Improving Literacy Achievement in a High-poverty School: Empowering Classroom Teachers Through Professional Development

There is a significant gap in the educational attainment of children that live in poverty and their counterparts. The research, Improving Literacy Achievement in a High-Poverty School: Empowering Classroom Teachers Through Professional Development, was aimed at reducing the difference in the educational attainment amongst children, by targeting pupils of high-poverty schools, since a substantial amount of these pupils are performing lower than their capability. Literacy, which can be considered as the ability to read and write, can be one contributing factor to the underperformance of children. Several methods have been initialized with the aim of reducing this barrier. Although this goal has not been achieved, some schools have managed to improve the literacy level of children. Evidence which has been supplied by several large-scale studies, demonstrated that teachers are required to be equipped with specific skills to effectively teach literacy.

This study was completed through thorough analyzation of the literacy capability of four first grade classes of a high-poverty school, who was eventually promoted to second grade during the study. The participants of this study included fifty-six students, twenty-five boys and thirty-one girls, the parents of these children, the classroom teachers and four special education teachers of the school.

With the aim of effectively collecting data, a triangulation multilevel research design, which is a mixed methods approach, was utilized. Both quantitative and qualitative data contributed significantly to the findings. Quantitative data was gathered through the implementation of questionnaires, ratings of writing samples, and MANOVA and posthoc tests. Qualitative data was gathered through the execution of interviews, digital recordings of professional development sessions and observations of literacy lessons in each classroom, throughout the study.

The data was analyzed utilizing the constant comparative method, which facilitated multiple comparisons between the qualitative and quantitative data. The utilization of codes was also implied, using an inductive approach until connections were observed, which lead to information being combined into themes. The analysis procedure can be deemed as recurrent, since continuous testing between qualitative and quantitative data was endorsed.

Regardless of the limitations such as an insufficient time for literacy instruction, a limited amount of time for additional planning (away from professional development sessions), methods of improving school attendance and methods of enhancing parental involvement, the initial findings established a significant increase in the academic achievement or literacy abilities (reading, writing and spelling) of the participating pupils. According to Eithne Kennedy, an increase of more than one half of a deviation was reflected in the Drumcondra Sentence Reading Test, between January of first grade and June of Second Grade. The number of pupils performing under the tenth percentile was drastically reduced by three quarters and twenty percent of the pupils were able to attain above the eightieth percentile, an attainment which was not achieved at the inception of the program. Additionally, the overall quality, expression and spelling of the pupils, also revealed notable improvements, which were higher than the expected achievements. Improvements were also observed as the participants (teachers and pupils) developed strategic methodologies to literacy, whilst being motivated and engaged.

The expectations of student achievement by teachers were also increased, while the teachers developed greater intensities of self-efficacy and self-assurance in their capability to reduce literacy complications. Regardless of the intervention and individualized support, a small group of pupils demonstrated a slower rate of development. However, documentation was presented, pertaining to possible contributing factors, such as the cognitive, emotional and social wellbeing of these individuals.

Through the analyzation of this article, I was reminded of the steps involved in the problem-solving strategy, a connection which I was unable to make before. This allowed me to gain a deeper incite of the differences and similarities of the processes of problem solving and research. Whilst problem solving can be defined as a procedure of analyzing possible solutions to complex issues, it resolves with the selection of at least one solution, whilst research can be determined as an orderly inquiry into an analyzation of resources and sources, with the aim of proving facts and arriving at new assumptions. Although the research process entails a scientific nature, as significant evidence is considered prized possessions, both processes entail a purpose, a goal and an undesirable starting point. Whilst research can equip one with the capability of scientifically improving an issue, it requires a longer period of time than that of problem solving. Additionally, implemented steps of both entities continue to demonstrate the similarities between the two. However, one’s problem solving abilities are usually determined according to his/her previous experiences or the situation at hand, whilst research is guided by theories and other academic influences.