I keep rolling this research project over and over in my mind. A coworker of mine suggested determining what the characteristics of Schools of Excellence are. For example: Are the teachers highly motivated? Are there demographic differences? Some of this information may be found on the NC Report Card website, but other factors would require a survey of staff, administration, and student body. While I realize that it might not be possible to survey the entire school, I think that I would begin by contacting several teachers that might be interested in assisting me with gathering student data. After I have collected the data, I will have to analyze it, and this is what scares me about this particular choice. Not only would there be a massive amount of data, but it may even require regression equations. That scares me on many levels.
In reality, I keep coming back to the idea of studying some aspect of the EOC. This test is such a major facet of the lives of high school teachers, it difficult to not want to study it further. The many different ideas I have all hinges on the cooperation of teachers I meet with. Not only would I want to do a “simple” survey, but I would also like to interview teachers about the EOC. Ultimately I would like to use actual EOC scores in my study somehow, but I’m not sure how that would work since they would have to be old scores. I wouldn’t be able to study if certain methods or ideas have an effect on the class’s EOC score. With the growing importance of the EOC in our students’ lives, I feel I must do everything in my power to ensure my student’s success on those tests.
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Sarah, seems like a good idea. You might want to compare one S. of E. and compare it to a struggling school who maybe didn't meet AYP (from the 2006-2007 year, for which we have public data). That way, you could narrow your data a bit yet still isolate possible causes/factors related to a school's success.
Sarah, your interest in Schools of Excellence takes your study outside the classroom and to a different school-wide level. It would be best if you can keep it in the classroom. But you COULD do regression analysis ... that would be fun!!!
I don't think it is practical to attempt any study involving EOC scores. These are highly confidential. It would be better to focus on quality teaching than this test in particular.
Think about the micro-level. What happens inside the classroom that is interesting to you?
Sarah, I think both the topics you mentioned are interesting. After reading the first one, I'm curious as to what a School of Excellence is? But, based on Dr. McCoy's response, that topic may be slightly out of the realm of possibility.
Maybe since I'm a numbers person, I keep wanting and hoping to find a way to be able to use and analyze testing data (i.e. EOC scores). Like you, I have been discouraged from using that, so maybe you can do a more Qualitative type study. I'm leaning more towards studying Hispanics attitudes towards school (and math in particular). Good luck!
Sarah, I am glad that you keep coming back to studying some aspect of the EOCs because it is such a relevant topic for us. Remember what the 08 MTF/As told us: "Do a research project that will improve you as a teacher". While I think the school of excellence topic is a good idea, I can see how it would be more useful on an administrative level than on the classroom level. If you decide to go the EOC route you could think about observing how teachers' attitudes towards the EOC s affect students attitudes towards the EOCs. For example, in your observations you could code a teacher's negative comment relating to the EOCs in front of her students as one thing, and code positive comments as another. Then towards the end of your study, survey or interview the students to see what their attitude is towards the EOC. Just an idea!
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