Action Research Project

Educational Research

Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership

And Postsecondary Education

University of Northern Iowa

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the

Advanced Studies Certificate

By

Matthew I. Jenkins

Thomas Jefferson High School

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

(April 24th, 2016)

Dr. Dewitt Jones & Dr. Ben Forsyth

Introduction

Currently, I am a level 1 special education teacher at Jefferson High School in the Cedar

Rapids School District (CRSD). I have taught at Jefferson and in the CRSD for the last 4years.

Prior to teaching at Jefferson, I was a Director of Guided Study at Xavier High School also in

Cedar Rapids, IA. Through my years of teaching I have I have seen the highest of the highs in

student success and now I am see what has been in my experience the lowest student

performance in high school.

Xavier High School is a Catholic High School in Cedar Rapids. They have over the last 8

years had a 100% graduation rate and 98% of their high school seniors go on to attend a four-

year university. Why is this significant? Xavier does what most high schools in the state of Iowa

and in Cedar Rapids do not do, and that is keep their students motivated to succeed throughout

their high school career. It is a simple answer, they have the support system and financial

backing to help their students be exposed to, what is considered now as a luxury, which is called

opportunity. When I first started teaching at Jefferson High School I was more than enthused to

be working with students and families from a different demographic background. The challenge

of having students with educational, socioeconomically, and emotional barriers.

Rational of Study

In the Cedar Rapids School District, was the first time that I experienced social

promotion through grades K-8. What I found out was that social promotion is fostering the

grade-level promotion of the child regardless of the proficiency of skill. Social promotion has in

some cases built the students self esteem with the movement with their peers but it has also not

held them accountable to demonstrate their learning. By endorsing social promotion, students

have made it to the high school academic setting with the bare minimum of skills to access
learning in the classroom. The positives of social promotion do not help the student when they

arrive at the high school. Many of the benefits of social promotion, whether it is, maintaining

that class size stays manageable, limits the generalizations, or stops a student from dropping out,

it does not prepare the student for life after high school. At Jefferson, we have encountered many

students that have not passed a middle school class in grades 6th through 8th. This has been a

concern of many teachers in both the middle and high school. In some ways it takes away the

accountability piece for teachers as well. Many teachers may lose the the sense of urgency, along

with the student, because the student will go on to the next grade and the student grasped the full

perspective of what detrimental consequences will happen because of the academic skill that

they have failed to obtain.

Social promoting in the Cedar Rapids School District has lessened the role of the teacher

and has given a false sense of accomplishment to students and families of Cedar Rapids. Parents

and students alike have been made aware of the retention possibilities when a student does not

pass their classes at the high school. The affects of social promotion have managed to hinder the

students growth.

What affect does social promotion have on the students with Individualized Education

Plan? Special education students more than most have many barriers that hinder them from

accessing the curriculum. Social promotion, although it may help them from not having an

additional label it also keeps them from succeeding because they fall victim to teachers

cushioning what is already an accommodated delivery of instruction. The purpose of this study is

to bring attention to the miseducation that social promotion and the affects of social promotion

has on students with an IEP. As an educator I think of ways to positively impact student
achievement. This topic of social promotion has been something that has been on the table of

discussion in many other school district.

The focus of my educational research study is this: How does classroom intervention

and specific parental contact improve the grades of incoming freshman with IEPs that have been

socially promoted? I believe answering this question will challenge me and improve my

teaching and my approach to incoming freshman students with IEPs. Not only does the student

transient to high school but they transition with another barrier that may widen their achievement

gap even more.

Review of Literature

In the literature that I have reviewed through educational journals, educational articles,

and research journals all believe that early intervention between 8th grade to 9th grade is an

essential part of a students first year success in high school. Two years prior to doing this

research the Cedar Rapids School District implemented a program at Jefferson High School

specifically for freshman students. This program was call Freshman Seminar. Through this

program it gave students resources and opportunities to think of the academic career at Jefferson

and beyond. While in the program students also worked on life skills that would applicable to

21st Century Skills and building social skills through enrichment opportunities. The Associate

Superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District in 2013 accepted a position in

another district. As the associate superintendent moved on, so did the program.

In past years social promotion was a clear identifier of student achievement that was not

happening at the 9th grade level. Just as the Cedar Rapids Community School District identified

this as a problem so have other schools and districts. The most recent dropout prevention

literature has emphasized the importance of the transition from middle to high school and its
impact on preventing school dropout (Vera, E., Shriberg, D., Alves, A., Oca, J. M., Reker, K.,

Roche, M., . . . Rau, E.). This importance of the transition from the middle school is critical

because it can shape the students perception on how the rest of high school look for them as a

student. Middle school transition to high school shapes early perceptions of on how well they

will do in life post-secondary education.

Summer programs are a great approach to helping student get motivated to do well in

high school. Summer programs often provide academic support and enriching summer activities

that are meant to enhance motivation to excel in high school (Vera, E., Shriberg, D., Alves, A.,

Oca, J. M., Reker, K., Roche, M., . . . Rau, E. 2015). In a study done on Summer Bridge, they

found that overall, summer school programs improve student performance on academic

achievement in that the average child who attends a summer school program will outperform

between 55% and 60% of comparable students who did not attend the program (Vera, E.,

Shriberg, D., Alves, A., Oca, J. M., Reker, K., Roche, M., . . . Rau, E. 2015).

With social promotion continuing in the Cedar Rapids Community School District, there

are other ways to help foster relationships for student to have positive school experience. Schools

that take on the persona of a personalized caring community can help students successfully

adjust to high school, positively influence their development needs and educational practices,

and foster emotional and intellectual growth (Ellerbrock and Kiefer 2013).

Having a caring community within the school will help with the disconnect that students

may feel if social promotion is not used as an option. The idea that a caring community within

the school will create an environment that is conducive to overcoming academic challenges

because the feel of community and support will help motivate the student to achieve. The

transition from middle to high school has to be intentionally cared for so it makes a way for a
smooth transition for students. According to Emmett and McGee, unfortunately, a number of

students do not experience a smooth transition due to social and academic factors (2012).

Although this is not a definite solution to social promotion for students have IEPs, but it does

bring attention to students that do not have IEPs and still struggle with the middle school to high

school transition.

Description of Intervention

The focus of this study is in Jefferson High School in the Cedar Rapids Community

School District. In my four years at Jefferson many of my colleagues in the Special Education

Department have pondered what our instructional approach would be with students that have

failed every class prior to attending Jefferson High School. What is he best approach to help

supports a student that has not seemed to be motivated to accept high expectations from

themselves and other school support staff.

In this study, I chose 6 students that had not passed an 8th grade class prior to enrolling in

Jefferson as freshman. When looking at student grades, three students came from Wilson Middle

School and three from Roosevelt Middle School. Jefferson High School has three middle schools

that feed our high school Wilson, Roosevelt, and Taft. None of the students came from Taft

Middle School as Taft is one of our best performing middle school in the Cedar Rapids

Community School District. In addition, to Taft being one of our better performing schools, it is

also having the best socioeconomic support and does not have the diversity of demographics of

the three middle school that feed into Jefferson. Wilson and Roosevelt are very similar in

demographics and socioeconomic support.

Data Collection
 This research study has several different components to take into consideration when

identifying what would give the best indicator of improvement and progress. In this study I took

three indicators of that would help show results; Iowa Assessment scores, grades, and IEP

progress monitoring.

The interventions that I used was a weekly goal sheet. Every student received a weekly

goal sheet that I kept track of. The goal sheet was intended for the student to write their current

grade in the classroom and by the end of the week they would check the box that fit where they

were at with their grade (did not meet, maintained, or met). The weekly goal sheet allowed me to

conference with the student twice a week and talk about any barriers or challenges for not get

meeting the goal, or support that helped maintain or meet the goal. With this intervention it

allowed me to get two forms of intervention without requiring additional time outside of class.

The second intervention was weekly contact with parent via phone or email. This

intervention was a way to connect with the parents and talk about highlights to give

encouragement to their child and challenges that their child is having. If I was unable to reach the

parent by phone I would send an email. Sending progress and challenges by email allowed the

parent to receive feedback and documentation in case our schedules did not align.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Wilson A

After 10 weeks of data collection, Wilson A student, saw great progress and overcame

some challenges. Each week this students mother and I had10 phone conversations regarding

their childs progress. These conversations were positive and the parent encourage this student

every week. In those 10 weeks through interventions and positive conversations, this student

showed 70% progress of the time on their weekly progress monitoring in their reading goal.
 There was only 3 weeks in which the student fell below their aim line. In the area of

writing the student made progress 50% of the time on their weekly progress monitoring. This

student fell below the aim line 3 out of the 10 weeks and stayed the same and did not fall below

the aim line 2 out of the 10 weeks.

In the area of math, Wilson student A fell below the aim line 3 times but also showed 7

weeks of progress. Wilson A student saw an increase with their grades as well. At the beginning

of the 10 weeks, this student began with all Fs in their core classes. By the end of the 10 weeks

this student finished with a C- in Language Arts, C- in Math, and D- in Science. These were all

significant increases. The students weekly goal sheet shows that they met their personal goal 3

weeks but maintain 4 weeks of a passing grade.

Wilson A
WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
READING (IEP) P FB FB FB P P P P P P
WRITING (IEP) P P FB FB S S FB P P P
MATH (IEP) P P P FB FB P P FB P P
LANGUAGE 9 F F F F D- D- C- C- C- C-
MATH F F F F D- D- C- C- C- C-
SCIENCE F F F F F D- D- D- D- D-
FB= Fell Below P = Progress S = Same

Wilson B

During the 10 weeks with Wilson B student, continuous communication with this

students parent was the motivating factor for this students success. Wilson student B made 6

consecutive weeks of progress on their weekly progress monitoring in the area of reading.

This student progressed just as Wilson student A by progressing 6 consecutive weeks in

the area of writing. In the beginning of the first 4 weeks this student only made progress on time.
This was a challenging stage for this student but through the constant conversations and parental

encouragement we saw a break through in week 5.

Math was an area in their goal were they struggled and had 2 weeks of progress and 1

week of falling below their aim line. This was an area that had ups and downs and was not as

consistent with making progress as in the reading and writing goal areas. Overall, in Wilson

student B, they found some highlights of success through the interventions and weekly personal

goal sheet. In this students core classes, the began with failing grades. By the end of the 10

weeks this student earned a C- in Language Arts, C- in Math, and a D+ in Science. The results

for this student was a great success.

Wilson B
WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
READING (IEP) P FB P FB P P P P P P
WRITING (IEP) P FB FB FB P P P P P P
MATH (IEP) P FB P P FB P P FB P P
LANGUAGE 9 F F D D C- C- C- C- C- C-
MATH F F D D C- C- C- C- C- C-
SCIENCE F F D- D- D- D- D- D+ D+ D+
FB= Fell Below P = Progress S = Same

Wilson C

Wilson student Cs data supports progression in all goal areas and core classes. During

the 10 weeks of interventions the parent of this student was supportive with the process and we

had many positive conversations in regards to a change not only in the grades but attitude of their

child. In the goal area of reading, Wilson student C progressed 7 weeks out of the 10 weeks of

interventions. At the beginning of 10 weeks this student had 3 consecutive weeks of progress in

reading. In the middle of the 10 weeks I recorded a regression. Through our weekly

conversations and encouragement, we saw the last 4 weeks of progression.

 In the goal area of writing, Wilson student C had the first 4 weeks of progress. This was a

great start in this goal area but as in the area of reading, this student had a few weeks of

inconsistent progress. At the end of 10 weeks the student maintained progress. Math had best

progress early in the first 5 weeks. The progress did take a step back in the last 5 weeks. This too

was inconsistent but as Math tended to drop and fall below the aim line the other goal areas

increase. In the last 2 weeks in the all of the goal areas, Wilson student C finished strong by

progressing. In addition to finishing strong in the last 2 weeks, Wilson student C earned a passing

grade in all the core content areas. Wilson student C began with failing all core content areas and

finishing with a C+ in Language Arts, D- in Math, and C+ in Science. According to the results,

Wilson student C benefited from the interventions and progress monitoring.

Wilson C
WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
READING (IEP) P P P FB FB FB P P P P
WRITING (IEP) P P P P FB FB P FB P P
MATH (IEP) P P P P P FB FB FB P P
LANGUAGE 9 F D- D- D- C C C C+ C+ C+
MATH F D- D- D- D- D- D- D- D- D-
SCIENCE F D- D- D- D+ D+ C C+ C+ C+
FB= Fell Below P = Progress S = Same

Roosevelt A

During the 10 weeks Roosevelt student A, did not have much confidence in school.

Unlike the Wilson students this student did not have much parental support. As I reached out

numerous times via email and phone messages, I was only able to contact the student parent 3

times out of the 10 weeks of intervention. As a result, the student struggled to find that positive

reinforcement outside of school.

 In the area of reading this student had 5 weeks of progression but only the last 3 weeks

were consecutive in progression. Within the 10 weeks, 5 of them had 3 weeks of falling below

the aim line and 2 weeks of no progression but the student maintained the same score from the

previous week. In writing I there were similar results. The first 3 weeks the Roosevelt student A

fell below their aim line twice. Math was the goal area showed the most progress. Roosevelt

student A only had week were they fell below the aim line. The rest of the weeks the student

showed progression and the weeks were they did not make progress they maintained the same

score from a previous week of a progression score. Roosevelt student A struggled mightily in

their core content classes. In the 10 weeks the student never could earn higher than a D.

Roosevelt student A began with Fs in all content area classes and finished with a D- in Language

Arts, D- in Math, and D in Science. Overall, this student struggled but received all passing grade

in content areas that they had never have had before.

Roosevelt A
WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
READING (IEP) FB P FB FB P S S P P P
WRITING (IEP) FB P FB P P S S P P P
MATH (IEP) P P FB P P S S P P P
LANGUAGE 9 F F D- F F F D- D- D- D-
MATH F F D- F F F D- D- D- D-
SCIENCE F F D- F F F D- D- D D
FB= Fell Below P = Progress S = Same

Roosevelt B

Roosevelt student B struggled to maintain a stable environment outside of school. Many

of the difficulties during the times of intervention were due to the external conditions that this

student was living with. Through numerous attempts to contact this students parent, I was unable

to connect with the parent. Even through email, I did not receive a response from the parent.
 In the area of reading, Roosevelt student B had 5 out of the 10 weeks were they fell

below the aim line. This made it difficult to gain any momentum in seeing confidence built to do

better. In the 10 weeks of intervention there were only 3 weeks where there was progression

made. Roosevelt student Bs writing saw 4 weeks of progression. After the first 2 weeks of

having progression, the student maintains those same scores for the next 2 weeks. This was

highlight as I made sure that the student understood that this was still good and not a regression

to falling below the aim line. Math had similar results of progression but the student had more

consecutive weeks of progression with 3 weeks. At the end of the 10 weeks Roosevelt student B

failed one of the core content classes. During week 7, I recorded that the student was passing all

core content areas. This was a victory as the student had never seen a time in which they were

passing all grades. In the end, this student had moments of success but was unable to maintain a

passing grade in all content areas.

Roosevelt B
WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
READING (IEP) P P S S FB FB FB P FB FB
WRITING (IEP) P P S S P P FB FB P FB
MATH(IEP) P P S S P P P FB FB FB
LANGUAGE 9 F F D- F F F D- D- D- D-
MATH F F D- F F F D- D- D- D-
SCIENCE F F D- F F F D- F F F
FB= Fell Below P = Progress S = Same

Roosevelt C

Roosevelt student C was the most difficult student to receive positive data from. During

the course of the 10 weeks, I received no communication from the parent of this student. This

students environment was very difficult as they moved 3 times in the 10 weeks (but stayed in the

Jefferson boundary). This made the weekly planning and our reflective conversations between
the student and myself hard as we talked more about the external challenges that the student was

enduring. One positive out of the 10 weeks is that the student never missed any days of school

during their challenges outside of school.

In the area of reading the student had 3 consecutive weeks of progress. Those 3 weeks of

progress, gave the student confidence. In the 10 weeks the student fell below the aim line 4 times

and maintained the same score from the previous week of falling below the aim line. In the area

of writing and math the student had identical recordings from the reading. In the last 3 weeks the

Roosevelt student C showed progress in all goal areas. In the core content class this student did

not pass any classes. At the beginning of the 10 weeks the student had all failing grades in the

core content areas and ended with failing grades.

Roosevelt C
WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
READING (IEP) S FB FB FB S S FB P P P
WRITING (IEP) S FB FB FB S S FB P P P
MATH (IEP) S FB FB FB S S FB P P P
LANGUAGE 9 F D- F F F F F F F F
MATH F D- F F F F F F F F
SCIENCE F D- F F F F F F F F
FB= Fell Below P = Progress S = Same

Weekly Goal Sheet

In the first week of the 10 weeks of intervention show that 100% of the students did not

meet their personal academic goal. This new type of intervention had not been done at the high

school level for the students that were selected. The second week of intervention many of the

student maintain the same goal, only one set a new goal and met that goal, and on student did not

meet that goal that they set.

 At the week 4 I started to see a separation between the students that had attended Wilson

versus the ones that attended Roosevelt. The students that had previously attended Wilson were

meeting their goals in week 5 through 7, as the students from Roosevelt continued to not meet

their personal academic goal. By week 8 every student had either maintained or met their

previous goal. Through these 10 weeks Roosevelt student C did not meet their personal academic

goal.

WEEKLY GOAL SHEET

WK 1 WK 2 WK 3 WK 4 WK 5 WK 6 WK 7 WK 8 WK 9 WK 10
WILSON A DNM DNM DNM M MET MET MET M M M
WILSON B DNM M DNM M MET MET MET M M M
WILSON C DNM MET M M MET MET MET MET M M
ROOSEVELT A DNM M MET DNM DNM DNM MET MET M M
ROOSEVELT B DNM M DNM DNM DNM DNM MET M M M
ROOSEVELT C DNM M DNM DNM DNM DNM DNM M M M
DNM = Did not meet M = Maintain MET = Met goal

Iowa Assessments and Grades

After review the grades of the 6 students that were selected to have intervention and

weekly conversations with parents, overall students made improvements to their grades. Out of

the 6 students that were selected only 4 classes out of a possible 18 classes taken were failing

grades at the end of 10 weeks. This is an 77% percent increase of passing grades. At the end the

end of the Spring Term in 2015 all six students were failing every core content area. By the end

of the only 2 students accounted for 4 failing grades in the core content area classes.

During week 5 of interventions, Iowa Assessments were taken. Before the week of Iowa

Assessments, the students were given their scores from the previous year. With each student we

came up with a personal goal that we both thought they could get. This was the first time the

student had the opportunity to look at their numbers and to brainstorm a score that they worked
 to get. In addition to them look at their scores from last year for the first time, this is also the first

time that they took a serious effort into doing well on the Iowa Assessments. The scores that are

in the Spring 2016 Iowa Assessments data chart are the personal goal numbers, not the scores

that they received. This was due to the Iowa Assessment scores not being release before this

research was complete.

SPRING
2015 Iowa Assessments Academic Grades
Student Reading IA NPR Writing IA NPR Math IA NPR LA (8th) Math (8th) Science (8th)
Wilson A 20 21 32 F F F
Wilson B 23 26 27 F F F
Wilson C 30 27 26 F F F
Roosevelt A 25 23 22 F F F
Roosevelt B 27 26 21 F F F
Roosevelt C 19 22 21 F F F
Iowa
SPRING 2016 Assessments Academic Grades
Student Reading IA NPR Writing IA NPR Math IA NPR LA (9th) Math (9th) Science (9th)
Wilson A 23 26 38 C- C- D-
Wilson B 25 30 30 C- C- D+
Wilson C 33 30 29 C+ D- C+
Roosevelt A 27 27 26 D- D- D-
Roosevelt B 33 30 25 D- D- F
Roosevelt C 25 26 27 F F F

Conclusion and Recommendations

Many conclusions can be drawn from this research. The information that is given does

not an overwhelming comparison to the students home life. This could definitely become a

problem when comparing students. Each student has come from a different background and with

different barriers. When looking at the information it does reflect the parental support that the

student has. The students that had the least parental support directly reflected some of the
outcomes their grades. Parental support is not the only indicator but encouragement from the

parents did impact the grades and progress that the students made on their IEP.

As I continue this data, I am anticipating high scores on the Iowa Assessments from the

students. Since this is the first time taking the test seriously, I will also be anticipating a

continued work ethic on assessments. The data collect is something that I will show the students

so they can see the improvement that they have made from the 10 weeks and beyond. Through

this research I have become more intentional and strategic in how I hand the students home life,

academic career, and emotional temperature.

My recommendations are that my school have a higher sense of urgency with support for

our incoming freshman. Create a check and connect system that primarily helps freshman with

transitioning to the high school. This will help students find more success academically and a

better sense of social awareness in school. I would also like to see middles school adopt a day at

the high school where they spend a a half day at the high school. This could be done in May after

seniors have graduated and are no longer attend the high school. This could be a service project

for current freshman, sophomores, and juniors could take the lead with. If we are to make a

change in the transition process for incoming freshman, we need to take in account of the

opportunity that we have to salvage some of the discrepancies that students already have and

close the gap.

Name:____________________________________

My goal is:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

My plan for reaching my goal:

1. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

An obstacle that might be a challenge:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

People who can help me achieve the goal:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
 References

Ellerbrock, C. R., & Kiefer, S. M. (2013). Extending a Community of Care Beyond the Ninth

Grade: A Follow-Up Study. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(4), 319-331.

doi:10.1080/00220671.2012.692728

Emmett, J., & McGee, D. (2012, February/March). A Farewell to Freshmen. Retrieved

March/April, 2016, from

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/254350472_A_Farewell_to_Freshmen

Vera, E., Shriberg, D., Alves, A., Oca, J. M., Reker, K., Roche, M., . . . Rau, E. (2015).

Evaluating the Impact of a Summer Dropout Prevention Program for Incoming Freshmen

Attending an Under-Resourced High School. Preventing School Failure: Alternative

Education for Children and Youth, 60(2), 161-171. doi:10.1080/1045988x.2015.1063039