Engaging Faculty and Preservice Teacher Candidates in a PDS Action Research Program David Henry, Buffalo State College Contact: Robyn Ruiz, graduate student, Buffalo State College Courtney Hammond, graduate student, Buffalo State College Kelly Pershyn, 6 th grade teacher, William Street School, Ami Cole, 4 th grade teacher, William Street School

The William Street School/Buffalo State College PDS is a flourishing partnership hinging on the roles played by college and school faculty and teacher candidates. Our PDS partnership has two main components: (1) An elementary science and math methods course taught on-site and (2) student teaching cohorts. The administrative support has been critical in sustaining this partnership. This year, we have been focusing on an action research component. Dr. Henry works at William Street School (WSS) two days every week teaching teacher candidates in a math/science methods and field experience course, supervising the practicum and partnering with teachers and teacher candidates in developing effective science instruction. All of the teacher candidates participate in the action research program. Working in multi-grade level teams, the teacher candidates research children’s thinking in one area of math or science. The areas of research are suggested by the William Street School PDS Liaison Committee. This Committee is made up of the Buffalo State Faculty, WSS Principal, two WSS teachers, and two Teacher candidates. The areas of research are selected to support current curriculum work and professional development being done at the school. Throughout the semester, the teacher candidates do background research, interview children, and analyze the data. The results are presented by the teacher candidates to the whole school faculty at the end of the semester. In this presentation, we will share information about how the action research projects work and show posters summarizing a few recent projects.

Buffalo State College Professional Development School Consortium 2011 NAPDS Award for Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement 700 childhood, early childhood and combined teacher candidates 300 childhood/special education teacher candidates 40 Masters with Initial Certification teacher candidates 25 Literacy Specialists

Buffalo State PDS Consortium School Sites 22 PDS sites for ELA, Science & Math, and EC methods courses 25+ sites for student teaching cohorts 1 site for the Literacy Specialist program

Masters Including Initial Teaching Certification (MIITC) 5-12 students in each cohort 60 credit, 4 semester program Semester 2: ELA Methods –Urban PDS, two days/week –Action Research Project Semester 3: Science and Math methods –Suburban PDS, two days/week –Action Research Project Semester 4: Student Teaching –Two placements, one urban, one Suburban –Action Research Masters Project

Buffalo State PDS Consortium Governance Shared Decision Making Advisory Council & By-Laws Liaison Committees Signed Agreements

Buffalo State PDS Consortium Activities 4 whole consortium meetings each year Fall Annual retreat for professional development and presentations Action Research mini- grants Additional Professional Development opportunities

William Street School PDS Partnership PDS Methods Courses –12-16 students –Meets twice a week for a total of 8 hours –Each student is placed in a classroom for about 8 weeks, most students spend at least 12 hours/week in the classroom Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy

Action Research in Teaching Methods Courses Action research can be defined many ways*. Most definitions include four basic themes: empowerment of participants, collaboration through participation, acquisition of knowledge, and social change. Our students’ are action research novices and may conduct the research in the context of a larger, long term school study. We are loosely guided by movement through five phases of inquiry: *ACTION RESEARCH by Eileen Ferrance Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory At Brown University Identification of problem area Collection and organization of data Interpretation of data Action based on data Next Steps Evaluate Actions

Action Research Goals A significant component of our PDS partnerships is collaboration in action research with the School partners. The Buffalo State faculty and the School leaders set the focus of the research.

Action Research Procedure Form Teams (Usually multiple grade levels) Review the Literature –Some assigned readings, some student searching –Writing a literature review (Collaborative?) Obtaining or designing appropriate measures –Most important, but most difficult step –Much faculty guidance Assess students Forming Action Steps Assessment Reflection, Dissemination Multiple Semesters

Benefits and results of the WSS- PDS partnership PDS Action research projects –Grade 6: Respiratory System –Grade 6: Gender difference in teaching and learning mathematics –Grade 5: Magnetism and Energy –Grade 5: Electric circuits –Grade 5: Teaching about the Sun, Earth and Moon –Grade 4: Static Electricity and Magnetism

Examples of Action Research: Completed Projects These are projects where the cycle has been completed and curriculum changes have been instituted. –Static Electricity and Magnetism (2 years) –Electricity and Energy (8 years) –Sun, Earth and Moon (5 years)

Examples of Action Research: On-going Projects Fall 2010 (Science Focus) –Photosynthesis –Adaptation and Evolution –Alternative Energy and Global Warming Spring 2011 (Math Focus) –Fractions –Math Fluency (Math Facts) Fall 2011 –Math Fluency, RTI- Modified Level III intervention Spring 2012 (New PDS School) –Math Fluency (starting the cycle!)

Closer look at the Sun, Earth and Moon –Fall 2003: Grade 5 teachers find out that they are responsible for teaching about the Sun, Earth and Moon. Science Methods student works with D. Henry and teacher to develop two lessons for this unit –Spring 2004: D. Henry trains science methods students in teaching new lessons Several Science Methods students teach the lessons that were developed –Fall 2005: Student teacher from Spring methods course completes the Sun, Earth & Moon unit Methods students continue to teach selected lessons –Fall 2006: Student teacher who developed unit gets hired to teach grade 5, does action research on this unit for her masters project. Methods students continue to teach selected lessons –Summer 2007: D. Henry does workshop for all WSS grade 5 teachers on Sun, Earth, Moon unit

Closer look at the Sun, Earth and Moon –Fall 2003: Grade 5 teachers find out that they are responsible for teaching about the Sun, Earth and Moon. Science Methods student works with D. Henry and teacher to develop two lessons for this unit –Spring 2004: D. Henry trains science methods students in teaching new lessons Several Science Methods students teach the lessons that were developed –Fall 2005: Student teacher from Spring methods course completes the Sun, Earth & Moon unit Methods students continue to teach selected lessons –Fall 2006: Student teacher who developed unit gets hired to teach grade 5, does action research on this unit for her masters project. Methods students continue to teach selected lessons –Summer 2007: D. Henry does workshop for all WSS grade 5 teachers on Sun, Earth, Moon unit

Benefits and results of the WSS- PDS partnership Science Curriculum Unit Development –Several science units have been developed as part of our PDS partnership Electricity and Energy (grade 4) Static Electricity and Magnetism (grade 4) Sun, Earth and Moon (grade 5) Magnets and Motors (grade 5) Alternative Energy and Global Warming (Grade 6)

Benefits of action research in methods courses Faculty/teacher research –Three current and several future publications have come out of the WSS-BSC PDS partnership Naab, L and Henry, D. (In press, 2008) Investigating Static Electricity. Science and Children Murray, R., Grande, M, DiCamillo, L., Henry, D. & Henry, J. (2008). The annotated unit: A systematic approach to documenting candidate effectiveness in facilitating P-12 student learning. Action in Teacher Education. Henry, D., Henry J., Riddoch, S. (2006) Whiteboarding Your Way to Great Student Discussions. Science Scope, 30(4). Helping curriculum alignment (communication) –D. Henry currently sits on the WSS science curriculum committee. This committee is charged with developing a curriculum map for grades 4-6.

Challenges