1. To Act, Or Not To Act? Drama In The Classroom
Lauren E. Duerson
ED-7202
Spring 2012

2. Table of Contents Statement of the Problem…. Slide 3
Literature Review… Slide 4
Hypothesis… Slide 6
Participants/ Instruments… Slide 7
Research Design… Slide 8
Threats To Validity… Slide 9
Proposed Data/ Procedure… Slide 11
Results for Pre Test/ Post Test… Slide 12
Correlations… Slide 13
Data Dispersion… Slide 16
Discussion and Implementation… Slide 17
References… Slide 18

3. Statement of the Problem
Economic recessions create widespread budget cutbacks that greatly effect the public school system. As a result, job retention and hiring consists of multi-subject and special needs teachers verses those who specialize in the arts such as drama.
No Child Left Behind Act legislation has created a focus on math and literacy achievement in the United States of America with a goal of general and mass achievement by 2014.
Testing is the determining factor in student and teacher success. Therefore teachers and administrators are forced to teach to the test with a focus placed on math, science, and literacy. This means that social studies and the arts are not covered in classrooms in the same detail as the other subjects, if at all.

4. Review Of Literature The Pros
Drama improves the cognitive ability to remember, therefore, by acting in a story or history’s dramatization, children retain and understand more of the story’s concepts and content. (George. 2000)
Drama improves personal self-confidence for teachers and students. Drama improves social skills between peers and creates communication with teachers and students. Drama can improve physical and emotional abilities through expression and movement. (George. 2000)
Drama encourages children to question material, create images, determine the importance of details found in the texts, and encourages further inference and synthesis of reading. (Rosler. 2008)
The arts, such as drama allow children to participate through movement, which is crucial for non-native speaker participation. (Ulbricht. 2011)

5. Review Of Literature The Cons
No Child Left Behind Act counts three subjects as ‘core’ subjects, therefore there is no balance between the arts and tested curriculums. Tested subjects always win attention over non-tested. (Chapman )
Instructional time is taken away from the subjects that students are tested on when teacher focus on social studies and the arts. If test scores drop in other tested curriculum areas, teachers are scrutinized. (Wills. 2007)
Some teachers are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the arts processes, curriculum, and standards, therefore they do not wish to teach learning through dramatic practices. (Stanfa, O Shea. 1998)
Dramatic presentation and implementation (as well as action research) in the classroom can take more preparation than other subjects of the curriculum. (Sanders. 2006)

6. Hypothesis
By integrating dramatic role- playing activities within social studies lessons over a six- week period of time to twenty-four students at Public School X in Brooklyn, New York, students will increase test scores in the social sciences curriculum.

7. Participants/ Instruments
One group of 24 non- randomly assigned students, with no controlled group from P.S. X in Brooklyn New York.
Pre Test And Post Test
Six total tests (completed twice) based upon lesson administered.
Student Surveys-
Determines attitudes of self as a student.
Identifies hours spent each week completing Social Studies homework.
Determines attitudes of importance of learning the material.

8. Research Design Pre-Experimental Design
One group of 24 non-randomly assigned students, with no controlled group. This experimental design may also be referenced as the One-Group Pre-test/ Post-test Design.
Symbolic Design: OXO
The single group of participants (O) will be pre-tested before being given the treatment (X), and a post-tested (O) in order to determine the experiment’s success.

9. Threats To Internal Validity
History: Unforeseen schedule changes/ student or teacher absences.
Maturation: Six weeks of exposure, possible growth.
Testing/Pre-test Sensitization: Pre-test offers a glimpse of what to look for during lesson.
Instrumentation: Tools created by researcher, possible bias based upon student knowledge.
Mortality: Student absences/ Guardian requests student no longer participates.
Differential Selection of Subjects: Drama not offered at school, does not take place in the homes.
Selection-Maturation Interaction: Student maturity and growth differs.
Generalizable Conditions: Student interest in dramatic arts will vary.

10. Threats To External Validity
Pre-test Treatment: Pre-test given, students may try to memorize information.
Specificity of Variables: Researcher did not influence gender selection, social studies lessons vary on type of dramatic role-play that can be implemented.
Experimenter Effects: Researcher previously worked with experimental group (students), biased questions could be created.

11. Proposed Data/ Procedure
Pre-test and Post-test: Teacher administers a pre-test at the beginning of the lesson. Teacher will then administer the lesson, and give the children the same test as a post-test to see what knowledge has been obtained through the lesson.
Student Survey: Teacher gives each student the same survey which looks at personal opinions, student habits, and student demographic data.

12. Results: Pre-test and Post-test Scores

13. Results: Correlation Of Post-test Averages To Personal Opinion Of NY Historical Importance
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14. Results: Correlation Of Post-test Averages To Hours Studied Per Week (Social Studies)
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15. Results: Correlation Of Post-test Averages To Personal Attitude Of Work Ethics and Intelligence
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16. Data Dispersion Post Test Scores Mean: 8.01 Mode: 8
Standard Deviation: .96
45% is within one deviation (+/-)
83% is within two deviations (+/-)

17. Discussion And Implications
The action research study shows that students scores will increase from the pre test average to the post test average after the students have participated in dramatic role-playing activities.
There is no correlation between the pre test and post test scores and the students attitudes towards learning history, their self-image as a student, and the hours dedicated towards homework each week in the social studies curriculum.
Further research is needed:
To determine if the post test results would remain the same from exposure to dramatic role-play weeks after the original treatment is administered.
If increasing the length of the study would change results.
Smaller group sizes would change the post test scores.

18. References
Chapman, L. (2005). No child left behind in art? Art Education, 58(1), 6-16.
DiMartino, S. (2010). A note to beginning drama teachers. Stage of Art, 16(3),
Freese, J. R. (1998). An old friend of the social studies teacher. Canadian Social Studies, 32(4),
Fresch, E. (2003). Children preservice teachers teach: effects of an early social studies field experience. International Journal of Social Education, 18(1),
George, N. J. (2000). Beneficial use of dramatics in the classroom. The New England Reading Association, 36(2), 6-10.
Goodnow, M. (2004) Bringing history to life in the elementary classroom. Montessori Life, 16(3),
Hausfather, S. J. (1996). Vygotsky and schooling: creating a social context for learning. Action In Teacher Education,18(1), 1-10.
Healy, J.W. (2008). The world’s a stage. Teaching, 37(6),
Kan, K. H. (2011). How Singapore adolescent students embody meaning with school art. Studies In Art Education, 52(2),
Kornfeld, J. & Leyden, G. (2005). Acting out: literature, drama, and connecting with history. The Reading Teacher, 53(5),
Kovacs, P. (2009). Education for democracy: it is not an issue of dare; it is an issue of can. Teacher Education Quarterly, 36(1), 9-23.
Lynch, P. (2007). Making meaning many ways: an exploratory look at integrating the arts with classroom curriculum. Art Education, 60(4),
Manzo, K K. (2008). Analysis finds time stolen from other subjects for math, reading. Education Week. 27(25). 6.
Miller, E. (1996). Understanding the universal: using drama to create meaning. The New England Reading Association Journal, 32(3), 7-12.

19. References
Miller, E. (1996). Understanding the universal: using drama to create meaning. The New England Reading Association Journal, 32(3), 7-12.
Miller, M. (2011). Fight or flight: coping with the anxiety of an inner city theatre teacher. Incite/Insight, 3(1),
Morris, R. V. (2003). Acting out history: students reach across time and space. International Journal of Social Education, 18(1),
O’Donoghue, D. (2009). Are we asking the wrong questions in arts-based research? Studies In Art Education, 50(4),
O Shea, D. J., & Stanfa, K. (1998). The play’s the thing for reading comprehension. Teaching Exceptional Children, 31(2),
Phillips, A. (2011). Even before layoffs, schools lost 135 arts teachers. The New York Times Retrieved from:
Rebell, M. A., & Wolff, J. R. (2011) When schools depend on handouts. The New York Times, Retrieved from:
Rosler, B. (2008). Process drama in one fifth-grade social studies class. The Social Studies (Washington D.C.), 99(6),
Rotherham, A. J. (2011). Budget cuts in the classroom: what’s on the chopping block? Time Magazine, 1-3. Retrieved from:

20. References
Sanders, J. H. (2006). Performing arts-based education research: an epic drama of practice, precursors, problems, and possibilities. Studies In Art Education, 48(1),
Schmidt, L. (2011). Putting the social back in social studies. Social Studies Review, 50(1),
Styslinger, M.E. (2000). Relations of power in education: the teacher and Foucault. Journal of Educational Thought, 34(2),
Ulbricht, J. (2011). Changing art education’s master narrative. Art Education, 64(3), 6-10.
Wallis, C. (2008). No child left behind; doomed to fail? Time Magazine Retrieved from:
Wilhelm, J. D. (2006). The age of drama. Educational Leadership, 63(7),
Wills, J. S. (2007). Putting the squeeze on social studies: managing teaching dilemmas in subject areas excluded from state testing. The New England Reading Association, 36(2), 6-10.
Websites
Howard Gardner: Multiple Intelligences and Education Retrieved October 10,
Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory Retrieved October 10,
O’Connor-Petruso, S. (2010). Descriptive Statistics Threats to Validity [PowerPoint slides] Retrieved March 15,