Final Action Research Plan

How does the integration of technology in the classroom impact student achievement?

For my action research project, I plan to integrate the use of different forms of technology into the classroom. Mainly those items that is currently available to our district. Throughout this process, I will focus on integrating the use of laptops and CPS (Classroom Performance System) Units. I have decided to narrow my focus to the 7^th grade, English Language Arts classes. The reason I chose 7^th grade is because these will be students I teach as well and I will be familiar with my sample group. I decided English Language Arts would be the best subject to use for my action research project because this class serves as a strong foundation for learning in other subjects. In all, there are about 300 7^th graders that will serve as part of my research.

At my campus there are three 7^th English Language Arts teachers. I plan to integrate the use of laptops and CPS Units with one of the teachers, serving as my focus group, and the other two teachers will continue with the traditional methods of teaching they have always used. During my process, and at the end, every teacher will give their students an assessment. Every student will take the same assessment, regardless of which group they are in. From there, I can compare my results and see if student achievement among my focus group increased.

Besides collecting data through traditional assessment measures, I also plan to observe the English Language Arts classrooms during my off time and conduct field notes for my study. I would also like to conduct interviews with the three teachers, individually and as a group, discussing their views on the research project.