NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY EDUCATION FOUNDATION 9
2004 GROSVENOR GRANT APPLICATION
Cover Sheet
GROSVENOR GRANT APPLICATION 2004
Date: March 7, 2004
Organization Name: Arizona Geographic Alliance Federal ID 860196696
Mailing Address: Arizona State University
Department of Geography, Box 870104
Tempe AZ 85287-0104
Telephone Number: 480-965-5361 FAX Number: 480-965-8313
E-mail address: , ,
Website address: http://alliance.la.asu.edu/azga/
Primary Contact: Ronald I. Dorn with Gale Ekiss and Elizabeth Hinde
Title: Professor of Geography, Co-Coordinator Arizona Geographic Alliance and Professor of Elementary Education in the College of Education (Elizabeth Hinde)
Contact Information: Same as above
Organizational Background: The Arizona Geographic Alliance (AzGA) is Arizona's arm of the National Geographic Education Foundation's effort to promote an appreciation of geography's importance in grades K-12. Our main focus rests in teacher professional development as the most effective and cost-effective instrument at ensuring the next generation understands geography's value. The University is committed to preparing students to become competent educators and to research effective practices in pedagogy. AzGA partners with the Texas and Michigan Geographic Alliances to undertake efficacy testing of a strategy of linking geography lessons with reading skills. These alliances are in the top tier of geographical educational organizations in the world, and it is exciting to join with the experts in these states to carry out this research.
Submitting in Guidelines Category #2:
Title: Efficacy of GeoLiteracy: Assessing Student Achievement in Elementary and Middle School Reading and Geography Instruction
Project Description: Our 2000-2001 Grosvenor grant developed GeoLiteracy lessons in Arizona. In an effort to expand the program to a regional and eventually national level, it is necessary to conduct a controlled study examining the efficacy of GeoLiteracy methods on reading achievement in elementary grades in Arizona with partner Alliances in Texas and Michigan. By extending the research design slightly, we will also examine the effectiveness of teacher consultants in the Alliance network in teaching geography as compared to non-teacher consultants. This study would be aligned to NCLB dictates concerning practices based on “scientific research".
Project Start Date: September 1, 2004
Project End Date: December 31, 2005
Total Project Budget: 200,423
Funding from Other Partners: 126,045
Amount Requested from NGSEF: 173,378
Efficacy of GeoLiteracy: Assessing Student Achievement in Elementary and Middle School Reading and Geography Instruction
1. Need and Link to Grosvenor Grant Program
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation has led to a condition throughout the country where administrators divide curriculum into tested and untested subjects. Since geography is an untested subject in Arizona, the Arizona Geographic Alliance (AzGA) received prior Grosvenor Grant support to develop curriculum linking NGS conservation initiatives, and Arizona and National Geography Standards to tested skills in reading and writing (our K-8 "GeoLiteracy" package) where each lesson contains assessments that mirror state-mandated NCLB compliant testing. The original GeoLiteracy grant was followed by a grant to provide workshops to Title I inner city and rural districts, a grant in progress. Workshop evaluations filled by administrators and teachers who have been shown and trained in these materials have found the GeoLiteracy package to be effective and classroom friendly.
A FIPSE pre-proposal (P116A041266) was submitted to develop a grass roots strategy to convert GeoLiteracy into an inter-state (and then national) program where in-service and pre-service teacher education programs access integrated curriculum, as well as on-line delivery of best practice presentations. The proposed replication strategy involves php web programming to ensure that teachers download standards and assessment instruments specific to each state. The pre-proposal was one of over 1300 applicants rejected for an invitation to submit a final proposal. Early discussions with FIPSE comprehensive personnel revealed a need for detailed research on the efficacy of the GeoLiteracy package to learn reading and geography skills. And although AzGA conducted research using teacher evaluation indices, we did not conducted control tests with objective test items [1].
There is a larger literature supporting this GeoLiteracy strategy [2]. According to the National Reading Panel (2002), teaching comprehension in the context of other academic areas – for example, social studies – can be an effective method for increasing reading achievement. The NRP suggests teaching reading in other academic areas in order to bolster reading comprehension. In addition, Allington (2002: 745) found that students in high-achieving classrooms “worked on tasks that integrated several content areas (reading, writing, and social studies)”. Content-rich classrooms where the teacher integrates reading with other areas, particularly social studies, is one of the factors that seems to increase reading achievement. Pressley (2001) found, furthermore, that teachers must model and teach effective reading strategies across every school day in every grade level. Teaching effective reading strategies in all subject areas bolsters reading achievement.
In an analysis of research regarding teacher quality, Darling-Hammond (1999: 14) found that no single approach to reading and math education is effective. In fact, “successful teachers tend to be those who are able to use a range of teaching strategies and who use a range of interaction styles”. Marzano (2003) also found that effective reading teachers have more strategies at his or her disposal than ineffective teachers. Marzano (2003) further stipulates that strategies that have been shown to affect student achievement the most include identifying similarities and differences, summarizing, note-taking, use of cooperative learning, advance organizers, and setting objectives and providing feedback — all of which are included in GeoLiteracy lessons.
Research also supports the notion that positive attitudes toward reading decline as students advance to the middle grades (Bean, 2001). Curricular elements that play a part in this decline in attitude include reading textbooks and tracking students. In addition, content teachers exert a strong influence on students’ attitudes toward reading, Bean found. It appears, furthermore, that content teachers infusing quality literature into the curriculum has a positive effect on student attitudes. GeoLiteracy attempts to provide the vehicle for the infusion of quality literature and sound reading practice into the geography/social studies curriculum.
As students progress through the elementary grades, it is essential that reading proficiency is sustained. There are four fundamental features of quality reading programs in the third grade and above: 1) many opportunities to read across the curriculum; 2) the acquisition of new vocabulary and knowledge (through wide reading and new concepts acquired through instruction); 3) an emphasis on the different kinds of texts; and 4) providing explicit assistance to students in reasoning about text (Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement, 1998). It is essential to address reading skills in the content areas, as GeoLiteracy attempts to do, to sustain reading proficiency.
Since many teachers have been introduced to and trained in GeoLiteracy strategies in Arizona, we are hoping to conduct research to examine how GeoLiteracy is affecting student achievement in reading. With a small addition to the research design, we would also be able to examine the performance of Teacher Consultants in the alliance network in the teaching of geography in K-8 classrooms as compared to non-teacher consultants.
The proposed study maintains five systematic linkages to NGS initiatives: (1) many of the lessons in the GeoLiteracy package use books in the NGS Windows on Literacy and Reading Expedition programs; (2) lessons were developed and piloted by teachers in low-income urban and high minority (Hispanic and Native American) settings -- linking to NGSEF desires to serve these populations; (3) the lessons show potential for extensions to modify regional lessons (e.g. Arizona, southwest) in other parts of the country — illustrating that other geographic education groups can use this strategy; (4) by determining the efficacy of GeoLiteracy methods on reading and geography achievement, GeoLiteracy has the potential to expand and enhance geography education in elementary classrooms; (5) the study would align with NCLB’s dictate for practices based on scientific research design in classrooms; and (6) the study would assess the effectiveness of TCs in teaching geography as compared with non-TC partners at the same school.
2. Beneficiaries
Direct beneficiaries of the GeoLiteracy lessons are the children and parents living in the states that implement it, where standards-based geography lessons enrich their lives. This research is a critical component in the credibility of GeoLiteracy programs that are blooming in geographic alliances across the US. A positive finding would be a critical component of a larger "national GeoLiteracy" project. Furthermore, teachers and administrators could decide whether or not to implement the program based on scientifically based research and not just on the notion that GeoLiteracy seems like a beneficial program. Teachers in Arizona and partner alliances (Michigan and Texas) would be exposed to this strategy of teaching geography along with tested reading skills. Elementary teachers would also benefit; by integrating a subject in which they are not confident about teaching (geography) with a content area in which they are comfortable (language arts), teachers gain confidence and competence in geography teaching.
3. Specific Goals
The following table provides general goals and how they will be measured.
Program Goal / What Measure / Why Outcome is Achievable1. Examine efficacy of Geoliteracy on reading achievement in grades 3-8. / • There will be a control and experimental group of teachers (including 120 teachers in AZ, with smaller groups of in Texas and Michigan. Control teachers will not use Geoliteracy lessons, while giving the same pre/post-tests
•Teachers will administer a reading pre and post test in the beginning and end of a semester. / The pre and post tests will measure students’ achievement in the following reading practices: cause/effect, sequencing, main idea, inferential comprehension, following directions, relevant facts, draw conclusions, compare/contrast (Appendix 1 presents GeoLiteracy Lessons and assessed skills). Dr. Carl B. Smith partnered with the NGS in assessing the efficacy of the NGS Windows on Literacy and Reading Expedition programs, and he will partner with our research as an outside evaluator.
2. Examine the effectiveness of Alliance Teacher Consultants in the teaching of geography as compared to non- TCs. / • There will be an equal number of TCs. and non-TCs in the experimental group.
• The pre/post tests will include questions addressing geography as well as reading. / The pre/post tests will measure students’ achievement in geography as outlined in their state standards such as:
map reading, measure distance, dependence on natural environment, modification of the physical features, human features, characteristics of regions, cooperation and conflict, migration, and different cultures.
3. Ensure that GeoLiteracy is NCLB-compliant / • Research done in a controlled environment / A controlled experiment like this aligns with NCLB’s mandate for scientifically based practices in America’s classrooms[3]
4. Partner states with healthy Alliance networks / • Arizona partners with the Michigan and Texas alliances to assess whether the GeoLiteracy program can work to teach geography and reaching in multiple states / The coordinators of the Alliances in each of the states have committed themselves to the assessment of GeoLiteracy and are willing to facilitate training to teachers in their networks, with assistance from the Arizona Geographic Alliance in order to control consistency in training procedures
5 Increased time taught on geography / • Teachers in the experimental group will teach 5 to 7 geoliteracy lessons in the course of one semester for this study / • Teachers will report on the dates the geoliteracy lessons were taught.
• Teachers will submit worksheets/sample student activities (with student names deleted) of each geoliteracy lesson taught.
• Teachers will complete a brief evaluation of each geoliteracy lesson taught.
4. Detailed Project Description including Processes and Effectiveness of the Approach
Selection of Teachers Involved in the Study: The teachers involved in the treatment group in the study will be Teacher Consultants with their state’s alliance organization who have received training in GeoLiteracy, or other teachers who were trained in GeoLiteracy but are not TCs. These teachers would then enlist the participation of a fellow teacher in their same grade level in their same school as participants in the control group. This would ensure that the students under study are members of the same demographic group and that issues such as school climate and district/principal influences on teaching would be similar.
Training of Teachers in Texas and Michigan: Since GeoLiteracy was initiated in Arizona and there currently is a pool of trained teachers from which to choose, it will not be necessary to establish further training of Arizona teachers. However, Texas and Michigan do not currently have teachers trained in GeoLiteracy so it is necessary for two trainers from Arizona to travel to Texas and Michigan to conduct workshop on GeoLiteracy lessons, techniques, and the study itself. Coordinators of the Texas and Michigan Alliances would offer the training to TCs in their alliance networks. This effort would involve the adaptation of GeoLiteracy lessons to fit Michigan and Texas standards and testing styles.
Remuneration of Participating Teachers: Teachers involved in the treatment group of the study will be offered clock hours towards recertification. They will also receive a stipend of $100 each for their participation. Teachers involved in the control group will receive a gift to be decided by their state’s alliance.
Pre/Post Tests: The pre/post tests will be developed by Dr. Elizabeth Hinde of Arizona State University, in concert with reading assessment specialist Dr. Carl B. Smith of Indiana ERIC. The tests will specifically target reading and geography objectives aligned with their states standards and will be grade level appropriate. Grades 3-8 will be tested. Prior to grade 3, there are complications in assessment of reading. In addition, these are the grades that are tested in the elementary level on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (Arizona’s standardized NCLB-aligned assessment).
Student Demographics: The Arizona Geographic Alliance was able to evaluate the GeoLiteracy lessons using TCs and piloting volunteers who taught over 5300 students in more than 20 school districts. The ethnicity of the piloting group matched the general Arizona population in the K-8 testing groups. Our student population also represented Arizona's mix of economically diverse populations. Given the diverse location of Arizona's TCs, we do not anticipate a problem in recruiting a representative mix of students. TCs in partner alliances teach in similarly diverse settings.