Running

Head: THE STUDY SKILLS PROGRAM AT SAINTS PETER AND PAUL HISH SCHOOL

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul High School
Formative Evaluation April 2012

This evaluation was conducted on behalf of the school administration to determine if the program should be continued or revised. Mr. Doug Becker, Science Department Chairman and Instructor at Saints Peter and Paul completed this evaluation.

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

Executive Summary
The Study Skills program at Saints Peter and Paul High School was started at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year after a committee of faculty members suggested that incoming freshman are not properly prepared to take on the new challenges of high school. It was noted that student work was disorganized, incomplete and students seemingly did not know how to begin studying. Data was collected using student and teacher surveys administered at the end of each school year. The program identified thirteen study characteristics or skills that would be the foundation of student learning. From these thirteen items, three objectives were developed and studied. Two of the objectives revolved around how often students would employ the study habits taught to them during orientation and the third would be a measure of the change in academic ineligibility. The study skills were consistently used throughout high school and the ineligibility rate dropped by 46%, however the percentage of students using a majority of the study skills was not met.

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

Table of Contents

Section Title
Executive Summary Part 1 - Introduction Purpose of the Evaluation Background Information Part 2 - Methodology Description Part 3 Results and Findings Collected Data Discussion of Findings Part 4 - Summary Discussion Part 5 -Recommendations Recommendations Part 6 Project Costs Project Costs Part 7 - Appendixes Student Survey Teacher Survey

Page
2

3 4 4 - 5 5 - 7 7 - 8 8 - 9 9 10 11 - 12 13

Introduction Purpose of the Evaluation

This evaluation was undertaken to determine how well the Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul High School has been performing. The evaluation will attempt to validate the objectives proposed at the programs inception. The information gained by this evaluation will be passed onto the faculty committee that oversees the

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

implementation of the program each year. This committee consists of the school principal, the school guidance counselor, and several faculty members. This document will determine if there has been a reduction of academic ineligibility of students over the time period of the program, if students are using the skills taught during the program, and there is an increase or decrease use of the study skill techniques. The evaluation will use data compiled using student surveys that have been completed over afour-year time period. A teacher survey has been added this year and will be used to determine compliance with expectations of the staff.

Background
The Study Skills program at Saints Peter and Paul High School was developed because of an increasingly high number of academically ineligible students. It was noticed by freshman teachers the students were entering the high school unorganized and unable to set guidelines for their studies. The program was developed during the summer of 2007 and initiated the following fall at the beginning of the school year. The first phase of the program occurs at freshman orientation during the first two days of school. At that time a workbook is used along with study skill videos to instruct students in methods they could use to increase their academic success. The program is broken up into four different sessions, which include organizational strategies, notetaking skills, evaluation of the student learning preferences and importance of developing a schedule. Students rotate through all four session over a two-day period. All faculty members facilitate these introductory sessions. Students have the skills reviewed during the remaining three years of their careers at Saints Peter and Paul through the intervention of the faculty. The use of a daily planner, keeping an organized notebook, and setting scheduled study times are emphasized. The obvious objectives of the program were to increase student achievement but three were chosen to be part of the Middle States Accreditation process. These included: 1. There will be a 4-percentage point decrease each year from the baseline (2007 school year) in the number of students academically ineligible during the school year. 2. The number of students in the class of 2011 responding positively (all the time or most of the time) will increase or remain constant throughout their four years of high school in each of the measured categories. 3. The majority of students (>50%) in the class of 2011 will employ 75% of the measured categories most of the time during each school year in high school. These goals were selected because they were measurable and would show the success of the program over a fairly long period of time. The study skills program was monitored by the completion of students surveys administered near the end of the school year.

Methodology
This evaluation will take a look at the student surveys (See Appendix A) to determine if the three primary objectives have been met. Comparing the number of different student academically ineligible during successive years will demonstrate the

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

achievement of objective one. As stated earlier the raw data collected was through student survey. The compiling of this data will be used to confirm objectives two and three.The class of 2011 is the only class that has participated in the program for four years and will be used to confirm these two objectives. The numerical data will be converted to percentage so that successive years can be compared because of a changing school enrollment. Each of the skill categories will be evaluated separately to determine which are being successful completed. A faculty survey (See Appendix B) has recently been added to monitor the amount of time devoted specifically to the program during the school year.

Results and Findings

The following four tables represent the responses by each class to the completed surveys. The data was collected several weeks before the end of the school year (mid May). The survey was conducted in each of the grade level English courses since all students in the school are required be enrolled. Students were given a survey sheet (see appendix) and asked to carefully fill in a Scantron answer sheet. Responses were then tabulated electronically. Summary of these tabulations are given below.
Study Skills Survey Class of 2011
All the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr.
1. Used daily/monthly planner 2. Maintained notebook 3. Concise notetaking 4. Used memory strategies 5. Decreased internal & external distractions 6. Reviewed notes everyday 7. Followed daily study schedule 8. Wrote long and short-term goals 9. Established a study area 10. Used reading strategies 11. Studied using predominant learning style 12. Used study skills for test preparation 13. Used time management when test taking

Most the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 16 6 10 7 15 24 16 16 16 24 23 17 13 10 10 7 14 3 4 8 3 6 10 2 4 11 3 5

Occasionally Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 13 9 10 8 10 8 7 5 15 13 7 12 13 15 9 18 19 18 14 16 3 6 6 2 8 7 8 7 12 9 9 11 10 9 10 16 14 15 14 15 15 19 8 7

Rarely Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 11 2 7 11 6 5 6 5 4 2 8 15 5 2 3 9 8 8 8 9 8 7 13

Did not use Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 5 2 1 2 11 0 0 6 7 4 2 8 4 1 1 4

12 20 4 9 2 0 2 2 15 2 8 6 12

8 14 16 11 16 16 1 10 7 3 4 2 3 0 1 0 5 2 6 2 8 8 0 1 2 10 8 6 5 1 0 1 0 6 3 0 3

14 14 14 6 12 9 12 16 12 9 11 12 11 10 8 9 12 9 10 12 5 5 9 5 7

3 2 4 4 34 28 28 27 22 19 20 19 20 19 16 12 5 10 10 4 20 6 7 5 4 5 4 2 7 4 9 9 2 9 8 3

7 8 6 8 12 11 8 6 4 12 12 10 10 11 8 8 15 5 11 5 11

21 17 14 12 9 12 12 9

12 12 5 4

14 13

12 16 12

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS Study Skills Survey Class of 2012
All the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr.
1. Used daily/monthly planner 16 2. Maintained notebook 14 3. Concise notetaking 8 4. Used memory strategies 8 5. Decreased internal & external distractions 4 6. Reviewed notes everyday 1 7. Followed daily study schedule 1 8. Wrote long and short-term goals 0 9. Established a study area 8 10. Used reading strategies 3 11. Studied using predominant learning style 6 12. Used study skills for test preparation 3 13. Used time management when test taking 6

Most the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 15 24 28 11 17 2 7 15 22 24 17 8 2 6 17 17 27 10 15 2 4

Occasionally Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 14 9 15 11 19 9 10 13 9 18 12 9 17 18 13 9 5 6 6 9 8 6 9 10 12 9 14 17 15 17 11 15 7

Rarely Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 4 6 3 13 6 6 5 5 6 3 8 12

Did not use Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 7 0 1 5 12 0 0 9 6 5 2 8

10 18 13 16 7 10 2 6 4 2 1 0 5 2 7 2 8 8 2 1 2 12 8 6 5 14

17 14 11 23 12 18 12 18 23 18 13 9 12 10 10 7 12 9 7 4 5 7 6 3 9 3 5

2 2 4 26 28 29 24 23 29 28 24 26 18 8 9 3 6 5 19 14 8 13 8 8 9 10 2

7 8 9 12 14 8 10 12 13 14 12 7 8 18 9

23 17 21 9 12 17

22 16 20

Study Skills Survey Class of 2013

All the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr.
1. Used daily/monthly planner 20 2. Maintained notebook 14 3. Concise notetaking 12 4. Used memory strategies 10 5. Decreased internal & external distractions 4 6. Reviewed notes everyday 1 7. Followed daily study schedule 1 8. Wrote long and short-term goals 0 9. Established a study area 8 10. Used reading strategies 3 11. Studied using predominant learning style 6 12. Used study skills for test preparation 3 13. Used time management when test taking 10

Most the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 16 19 28 17 27 22 24 17

Occasionally Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 22 9 11 19 10 13 18 12 15 13 12 7 6 9 6 9 12 12 17 15 11 15 23 17 9 15

Rarely Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 4 9 4 13 6 9 4 5

Did not use Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 5 0 1 5 10 0 0 4

22 25 7 2 8 2 1 0 5 2 7 3 8

17 12 2 6 7 6 7 8 14 14 10 12 14 7

19 20 25 18 25 23 18 13 12 10 7 12 9 5 9 7 6 3

2 2 25 28 24 23 30 24 20 15 20 21 22 28 10 18 13 9

16 12 22 18

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS Study Skills Survey Class of 2014
All the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr.
1. Used daily/monthly planner 15 2. Maintained notebook 16 3. Concise notetaking 13 4. Used memory strategies 10 5. Decreased internal & external distractions 2 6. Reviewed notes everyday 2 7. Followed daily study schedule 3 8. Wrote long and short-term goals 0 9. Established a study area 10 10. Used reading strategies 2 11. Studied using predominant learning style 4 12. Used study skills for test preparation 4 13. Used time management when test taking 12

Most the time Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 12 20 29 24 22 3 10 10 9 8 16 17 24

Occasionally Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 21 12 12 18 15 11 6 7 10 15 12 23 8

Rarely Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 13 12 4 10 18 15 25 15 13 7 8 6 9

Did not use Fr. Soph Jr. Sr. 6 0 2 3 3 28 22 28 20 27 21 9 7

Faculty Survey - 2012 Number of Faculty Implementing Each Daily Weekly Monthly Semester 2 2 10 1 3 10 12 2 11 3 9 4 4 3 6

Organization Skills Note-Taking Skills Developing a Study Plan Posting Assignments Reviewing Questions Reading Skills

Findings
Objective 1 There will be a 4-percentage point decrease each year from the baseline (2007 school year) in the number of students academically ineligible during the school year. The following data was taken from the school disciplinary reports for the past four years. 2007-2008 - 14% (30 of 214) of students were academically ineligible 2008-2009 - 11% (22 of 199) of students were academically ineligible 2009-2010 - 3.7% (7 of 189)of students were academically ineligible 2010-2011 - 8.7% (18 of 206) of students were academically ineligible The stated objective was meet for the past two consecutive years, which indicates an improvement in academic achievement. Objective 2 The number of students in the class of 2011 responding positively (all the time or most of the time) will increase or remain constant throughout their four years of high school in each of the measured categories.

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

Class of 2011 Percentage Responding Positively by Year Fr.

1. Used daily/monthly planner 2. Maintained notebook 3. Concise notetaking 4. Used memory strategies 5. Decreased internal & external distractions 6. Reviewed notes everyday 7. Followed daily study schedule 8. Wrote long and shortterm goals 9. Established a study area 10. Used reading strategies 11. Studied using predominant learning style 12. Used study skills for test preparation 13. Used time management when test taking Indicates Objective 2 has been met. 49 71 47 46 31 7 13 18 51 12 38 31 57

Soph.
35 73 57 33 24 6 14 17 36 30 35 23 53

Jr.
53 71 66 30 36 4 11 18 39 40 47 22 58

Sr.
58 80 60 23 30 8 15 20 30 33 28 20 60

The above chart indicates that 10 of the 14 measured categories have remained the same or have increased in positive responses by students. Although some of these indicators are well below an acceptable value there has been consistency in the results. Objective 3 The majority of students (>50%) in the class of 2011 will employ 75% of the measured categories most of the time during each school year in high school. As the chart above indicates the categories meeting the 50% criteria was not met. The following is a rundown by year: Freshmen - 29% Sophomores 21% Juniors 36% Seniors 36%

Summary
The analysis of the Study Skills Program has revealed that although the program did not meet all the proposed objectives, the program has been a benefit to the students of Saints Peter and Paul High School and that with a few modifications the objectives could be met. The academic ineligibility of students has been reduced by 3-10

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

percentage points each year following the start of the program. This converts to an average 46% improvement over a 3 year period. The study categories were analyzed to determine how frequently each was used. The program objective was to have each skill used by >50% of the students of the class of 2011. Unfortunately, none of the skills were used at this level. After interviewing those responsible for the implementation of the program, this goal had no practical foundation so it is entirely possible this may have been an unrealistic goal. The data does show however, that the percentage of students using the skills increased as they progressed through high school. The teacher survey was added this year to quantify how much time was dedicated to teaching study skills by the faculty. The data is based on the responses of 11 teachers of a faculty of 24 instructors. The data shows that organizational skills are reviewed and employed most often. This could be because these types of skills are easily to incorporate into teaching and lesson summaries. Keeping of notebooks and daily planners can be monitored with a quick glance. Skills that required a longer period of time to complete were utilized less often. Skills that require a specific expertise such a reading techniques and memorization skills were presented the least by instructors.

Recommendations
When reviewing the responses on the student surveys, it was evident that skills, which should be applied outside the classroom, were those that are utilized the least. Having a study schedule, reviewing notes daily, and having specific study location are examples. If the usage of these skills could be increased, the predominance of the other skills would also increase. To accomplish this change would require influence from parents outside of school. Exposing parents to the program may enlist the help of parents in the effort to teach proper study skills. Finding time to introduce the skills would be difficult but in this particular school parent turnout is high for the Back to School Night and including short sessions could be added that evening. Another possible to bring parents into the program is by using the school website to post information. A change in the program being considered for next year is to have the upperclassmen meet with the freshman in small groups during orientation to talk about which study skills are most useful. The upper-classmen are already used to acclimate new students to the building and the resources available within.

The Study Skills Program at Saints Peter and Paul HS

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Project Costs

Number of Days Compiling Data and Organizing Tables Number of Days Analyzing Data Number of Days Writing Final Report Total Daily Rate ($500.00) Expenses Office Supplies Travel Total Due

5 2 7 12 $7,000.00 $250.00 $300.00 $7,550.00

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Appendix A Study Skills Survey This school year I am in ________ grade

1. I used and maintained a daily/monthly planner

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

2. I was organized and maintained a notebook in my classes

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

3. I was able to take concise notes by listening, identifying and recording important ideas and supporting details
A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

4. I used memory strategies (study cards, mnemonics rhymes, alphabetize, acronyms, etc.) to remember information
A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

5. I was able to decrease my internal and external distractions, which increased my concentration
A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

6. I reviewed my notes from every class for five minutes each day
A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

7. I created and followed a daily study schedule

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

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8. I wrote long-term goals and completed short-term goals

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

9. I established a study area free from distractions and used it

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

10. I used reading strategies to improve my understanding and reading comprehension

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

11. I used your predominant learning style to study?

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

12. I prepared for tests using my learned study skills strategies

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

13. I used time management skills when taking a test

A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

14. I was able to identify prompts, clues, use triage method, etc. to answer questions while taking a test
A. All the time B. Most of the time C. Occasionally D. Rarely E. Did not use

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Appendix B Study Skills Teacher Survey

1. How often do you devote time to organizational skills with your classes? A. Daily B. weekly C. Monthly D. A couple of time a semester. 2. How often do you stress note-taking habits? A. Daily B. weekly C. Monthly D. A couple of time a semester. 3. How often do you suggest that student prioritize and develop a plan to accomplish what needs to be done? A. Daily B. weekly C. Monthly D. A couple of time a semester. 4. How often do you post assignments on the school homework site? A. Daily B. weekly C. Monthly D. A couple of time a semester. 5. How often do you review questions with students to help them understand what is being asked? A. Daily B. weekly C. Monthly D. A couple of time a semester. 6. How often do you teach reading skills? A. Daily B. weekly C. Monthly

D. A couple of time a semester.