Development of Collaborative Inquiry Lakenia White Walden University EDDD 8051/EDSD 7051 Data Driven Instruction and Assessments June 28, 2020 Development of Collaborative Inquiry 2 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to examine the data collage of the Laurel Public School District to discuss and identify the data points that would need correcting and the reasons behind correcting the data point. This paper will also explain strategies from this week’s module reading that could be beneficial and used at the school level. This paper will also examine how based on the information provided could allow a CIA leader the ability to begin collaborative inquiry. The process of gathering and analyzing data allows the schools within a certain district the ability to work towards meeting the expectations of the vision that was set by that particular district. If and when there is a discrepancy within the performance of the school and problems with meeting the goal that have been set, then the district would need to sit down as a whole and determine what would need to take place in order to make sure that all schools are working toward the district’s common goal. After analyzing Laurel Public School Districts State Report, I found several discrepancies in the report that would require the district to take action in improving their scores. The first thing that I notice is that the district has a rating of F which means that the district is considered failing. This shows that the district is not meeting the criteria that is set by the Mississippi Department of Education and is lacking in student achievement on state tests that are required to maintain a passing rating. In Mathematics, the district only showed 26.8% of proficiency with only 50% of the students showing any type of growth. This is a problem because over half of the students is showing that they are struggling in Math while falling way below the state. Another discrepancy that I noticed is that in ELA, the students of Laurel Public School District showed 23.7% of proficiency with only 42.4% growth on the state test. This test Development of Collaborative Inquiry 3 involves Reading, Language, and Writing. With the students scoring only 23.7%, it shows that the district has major problems with Reading as a whole. The vision of the Laurel Public School District is to “to develop productive citizens and successful lifelong learners by providing diverse educational opportunities. (www.laurelschools.org). According to the Children’s Reading Foundation, “lack of proficient literacy and early learning skills has far-reaching consequences for students and society. Students who start kindergarten behind form the largest group of dropouts, and they have less than a 12 percent chance of attending a four-year university.” The Children’s Reading Foundations also states that “children who are not reading on grade level by the end of third grade struggle in every class, year after year, because over 85 percent of the curriculum is taught by reading.” (Children’s Reading Foundation, 2020). Everything that is done inside today’s classroom deals with Reading such as information learned from books, the use of computers, worksheets that are completed in class on particular subjects such as Science, English, Social Studies and even Math. When students struggle with Reading, these students tend to struggle across the boards which is reflected in the scores produced by the students of Laurel Public School District. Based on the data from the district report card, the schools district is having difficulty and will not be able to meet the vision that they have set forth for each school in the district to follow. Reading is a very vital skill in all areas when it deals with the success of the students in the classroom. Every subject that the students encounter deals with some form of reading and comprehension. These students who are not capable of grasping the concept of reading tend to have low self-esteem and the feeling of inadequacy which will leads to higher rates in discipline, attendance and dropping out of school. Not having the ability to read has a major impact when these students grow up and become citizens in today’s society. According to The Children’s Development of Collaborative Inquiry 4 Reading Foundation, “Third graders who cannot read on grade level today are on track to be our nation’s lowest income, least skilled citizens.” Based on the data, it shows that students are struggling to read and comprehend the information that is presented in class which leads to low performing scores on the state assessment. This is an issue and needs to be addressed by the teachers who work with these students and the administrators as well. Administrators and teachers of the district will need to collaborate and work together to identify strategies and different ways that could be used in the classroom to help these struggling students grow in their reading abilities to become grade level readers. These scores show that there is a lack in using basic reading strategies and interventions that would help all students in the district become stronger readers. There are several strategies that I feel would be beneficial for the district to use in order to improve the student’s scores on the state test. One strategy that I felt would help the school reach its goal would be build-by borrowing (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010). This technique requires a group of people visiting other schools who are have high performing scores and collaborate with their assigned data team to determine what is being done to help their students become successful. The team would then go back to their own school and implement the strategy that they learned to their very own students. This will give the team and students a new approach and outlook at what is happening in order to move students in the direction of becoming successful. The CIA leader plays an important role in the schools when is deals with analyzing data in order to help make important decisions pertaining to instruction that will help improve student achievement in the schools. After examining the data collage, one important strategy that would be helpful in the schools would be creating grade level meetings. It is important that the CIA leader implement grade level meetings so that the teachers have the opportunity to collaborate Development of Collaborative Inquiry 5 with other teachers, not only in their school but in their district. This allows the teachers the opportunity to discuss with other teachers what works well with their students and figure out other strategies to use when their own strategies aren’t working with their students. It gives the teachers a new outlook and ideas to use with certain situations that will may arise in their classroom. The teachers can meet at least once every month to analyze data from their schools, struggling students, any gaps in the data and strategies that work best. It is important to analyze the data and determine ways of increasing student achievement. When there is a discrepancy in the data, it is up to the people involve to sit down and determine the course of action to take in order to improve what is being done in the schools. When there is a gap in the data, then the district is not able to do what it needs to do in order to follow the vision that it has set for each school to follow. When this happens, then the district is considered failing by the Department of Education. It is the responsibility of the district and all members of the district to make sure that each student is receiving what they need in order to be successful. Development of Collaborative Inquiry 6 Reference Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2010). Driven by data: A practical guide to improve instruction. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Laurel Public School District. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.laurelschools.org/about/mission-vision-goals Mississippi Department of Education (2020). Retrieved from https://msrc.mdek12.org/ReportCard/?EntityID=3420-000&SchoolYear=2018 The Children’s Reading Foundation. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.readingfoundation.org/theimpact#:~:text=Academic%2C%20emotional%20and%20social%20issues,dropout%20pr oblems%2C%20and%20juvenile%20crime. .
