Katrina Sacramento Action Research Report EDUC526 Professor Joanne Gilbreath

Abstract: This study was done in order to address the issue of assisting an instructional classroom aide in behavior management. The research question was: Will there be a more positive classroom culture if I have my instructional aide give out reinforcers during my lessons? The data used was the number of cards pulled at the end of the day. At the end of the study, the research showed that the number of cards pulled decreased as my instructional aide gave out reinforcers during my lessons.

Section One: Introduction During the course of this school year, my classroom culture has been somewhat negative. As it is my first year, I have tried many different to address behavior issues and try to prevent my students from misbehaving. However, although my efforts have proven to be effective for some students there are many students who are affected by the other adult in my room my instructional aide. Although my aide understands the motives behind my actions (positive behavior support, using reinforcers and praise, etc.), she has some issues with implementing the same behavior towards the students as I do. She has taken more of a reactive disciplinary approach to the students in my classroom, which usually means that she yells at and argues with the students. In addition, she has taken on the responsibility of being more of a disciplinarian in the class during my lessons, which means that her presence next to a student usually means that they are in trouble. This has led to my classroom being a more negative place than I would like it to be. In my action research study, I would like to address this issue by giving my instructional aide a more positive role in the classroom. My research question will be: Will there be a more positive classroom culture if I have my instructional aide give out reinforcers during my lessons? Section Two: Implementation Because I use a progressive behavior system in my classroom, my data collection will be based upon the number of cards pulled at the end of the day. I will also be taking notes on how many times I need to remind my aide to reinforce positive behaviors. Data will be collected over a period of 3 weeks (15 school days) with one week of baseline data and two weeks of data during implementation. Section Three: Data Collection Baseline Data (before implementation) Card Pulls / Date Monday 2/24 Tuesday 2/25 Wednesday 2/26 Thursday 2/27 Friday 2/28 Green 9 12 9 9 5 Yellow 6 5 6 3 8 Orange 3 0 3 5 2 Red 0 1 0 0 3

Data Collected: (During Implementation) Card Pulls/ Date Green Yellow Orange Red Times Reminded to Reinforce Positive Behavior 4 4 3 4 4 2 5 3 2 2

Monday 3/3 Tuesday 3/4 Wednesday 3/5 Thursday 3/6 Friday 3/7 Monday 3/10 Tuesday 3/11 Wednesday 3/12 Thursday 3/13 Friday 3/14

14 9 10 10 10 8 7 13 15 13

3 6 2 2 1 7 6 3 2 2

1 1 3 3 5 3 2 2 2 1

0 2 3 3 2 1 4 1 0 3

Overall, the results of the study were positive. Although the change has only been implemented for a short amount of time, the amount of positive, on-task behavior has increased within my classroom. The highest amount of on-task behavior was towards the end of the second week of implementation, and this coincided with a day that needed the least amount of reminders to reinforce positive behavior. During the course of implementation, there were several factors that could have affected the results of the study. One factor was that I received two new students one in the first week of implementation, and one during the second week of implementation. Another factor was an afternoon in which I had to leave my students alone with my aide as I attended IEP meetings. That day (Tuesday, 3/11), there was an increase of negative behaviors, as well as an increase of reminders to reinforce positive behaviors. One last factor that could have affected the study was

that I have been trying to change my classroom management style by implementing more positive reinforcement, as well as less nagging in my classroom. Section Four: Conclusions During the course of this study, I learned that a positive association with a person could go a long way. Throughout the school year, it has been apparent that my students did not get along with my instructional aide, and that my classroom seemed like a more negative space than I wanted it to. Doing this study, and giving my students more of a reason to be on-task with my aide really started to help. The behavior that was shown by my aide also started to be more positive, and she started to look forward to giving my students reinforcers during my lessons. As the study moved forward, I started to feel more positive toward my workday. Being confident in my colleagues is an important part of my work, and finding ways to help us work together more positively is something that I plan on continuing. Section Five: General Comments I think that this action research process was really interesting and practical. By isolating different aspects of classroom management (and anything I want to change in general), and being more intentional about them, could lead to big changes. My favorite part of the process was looking at the data at the end. Seeing the change in terms of quantitative data gives me an objective point of view one that does not have to change depending on what mood I am in. I am excited to see how far this change will go as the rest of the year goes on. This study taught me that I can change a lot by doing a little bit!