Critique of the Case Study for the Curtis Elementary School

The following is my critique of the Curtis Elementary School Case Study:

1.     Area of focus

The area of focus for the Curtis Elementary School study was how Mr. Stewart was going to enhance student learning by teaching his students to construct meaning during reading.  Thus, the study concentrates on teaching and learning.  In addition, as the study takes place in Mr. Stewart’s classroom with his students, the study occurs within his locus of control.  Finally, all of the teachers in the school collectively agreed on the contents of this study.  As based on his initial comments in his write-up, he is passionate about improving his teaching methods to help his students construct meaning from reading.  He states that his previous approach of quantity over quality did not help the students do well on last year’s state assessment and he is looking forward to challenging his previous beliefs to help his students improve.  Thus, Mr. Stewart’s research study contains all of the principles needed for a well-defined area of focus.

2.     Research questions

Mr. Stewart’s research question was not clearly stated in the section labeled Research Question in his report.  He used the school research question which was stated in vague terms that were defined in previous sections of the report.  Because of this issue, I think that Mr. Stewart had problems when he collected data for the research.  He could have changed the research question from “What is the effect of an altered curriculum on student performance?” to “What is the effect of using “whatever program that he was going to use to improve reading in his classroom” on student performance as measured by statewide assessments and teacher-made tests that will be administered regularly throughout the year?”

3.     Locus of control

In spite of the vague wording of his research question, Mr. Stewart implemented the research study in his classroom and based the conclusions on the results of his students.  So, even though this research was being carried out throughout the school, he stayed focused on his locus of control and did not try to expand the study outside of his classroom. 

4.     Data Collection

In this case study, the research question focuses on the effect of updates to Mr. Stewart’s instructional methods for reading on student performance on statewide assessment tests and teacher-made tests administered during the year. 

Jonathon’s suggested data collection ideas include classroom observations, interviews with students, statewide assessment scores, and regular collection of student work.  In these suggested data collection methods, it is not clear whether he is collecting teacher-made reading tests, which are required to answer the research question; he only tells the readers that he will collect student work.  In addition, observations, student interviews, and additional student products may be useful for triangulation of the research data, but he does not discuss how this information will be used to help answer the research question.  In my opinion, the research question defines a quantitative research study, where the observations and interviews are not necessary to provide data for the research.

In the Data Collection section of the report, Mr. Stewart solely describes certain student products that he will be collecting for the study.  These products correlate with one item listed in his data collection ideas, his regular collection of student work.  In this section, he does not mention student interviews, observations, or statewide assessment scores which were previously discussed for data collection.  Additionally, the student products that he is collecting do not include the results from the statewide assessments or teacher-made reading tests, but are different types of reading evaluations based on the reading program that he wants to implement in his classroom.  Thus, if he bases his analysis on these data, he will not accurately answer the research question.

5.     Ethics

There is no evidence that Mr. Stewart faced any ethical challenges during his study.  However, in his write-up, he discusses a conversation between two students and in that anecdote one of the students’ names is mentioned.  In all other instances in the report, Mr. Stewart does not include children’s names.  I think that this might be a small break in confidentiality for the student.

6.     Reflective stance

Mr. Stewart discusses in detail how the new program, which focuses on vocabulary to help students construct meaning during reading, has helped improve his students reading comprehension.  However, he does not discuss how this program has affected his teaching in the classroom or how it has affected his ideas about teaching reading in ways to construct meaning.  In fact, he states “as I start the next cycle of my own research I will be ‘constructing meaning’ of my own about how children construct meaning.” Thus, in my opinion, Mr. Stewart’s reflective stance has not been verbalized in this case study.    

7.     Action

In the case study, Mr. Stewart explains several actions that are taking place in his classroom because of the action research project.  He describes one teaching change that he has implemented in which students are required to look up certain vocabulary words and replace them with words of similar meaning.  In addition, he describes several techniques that he plans to use as assessments of student learning.  These techniques include observations, reflections with students, and student journal entries.  He also states that he will continue on to another cycle of action research to keep improving students’ reading abilities in his classroom.

8.     Action-data connection

Mr. Stewart’s teaching action for vocabulary replacement was directly related to a passage from his data analysis where he discusses this activity.  Additionally, he used teacher observations and student reflections to collect much of the data mentioned in the data analysis of the case study.  Journal entries are an extension of the student reflections that Jonathon was already collecting.  Overall, Mr. Stewart’s actions are connected with his data analysis.

9.     Final Thoughts

While I am not convinced that Mr. Stewart’s research project answered the original research question, it seems that the new reading program implemented in this classroom helped his students’ reading and comprehension abilities.  Maybe in the next round of action research, he can work to answer the original question.