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Project Description
- Maintaining Balance and Prospective in the Classroom: Can Classroom Communication Systems Preserve Excellence on Standardized Tests While Creating a More Learner-Centered, Inquiry Based Approach to Learning?
- There is considerable evidence that the US lags behind other countries in mathematics instruction (TIMSS 2003). In 2001, the No Child Left Behind legislation sought to address this issue through mandated high stakes testing. While this testing has raised mathematics scores in many states (NAEP 2005), the effects on instruction have been controversial. Many researchers have found that teachers have abandoned cognitively sound teaching approaches such as constructivist and inquiry methods for more passive test-centered approaches. Hoffman et al (2001) discovered reading teachers in Texas spend on average 10 hours per week preparing students for state tests. In their survey they found the most common test preparation activities reported by Texas teachers included demonstrating how to mark the answer sheet correctly, providing test-taking tips, teaching test-taking skills, teaching or reviewing topics that would be on the test, and using commercial test-preparation materials and tests from previous years for practice (Hoffman et al., 2001, p. 6). While these methods have dramatically increased scores on state tests, the increases are not reflected in national achievement scores suggesting that increases on state mandated tests do not necessarily reflect greater learning. Stecher (2000) found that while Texas students performed better on the state tests, their NAEP scores did not increase. The increased emphasis on teaching to the test has mathematics education researchers worried. Deborah Ball voiced the following concern in her testimony before the Secretary’s Summit on Mathematics (2003): Although the typical methods of improving instructional quality have been to develop curriculum, and—especially in the last decade—to articulate standards for what students should learn, little improvement is possible without direct attention to the practice of teaching. Jo Boaler and Megan Staples (2005) contend that the success of reform oriented curricula requires teachers’ careful attention to the ways students need to engage. It is this constructivist engagement of students that suffers when high stakes test preparation becomes the focus of instruction. The purpose of this proposal is to address the types of interactions that occur within mathematics classrooms in a state with high stakes tests. The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test was mandated by the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999, and first administered in the 2002-2003 school year. McNeil High School in central Texas has by all accounts been successful in passing TAKS exams. In fact, this suburban school with approximately 2700 students has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon school for being academically superior in the state of Texas. This success has not come without deliberate effort and attention. Consideration of exams is made by each department, ensuring that the curriculum addresses all material on the test. Students practice problems daily and TAKS review guides are available in each classroom. Students “Get on Track for TAKS” through the free TAKS Readiness and Core Knowledge program on the UT TeleCampus. Has the design for this definition of success come at a price? Have schools sacrificed effective teaching for more immediate results? In 2002, a study was completed in Ohio that concluded that the use of classroom communication systems (CCS) created learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community centered classrooms (“Developing Pedagogy for Wireless Calculator Networks and Researching Teacher Professional Development,” Owens, et al, ERIC #ED479499). Can this technology create an environment that supports both learner-centered teaching and effective test taking skills? How does this type of assessment impact a teacher’s ability to respond to student needs? I propose to implement such a system in the math department of McNeil High School to determine if there is an impact on student ability to define, interpret, solve, and explain mathematical processes using critical and higher level thinking skills. McNeil High School mathematics teachers will receive the TI Navigator System and NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics-based training on its functions and usability. This system features an activity center, quick poll, class analysis, and screen capture abilities, and will be part of the school’s math lab, remaining accessible to all students and math classes. In turn, teachers will incorporate this technology into their lesson plans, utilizing the system and establishing a collection of materials to be shared throughout the department. Every mathematics class will participate, use, and examine the classroom communication system in this practical setting. With this tool for assessment, teachers may be better able to respond to cues appropriately benefiting not only the teaching environment, but also serving the personal needs of the students and collective needs of the class (Marzano and Marzano 12). Retention and application of mathematics will be increased and students will view mathematics more holistically.
Ball, D. L. (February 6, 2003) Secretary's Summit on Mathematics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. Brooks, J. & Brooks, M. (1999). Chapter 9: Becoming a Constructivist Teacher. In In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms (101-118). VA: ASCD. Gardner, H., Kornhaber, M.L., Wake, Warren. Intelligence: Multiple Perspectives. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996. Hoffman, J.V., Assaf, L.C., & Paris, S.G. (2001). High-stakes testing in reading: Today in Texas, tomorrow? The Reading Teacher, 54(5), 482-494. Marzano & Marzano (2003). The Key to Classroom Management. Educational Leadership, 61 (1), 6-13. Newton, P., Driver, R., & Osborne, J. (1999) The Place of Argumentation in the Pedagogy of School Science. The International Journal of Science Education, 21 (5), excerpt from 553-576. Stecher, B., Barron, S, Chun, T., & Ross, K. (2000). The effects of the Washington state education reform on schools and classrooms (CSE Technical Report 525). Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing TIMSS 2003. http://nces.ed.gov/timss/Results03.asp valuation, Standards, and Student Testing. Vygotsky, L.S. Problems of General Psychology. New York: Plenum Press, 1988. Vol. 1 of The Collected Works of L.S. Vygotsky. 6 Vols. 1988-99.
- For completion of this project, the Algebra Lab at McNeil High School must be equipped with the TI-Navigator System, including Access Point, student hubs, charging bays, and related software. These materials work in conjunction with the schools current supply of graphing calculators and personal computers, and will be located and maintained by the lab director. With a central setting accommodating 36 student and instructor users, this will ensure accessibility for McNeil High School’s Mathematics Department.
Standard TI Navigator Classroom Learning System TI (Contains 1 Classroom Kit- 1 Access Point, 2 Student Kits which contain: 8 Network Hubs, 2 Charging Bays, & 32 72” Unit Link Cables). |
$3995 |
Epson Powerlite 61P LCD Projector 2000 ANSXI Lumens |
$1199 |
TI Navigator 4-User Individual Kit (Contains 1 Network Hub, 1 Dongle Connector Cable, and 4 72” Unit Link Cables) |
$449 |
TI Presenter (Video interface for use with TI ViewScreen products; links to televisions and other video devices) |
$240 |
TI-84PLUS ViewScreen Calculator |
$140 |
Tuition and travel allowance for two teachers from McNeil High School, to attend a TI-Navigator Summer Institute in the summer of 2006 |
$2000 |
Upon successful completion, those attending the Navigator Summer Institute will conduct a workshop for McNeil High School teachers of mathematics (18-22 expected trainees for full implementation) |
In kind |
- As research has reported the benefits of learner-centered education and classroom communication systems have been shown to support these systems, the hypothesis of this study is that these tools can help bridge the gap between test focused exercises and problem based lessons. Study assessments during the 2006-2007 school year may include student and teacher surveys, classroom observations, and interviews, as well as consideration of McNeil High School’s own performance indicators including surveys, test scores, and student performance (available at http://www.roundrockisd.org/home/index.asp?page=585). Assessments of focus groups will include use of Dr. Jo Boaler’s pre- and post- assessments from the “Stanford Mathematics Teaching and Learning Study” (http://www.stanford.edu/~joboaler/math_tl.html). Other forms of assessments may be completed by University of Texas interns, McNeil High School Personnel, or Ellen Lukasik. Dr. Gail Dickinson (professor in the UTeach Department at the University of Texas) and Ellen Lukasik (pre-service math teacher) will compile, analyze, and report the results and conclusions of the research, submitting an article for considered publication to “Journal for Research in Mathematics Education” within one year of completion of the research. The TI Navigator System will remain the property of the Round Rock Independent School District.
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