Continuing Action Research

I am excited about really beginning the journey that is action research. I feel that good educators constantly do this on an informal scale each day. Action research is about being a problem solver. I am so excited to see how general education students are effected by being in a co-teach classroom. I already see where some new wonderings will come in. I am thinking about how do the teachers work together and share responsibility. I know more wonderings will come up as I go along.

Creating my action Research Plan

When I began this class and found out I needed to have an action research project I immediately begin thinking about my own class. I am the general education teacher in a co-teach classroom. I have been in a co-teach or inclusion environment for the last 3 years. I know this is a great placement for special education children, but there have been times when I have questioned if the general education students are benefited. This has always been a concern of mine. As I read through the nine passions and read through my other readings it was clear where my heart was leading me. I always want to remember that the reason I am in education is because of my love of children. I always want to make sure they are ALL getting the best education possible.

Action Research Plan

Co- Teach Science Action Research Plan

Goal:   After reviewing the research on inclusion or co-teach classes I came up with a plethora of research proving the benefits for the special education population, however I could find no research on how it affected the learning of regular education students. My goal is to determine if co-teach or inclusion classes as beneficial to a regular education student as a non-co-teach classroom.

Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline Start/end	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Student’s Grades- Did students in a co-teach class make the same growth as a students in a non-co-teach class?	April Dagley	June 2012	E-school Spreadsheet to compare data	Evaluate the academic growth of the student in the co-teach class compared to  their peers in the non-co-teach class.
Student’s Grades- Compare student’s growth in grades from last year compared to this year.	April Dagley	June 2012	E-School Spreadsheet to compare data	Did they show the same amount of growth from one year to the next?
Student Survey – survey the students two times during the year regarding their feelings about being in co-teach classroom.	April Dagley Karen Cravens	January 2012, May 2012	Paper for survey Copy clicks to run survey Spreadsheet to track responses from students	Student ratings in their opinion of how they felt having two teachers, the amount of time that was spent on them vs. special education students, and the rigor compared to previous years.