

Texas Long – Range Plan for  Technology:  STaR Chart

The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology requires all educators to be well prepared in the use of current digital tools and resources, modern teaching and learning processes, and to drive learning by mentoring and motivating students. As this plan relates to educator preparation and development, all educators are expected to: graduate from a program that models current technology in instructional and administrative practices, and be able to integrate technology effectively in the teaching/learning process under the Technology Application Standards.

The most recent campus Star Chart shows that in the area of Educator Preparation the largest number of campuses (74.2%) is in the Developing Technology stage. This means technology is used for administrative task and classroom management. Also, 6-24% of technology budget is allocated for professional development. The smallest number of campuses (0.6%) at the stage of Target Technology supports learner centered projects. 100% of educators are meeting SBEC standards with 30% of campus budget allocated to professional development.

In my local district our campuses are not equally developed in technology. Some are in the Developing Stage while few are in the Advanced Stage. In most cases there was a slight change in status for all campuses. The total growth in this area was limited during this same three year period. I would recommend an increase in professional development opportunities in areas other than classroom management. There should be a significant increase in the amount of online and distance course that offer strategies in integrating technology into instructional planning and delivery.

Research Project Progress Report

Week 3 Assignment, Part 3

Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

Educating Special Needs Students in Inclusion versus Self-Contained/Resource Classrooms

Needs Assessment

In our district there are very few special needs students in inclusion classrooms. This leads me to believe that administrators and teachers are not comfortable with the notion that our special needs students can do the work of their general education peers. I often gave my special needs students the same assignments and exams that were given to general education students by their teachers of the same grade level. In many cases with the use of accommodations and/or modifications and encouragement these students performed much better than expected.

Teachers must learn to communicate with each other both in and out of the classroom to discover methods that would allow them the chance to discover the ways in which their students learn. By investing time and understanding in collaboration and differentiate instruction, studies have shown that all students benefit academically and socially in their development.

Objectives and Vision

            The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of educating special needs students and regular education students in inclusion classrooms through collaborative teaching and differentiated instruction.

Literature Review

            Public awareness coupled with government legislation of educational standards has generated movement toward developing ways to best educate all students. According to Van Garderen and Whittaker (2006), developments in education have brought forth the universally-standardized, differentiated, and multicultural education one that accommodates diverse urban and ethnical districts with different intellectual needs. These authors examine the need to develop an educational plan for inclusion students which focused on differentiated instruction as a systematic basic planned curriculum. They suggest a framework for guiding the development of curriculum that meets the needs of students.

            In today’s classroom the role of the teacher has moved beyond basic instruction and structured lesson plans. Rock, Greg, Ellis, and Gable (2008) state that teachers are responsible for meeting the diverse needs of all students and should seek nontraditional methods for designing instruction. They examine the teaching methods of a general education and a special education teacher and developed a framework called REACH, a blueprint for differentiating instruction.

            Additionally, Forgan and Vaughn (2000) discovered through a survey method that by working cooperatively with the special education teacher to design a culturally diverse curriculum the general education teacher is able to better differentiate instruction that reaches more diverse learners when servicing a population of learning disabled and nondisabled students.

            Because the inclusion model is not well implemented in my district I am prepared to face a few obstacles during the research process. My supervisor and I both agree that I will need support from my supervisor to get some principals on board that are not total supported of the inclusion of special needs students on their campuses. I will be in agreement to observe and collect data when permissible by the campus principals. I believe this is an important action research plan for my district; I plan to do what’s necessary to gain cooperation for a successful outcomes.

Articulate the Vision

            I presented my action research plan to principals and teachers at a required after school staff meeting. I also presented my research plan at a special education parent meeting. I will continue to attend staff meeting and parent meetings to provide updates and gather feedback throughout the action research process. I hope with constant collaboration and brainstorming with the teachers and principal of each campus they will become as passionate as I am about this topic. I also, hope it will make teachers more conscious of how they develop their instructions for the classroom and the methods used to implement the instructions collaboratively.

Manage the Operations

            Parental and administrative consent will be secured before study of the inclusion class is to begin. The students’ data will be collected by assigning the students numbers; their names will not be used so as to maintain confidentiality when writing or sharing this research data. Additionally, the teachers will be referred to as special education or general education teachers; their identities will also remain private. I plan to periodical attend mandatory school staff meetings through the course of my action research. I will always start by presenting the action research question/concern along with data collected up to that point. Data will consist of such items as weekly assignments and exams, questionnaires and interviews with teachers and students. At that time I hope to briefly brainstorm with stakeholders on such questions as what they think of the data presented so far, how will the data affect their view of the outcome of the research and how they view the action research thus far?

Manage Organization

Because teachers are the driving force behind the success of students, I can form a committee that consists of special and general education teachers. When meeting with this committee I will explain in detail my action research topic, to determine if special needs students are receiving a quality education and the purpose of my topic. I will engage the group in a discussion regarding the advantages that my action research could provide such as higher test scores, increase students self confidence and opportunities for special needs students to achieve more outside of the classroom. We will do the same with concerns regarding what teachers view as disadvantages to my action research such as lack of professional development and training, teacher notion that special needs students cannot learn and the feeling of more stress and work for the general education teacher. As a result of the discussion the goal is for the group to recognize that the achievement of special needs students is a great concern in the district. If the district is serious about making a change the first thing that needs to happen is ongoing collaboration between general education and special education teachers. Collaboration between teachers is vital to the success of this effort to change. Although some teachers are apprehensive to this change for what they consider valid reasons this research is needed to ensure that all students are receiving a quality education by highly qualified teachers. With support in both the general and special education classrooms the needs of the special education students will be meet. I will use survey monkey as a tool to store and gather data from teacher questionnaires. Using survey monkey I will create a questionnaire for teachers asking how they develop instructions for special needs students and their methods for implementing collaborative instructions. As the researcher I will provide feedback on the surveys and at the end of every nine weeks I will submit the same survey to teachers to complete. This will be an ongoing process during my action research process as a means to see changes and progression. I will ask a group of general and special education teachers to list about 3 concerns that may impact my action research. Each teacher will then be asked to choose one concern and share that concern with the group. I will use principal research design as an ongoing tool during and after my action research project. I will gather data from different sources such as student assignments and exams, surveys, questionnaires and classroom observations that will determine the overall effectiveness of collaborative teaching of special needs students. It is important that I continue to gather data to increase my knowledge as to understand the pros and cons of my action research process. Keeping an open mind throughout my action research process will allow me to recognize when and if any change is needs to data process such as  to alter strategies used to collect data which may affect how data is collected, how data is used and maybe extending timeline for collecting data.

Respond to Community Interest and Needs

            There are very few special needs students in inclusion classrooms. This leads me to believe that administrators and teachers are not confident that our special needs students can do the work of their general education peers. This creates the question of whether or not our special needs students are receiving a quality education. And that special needs students can benefit through collaborative teaching and differentiated instruction. With support in both the general and special education classrooms the needs of the special education students will be meet. It is a means for all students to achieve their educational goals. My ultimate goal is to develop a curriculum that will target the education of special needs students in the general education setting.

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Goals and objectives/outcomes of the research investigation Determine if it is effective to educate special needs students in inclusion classrooms versus self-contained and or resource classrooms? Determine if collaboration between special education teachers and general education teachers ensure that the needs of special education students are being met through differentiated instruction and support in the general education classroom? Activities designed to achieve the objectives Meet with director of special education. Look at number of special education students in inclusion classrooms. Record weekly quiz and exams, benchmarks and TAKS scores in a chart displaying both special needs and general education students. Develop a questionnaire that will ask teachers how they develop their instruction for the class and the methods used to implement the instructions collaboratively. Develop a questionnaire that will ask students their perceptions of how they are taught along with the expectations placed on them by their teachers. Observe students in inclusion classrooms. Record thoughts from the results of the data charts and observations. Resources and research tools needed for data gathering Weekly achievement tests State achievement exam Interviews Journal Teacher surveys Student surveys Draft timeline for completion or implementation of active Meet with director – February-March 2011 & August 2011-May 2012 Gather data of students in inclusion setting – August –September 2011 Chart weekly quiz and exam, benchmarks and TAKS scores – August 2011-May 2012 Teacher questionnaires – September – October 2011 Student questionnaires- September-October 2011 Classroom observations – September 2011 – May 2012 Journal thoughts – August 2011-May 2012 Persons responsible for implementation of action research action plan Myself Director of special education Special education teachers General education teachers working with special needs students Campus principals Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives Analyze the subjects being taught and note special needs students’ scores compared to their general education peers. Determine overall effectiveness of collaborative teaching of special needs students. Analyze how teachers and students both special and general education rate this process’s effectiveness. Analyze if the pace of the course contribute to the success and or failure of this educational process. Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study Action research question Student data Interviews Surveys Tests Observations Action Planning Template Goal:  To determine the effectiveness of educating special needs students in inclusion classrooms versus self-contained and resource classrooms.                                    Person(s)              Timeline:                Needed              Action Steps             Responsible          Start/End              Resources               Evaluation Discuss action research with supervisor Myself, Dr. Knop February – March, 2011 Student data, action plan Originate action research topic Gather data of students in inclusion setting Myself and special education teachers August- September, 2011 Students schedules Meet with general education teachers for information Create chart with data Myself August 2011- May, 2012 Access to school districts skyward program Evaluate data to see how special education students grades differ from general education students Develop teacher questionnaire to determine development of instructions Myself, participating teachers September-October, 2011 Survey monkey Determine effectiveness of collaborative instructions Develop student questionnaire to determine viewpoint of teacher expectations Myself, participating students September-October, 2011 Survey monkey Determine the effectiveness of teachers expectation placed on students Observe inclusion classrooms Myself, participating teachers September,2011-May, 2012 Use of communication skills, data, time, journal of pass observations Gain knowledge of collaboration between general and special education teachers, student progress and provide feedback Record in journal Myself participating teachers and students August 2011, - May, 2012 Data from teacher and student surveys, notes from observations and interviews Collect thoughts and finding to share and keep of the action research process

Reflection on Week 2 Research

What I learned from the scholars

I learned that data is very essential to the operation of a school and or district. All three scholars touched on the importance of exploring data before action research. They placed efficiency on the importance of continues research such as reading books, searching the internet, and conversations with nearby districts on the issues that you are concerned with or considering action reached. Also that research should be meaningful to the situations you are a part of and just not randomly researching.

Research Topics

Because I have a strong passion for the successful outcome of special education students I am considering to possible topics for research.

1. How would the performance level of special education students change if they are held to the same performance level as regular education students?

2. Is there a difference in the performance level of special needs students who are educated in an inclusion setting verses a self contained or resource setting?