Action Research

Nicole Lowery-Boettcher
American College of Education
RES 5153 Research Methods
Dr. Kelsey Carroll
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 Research Outline
You can click on each sticky note to take you to that section. Click the paper airplane to be sent back to this page!

Problem Literature Research Data

Purpose Statement Review
Methodology and
Collection
Design

Data Force Field Potential Conclusion

Future
and
Analysis Action Plan Analysis Data Sources
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Reflection
 Purpose!
The purpose of this research is to determine if the use of Lexia Core5

in a blended classroom with the use of small guided reading groups or

one-on-one instruction will increase student performance in reading

lessons and on benchmark performance tests.

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 Problem Statement
With students missing part of school last year
because of COVID-19 and students still missing
school because of it, students are lower than
normal in their reading abilities. The author will
determine if the use of Lexia Core5 in a
blended classroom with guided reading groups
will strengthen student achievement in reading.
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 Research Questions
Does personalized learning, through Lexia Core5,
help improve student reading achievement?

What are some effective strategies to conduct

guided reading groups to teach them the
strategies?

How are independent workers learning when they

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are not with the teacher?

 Literature Review

1 2 3
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 Three-year Longitudinal Study
By Marcaruso, P., Wilkes, S., Franzen, S., & Schechter, R.
2019

★ Lexia Core5 is an online learning platform ★ 79% of students performed above

grade level, 15% at grade level, and
that places students at their instructional
only 6% below out of 68 students in
level after a placement test
the three year study
★ It is used as an intervention and will send
★ Lexia Core5 had a positive impact on
the teacher suggested lessons with skills
the students’ learning with the
the student(s) are struggling with
program helping educators to give
★ The authors met in small groups or
targeted instruction and make
1-on-1
scaffolding reading groups
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 Student Accountability: Guiding Reading Kidstations
By Guastello, E.F., & Lenz, C.
2005

★ Portable centers called kidstations were used because of less space. Kidstations have
the kids at one table the whole time with a portable tool box or cart moving from table to
table (2005)
★ Guastello and Lenz suggest a five to seven-week span for teachers to demonstrate each
station and for kids to practice (2005)
★ The article suggests a 5-day cycle that includes when small group or 1-on-1 instruction
can take place within the kidstation rotation
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 What Do I Do with the Rest of the Class?
By Cambourne, B., Labbo, L.D., & Carpenter, M.
2001

★ There needs to be opportunities to work with a teacher one-on-one or small groups

(Cambourne, et al., 2001)
★ Eight characteristics of effective teaching-learning activities are:
○ (1) activities that are explicitly linked to other parts of the class,
○ (2) activities that are frequently introduced with language that explicitly stated the
teachers’ learning purpose for the activity
○ (3) activities where students have to engage in social interactions and cognitive
collaboration
○ (4) activities that encourages to use more than one mode of language
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 What Do I Do with the Rest of the Class?
Continued
By Cambourne, B., Labbo, L.D., & Carpenter, M.
2001

★ Eight characteristics continued

○ (5) activities that encourages to draw on more than one subsystem (i.e., semantic,
syntactic, or graphophonic) of language
○ (6) activities that encourage transfer of meaning across or within different content
areas
○ (7) activities where learners can respond with a different range of answers,
○ (8) activities that are cost efficient and developmental appropriate (Cambourne, et al.,
2001)
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 Research Methodology/Design
This study uses both qualitative and quantitative research and results.

★ Observational notes of student behavior during reading time

★ Data from school wide assessments
★ Data on how long students use Lexia Core5 weekly

All three must be observed and looked at to see how the use of Lexia Core5 in a differentiated
classroom will improve student participation, engagement, behavior, and the students’ reading. The
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author will be looking for a correlation with the information.

 Data Collection
★ Quantitative Data
○ NWEA Reading Assessment (BOY, MOY, and EOY)
○ Acadience Assessment (BOY, MOY, and EOY)
○ Lexia Core5 minutes logged in weekly
○ Lexia Core5 projected grade level by the end of the year (Pre-K, K, 1st, or
2nd)
★ Observational notes in the class using Lexia Core5 and the class that is not using
Lexia Core5 with time on task
○ How long does it take the students to start, finish, and move on to the next
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task
 Data Collection Cont.
★ Observers will ask students the following questions:
○ (1) How do you feel about reading time
○ (2) How do you see yourself as a reader
○ (3) is the work your teacher is asking you to do easy, just
right, or too hard, and why
○ (4) what do you do when you finish your work
○ (5) do you think you are getting better at reading?
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 Data Collection Cont.
★ For the students using Lexia Core5 these questions will also be asked:
○ (1) is Lexia Core5 easy, just right, or too hard
○ (2) do you like using Lexia Core5 in the classroom as part of your
rotation work
○ (3) do you think Lexia Core5 has helped you become better at
reading
○ (4) do you think other classrooms and kids would like to use Lexia
Core5 and why do they think that?
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 The class that used Lexia Core5 made a greater

Data
growth in reading improvement. That class had a 23%
more students performing at or above grade level
benchmarks in Acadience.

Analysis
Classroom Using Lexia Core5 Classroom NOT Using Lexia Core5
Reading Composite Score Reading Composite Score
BOY MOY EOY BOY MOY EOY
Above grade level 32 52 61 Above grade level 31 42 51
On Grade Level 14 15 19 On Grade Level 15 15 18
Below Grade Level 23 18 10 Below Grade Level 24 18 16
Well Below Grade Level 32 15 10 Well Below Grade Level 31 25 15
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For a further breakdown of scores, click here.

 Data Analysis
Cont.
NWEA also showed
that students using Lexia
Core5 had more growth in
reading than the class
Classroom Using Lexia Core5 Classroom NOT Using Lexia Core5 that did not us it. By the
Overall Performance Overall Performance end of the school year the
BOY MOY EOY BOY MOY EOY classes ended with 17
Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % Count % students/78% and 15
High 1 5 5 23 7 32 High 0 0 2 9 5 23 students/69%
HiAvg 7 32 7 32 5 23 HiAvg 8 36 6 27 3 14
respectively.
Avg 3 14 3 14 5 23 Avg 4 18 6 27 7 32
LoAvg 2 9 2 9 3 14 LoAvg 3 14 3 14 4 18
Lo 9 41 5 23 2 9 Lo 7 32 5 23 3 14
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 Data Analysis Cont.
★ By the end of the school year, all students were meeting their time requirements or
going over their 20-60 minutes.
★ Out of the 22 students, 2 were both on an IEP and performed at a kindergarten level
on Lexia Core5.
★ The other 20 had 5 on second grade level work and the other 15 in first grade level
work.
★ When more of the students were using Lexia Core5 for 20-60 minutes each week,
more students performed at grade level expectations.
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 Data Analysis Cont. Observations
The data shows that students using Lexia Core5 and differentiation had more students
doing on task work that was on their level so students finished around the same time.

★ 86% of on task students compared to 55% doing on task activities

★ Students using Lexia Core5 took on average 57 seconds to begin a new task vs 2
minutes and 12 seconds
★ It took 6 minutes and 25 seconds to complete tasks on average in the Lexia Core5
classroom vs 13 minutes and 41 seconds.
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 Data Analysis Questions
★ How do you feel about reading time; most said they liked reading time.
★ How do you see yourself as a reader; most said they can read, but a couple from each
class said they can’t read or are not good at it.
★ Is the work your teacher is asking you to do easy, just right, or too hard, and why; the class
with Lexia Core5 and differentiation said it was just right, but the other class had a mix
of all three answers.
★ What do you do when you finish your work; most students answered with they are
supposed to move on to the next task or read.
★ Do you think you are getting better at reading; the only ones that said they were not,
were the ones who said that they can’t read.
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 Data Analysis Questions Cont.
★ Is Lexia Core5 easy, just right, or too hard; all of them said just right.
★ Do you like using Lexia Core5 in the classroom as part of your rotation work; all said yes
and how they like getting to use the Chromebook.
★ Do you think Lexia Core5 has helped you become better at reading; all said yes.
★ Do you think other classrooms and kids would like to use Lexia Core5 and why do they
think that; all said yes, because they think students would like using the Chromebook,
they would like playing the games, and they would like it because it helps them become
better readers.
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 Future Action Plan
★ Using Lexia Core5 in a blended classroom for
20-60 minutes each week
★ Use a kidstation rotation format
★ Use five-seven weeks to demonstrate the
various activities
★ Present data to literacy coach and literacy
interventionists
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 Force Field Analysis
Goals of Action Plan: Determine if the use of Lexia Core5 in a blended and
differentiated classroom will have a greater impact on students’ reading
growth.
Objectives: Collect and analyze data on student performances in a classroom using Lexia Core 5
and differentiation and in a classroom not using Lexia Core5 or differentiation. Interview students to
know their perspectives on Lexia Core5 and reading.

*School is in year 1 of the 1:1 where each student has a Chromebook.

*The online learning platform can be using K-5 as a target intervention.

*Providing examples and preparing the students to successfully complete work during reading time

*Students not knowing how to do the activity or where to go next or what to do next
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*Students knowing how to use Lexia Core5 and being able to get logged in each day at school for
15 minutes
 Potential Evaluation Data Sources for
★ I plan to continue to use
Lexia Core5 in the
classroom
★ I will use kidstations
★ I will demonstrate the
stations for five-seven
weeks
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Future Action Plan
★ I will present my findings to
the literacy coach and
reading interventions
★ Suggest additional
professional development
★ I will gather more
information on what type of
work keeps kids on task the
longest
 Conclusion and Summary!
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 Conclusion
★ Lexia Core5 in a blended classroom improves students’
reading achievement than in a classroom that is not using
it.
★ Students must have 5-7 weeks to learn how to do reading activities
★ Students enjoyed Lexia Core5 in a blended classroom using kidstations
and they stayed on task more than the other classroom not using it
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 Reflection
The intent of action research is for practitioners, in our case educators, to
conduct disciplined inquiry with the purpose of informing and taking action to
change their practices” (Metcalf, 2015 b). This process was the first time I had
heard of action research. As an educator it is important that I am continually
trying to improve the learning environment for my students so they can grow
academically, behaviorally, and emotionally. It is important to conduct the
research correctly so the data is not biased or skewed. If I have an action
research being conducted that has positive results, I would then want to share
that information with my colleagues to help them make positive changes
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throughout the school. Overall, I have enjoyed doing my first official action
research and will continue to do more in my own classroom.
 References!
Cambourne, B., Labbo, L.D., & Carpenter, M. (2001). What do I do with the rest of the
class? The nature of teaching-learning activities. Language Art, 79(2), 124-135. Urbana. Link
here

Fountas, I.C., & Pinnell, G.S. (2001). Guided readers and writers, grades 3-6: teaching
comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Guastello, E.F., & Lenz, C. (2005). Student accountability: guided reading kidstations. Reading
Teacher, 59(2), 144-156.

Horn, M.B., & Staker, H. (2011). The rise of K-12 blended learning. Mountain View, CA:
Innosight Institute.
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 References!
Macaruso, P., Wilkes, S., Franzen, S., & Schechter, R. (2019). Three-year longitudinal study:
impact of a blended learning program—Lexia Core5 Reading—on reading gains in low-SES
kindergarteners. Computers in the Schools, 36(1), 2-18.
https://doi.org10.1080/07380569.2018.1558884

Metcalf, K. (Course Lecturer). (2015 a). Scientifically based research: Module 2 [Video].
American College of Education. Retrieved October 6, 2020, from Ensuring Accuracy

Metcalf, K. (Course Lecturer). (2015 b). Scientifically based research: Module 3 [Video].
American College of Education. Retrieved October 6, 2020, from Defining Action Research
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Thank you!
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