Baseline Data (Description)

Research Question 1: What are some causes for students disengagement in math?
History has shown that our students are not performing in math and one of the
factors is a lack of engagement. Teachers have to develop students skills that provide
different solution pathways represented by students; the timing and degree of assistance
to be provided to students in the design of these pathways; and comfort levels in
situations where they do not know all the answers (Burkhardt, 1988). Math needs to be
acknowledged with an approach that is actively constructed and the knowledge that
learning is a social process (Marshman, M. & Brown, R., 2007). The learning
environment in which such skills are developed needs to be one where "... children
publicly express their thinking and, more generally, engage in mathematical practice
characterized by conjecture, argument, and justification" (Cobb, Wood & Yackel, 1993, p.
91). Teaching requires the teacher to encourage students to build on each other and they
facilitate and encourage their discussions.
The Common Core standards has shifted teachers at Baldwin Hills Elementary
School (BHES) to include problem solving for everyday situations, developing readiness
through hands-on activities, establishing links between the past mathematical experiences
and explorations of new concepts, sharing of ideas through discussion, cooperative
learning through partner and small group activities, practice through games, participation
in math projects, ongoing assessment, and home-school partnership. The teachers must
meet these demands by infusing Culturally Responsive Teaching strategies into their
classroom instruction but the teachers and students are still have deficit thinking about

math infusion. My research will provide data to help them adjust their thinking and
teaching to engage the students and increase learning targets.

Research Question 2:
How will the infusion of culturally relevant practices teaching affect student
engagement in the classroom?
The research shows three models used in the article study and one closely match
my action research on increasing engagement in math by infusing Culturally Responsive
Teaching. (Averill et al., 2009), The Components Model provides a framework for
examining and improving existing courses, as it allows elements of course structure and
content to be systematically reviewed. Studies have provided findings that mathematics
teachers and teacher education need to do the following: explore cross-program strategies
for developing culturally responsive teaching in order that mathematics teaching time can
be maximized; incorporate in every classroom contents and pedagogies drawn from the
communities in which their students will teach (including indigenous cultures); and adopt
holistic and integrated culturally responsive strategies that can be justified with integrity.
To adopt these practices and maximize both student development of behaviors and
attitudes consistent with such teaching, cultural knowledge and skills must be developed,
and educators must be identified, personal cultural knowledge and skills must be
developed, and educators must critically reflect on their own culturally responsive
practices, ideally in discussion with other practitioners, teacher educators, and students.
The plan that my school has in place is for the teachers to incorporate the culturally
responsive strategies in math by being trained and coached to develop the necessary skills

to infuse the practices to increase engagement, make personal connections to the

students culture, and to build foundation math skills to retain information.
Marshman and Brown case study explored how to increase students engagement
by incorporating discussions about math. The study shows that through the making
personal connections and scaffolding students build self-confidence to engage in math.
The data collected at BHES will be to gather information about the students level of
performance at the start of the year. It will also be ongoing from the beginning of the year
and every 6 weeks after to be able to compare the progress being made toward targets and
goals. The teachers that are participating in my research we will meet every two weeks
to give feedback on engagement and make adjustments if necessary. The collection of the
data can be quantitative (use of numbers and measurable) and qualitative (descriptive and
observed) it will include the following: formative assessments (portfolios, observations,
running records, exit slips, etc.), performance assessments, common assessments, interim
assessments, summative assessment, report card grades student work samples, Individual
Education Plans, trend in students population, data by subgroups, student, teacher, and
parent surveys. This will give me data that includes student achievement, demographic
data from the classroom, and perceptual data.

Baseline Report (Analysis)

There are various subjects that students are disengaged in the classroom but math is one
of the subjects that teachers struggle to make connect to real life experiences. Springers
qualitative study builds knowledge in the students by building on what they already know
and using real world models to teach math concepts. Teachers can bring deficit thinking

about how math should be taught to students. Teachers that are committed to the infusing
of Culturally Responsive teaching reduce prejudice, foster positive thinking, foster
student-student interactions, and to build a safe classroom environment. These things
along with researched based instructional strategies created an increase in students
engagement that can connect to math.
There are not many studies that match my action research topic exactly but I have
found literature reviews that closely match and I believe that I can collect data to support
my action research. Student development across diverse student subgroups is vital to
maintaining a school context with sufficient holding power to engage all students.
The use of multiple data source will allow teachers to form a more comprehensive
picture of the students understanding. Once I have collected the data I will examine and
interpret it with the teachers. Upon our review of the data adjustments can be made to
engage the students and adjust teaching to meet the learning goals. Below is a table of
the data that will be collect and used in the research project. The assessments used will
determine students learning, provide a fuller picture of the students, and provide opinions
and ideas about what the students need.

Baseline Data

Purpose

Limitations

Portfolios

To have a running record of

childs progress
To determine the students
knowledge
To gage the student
connection to the skill
To know opinions on the
implementation of
CLR/Target

May be a snapshot of what

a student knows
May be a snapshot of what
a student knows
Students may not feel
comfortable to be honest
Participants may not feel
comfortable to be honest or
do not want to participate in
the survey
May be a snapshot of what
a student knows

Pre-assessments
Self-Reflections
Class/Parent/Teacher
Survey
On-Going Assessments

To check for progress

Individual/group
discussions
Interview Teachers

To check for understanding

Hands on tasks

To provide multiple ways of May be a snapshot of what

assessing
a student knows

To support and adjust

teaching of strategies

May be a snapshot of what

a student knows
Assignments, conditions,
and scores are not generally
comparable across
classrooms