Research Plan

EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

Name: Ana Chavira Semester: Fall 2018

Origin of the Question

My cultural background has influenced my teaching pedagogy, influenced my professional

intrigue as a teacher, and therefore now influenced my action research question. I am a first
born Mexican-American, and as a K-4 student, I was labeled as an English language learner.
My language has constantly divided my experiences throughout my life. As a K-4 student, I
lacked the skills and coping mechanisms to address that dividend. I instead juggled learning a
new language while learning content material, all while keeping my family-cultural intact. I
juggled alone! I can now reflect that the constant juggling of languages and my reclusiveness
did indeed prolong my journey to success. An example of this can be my feelings towards
math, and how my language barrier prolonged my success in math. Due to the juggling, I
recall that despite having strong number skills, I dreaded math story problems, because I knew
they made my language barrier evident. The inability for me to bridge language skills with
math skills eventually led me to constantly be anxious about math and made me dislike the
subject as a K-12 student. Just like me, I suspect that there is many K-12 students of
underrepresented minority groups that because of language barriers, and the lack of resources
given to them, don’t fulfill their full potential in math.

The purpose of this study is to identify promising practices to bridge the gap between math
and literacy achievement in a a second grade classroom, by using oracy during word problem
solving. I will also explore transferable goals between literacy and math, and be able to
increase achievement in students. Common Core (CCSS 2009) was implemented for educators
to ensure students college readiness and prepare them for life skills and success, more than 45
states have adopted (CCSS). Despite (CCSS) being implemented for all students to achieve
success, teachers still find it hard to bridge the achievement gap among students of
underrepresented minorities. The achievement gap starts during our early years, at home and
in communities, “In four years, an average child in a professional family will accumulate
experience with almost 45 million words, an average child in a working-class family 26
million words, and an average child in welfare family 13 million words” (Hart and Risley
2003). Becauses I hold this to be true, I believe that once children of underrepresented
minorities or low-socioeconomic status reach elementary, we as teachers should serve as a
bridge to help close the achievement gap. But even with (CCSS) implemented in K-12
teachers are still having trouble helping students transfer skills across content areas, making it
harder for teachers to be able to serve as a bridge to close the gap. Therefore and also judging
from my observations I am afraid that the students of an underrepresented minority groups will
continue to suffer this gap. In mine observations I’ve observed students who excel in math but
do not achieve success in literacy by second grade; and vice versa, students that excel in
literacy but are not achieving success in math by second grade. I am afraid that students like
these will become at-risk students in the future. It’s probable that the lack of achievement in
one subjects contributes to disengagement in academics overall, and can therefore lower the
graduation rate for minorities, which also contributes to the achievement gap in minority
groups.
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EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

Because of this I am intrigued by the disconnect student show between these two content
areas, and the lack of transferability in skills displayed among both. From my observations, I
can also accurately state that literacy and math are the core contents in an elementary
curriculum, but that despite the importance of both, a different amount of instructional time
and intervention is dedicated to each. By answering my intrigue I hope to offer skills and tools
that students can transfer among subjects, and we can potentially reduce the amount of
intervention needed for math in schools.

I want to answer these intriguing questions during my action research in my student teaching,
because as a teacher I want to offer my students the skills and a bridge to transfer skills
between literacy and math to overcome barriers associated with minority groups. As my own
reflection I can say that personally, overcoming barriers that are attached to my minority
group, has been my greatest achievement. The sense of achievement is something my family
shares and celebrates with me, I want other students and families of underrepresented
minorities to experience achievement in the professional field. Job opportunities in the STEM
world continue to grow, but like in many other cases, minority groups lack representation. I
think that that can be changed. I see myself reflected in the minority groups of my community
that continue to so greatly suffer the effects of the opportunity gap. That needs to change!

References
Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (2003). The Early Catastrophe The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3.
American Educator​. Retrieved October 26, 2018.

Question(s)
1. In what ways will the gap be bridged between math and literacy achievement in a
classroom with underrepresented minority groups when using oracy during word
problem solving s in a second grade classroom?
a. What is the relationship between literacy development and math achievement in
students? Does one affect the other?
b. what is the importance of engaging students in both subjects in K-2?
c. How can comprehension in literacy be transferred and applied in mathematical
knowledge, problem solving skills, math word problems?
d. How can I add discourse and vocabulary in math to improve math skills?
e. How can literacy discussion norms be applied in math?

Literature Review:

The reason for conducting a literature review about my desired topic was to carefully review
peer reviewed articles to guide my action research, and to gain more perspective about the
topic of literacy and math. Being aware of the prior research that has been successfully done
will allow me to add variables to consider while I conduct observations, and refer to experts
findings when I find other questions.
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EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

Schmitt and Purpura (2017) examined children's executive function (EF)skills and the
association EF has with their achievement in content areas like literacy and mathematics. The
setting of this study takes place among children ages 4 to 5 years old and during their
transition between, early childhood education, preschool, to elementary education,
kindergarten. Schmitt and Purpura (2017) research grew from previous findings that state, “
studies indicate that individual differences in EF measured in early childhood predict
concurrent and long-term math and literacy achievement (Duckworth, Tsukayama, & May,
2010; Fuhs, Nesbitt, Farran, & Dong, 2014; McClelland, Acock, Piccinin, Rhea, &
Stallings,2013) as well as growth in children’s higher-level reasoning strategies (Richland &
Burchinal, 2013)” (Schmitt and Purpura 2017). In this study their goal was to track academic
skills particularly math and literacy. They investigated relationships between the two subjects
and tracked the growth among EF, math, and literacy. They explain the interpretation that
math requires more cognitive demands on children than literacy, and suggest EF skills benefit
math growth more but has a weak effect in literacy .They found that EF is in fact related to
math skills consistently over time, but found that EF tends to have little to no effect on literacy
skills. They suggest fostering early math skills along with effective EF during the transition to
kindergarten to foster academic success in later grades. The research and findings provided by
Schmitt and Purpura (2017) add a new potential variable, the variable EF to my study, and to
my desire of finding transferable skills among math and literacy. Including EF skills to my list
of transferable skills can improve academic skills for students to be able to compete in a global
market.

Caponera, Sestito, and Russo (2016) highlight the importance of improving all academic
skills, literacy, math, and science among children, for them to be able to compete in a global
market economy. The studies purpose takes place in the educational system of Italy, Caponera
(2016) and authors state that Italians are lacking behind in all three subject areas compared to
other European countries, and especially in mathematics. Caponera, Sestito, and Russo (2016)
describe in length multiple analysis of multiple test scores among different countries from all
three subjects. They describe the positive correlation between good readers, rich vocabulary,
comprehension and mathematical skills. They also state a positive correlation between good
readers and how they perform on standardized math tests. Caponera, Sestito, and Russo (2016)
also found that English language learners score lower than native English speakers on
mathematical tests. Although there are students that can be outliers in every study, Caponera,
Sestito, and Russo (2016) extensive data analysis does prove the hypothesis that effective
readers perform better in math. After reading Caponera, Sestito, and Russo (2016) the key
underlying finding for me is, effective readers, students need not only know how to read but
to have the vocabulary and comprehension skills, to be able to transfer to math skills. Home
environments play an important role in the acquisition of these academic skills.

Manolitsis, Georgiou, and Tziraki (2013) provide extensive research and findings about the
effects of home environments on children's reading and math acquisition. They ​examined how
the home literacy and numeracy environment children from middle socioeconomic
backgrounds and assessed nonverbal intelligence, literacy skills, early math, counting,
reading, and math fluency in K-1. Parents were also asked regarding the frequency of home
literacy and numeracy activities. The results indicated that parents’ teaching of literacy skills
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EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

predicted reading fluency through the effects of letter knowledge and phonological awareness,
and that parents teaching numeracy skills like counting predicted math fluency. They sought to
evaluate the activities children did at home with their parents and the frequency of each.
Manolitsis, Georgiou, and Tziraki (2013) add another potential important variable and solution
to my ART, adding home environments, to my list of variables along with EF, and literacy
skills.

Kenney (2005) places an important issue upfront, the fact that mathematic teachers often times
don’t see literacy as part of a skill set needed for math. Kenney (2005) goes on to state reading
a ​math text or math problem is very different from any other type of reading. Such reading
requires specific strategies, and explains that many mathematical phrases have different
meaning. Kenney (2005) points out small words make a big difference, and that to know that
you must have a level of proficiency in English. Kenney (2005) goes on to explain strategies
for reading math texts, before, while, and after reading, in her strategies she includes
vocabulary strategies like the frayer model for students to comprehend vocabulary.

Williams and Wynne (2000) express the idea that the ability to communicate knowledge of
mathematics can be expressed by speaking, writing, or in a visual representation. They
suggested journal writing and the use of prompts be incorporated in mathematics reguarlary.
They clearly distinguish between types of prompts and the purpose each prompt serves.

After careful review of the peer reviewed articles, I can guide my action research with a new
perspective. For example, I can add the variable of executive function skills to my
observations and analysis, as examined by ​Schmitt and Purpura (2017). In addition, after
reading Manolitsis, Georgiou, and Tziraki (2013), I can also look at the possibility of
examining home environments of students to reflect on the effects home environment has on
math proficiency. Kenney (2005), and Williams and Wynne (2000) support my idea that math
involves more complexity and vocabulary than simple algorithm. Finally, Caponera, Sestito,
and Russo (2016) also support my argument that STEM jobs are growing and that
mathematics is needed to compete in a global market, and that ELL have a significant
disadvantage compared to native speakers.

References
Caponera, E., Sestito, P., & Russo, P. M. (2016). The influence of reading literacy on
mathematics and science achievement. ​Journal of Educational Research​, ​109​(2),
197–204.​ ​https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.936998
Kenney, J. M. (2005). ​Literacy strategies for improving mathematics instruction.​ Alexandria,
VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Manolitsis, George., Georgiou, George K., Tziraki, NikiT. (2013). Examining the effects of
home literacy and numeracy environment on early reading and math acquisition.
(2013, June 10). Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200613000513

Schmitt, S. A., Geldhof, G. J., Purpura, D. J., Duncan, R., & McClelland, M. M. (2017).
Examining the relations between executive function, math, and literacy during the
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EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

transition to kindergarten: A multi-analytic approach. ​Journal of Educational

Psychology​, ​109​(8), 1120–1140.​ ​https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000193

Williams, N., & Wynne, B. (2000). (n.d.). Sharing Teaching Ideas: Journal Writing in the
Mathematics Classroom: A Beginner's Approach. Retrieved from
https://www.nctm.org/Publications/mathematics-teacher/2000/Vol93/Issue2/Sharing-T
eaching-Ideas_-Journal-Writing-in-the-Mathematics-Classroom_-A-Beginner_s-Appro
ach/
Data Collection
Method 1: Interview experts in the content area like teachers, principals, and
instructional coaches
a. Questions to be asked will include;
i. How have you modified your math instruction to fit the need of your cultural
and linguistic diverse students?
ii. How do you use manipulatives or technology in your math instruction?
iii. How do you track data?
iv. How often do you visit data to modify instruction?
v. The school has fair academic achievements but we have some students who are
tested at very low levels. -how can you teach these different levels in one class
and reach your goals?
vi. What are your long short term goals for math achievement?

Method 2: Observations
a. Journal
i. Math Instruction. I will observe 2nd grade math lessons (my mentor teacher
and the other three sections) and take notes
ii. WIDA-WIDA Can Do descriptors are language proficiency summative
assessments
1. Types of support detailed in
https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/CanDo-KeyUses-Gr-2-
3.pdf

2. Observe if the correct use and or amount of manipulatives are being

used according to WIDA descriptors based on ACCESS language
scores, like pictures and scaffolds to ensure student success
b. Reflections
i. Oracy/Discourse implementation
1. Oracy defined by Escamilla (2014) as one of the four domains of
language that are essential to the effective development of biliteracy in
Spanish and English. The development of oral skills
Method 3: Text Data Analysis
a. Math Curriculum, the curriculum that is being used currently in second grade at
Glenwood Springs Elementary is Engage NY
b. Analyze Test Scores
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EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

i.
My regular practices during my internship field work with my mentor teacher
includes analyzing Fall/Spring NWEA math scores to determine math
intervention that will be needed during instruction based on scores
ii. My regular practices during my internship field work with my mentor teacher
also includes analyzing end of unit assessments to determine what lesson needs
to be retaught
iii. State test CMAS scores are part of data archives available from Colorado Dept.
of Education to measure and compares schools and district scores to statewide
score results.
c. Analyze statewide trends archives
i. high school dropout trends associated to minority groups and math scores
ii. trends of representation of minorities in the STEM careers

References
Escamilla, K., Hopewell, S., Butvilofsky, S., Sparrow, W., Soltero-González, L.,
Ruiz-Figueroa, O., & Escamilla, M. (2014). ​Biliteracy from the start: Literacy squared in
action.​ Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.
Data Analysis
Method 1:
Interviews will help me obtain a perspectives from teachers, principals, and instructional
coaches about their perception about perceived success and challenges in relation to problem
solving skills.
Method 2:
I will document my observations of math instruction using journal entries and document the
use of WIDA descriptors can dos, and types of support, the use of manipulatives for all
students. This will allow me to reflect on my before and after math results with use of oracy
and discourse.

Method 3:
I will analyze math curriculums like Engage NY, and student test scores like CMAS and
NWEA, as well as identify statewide trends to express why my ART is important.

Timeline

Fall-18

September 21: Protecting Human Research Subjects Certification

September 30: Literature Review and Methods
October 12: IRB Draft
October 19: Revisions/Editing
October 26: IRB is due in CANVAS Monday,
November 9: IRB submission for approval

Spring-19
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EDU-420 Internship I with Seminar

Data Collection
January 8: School Resumes from winter break
January 8: Begin journaling observations
January 9: Begin interviewing process of principals, teachers, and instructional coaches
January 16: Begin the process of planning math unit along with my mentor teacher
January 18: Continue journaling observations and analyze math curriculum
January 22: Continue process of planning math unit
January 28: Continue journaling observations and conduct last interviews if needed
February 4: Begin teaching math unit built
February 11: Continue implementing math unit and oracy in instruction
February 18: Reflecting on implementation
February 25: Math unit analysis

March: Analysis
March 4: NWEA Test Score Analysis
April 5: Research findings and Recommendations
April 12: Peer-review/Writing Lab
April 19: ART project is due in CANVAS
April 26: ART project presentation and Pin Ceremony

Reflections Before Beginning

The process of creating a plan to be approved for my action research has been very rewarding,
and enlightening. I am able to look at my internship year with an added excitement, and with
an observer's lens that deepens my understanding of literacy and mathematics. The observers
lens is something I will take with me beyond my internship year into my teaching, benefiting
my students because I will be able to better track success and change challenges.