Salisbury University ELED 411 Everything an Intern Needs to Know About the “Impact on Student Learning” Project!

Getting Started! Action Research – SLO – Student Impact Study KWL Chart Know Want to Know Learned What do you already know? What are you wanting to know?

What is action research?

Action Research in Education Action research is a method for educational practitioners to engage in the assessment and improvement of their own practice. It can be an individual tool, helping classroom teachers reconsider their teaching methods or to adapt in order to solve a problem. It can also be a community activity, helping teams of educators assess problems in schools, enact changes, and reassess.

Improve your teaching. Action research will help you discover what works best in your own classroom situation. It is a powerful integration of teaching and scholarship that provides a solid basis for instructional decisions. Document your teaching. Action research adds documentation by providing both a measure of teaching effectiveness and a record of continuous improvement. These projects are particularly appropriate for teaching portfolios, where they complement descriptions of teaching strategies and student learning. Renew your excitement in teaching. Action research provides a new lens for examining your teaching. Learning the methods of conducting action research projects can provide an interesting challenge, and discussing your project findings can open a whole new area for teaching discussions with colleagues. Why should teachers try action research?

The Action Research Cycle What are your questions, problems, interests? What will be your plan of action? What data could help you study your plan of action? What did you learning from your data? What questions follow from the data analysis? Johnston, M. (2006). The lamp and the mirror: Action research and self studies in the social studies. In K. Burton (Ed). Research methods in social education: Contemporary issues and perspectives (pp ). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publications. YOUR TURN YOUR TURN – What are some questions or problems you already see in your internship?

Sample Classroom Action Research Examples

What is an SLO?

Definition of a SLO Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) are measurable instructional goals established for a specific group of students over a set period of time. SLOs serve as one of the measures of student growth for the State Teacher Evaluation model and may represent 20% - 35% of the evaluation.

What do I need to do for my Student Impact Study?

Student Impact Study – Graphic Organizer Academic Problem Academic Goal Academic Resources Baseline Evidence and Data Analysis Student Population Learning Content Instructional Interval Plan for Action Evidence for Growth Growth Target Target Attainment Implement Plan for Action, Collect Data, and Reflect Sharing your Research! Make sure you are collecting sample of student work! This will be helpful for your final product!

You will need background information on your question, and a review of existing sources is great for this purpose. One good source of information is general books on teaching, often available through the library, university faculty, or mentor teacher. Another excellent source is the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database, which indexes teaching-related publications of all types. You can search the database at The What Works Clearinghouse is another excellent resource for finding evidence- based interventions for working with students. You can search the website at Or visit the Salisbury University’s library website. You can access numerous education databases that will connect you to thousands of education resources. All of the information gathered from these sources will help refine your plan of action for your student Review the Literature

Visit the Salisbury University Library Website Search all the Education Databases that SU has access to!

Develop A Plan for Action What are the selected instructional strategies that you are going to put in place to support students in reaching the academic goal? YOUR TURN YOUR TURN – In a small group or with a partner, take some time to look at some sample SLO’s from the Maryland Department of Education. What kinds of strategies are included in the SLO’s? What kind of additional strategies can you think of?

Baseline and Growth Target Data Examples of Types of Measures/Assessments Commercially developed and validated measures aligned with the standards Criterion-referenced tests, inventories, and screeners District common benchmark assessment, end of course exams Authentic measures to document performance School or teacher-developed approved measures YOUR TURN YOUR TURN – In a small group or with a partner, take some time to look at some sample SLO’s data. Pay careful attention to how the SLO’s have different goals or targets? What kind of growth target do you think you would like to use with your Student Impact Study?

How much time or manpower to administer? Is a scoring tool available? How much time or manpower to score? Will results be available in time to gather and use the data? What to keep in mind when picking assessments:

Important Question! Can my “Student Impact Study” be the same as my mentor’s “SLO?” COULD An intern's Student Impact Study COULD be very, very similar to the SLO that their teacher is using. There just might need to be some tweaking when it comes to how “growth” will be shown. The main reason is that mentor teachers might be using standardized tests as things as their data points, and SU interns might need to use other assessments. This is because the data has to be collected pretty quickly for the Student Impact Study project. Interns might not be able to wait on the end of term/year assessments. So that's why it COULD be the same problem/goal....it just might be slightly tweaked!

Gallery Walk – Poster Final Product Printing Option 1 - Your PowerPoint file can either be printed through the Salisbury University IT Department (TETC 352) or you can take your file to an office supply type store (ex., Staples) and print it yourself. This will create one “poster” that can adhered to a display board for the Gallery Walk. Printing Option 2 – You may take the information from your PowerPoint file and separate it out to print on your own home printer. Then these individual pieces could be adhered to a display board for the Gallery Walk. The Gallery Walk Poster Template is available in MyClasses. Use this file to create your final product that will be displayed at the Gallery Walk. Every intern MUST create one of these files that can be uploaded into LiveText. This is how your Student Impact Study will be graded. Final poster dimensions = 48 inches wide by 36 inches tall. 48 inches 36 inches

APA Style When you make reference or cite the resources you used to help you create your Plan of Action, it is essential that you correctly cite your sources. All citations and references must be cited using APA rules. If you need assistance with this, please either visit the SU Writing Center at Or you can visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) at

Wrapping Up! Action Research – SLO – Student Impact Study KWL Chart Know Want to Know Learned What are the THREE big ideas that you are taking away?