Action Research Special Education Department of Springfield Middle School

The Question? Will applying content- area support have a greater impact on student achievement than grade level support?

The Rationale: *More and more impetus to move special education students into a general education curriculum *Need to provide support to students as well as to general education teachers in the form of “team teaching” during class hours with high percentage of special education students.

Strategies: 1 st Marking Period  Survey students to get an understanding of their current comfort level.  Assess first marking period grades to determine a baseline prior to schedule changes  Collect MEAP data on students for future planning

Strategies: 2 nd Marking Period  Alter schedules of both students and teachers in order to:  Provide support to general education teachers in classes with high percentage of special ed teachers  Align student’s schedules to be sure that all students are being served with special education support in high need classes  Schedule teachers so as to have a learning lab available every hour of the school day.

Preliminary data  Data was collected following the end of the second marking period and compared with data from first marking period.  Additional data was collected from 3 rd marking period.

The Initial Data

Second Marking Period Grades 6 th Grade 67.5% of LD students maintained or raised grade during 2 nd MP 80% of the grades among LD students were a “C” or better. 7 th Grade 59% of LD students maintained or raised grade during 2 nd MP 91% of the grades among LD students were a “C” or better **Outliers removed from data

Third Marking Period Questions arise about the increase in number of missing assignments at all grade levels…

Where do we go from here?  Collect MEAP data next year for comparison purposes**  Conduct a follow-up attitude survey among special education students at the end of 3 rd marking period  Continue to collect data and “tweak” schedules as necessary.  Continue to stress need for general education teachers to recognize that special education students are everyone’s students.  Continue to educate general education teachers on modification strategies and IEP requirements. ** Other strategies are in the works for addressing MEAP struggles by special education students.

Variables that may impact…  Student boredom with “success school” process?  Increase in complexity of required work as year goes on?  Increase in number of assignments required in classes?  Other???

Other questions and considerations…  Is it “team teaching” or extra learning lab support that makes the most difference with student learning and success?  What combination of these will achieve the best results for students?  How do we best support the general education teachers in their quest to support special education students?  How do we make time available for special education teachers to assist general education teachers in development of appropriate strategies?  What additional considerations need to be given in order to support the special education student in taking MEAP and other like tests?

Planning for next year… Work and consideration as to how best support the students with IEP’s has already begun…