2018

Language Development Through a Cycle of Inquiry

The English language learner population in the United States and more importantly in California is a fast-growing population.  Currently, we are not equipped or prepared to meet the needs of this diverse group of students.   The responsibility, therefore, is placed on the school district or individual schools to properly train all teachers, not just noviceread more

Adapting Reading Comprehension Strategies to Support Mathematical Word Problem Comprehension

Mathematical word problems are challenging and difficult for students. Students struggle with comprehending mathematical word problems, which leads to students not answering the word problem accurately. Comprehension of mathematical word problems is a challenging and difficult skill to acquire. Throughout my teaching career, I have observed the challenges mathematical word problems pose on students everyread more

Addressing the Literacy Needs of Heritage Spanish Learners in Spanish 2 Class

Despite the multiplicity of research available related to best teaching practices and learning strategies for students learning languages, most of it focuses on English-speaking students learning a foreign language and on non-English speakers learning English. In contrast, studies on using best instructional practices and learning strategies towards the education of heritage Spanish-speakers and students whoread more

Addressing Lack of Persistence when Faced with Challenging Math Problems

Lack of persistence when faced with challenging math problems impacts student achievement. Having taught high school math for only three years, I have observed its effect on students in my class every year. Some studies show the importance of entry points in form of questions positively contribute to a student’s spending more time, able toread more

Managing Adult Relationships in an Autism Classroom

The purpose of this research is to explore what happens when a novice teacher embarks on the role as the lead in a self-contained, Autism, special education classroom.  The task of managing adult relationships in special education classrooms can become complex. Self-contained special education classrooms offer unique challenges for even the most seasoned teachers andread more

Deepening the Leadership Capacity of Teacher Leaders

This action research seeks to understand whether an intentional investment in the leadership development of teacher leaders through input, modeling, coaching and consultation in instructional leadership team meetings will result in improved effectiveness of facilitation of professional learning communities (PLCs) by teacher leaders and whether that improved facilitation will in turn result in shared bestread more

Setting the Stage for Student Talk

    The increasing numbers of students in our classrooms for whom English is not their primary language and the mandate to prepare them for the rigors of the Common Core State Standards and 21st Century careers has created a need for effective professional learning to build teacher capacity for working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations.read more

Bridging the Gap: Improving Student Writing through Using Focal Student Work to Plan for Effective Feedback

Elementary students at World Academy in Oakland struggle as proficient writers; their writing skills hold them back from re-classifying as Fully English Proficient (RFEP) and from meeting or exceeding standards as measured by the state Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test, or SBAC. While research shows that effective feedback has a robust effect size in helpingread more

Improving Project Designing with Business Partners

This action research study sought to discover whether the level of rigor and relevance of student projects in high school career technical pathways could be improved through individual coaching of teachers on effective collaboration with industry partners to co-design projects. Coaching also included professional development on the elements of high-quality project-based learning and in realread more

Improving Curriculum Implementation in a Dual Language Program through Professional Learning Communities

Dual Language programs have been adopted by many school districts in efforts to provide students with a bilingual, biliterate, and cross-cultural education. These programs not only aim to maintain students’ native language while learning a second language, but also attempt to close the achievement gap for English Language Learners (ELLs) and other students of color.read more