Curtis Elementary

I enjoyed the cased study regarding Curtis Elementary, I felt that there was not only excitment about completing the research project there was also support from the staff. In regards to completing the criteria for Evaulating Action Research my analysis is as follows:

Area of focus: I believe that there was an area of focus related to teaching and learning.  The teacher attempted to create an "altered curriculum" relating to the improving test scores through understanding of material.  The case study did not go into detail  on how "understanding" was accomplished but it seems that the teacher learned quite a bit from the action research.

Research Question:  The teacher does provide one research question regarding the action research but it is nondeterminate of the teacher's ability, but more in line with the curriculum.

Locus of Control:  This was done very well, he only attempted to study his classroom and not include information from the rest of the school.

Data Collection:  This was also done well, the data was varied but also able to be discussed and anaylzed.  The data include one aspec that I liked, and it was the retelling of a story about the Bermuda Triangle.  This allowed the students to explore the story on their own but it also allowed the teacher to provide a unique analysis of the story and demonstrate the abilities of each child based on the same story.

Ethics:  I did not see any ethical problems that arised from this research.

Reflective Stance: The teacher did reference a reflective section in his case study. He stated several finding on the development of the students understanding and the impact of the "literal word" on understanding. This reflection seemed appropriate to the teacher and his conclusions of his teaching style.

Action: The teacher has taken his data results and applied significant changes to his classroom curriculum and has already set up several intervention strategies that will be applied to his classroom.

Action-data connection: These intervention strategies are based on the data provided by the research.  It seems that his "altered curriculum" has had a significant effect on the students understanding of specific materials. He does understand how he needs to "construct meaning" of how his students in turn construct meaning of literature.