Sample #1
Conclusion / Reflection and Self-Evaluation
During the course of this study the question of whether using positive affirmation would affect the behavior of students in a fifth-grade classroom was tested. During the three weeks of the study students were exposed to the same environment with different behavior management; positive affirmation was the variable in this study. When positive affirmation was used, the researcher hoped to see positive effects on student behavior and positive responses from the class in response to the praise of another child in a way acting as a motivator. Students would want to act correctly in order to receive the same positive feedback from a teacher as well as not hold the team (class) back. Not to mention when a teacher is positive about student behavior, learning, and the environment, students tend to act similarly and follow suit. The teacher is in this case acting as the leader of not only academics but the culture of the classroom.
When this study began, the researcher began by choosing a specific group of fifth-graders from the inner city of Kansas City who had been reported as a notoriously rowdy and misbehaving class. This particular group was seen as hopeless in terms of teaching them as the school was simply trying to control their behavior. When there is this much trouble with classroom management, there is little to no way that learning is taking place. When the researcher realized this, she took action with this study in order to share it with coworkers and make an impact around the thinking of behavior management at UCLA.
After completing the three-week study the researcher gained insight as to how students reacted and were motivated behaviorally to positive feedback and affirmation. The results proved that these students, most of them free or reduced lunch African American students responded very well to the positive affirmation when that was used in class compared to when it was not used. Students were in fact motivated by wanting to receive feedback from a teacher regarding how well they were doing or how impressed she was with their efforts. Students moved with more urgency and purpose when completing work and had less apathy when completing tasks. Females and males tended to react similarly to the positive affirmation and both were just as motivated by it. With less negativity in the room and more positivity the classroom culture was also modified to a more positive and safe work environment for students to be themselves, share out, and learn. Students seemed more joyful during the lesson and participated more in class discussions and work as well as were more enthusiastic about completing independent work when they thought that they might be rewarded verbally by the teacher out loud to the class or individually.
Over the course of the three-week study it was observed that intrinsic motivation was developing in the students, no longer as dependent on tangible rewards. It was also observed that students were giving each other praise and affirmation in order to support their classmates and model what the teacher was doing to motivate their classmates. Positive affirmation became not only a part of teacher-to-student motivation, but also student-to-student motivation. Following the study, positive affirmation was only continued to be used in this classroom. Over the course of the following three months students became more supportive of each other and encouraging towards their classmates. Instead of negativity filling the room when students felt like one or two students were disrupting the class, they continued to do their best in order to receive feedback and often encouraged the student(s) acting out to do the same. The implication of positivity and support resonated throughout the classroom and continued to transform the culture of the self-contained class for the remainder of the year.
Following the end of the school year the researcher continued to evaluate the data collected and has created a behavior management plan for the upcoming school year for her classroom. She plans to begin the year by encouraging students to behave by finding one or two students that are following instructions, rules, or going above and beyond what is required of them and rewarding them with positive praise. Students will then see the element of positivity in the classroom from the beginning and recognize that it is not a place for negative comments. She will model this by giving very few public redirections but rather individually and privately addressing persistent challenges with a problem solving and collaborating mindset. She will discuss the positive things that the student is doing and then brainstorm with the student how they can work together to solve the challenge that is facing that student. By only exposing students to an environment of encouragement, motivation, and positive affirmation, their actions will reflect it by being more positive toward their school work, classmates, and personal growth.
As this research could potentially have an impact on an entire school culture if presented correctly, the plan for professional development would be to present to the principal first. It would be necessary to present not only the findings and research completed at other schools, but most importantly the research that was completed at UCLA. The demographics of the study, the location, circumstances, and challenges would also be very similar to other charter and public schools in the Kansas City area. After sharing the data with the principal it would be imperative to get the remainder of the staff, primarily teachers, on board with the idea of using positive affirmation in classrooms. I think it would again be helpful to share the findings of the study with teachers as it would show that it not only works in other schools, but the method has seen success in a classroom similar to theirs. Following the data sharing and collaborating, professional development training on how to most effectively use positive affirmation and feedback as a method of behavior management would be necessary. The researcher would suggest a method such as Love and Logic for the training.
After completing this study and analyzing the data, it is clear that positive affirmation does in fact positively affect the behavior and motivation of students in a fifth-grade classroom. With that in mind, the researcher will move forward in order to further analyze the results of positive feedback on students’ academic gains and how it effects their motivation in class, on their work, and their ability to reach their goals.
Sample #2
Conclusion, Reflection, and Self-Evaluation
The implications for student learning as a result of the peer-to-peer mentoring program research project at Southwest Early College Campus are not at the level by which the researcher or administrative body at Southwest holds expectations or wanted to see outcomes reach. There were two distinct bodies of students incorporated into the program; one was the group of seventh-grade students who were being mentored by the upperclassmen and the other was the group of upperclassmen, eleventh- and twelfth-grade students, who were mentoring the underclassmen. While evaluating the progression of the program throughout the spring semester, it became evident that the upperclassmen were learning more about character development, mentoring responsibilities, and managing student practice and work in comparison to the underclassmen’s amount of actual learning with respect to character development, engaging in content remediation, and learning about and practicing time managing procedures and punctuality.
While the upperclassmen benefitted greatly from the experience of working with challenging middle school students and learned a lot about themselves and what it takes to really succeed in high school to move on to higher education opportunities and the environments that they should surround themselves with to reach these goals, the seventh-grade students who were being mentored did not collectively make choices that are indicative of a pathway of success or change for their future academic endeavors.
The seventh-grade students collectively felt as if the peer-to-peer mentoring program was more of a chance to leave class for social time with an upperclassman than the time for academic remediation and character development. This resulted in the seventh-graders developing a view of the program not conducive to meeting outcomes or high expectations held by their peers or teachers.
The insights gained concerning effective facilitation of a peer-to-peer mentoring program that incorporates both middle and high school students were numerous as a result of the research done at Southwest Early College Campus. One of the most important reflections made after the research project was complete refers to the non-negotiable need for consistency within the school and the school’s structures, procedural systems, and behavior system to ensure that students are held to a common and continuous standard of excellence and expectations. The discontinuous setting of expectations and improper communication between parties at Southwest led seventh-grade students in the peer-to-peer mentoring program to the understanding that expectations did not need to be met because new procedures surrounding expectations would simply be crafted within a month or so. As a result, the researcher finds an immediate need for consistency among the procedures, systems, and expectations across the school in the future; both for the success of the school and the success of the peer-to-peer mentoring program if it is implemented again next year.
Additionally, upon reflecting on the program at Southwest, the researcher recognizes a need for a series of training sessions for the eleventh- and twelfth-grade students who will be acting as mentors to the seventh-grade students in the program. While the upperclassmen selected have proven themselves through their personal success in their academic classes and the leadership role they held in various clubs and organizations at school, they still did not have a concrete understanding of what it looks like to effectively mentor and guide someone at such a different developmental stage in life. The researcher believes that specific training would help the upperclassmen understand the needs of the lowerclassmen in a way that benefitted both parties involved.
The last reflection, to be noted here, upon completion of the peer-to-peer mentoring program at Southwest and the conclusion of the research itself surrounds communication among parties involved. The mentoring program involved a number of key individuals or groups of individuals at Southwest that were not appropriately addressed or leveraged during the spring. The people or groups involved included the following: faculty sponsor, administrative team, eleventh- and twelfth-grade mentors, seventh-grade mentees, parents or guardians, teachers of seventh-grade mentee students, and any club or organization sponsors who housed a mentee during the spring. Direct communication between the parties listed is necessary for the mentoring program to be effective and efficient for the students.
The implications for future teaching at Southwest, or other public schools looking to incorporate a peer-to-peer mentoring program into their daily curriculum and schedule, are very concrete with regards to the steps to take to make the mentor program better and more effective for the following year. Training for regular teachers who have students in the mentor program is crucial to the operation of the program. Next year, all teachers with a student in the mentor program should be required to attend a training session on working with the academic sponsor or teacher of reference for the students being mentored, the student who is being mentored, and the upperclassman acting as the mentor to ensure that students are receiving a cohesive and consistent message from all authoritative parties since there are multiple areas of reference for the students.
Depending on teacher requests and what they want the mentor program to look like in their classrooms with various students, teachers with mentored students will also be asked to closely develop an individualized plan for each student in the program with the upperclassmen who will be mentoring those students so that the action steps the mentor takes align with the goals of the class and expectations of the teacher instead of looking like this spring where mentors were simply guiding students with no real, concrete goal in mind as it related to specific academic outcomes.
Opportunities to incorporate findings and understandings from this research project into professional development for other teachers at Southwest Early College Campus looks promising for teachers who would like to see the program continue and develop into something meaningful and substantial for student learning and success. Professional development for the teachers at Southwest should incorporate the following discussion and teaching points:
- What is the mentor program, what is its purpose, and what are the desired outcomes?
- What working relationship needs to be in place between teacher and mentor to work best for the mentored student?
- What consistent systems will track the progress of every seventh-grade student in the program?
- What lines of communication need to be open to best serve the mentored student in his or her growth areas?
The research study allowed for a very critical lens to evaluate the program at Southwest this spring. With the reflections that have been made, as the school moves forward in developing the consistency of their communication, the mentor program has the opportunity to be very effective for students at Southwest.