Running Head: RESEARCH PLAN AND SELF-REFLECTION

Research Plan and Self-Reflection

Andrea Gonzalez
University of St. Thomas
EDUC 6327 SEL2
Dr. Spencer
November 20, 2015

Research Plan and Self-Reflection

Literature Review
Schools within the Houston Independent School District (HISD) receive the bulk of their
budget from the students Average Daily Attendance (ADA) rates. In order to increase a schools
budget the school may accept additional students by creating a waiver for an overcrowded
classroom. In doing so, class sizes can swell to over 30 students per teacher while providing the
school additional funds. However, as the rapper Notorious B.I.G. once said, its like the more
money we come across the more problems we see.
A group of researchers decide to see if the reduction of class sizes would benefit students
in Kindergarten through 2nd grade academically. In 1985, the Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio
(STAR) study took place Tennessee and was one of the largest and most well-known studies. The
study followed about 6,500 students from 330 classrooms in order to evaluate the short and long
term effects of Class Size Reduction (CSR). Standardized state assessments and curriculum
based tests were administered to compare the control groups and the groups who received CSR.
The data were significantly better for students who received CSR (Mosteller, 1995).
Konstantopoulos (2008) decided to analyze three additional projects that followed the
STAR study. These studies increased the overall student sample size to about 11,000 students. He
analyzed the data to see if CSR had a positive effect on closing the achievement gap. His
findings were dismal because they revealed that CRS does not close the gap. However, he did
find that CSR did increase the performance of high achieving students and brought students
performing blow grade level up to, or even above, grade level. Additionally, he found there was a
stronger academic growth for minority low-socioeconomic students.

Research Plan and Self-Reflection

CSR worked wonderfully in the general education setting. Schwartz et al. (2012)
examines the effects of CSR on students in early elementary and the relation to special education
identification. Schwartz et al. (2012) focused on at-risk minority first graders and placed them in
reduced classes. These students received early targeted interventions to help boost performance
and negate the lack of academic support at home. These students were less likely to be identified
as struggling students in need of special education services. The students scored higher on state
and curriculum based exams than their peers who did not receive CSR and targeted interventions
(Schwartz et al. 2012).
If data shows smaller class sizes improve students short and long term academic
abilities, then why is it not a more widespread practice? While the data and studies support that
CSR has a positive effect on students who participate in it, there have been downfalls when
reducing class sizes. Ehrenberg et al. (2001) discusses not only the benefits but also the short
comings of CSR. When reducing class sizes schools need to hire more teachers which puts a
financial strain on the campus and district. When searching for additional teachers principals
may face a time crunch and be forced into hiring a teacher who is not highly qualified or ideal. A
teacher who is underperforming causes injury to her students because she is not able to provide
quality instruction to her students. Similarly, when schools add additional classrooms they must
have the space and extra classrooms to place the students in. If the schools facilities are not up
to code temporary buildings must be added or remodeling must be done (Ehrenberg et al. 2001).
This can put yet another stress on the campus.
Even if a district cannot ensure there are between 15 and 17 students in each class, they
can be proactive in finding an alternative solution for swollen class sizes. With a large class size

Research Plan and Self-Reflection

teachers face the added stress of a larger workload with no support. HISD has reached an all-time
high teacher turnover rate. Are large class sizes playing a negative role in the overall picture?
Current Study and Hypothesis
Does CSR improve teacher performance? Does CSR help boost teacher morale,
involvement, and boost teacher retention rates? Teacher turnover rates have reached an all-time
high in HISD and I wonder if the large class sizes play a role in it.
Participants
For the study, groups of ethnically diverse teachers from the surrounding and greater
Houston areas would participate. I would include all grade levels and group them by levels of
lower elementary, upper elementary, middle, and high school in the study.
Measures
Each participant would be asked to create a user name and or identification number that
only they would have access to in order to remain anonymous. An online survey would be
administered to the teachers at the beginning of the school year and again at the end to ensure the
reliability of the answers.
Design and Procedure
This survey would consist of quantitative questions relating to teachers experiences with
larger and small class sizes in addition to the grade level being taught during the experience.
Teachers would be asked to give their age, number of years teaching, give their largest and
smallest class sizes and then rate their experiences on a scale of strongly agree, agree, neutral,
disagree, and strongly disagree with different questions aligned to the hypothesis. Similarly, they
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Research Plan and Self-Reflection

would be asked to rate their beliefs about class sizes and teacher satisfaction. The teachers would
be asked to identify their ideal class size and ways they would deliver the assigned curriculum
and instruction with the size they selected.
Data Analysis
Participants would have an allotted time limit to take the survey and a reminder email
would be sent out to ensure maximum participation. Data would be collected and organized in an
Excel document and analyzed online through the GraphPad t Test Calculator. Data from both the
beginning survey and end survey would be compared to ensure validity. If a participants answers
vary significantly their responses will not be used. I would analyze the number of years teaching
and compare them to the teachers overall experience with large class sizes. Identifying
correlations between years of experience and overall experience with larger class sizes would be
taken into consideration as well.
Reflection
Looking back at the beginning of my education at the University of Saint Thomas, the
idea of doing action research was overwhelming and frightening. A pit of fear would develop in
my gut and I would dread thinking about upcoming assignments and course work. However,
during the course EDUC/COUN 6326 our professor, Dr. Spencer, broke down our assignments
into manageable sections. The most useful piece of advice he gave our cohort was to do research
on topics we found most interesting. The action research process became less stressful and more
manageable. Conducting research and being able to identify useful sources became almost a
second nature as Dr. Spencer modeled the appropriate items to look for. Reading articles became
less of a chore and more like pleasure reading.

Research Plan and Self-Reflection

While learning about the entire action research process, I had the chance to interact more
with members of my cohort and coworkers from Seguin Elementary. Conducting the survey for
this course has been the most interesting, and fun, I have had with the course. After some of the
participants took the online survey they would call or text me asking about my research and why
I chose the topic. This provided an informational discussion which helped build relationships
with some of my coworkers, and cohort members, which otherwise would have not been
developed. After the data from the survey was collected I complied it into a spreadsheet and
discussed the results in an assignment. The outcomes were interesting to review and I enjoyed
comparing answer choices with other participants and myself. However, I was not thrilled to
analyze it. The website GraphPad t Test Calculator helped to make the analyzation process less
stressful. Once I imputed all the data, the calculator did the rest of the work. It gave me the
results I requested and took hardly any time to complete.
Overall, the experience of learning the action research model has been extremely
beneficial in growing myself academically. It feels more like a natural and highly effective
problem solving technique and less of stressful activity. Action research can be used in a plethora
of ways to solve immediate complications in a variety of situations. This type of collaborative
research focuses on problem solving methods that get to the root of an issue in order to address it
collaboratively. In turn, this process helps teams work together and improve their abilities to
diagnosis complications. It has helped open my eyes to a more effective way to utilize teamwork
to create a better environment for myself and those around me.

Research Plan and Self-Reflection

References
Ehrenberg, R., Brewer, D., Gamoran, A., & Willms, J. (2001). Class Size and Student
Achievement. Psychological Science in the Public Interest,2(1), 1-30.
Konstantopoulos, S. (2008). Do Small Classes Reduce the Achievement Gap between Low and
High Achievers? Evidence from Project STAR.ELEM SCHOOL J The Elementary
School Journal, 108(4), 275-291.
Mosteller, F. (1995). The Tennessee Study of Class Size in the Early School Grades. Critical
Issues for Children and Youths, 5(2), 113-127. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from
http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/05_02_08.pdf
Schwartz, R., Schmitt, M., & Lose, M. (2012). Effects of Teacher-Student Ratio in Response to
Intervention Approaches. The Elementary School Journal, 112(4), 547-567.

Research Plan and Self-Reflection