Section 1: Academic Achievement - National Center for School ...

How did I modify the Title Math program?
As a result of this research, an overhaul of the assessment program took place. The needs of
homeless and highly mobile language learners are being more fully met. Bilingual students
receive the Kathy Richardson assessments in the language of instruction, Spanish. Students
have math lab folders, which include assessments that demonstrate their progress toward
meeting district/state math standards. Now when a student moves, the folder, along with a
letter explaining the program and its services, is sent to the next school, complied with new
state regulations about math translations for high stakes testing for second language learners.
One of my H/HM students moved just before the start of these exams, I was able to mail the
necessary paperwork to the new teacher so that the testing was not disrupted. In addition,
students are given pre and post tests every four to six weeks for standards proficiency. They
are part of the process when it comes to goal setting and reflecting about the learning taking
place. The staff, particularly the classroom teachers, have become knowledgeable about
FERPA regulations and the Title Math program as a whole. Therefore, classroom teachers
assist the math program by providing data to support the observations they make in the short
group time, and the math lab teachers support the classroom teachers with data to fine tune
math instruction. Staff seems more aware of how having basic needs met, such as students
being adequately supplied, can impact the amount of learning that takes place.
Significance of my research?
I partly accomplished what I set out to do. I wanted to see how I could adjust my practice to
best meet the needs of my H/HM students. H/HM students, I observed, need to connect to the
program in a way that is meaningful to them, yet I need more tools and strategies to help them
see how math is relevant to their life experiences. In this way, they may be open to new ways
of learning math and have a better chance to succeed even as they move from school to
school. In addition, I discovered that H/HM students, who are also English Language
Learners, may not have had exposure to the background knowledge that they need to show
proficiency on grade level assessments. It is important that we not assume that their lack of
proficiency is attributed to a lack of intelligence. However, as action research is prone to do,
it took me down an unexpected path. I needed to understand the new program, of which I was
a part, before I could start to examine my own practice. I assumed that the math assessments
that the program used would be reliable indicators of student knowledge and progress toward
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