Detailed Plan

Goal: Determine the relationship between the instructional model used in middle school (separate reading and English or integrated language arts block) and the overall success/preparedness for high school reading and writing skills. Determine how teacher collaboration skills/habits on middle school campuses affects student success.

Action Step(s)    Person(s) Responsible    Time Line: Start/End    Needed Resources    Evaluation
1. Conduct brief review of available literature.    Myself, Kristin Hebert (secondary ELA/R coordinator)    March 2011-April 2011    EBSCO, professional journals, NCTE resources    Is literature on the subject available? What has worked/not worked in other districts? What structure do the majority of Texas middle schools use?

2. Conduct review of TAKS data for feeder cohorts between years 2006-2011, 2005-2010, 2004-2009, and 2003-2008 from CHS and WHS feeder middle schools    Myself, site supervisor, Dr. Mike Waldrip (asst superintendent for data analysis), and Cindy Parry (technology/Aware resource)    March 2011-May 2011    Aware, data resources from both high schools, technological know-how from Dr. Waldrip and Ms. Parry    What patterns emerge, especially in written portions of tests? Do subpops perform at different levels based on schedule? What other factors are at play?

3. Design and administer freshmen student surveys. Interview high school English I teachers. (Can I ask HS teachers to give overall picture of grades earned by these students?)    Myself, English I teachers, permission of HS principals    April 2011-May 2011    Surveys to examine for possible questions, time to collaborate with HS teachers, 10-15 minutes of classtime to administer survey, several hours of intern time to disaggregate and compile survey results.    Create excel spreadsheet that groups survey results and teacher-provided info by feeder. Analyze results – do patterns appear? What other factors may be at play? Compile list of overall reactions and emerging thoughts.

4. Interview MS teachers to ascertain collaborative structures and habits between Reading and English teachers on separate schedules.    Myself, MS teachers (volunteers), K. Hebert, Michele Risoli, permission of MS principals    August 2012-October 2012    30-minute block of time during collaborative planning period of separate teams.    How do teachers feel about overall effectiveness of their schedule? Have any taught on an ILA block? How would they compare effectiveness? What collaborative structures seem to produce results – in teacher perspective? In student achievement data?

5. Implement collaborative planning structures (possibly online) where none exist    MS teachers (volunteers), K. Hebert, Michele Risoli, permission of MS principals    November 2012    Time for planning to occur; possibly Moodle or other online source    What collaborative structures seem to produce results – in teacher perspective? In student achievement data?

6. Collect writing samples from beginning and mid-year students, graded on the 6-traits rubric by English I teachers.    Volunteer English I teachers, myself, HS principal permission    August 2011 and January 2012.    Similar writing assignments for English I classes at both HSs. Cooperation of English I teachers. Time to photocopy or collect written responses.    Does writing improve more in the freshman year for one group over the other? Is writing stronger at the start of the year for one group over the other?