ARP Follow Up...The Three Strategies

The 3rd grade math teachers and I met again two weeks after I led a professional development on analyzing test questions and avoiding the distractors.  We went back to the original question: Can adaptations in teaching strategies and interventions improve student performance on 3rd grade math readiness standards?  We then discussed the three strategies that we are implementing to impact student achievement in math.

First, we discussed the dedicated math intervention time that we added to the instructional day.  The teachers admitted that they were resistant to giving 45 minutes of instructional time each morning to interventions, but now feel that it is a worthwhile endeavor.  The teachers and I discussed grouping strategies, monitoring techniques, and tiered approaches that are being utilized.  We all agree that using a data-driven approach to grouping and monitoring is essential to the intervention process.

Next, we discussed the implementation of the lesson on test answer distractors that they planned during the professional development.  They reported that the students enjoyed the "trail and error" needed to find how to arrive at each answer.  Within the lesson, an ability group approach was used to scaffold struggling learners.  The teachers have committed to using warm-up questions in a multiple choice format to reinforce test taking strategies and continue helping students avoid distractors.  They feel that this activity will help students plan and implement the proper steps to solve problems knowing that they will likely get one or more of the answer choices before arriving at the correct answer.

Finally, we discussed research on best practices in teaching fractions.  Educators that have researched curriculum for the common core agree that fractions and number lines are linked in learning and difficulty.  The 3rd grade teachers and I reviewed strategies to teach fractions and decided on ways they would introduce, reinforce, and extend learning on fractions based on current research on mathematics learning.  We went over their planning calendar to find opportunities to add fractions and number lines to their lesson cycles before the first district benchmark even though the curriculum scope and sequence does not address some aspects on these concepts until the second semester.

(Completed October 29, 2013)

Action Plan PD...Why am I so DiStRaCtEd?

During the professional development for my Action Research Project, I led an interactive presentation on test item analysis and distractors.  I then distributed test data and sample questions to each grade level.  I instructed the teachers to find how each answer could be found and record the mistake(s) that would lead to a student choosing each answer.  Teachers then discussed how they felt they could best use this information in the classroom.  During this time, each group created a sample lesson plan on teaching students about distractors.  The groups then wrote three sample multiple choice word problems that they could use to reinforce learning.  They decided that it would be beneficial for students to get in groups and work cooperatively to determine how to arrive at each answer choice and then peer teach to show why it would be an incorrect way to work the problem.

Creating a plan to put learning into action was an important aspect of the professional development.  The teachers worked in their grade level teams to make collaborative decisions about using the knowledge that was presented.  It was decided that the campus principal and assistant principal would follow-up on the professional development learning during grade level PLCs and inform me if further training is needed. 

Based on the feedback given to me by my site supervisor, the assistant principal, and the participant teachers, I feel that the professional development was an overall success!

(Completed October 15, 2013)

Professional Development...Getting Ready

Researching, developing, and planning a professional development from start to finish required a LOT of work!  My site supervisor and I decided that even though my Action Research Plan focuses on 3rd grade math, I would plan and lead professional development that all of the K-5 math teachers could implement in their instruction. 

One of the activities I am focusing on to impact 3rd grade math achievement is the direct teaching of test taking strategies.  In analyzing the 3rd grade STAAR data that shows the answer choices that students picked, it became clear that teaching students about the possible answers is a worthwhile endeavor.  Research shows that the three incorrect options on a multiple choice test serve as distractors because there are legitimate (though incorrect) ways to reach those answers.  The wrong answers on a multiple choice mathematics test are not random numbers.  In fact, they are answers that a student will reach if the student:

1. uses an incorrect operation,
2. misreads a data table or graph,
3. applies a misconception,
4. performs steps in an improper order, or
5. fails to perform one or more steps.

This proved to be true on the 3rd grade math released STAAR test as well as other grade level end-of-year (EOY) mathematics assessments.

In order to prepare for the professional development, I first performed further research on analyzing test questions and answer distractors.  I then analyzed the EOY math assessment data for each grade level.  I choose test 6 tests items for each grade level where students picked a distractor more than or at least as often as the correct answer.  I made a packet of information specific to each grade level to distribute during the presentation.

(Completed October 1-14, 2013)

Action Research...Making Decisions

Before I could move forward with planning my professional development for my action research project, my site supervisor and I had some decisions to make.  We combed through the 3rd grade data one more time while looking at the released STAAR test.  We also reviewed the literature research that I had performed to this point.  After much debate and discussion, we made some decisions about what strategies we would have the 3rd grade teachers focus on implementing to impact the target TEKS we had identified.  To determine if adaptations in teaching strategies and interventions improve student performance on 3rd grade math readiness standards, we decided that we would focus attention on the following three strategies:

1. research-based practices for teaching fractions,
2. dedicated intervention time for mathematics during the instructional day, and
3. direct teaching of test taking strategies related to multiple choice formats.


(Completed Monday, September 30, 2013)