Nervous...

I am very nervous about conducting this action research project. I am nervous about systematically collecting data and staying organized, I'm nervous of it "not working", and I'm nervous about it all being too hard. I know that I can do it as far as planning and organization goes but I am just going to have to be very much on the ball which will be a challenge. Data still scares me. I think that I still have a very small mind frame of what data is. I think it has to be very specific but in reality, almost everything I see and know and do falls into some type of data (field notes, work samples, comprehension assessment questions, surveys, pre-tests, post-tests, etc.) and I need to remember that. I also need to do what Dr. Bowers-Campbell suggested about collecting too much data and then if I don't need it all, then it is no big deal versus not enough data. Big deep breaths...

Context

I am a content teacher. I teach 8th grade social studies at Tates Creek Middle School TCMS is an International Baccalaureate school that also has a gifted and talented program. This is the first year we have not been a Title 1 school. We have a large SES spectrum, with very low-income families and very affluent families. We are 48% free and reduced lunch. Our populations 61% white, 26% African American, 6% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 5% other. The current enrollment is 910. During my first year there in 2008-2009 school year, our enrollment was in the 500s so we have grown a great deal. We have worked hard on improving reputation, community involvement, and of course, test scores. After my first year there, we had made a 9.7 point jump,the largest of any middle school.  Our shared values are respect, integrity, purposeful effort, and responsibility. We are working hard to teach these to the kids as well as the community.

While I am certified in both language arts and social studies, I am much more comfortable teaching social studies. Within my classroom, students are expected to read informational readings to help with content.to be able to master the content, they need to be able to read it yet many struggle. My question is how will using different repeated reading strategies affect my students' comprehension of this content?

Our school has been pushing teaching reading and reading strategies in content classrooms for the last three years. We have had mandatory workshops after school, in-services, and PDs to help us pad our toolboxes. I have used some repeated readings sporadically in the last 2 years and think they tend to help but have yet to examine them and use them systematically.

During this study, I plan to implement repeated readings three times a week, with three slightly different strategies. I will be using one of my classes for data, most likely one of my "middle" ability groups (this may change since I have yet to meet my students). I will be collecting baseline data from school report cards, last spring's MAP scores, this fall's MAP scores (they began testing today), and past years KCCT scores. I will also use readings and comprehension questions to gauge baseline non-repeated reading comprehension.

The data I will collect while conducting the study is both qualatative and quantitative. It will be comprehension questions, surveys, field notes, and work samples. I will look at their mid-year MAP scores as well but will not have those to include in the actual write-up since they don't retake them until January.