Action Research for Education
Rationale
The strategy that was implemented with the kindergarteners at Ridgedale Elementary was to provide adequate practice opportunities in order to supplement the spiral mathematics’ curriculum. The study focused on providing regular review sessions and practice time for a unit based on money, which is a concept that had already been introduced to the students through the regular math curriculum. This strategy was chosen because the school wide math scores are lower than the other core subjects. The spiral curriculum at the school is thought to fail to provide students with the basic skills needed to understand core concepts such as number sense. By providing the students with more opportunities for practice by supplementing the curriculum, it allowed the students to memorize and generalize these concepts.
The study was based over two weeks of daily reviews or short practice sessions with the theme of money. The topic was chosen because money is an abstract concept that is often hard for students to grasp in short periods of time. It is also stated in the West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives (CSO’s) that the students must learn about coins. By the end of the study, most of the students were hoped to reach mastery level.
The bulk of the quantitative data was taken from the pre and post assessment. The pre assessment was given before any extra practice opportunities had been provided. The post assessment was after the weeks of implementation and was the same as the pre assessment. The students sat one-on-one with the teacher and were asked a series of questions about coins and money. They were allowed to use actual coins to determine the answers. Data was also gathered through journal entries and samples of student work. The pre-instruction information was gathered immediately within the first two days of the placement. Formative assessments were gathered throughout in the form of student work and reflections, and the summative information
The strategy that was implemented with the kindergarteners at Ridgedale Elementary was to provide adequate practice opportunities in order to supplement the spiral mathematics’ curriculum. The study focused on providing regular review sessions and practice time for a unit based on money, which is a concept that had already been introduced to the students through the regular math curriculum. This strategy was chosen because the school wide math scores are lower than the other core subjects. The spiral curriculum at the school is thought to fail to provide students with the basic skills needed to understand core concepts such as number sense. By providing the students with more opportunities for practice by supplementing the curriculum, it allowed the students to memorize and generalize these concepts.
The study was based over two weeks of daily reviews or short practice sessions with the theme of money. The topic was chosen because money is an abstract concept that is often hard for students to grasp in short periods of time. It is also stated in the West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives (CSO’s) that the students must learn about coins. By the end of the study, most of the students were hoped to reach mastery level.
The bulk of the quantitative data was taken from the pre and post assessment. The pre assessment was given before any extra practice opportunities had been provided. The post assessment was after the weeks of implementation and was the same as the pre assessment. The students sat one-on-one with the teacher and were asked a series of questions about coins and money. They were allowed to use actual coins to determine the answers. Data was also gathered through journal entries and samples of student work. The pre-instruction information was gathered immediately within the first two days of the placement. Formative assessments were gathered throughout in the form of student work and reflections, and the summative information
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