Action Research Project Report - Draft

Action Research Project Report

Same Gender Classrooms at the Middle School Level – Does it equal Higher Achievement on Standardized Tests?

Needs Assessment – On our sixth grade campus, parents are given the choice of whether or not to place their child into a same gender classroom.  This campus has been exemplary for the past 3 years.  When they get to our middle school campuses, something happened.  For some reason, these students aren’t performing as well.

Objectives and Vision of the Action Research project – The inquiry question that I will ask will be “Does same gender classrooms affect student achievement and performance on standardized tests?”  Through gathering data of students involved in this program on the sixth grade campus, I will attempt to determine if there is a correlation between these same gender classrooms and standardized test scores.  The middle school age is an awkward time and I have often wondered if the distraction of the opposite gender were removed, would it affect achievement.

Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy - Marsh, Pane, and Hamilton (2006) state that “information becomes actionable knowledge when data users synthesize the information, apply their judgment to prioritize it, and weigh the relative merits of possible solutions.”  They also stated that local assessments done more frequently were more valuable in providing diagnostic data than the once-a-year standardized test.  By using district benchmarks in my data, it will be more helpful in determining a more true observation.

My mentor and myself agreed that information on this topic would indeed be valuable.  If we see a correlation, it can help drive the planning of our master schedule.  Together, we decided to gather information of our 8^th grade students this school year.  I received data from our sixth grade campus which informed me of the students involved.  I am in the process of gathering benchmark scores and AKS scores from 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th grades.  This process has been a little slower because my district is transitioning from DMAC to Euphoria this year.

Marsh, J., Pane, J., and Hamilton, L. (2006).  Making Sense of Data-Driven Decision Making in Education. Rand Education.

Articulate the Vision – The vision of this research will be communicated to administrators and counselors.  IF there is a need for some changes in next years’ master schedule, we will address them upon completion of data disaggregation.  There would be no need to give the research results to the parents, students or community, unless our campus decided to try this process.  In that case, the parents would receive information from the study.

Manage the Organization – I will collect data from several sources.  First of all, I will need a list of students that participated in these groups at the 6^th grade campus.  Secondly, I will need access to benchmarks and TAKS scores from 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th grades.  I will compile the information gathered and look at trends.  I asked for help from the counselor at the sixth grade campus as well as our campus counselor.  I will not be using and money since I can access the information through my district.

Manage Operations – Talking with administration and counselors will be my main strategy in the operation of the project.  Thus far, there has not been any conflict arising from the process of collecting data.  There may be conflict later when results are being discussed.  Most of this research is done by me so there really would not be any consensus.

Response to Community Interest and Needs – My district is comprised of many economically disadvantaged families and has a growing minority population.  IF this research shows benefits from same gender classrooms, then students will be serviced and their needs will be addressed.