Closing the Achievement Gap

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Closing the Achievement Gap

• Using Action Research to Solve School
  Problems
• Session II
• Johnson C. Smith University
• Merry Oaks International Learning Academy
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• National Professional Development Conference
• Las Vegas, Nevada
  
• Friday, March 30th, 2007

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Members of the Team

• Deborah Bailey, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of
  Elementary Education
• Johnson C. Smith University
• Kathryn Swett, M.Ed.
• Academic Facilitator , E.E. Waddell High
  School
• Formerly Merry Oaks International
• Academy of Learning
• Veronica Kodzai
• 5th Grade Teacher,
• Merry Oaks International Academy of Learning

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Institutional Partners and Participating Schools

• Merry Oaks International Academy
• pre-K through 5th grade
• Advantage Carolina
• Central Piedmont Community College
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
• Johnson C. Smith University
• Queens University of Charlotte
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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PDS Project Goals

• 1st Year
• Initiate Family Literacy Involvement
• Develop Teacher Candidates
• 2nd Year
• Increase Family Literacy Involvement
• Enhance Teacher Candidates
• Research Teaching Practices
• enhance teacher candidates,
• professional development, research and teaching
  practice, and student learning
• 3rd Year
• Conduct Action Research Projects
• Continue Family Literacy Activities

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School Demographics
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Research Question

• Will improving motivation towards learning
  for minority males through character education
  increase academic achievement in an urban
  elementary school?

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Literature Research

• Hispanic-American students drop out from high
  school at higher rates than do white students
  (Ogle, 1990), and are less likely to attend
  college than other ethnic groups (St. John,
  1991).
• Black and Hispanic family life frequently has
  been portrayed in the scholarly literature as
  bleak, disrupted, and impoverished.
• Thomas Lickona describes in Educating for
  Character Respect and Responsibility are the
  fourth and fifth Rs that schools not only may
  but also must teacher if they are to develop
  ethically literate persons who can take their
  place as responsible citizens of society.

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Action Research Project

• Proposed Goal
• Improving overall academic achievement with
  minority males attitude and motivation towards
  school
• Ongoing Goals
• Teaching Character Education Program
• Assessment Observation Tools, Surveys
• Analyzing Test Data

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Character Counts!
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Character Education Program

• Targeted Character Traits
• Respect
• Kindness
• Integrity
• Perseverance
• Responsibility
• Honesty

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Motivation of Male Students

• Researchers have described motivation as the
  willingness to invest time in mastering a
  learning objective. (Carroll, 1989 Walberg,
  1981)
• Motivation Strategies
• Classroom
• School-wide
• Extrinsic
• Intrinsic

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Research Methodology

• Data Collection
• Pre/Post Surveys
• Anecdotal Notes
• Data Analysis
• state standardized tests
• district quarterly assessments

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Student Survey

• Developed by PDS team and 5th grade teachers
• Administrated to two 5th grade classrooms
• African-American / Latino Males
• Taken in school computer lab with Spanish
  translators present
• Student surveys monitored by
• classroom teachers
• Developed as an online tool using the
• Flashlight Tool
• http//flashlightonline.wsu.edu
• www.tltgroup.edu

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5 Targeted Student Survey Questions

• In order to be successful in life, I must
  graduate from High School.
• Getting good grades in school is important to
  me.
• 3. School is important to me.
• 4. I have a male role model.
• Completing my homework and reading every night
  is important
• to me.

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Whats Next ?

• Action Research Plan - Chart
• Post Survey Analysis
• Interpret Test data to determine growth
• Recommendations
• Future Implementations

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• Implementation Chart