Research Proposal

I began as an educator 20 years ago. I came into education from a middle class family where education was not only expected of me, it was made a priority for me. I had a tremendous exposure to a plethora of world cultures and was taught to appreciate the value each had to offer. I attended an extremely culturally diverse high school of 1500 students. However, it was not until I began working as a high school athletic trainer that I truly became aware of the diversity that exists in the households in which many students live. I became aware of the reality of the culture of poverty, as described by Payne (1995), five years ago while teaching in a high school of 300 students in a small North Florida rural community. I had a unique experience weekly to travel to some of the homes of our most economically disadvantaged students. I was subsequently hired at a suburban Texas high school experiencing an unprecedented increase in economically disadvantaged students. Professional development for the district focused on attempting to change the campus culture and pedagogical methodologies aimed at improving the performance of these students from the culture of poverty.

Payne (1995) recognizes distinct difference between the cultures of the affluent, middle class, and economically disadvantaged. She asserts that students from any one class seeking an education in the culture of another class would face challenges and difficulties due to the cultural differences inherent within the classes. Epstein (National Network of Partnership Schools, 2009) lists several benefits of community involvement or mentoring on student performance: increased skill in communicating with adults, increased learning of skills that receive tutoring, awareness of careers and educational options for the future, connects the student to the community, provides students with needed resources for learning, and awareness of skills, talents, occupations, and contributions of volunteers. Increased academic performance, increased self esteem, increased motivation, and decreased discipline incidences are cited by Ferrara & Ferrara (2005) as benefits of stake holder involvement and interventions in schools.

I propose a project researching the effects of research based classroom interventions on the performance of economically disadvantaged students on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test compared to the results for the same grade level and test for previous years.. Preferably, I would like to use a teacher from each of the core subjects committed to learning for all to form a professional learning community centered around the improving the performance of economically disadvantaged students. The professional learning community would use the books A Frame work for Understanding Poverty (Payne, 1995) and Under-resourced Learners: 8 Strategies to Boost Student Achievement (Payne, 2008). The learning community will also be involved in seeking out research based interventions from other sources. I feel certain that I can find at least one teacher from each core subject to participate. If I cannot find a teacher from each of the core subjects, participation by two teachers in their classrooms should yield adequate qualitative and quantitative data from which to draw conclusions.

It is my expectation for the interventions to demonstrate an increase in student performance on TAKS. The climate and culture of our campus is mixed in its approach to dealing with economically disadvantaged students. Some teachers feel that interventions and modifications for economically disadvantaged students enable them to perform at a lower level of rigor. They hold these ideas in the belief that the interventions are ethically wrong as they violate a sense of equity among the students. Other teachers recognize the culture of poverty and seek to use the interventions and modifications to scaffold the students into the mainstream learning culture of the campus. I understand that I cannot change the actions or ideas of another person. I am fully aware that the probability of convincing some of these teachers to change their minds is at zero. It is my desire that the skepticism of some of those towards the center of the two poles on the issue of interventions and modifications for economically disadvantaged classroom students will diminish as a result of this research. Perhaps they will then feel comfortable within their own sense of educational equity to begin applying some of the interventions suggested in the literature for the economically disadvantaged students in their classrooms. .

References

Ferrara, M. & Ferrara, P. (2005). Parents as partners: Raising awareness as a teacher preparation program. The Clearing House, 79(2), 77.

National Network of Partnership Schools. (2009). Epstein’s six types of involvement. In Epstein, J.L., Salinas, K. C., Sanders, M.G., & Simon, B. S.
(1997). School and community partnerships: Your handbook in action. Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press Retrieved May 28, 2010, from:
http://www.cpirc.org/vertical/Sites/%7B95025A21-DD4C-45C2-AE37-D35CA63B7AD9%7D/uploads/%7B1310DD65-F94A-457D-A680-9EE824084458%7D.PDF

Payne, R. (1995). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.

Payne, R. (2008) Under-resourced learners: 8 strategies to boost student achievement. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.