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RATIONALE
History
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I had two students on a behavior plan because they struggled with following directions, giving effort, and showing respect. I tracked their behaviors on a chart at the end of each subject area, so this did not disrupt my daily instruction. Out of my 18 students, I served four students with IEPs (Individualized Education Program). Of these four, two received academic assistance in both reading and mathematics. These two students were left out of the data because they received math instruction from our special education teacher and did not participate in the differentiated math instruction that was going on in our classroom. I also had a student who had profound hearing loss in the left ear. Based on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) data and observations in my classroom, I had three students tested for our High Ability Learner (HAL) program, and one of these students qualified for services. In the beginning of the year, I had three students who were going through the SAT (Student Assistance Team) process: for either reading, math, or behavior.
I taught fourth grade at a school located in a suburban neighborhood just outside of a large midwestern-metro area. In 2019, there were 321 students enrolled at this school. In my classroom there were 9 boys and 9 girls, for a combined total of 18 fourth graders. The neighborhood in which my school was located was part of an off-base military housing neighborhood where a large portion of active-duty service members and their families resided. Because of the location of my school, we had a very transient population. Of the 18 students in my class, 72% were military-affiliated. The mobility rate of my school in the 2017-2018 school year was 34.49% compared to the state’s which was 10.86%.
Need
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My second data point was observations collected during the whole group setting and independent work time. Through my observations I noticed a lack of accountability in a handful of my students during whole group instruction. My students demonstrated this through off-task conversations, distracting behaviors, and incomplete or unfinished work. The students who demonstrated disengagement were students who fell either under the 40th percentile or above the 60th percentile. Through this observation, I concluded that my whole group instruction was either too challenging or too easy for the majority of my students. Therefore, my whole group instruction time was only benefiting 19% of my class.
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My third data point was timed tests used to practice multiplication fact fluency. These timed math tests allowed me to assess my students’ ability when it came to their automaticity when solving math facts. Through the analysis of the data I collected, I had a range of students who were either fluent in their multiplication facts or were not. For example, I had four students who showed proficiency on every timed test on the first attempt, while I also had students who had only mastered three facts after multiple attempts. Therefore, my students demonstrated a variety of understanding and automaticity levels when it came to solving multiplication facts.
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My fourth data point was formative assessments. On the first formative assessment there was a range of scores. Just over 31% of my class scored an A on the first assessment. On the other side, 25% of my class scored below a C-, with 2 of those students failing. This range of data, although not too sporadic, showed me the two extremes I had represented in my class.
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My fifth data point was a survey to gauge students’ attitude when it came to whole group math instruction. This survey consisted of 9 questions. The set of questions I focused on were “I feel engaged during math instruction;” “I feel challenged during math instruction;” “I feel math instruction is too easy;” and “I feel math instruction is too hard.” As I was going through the data on this survey, I found that only 13% of my class felt engaged during whole group math instruction, while only 31% of my class felt challenged during instruction. Because of this survey, I knew that I needed to change the way I was teaching math to boost engagement and challenge my higher ability learners.
Within my class, there was a significant amount of academic diversity. A great deal of data was gathered in the first quarter which showed an overall need in math. My first data point was the Fall MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) assessment scores in the area of math. After analyzing my students’ MAP data in math, I noticed that very few of my students fell in the average range. More specifically, I found that 44% of my class scored below the 40th percentile, and 37% of my class scored above the 60th percentile. These data points showed me that only 19% of my class scored within the average range. After analyzing this data, I was able to conclude that my whole group math instruction time would not be enough to provide support and intervention for my students below level, while also enriching my students above grade level.
Importance
This study was important because through all of my data points I found that I had a significant range of ability levels when it came to my students in the content area of math. In order for all of my students to succeed and strive, I needed to change the way I was teaching math. My whole group instruction was not benefiting the majority of my class. Differentiated math instruction and rotations allowed for all of my students to receive instruction that was on their level, meaning I could provide intervention for my below level students, support for my on level students, and enrichment for my above level students. These are all things that I was not accomplishing during whole group math instruction. Through guided math rotations, my students learned and had the opportunity to practice important skills such as critical-thinking, cooperative learning, and problem solving all while receiving instruction designed specifically for them and their level. Moving between rotations also allowed my students to practice and improve on their independence and self-motivation when it came to their own learning.
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