The research project has been moving slowly since school has begun. The proposed instrument that was to be used to measure student reading progress, the TPRI, may still be dropped for 3rd grade use district wide. Upper administration is considering using the STAAR Readiness as the assessment tool of choice. I am anticipating full implementation of the STAAR Readiness instrument. My grade level members and I have already conducted the beginning of the year STAAR Readiness fluency assessment. Our district is suffering financially because of budget cuts and I feel the most economical instrument will be the one that is adopt. I do feel that the research will be beneficial because our school and district did not meet the AYP requirements this past year and we are all redoubling our efforts to monitor each students’ progress. Everyone is determined that our school will exceed the requirements this year. My grade level members have been helpful in assisting in this project. If it is well conducted, the monitoring will provide valuable information on all our students. In any case, which ever instrument the district decides to move forward with, I am prepared to proceed.

I'm really excited to see that I have followers. Thank y'all for joining. We survived the planning phase of the Action Research. I'm not sure about the TK20 submissions though. No word from my principal about changes in the assessment instrument. Thats a good thing. I cannot activate my plan until school starts but everything is in place. Hope all is well for everyone else.

On this past week, I met with my principal in his office and discussed the Action Research Plan utilizing the SIP/PIP template version I have developed to illustrate how the research would be conducted. During our meeting on the previous week, the possibility of changes within the 3^rd grade instructional team had been mentioned. I was told that the changes were no longer a concern and that all the 3^rd grade teachers would remain in their current assignments. I was pleased with this decision because all of my team members are onboard with the research plan. We had also discussed that district administrators where thinking of eliminating the TPRI instrument altogether and moving to a new monitoring system. As of yet, he had not received a definite answer from administration as to the fate of TPRI or what the possible replacement could be. My supervisor reviewed and agreed with the plan as it is. He suggested no changes at this time. We concluded it would be best to wait on a firm decision from administration on the direction they would take.

Tool 8.1 CARE Model: Planning Tool

Identify Concerns that must change (look to the future)
(Assign points to concerns from 1 to 3 in the order of the most important issues to consider.)

1. Increase 3^rd grade student reading comprehension levels to 80% or higher.

2. Increase 3^rd grade student passing rate on the STAAR assessment.

3. Meet Campus wide AYP requirements.

Identify Affirmations that must be sustained (look to the present)
(Assign points to affirmations from 1 to 3 in the order of the most important issues to consider.)

1. Administrative and Teacher commitment.

2. TPRI (beginning, middle, and end of year) monitoring and Reading 6 weeks benchmark assessments.

3. RTI instruction for students scoring below 80% on Reading benchmark assessments.

SMART Recommendations that must be implemented:
(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely)
(Assign points to recommendations from 1 to 3 in the order of the most important recommendations to implement.)

1. Student achievement will increase on 6 weeks benchmark assessment to 80% or better.

2. Teachers will disaggregate Reading benchmark data jointly to develop RTI strategies.

3. Utilize student Reading improvement Tracking spreadsheets.


EVALUATE – Specifically and Often
(Identify the best ways to evaluate the implemented recommendations.)

1. TPRI (B, M, EOY) Reading data.

2. Reading benchmark assessment data.

3. STAAR Reading assessment data.

On yesterday I found out about several changes on campus. Two teachers are changing districts and one decided to retire. Staff may be internally moved around. The district may also do away with the TPRI instrument that I was shaping my research around. I'll I can do is wait and see what is going to happen. One positive thing is that I will be included on the interview panel during our search for new teachers.

Action Research Plan

SCHOOL VISION:  All students can and will learn!

 

GOAL:  The goal of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) as a means of monitoring 3^rd grade reading comprehension.

OUTCOMES	ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES	TIME LINE	Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT	Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
What effect will TPRI monitoring have on indicating  3rd grade reading comprehension levels?	Share Action Research plan with 3rd grade level team.	Action research plan STAAR Raw Data	Israel Taylor, Grade level Chair	August, 2012
	TPRI administration	TPRI testing kits	3rd grade team members	September, 2012 January, 2013 March, 2013	TPRI  Assessment	Data will be added to the grade level student tracking spreadsheet
Is there evidence of a correlation  between TPRI levels and CBA results?	Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA) Reading administration	Reading CBAs	3rd grade team members	5 administered at the end of 6 weeks instructional period.	Reading CBAs	Data will be added to the grade level student tracking spreadsheet
	STAAR Reading Test	STAAR reading assessment data	3rd grade team members	May, 2013	STAAR Reading data	Data will be added to the grade level student tracking spreadsheet
Did TPRI provide an indication of student performance on the STAAR reading comprehension?	Disaggregate Data  from student tracking spreadsheets	Student tracking spreadsheets	Israel Taylor, Grade level chairman Kathryn French, Instructional Coach	May, 2013	5 CBAs will be administered at the end of the 6 weeks instructional period.	Data will be analyzed and a report will be developed of the finds.

Using Action Inquiry

I have been involved with inquiry as part of my campus leadership team. Now I plan on using action inquiry with my grade level to smooth out some difficulties that we experienced over the past school year. What we have missed mostly is the time for reflection. This is an integral part of successful inquiry and no true corrective measure can occur without it. Action inquiry will provide us with a research framework to design our studies, a systematic approach to executing the exploration, and a formalized time to reflect on our findings. My team is highly motivated and strive for excellence. Action inquiry will be a positive tool for us to employ. 

Reflections on Blogging

When used as a tool for inquiry, blogs, provide a sounding board for your ponderings, serve as a progress monitor, and as a tool to share approaches and endeavors. Educators can interact within cyberspace, eliminating the demands of time and travel. Sharing is done instantaneously. Often other professionals have experienced similar problems and can provide valuable advice that clarify the directions that one is taking. People that you would not normally have occasion to meet can view your blog allowing you to benefit from their experiences. We all can learn from each other and blogs provide a modern way of working cooperatively. Blogs are creating global Leadership Teams that are strengthened by the continuous addition of new members.

On last year, my District stopped using TPRI to monitor 3rd grade reading levels fluency progress. I felt, as the Grade Level Chair, that we did not have an accurate gauge of how the students were progressing. I proposed to our principal that we do independent monitoring of the student's progress using the TPRI reading instrument to provide a more accurate formative assessment of student progress and a more focused approach to RTI this coming school year. If we use selected classes for the TPRI and exclude one of the class, we could measure if the use of the instrument is worthy of full implementation the following year. This past school year we only had STAAR test results as a summative assessment that did not fully explore the student total fluency growth over the year. The students did take six weeks benchmark test that showed their mastery of the content genres from the Basal reading program. It did not illustrate students’ fluency growth over the year. I'm still in the process of formally developing the plan but, I feel that continuous monitoring with TPRI would be more effective.