The action research that was completed increased both of my students’ confidence, number sense understanding, and overall math achievement. The daily 30-minute number sense interventions gave my students the ability to bridge gaps in their math understanding which led to both students displaying more confidence during grade-level math. Although they indicated on their disposition surveys that they still felt like they were only “sometimes” good at math, I knew they felt more confident in the general education math curriculum due to their willingness to participate in class (e.g., answering and asking questions, adding to group discussions).

 

Most second-grade general education math curriculum was at Student B and Student C’s frustrational level, but the number sense activities implemented during action research were at their instructional level. This gave them a time during the day where they felt like they could achieve while engaging in math concepts. The students knew what to expect every day, which eased their anxiousness and gave them comfort when coming into the small-group to engage in the interventions. The ability to know what to expect every day made the students feel like they were in control of their own learning.

 

Going through the entire process of completing action research changed me as a teacher. It impacted the way I interpret data, choose interventions, plan my teaching, and reflect on student learning. I am now constantly thinking to myself, “What can I do to help these students achieve even more than they already are?” Before I completed action research, I tended to stay stagnant for a while when my students were not showing substantial growth after a certain period of time. After completing this capstone project, I now understand the importance of changing instruction when things are not working, even if it is six months into the school year. When I see an area of growth for my students based on formative and/or summative assessments, I know that I need to find research that indicates specific interventions that will help my students grow. After finding the research, I am able to come up with an intervention plan that works for my students. I know how to closely analyze data throughout the implementation of lessons and make instructional decisions based on the data. Implementing action research has made me much more aware of student progress and the choices I make after analyzing it. All in all, it has impacted my current and future teaching, my professional growth as an educator, and has impacted the way I think about and interact with student data.

 

After completing the action research, putting together the product, and reflecting on my work, there were definitely questions that remained. Did the five snow days inhibit my students’ ability to make even more growth? Was the schedule of interventions that I chose the best way to maximize student learning? How much of their growth was due to natural progression of math understanding via the general education classroom versus the number sense interventions I implemented with them? These questions, albeit important, were not able to be answered. What I do know is that this project helped me and my students grow in multiple ways. It impacted every person positively, which is what really matters.

 

Looking forward, I will use the knowledge I gained from implementation of action research to guide my decisions as an educator. My hope is that the next time I have the opportunity to use data, research, and interventions to maximize student growth, I will have a longer time period to do so. I would also like to try implementing action research on a broader scale. Due to the nature of my role as a special education teacher, it is difficult to carry out research with a lot of students, but I would like to try and find something that I could implement with at least four or more children.

 

Through this process, I learned to take the small victories as big ones, and let go of the things I could not control. I learned that no matter how hard you try, nothing is perfect, and there will be setbacks along the way. I learned that that is the beauty of teaching -- constant triumphs, failures, and growth.