Action Research Proposal Area of Focus

Action Research Proposal Area of Focus

The primary significance of the proposed study is to assist and at least ensure that students from low-income families get the necessary support to be successful in the classroom. Why (2022) says one way to avoid poverty in adulthood is to attain a good education. Individuals with higher education levels earn more than those with low educational qualifications. Economists also believe that education helps people be more productive, and salaries are linked to productivity. However, in contemporary America, children from low-income families face a higher risk for numerous adverse educational outcomes.

Significance of the Proposed Study

For past decades, the worst reality is that the income gap continues to widen among American families. As a result, educational results are one of the primary areas impacted by family earnings. Learners from low-income families always begin school behind their age mates from wealthy families, as the school readiness measures show. Aspects such as profundity, occurrence, scheduling, and timing of poverty impact or affect a child’s educational achievement, social linkages, and community physiognomies (Wehby, 2022). Nonetheless, research has shown that through the numerous openings that influence school readiness and educational success in early childhood, teachers and caregivers can help minimize the impacts of poverty on children from low-income families.

The Current Professional Role and Setting

In my current role, I serve as a Pre-K grade tutor assistant. The school is located in a peaceful, serene with 15 children per class. My primary role is to plan and prepare the classroom environment, oversee children’s safety and educational agendas, supervise students in class, and give them a supportive and caring setting where they can practice and learn standard and appropriate group and individual behaviors. At my current workplace, we use different approaches, such as counseling, mentoring, and treating students equally, to help learners from low-income families succeed in classroom activities.

Purpose of the Study

This study aims to see how students from low-income families can get the required support to succeed in the classroom. Mostly, learners from low-income families feel left behind and have low self-esteem, which affects their learning. An impoverished lifestyle affects their self-esteem; hence, they tend to lack concentration in class because they lack the enthusiasm to inspire them to learn and acquire education regardless of their economic background. Some even experience segregation from fellow peers in class because they lack the basic needs that others have. Such matters can cause bullying, which teachers have the authority to control and ensure children have better support to succeed in the classroom. The student outcomes I would want to influence are their vocabulary, reading, and effort development, eventually enhancing positive concentration in class.

The Problem

Students or learners from low-income families experience adverse and numerous challenges that do not allow them to thrive in the classroom. These challenges affect their classroom concentration. For instance, reports show that only 18% of fourth-grade learners qualified for free lunch attain better grades in math and reading, equal to 44% of the fourth-graders whose kin’s earnings are more than the qualification limit for free lunch. Such disparities are likely to affect children’s concentration in the classroom, making them not to be successful (Jacob & Ludwig, 2008). In addition, schools with students from low-income families have fewer resources than they require. Therefore, the probable solution would be to find creative ways to help children get more resources to support their learning.

Children from low-income families lack adequate motivation, flexibility, and resources to enhance their classroom concentration. Sagor (2000) claims that most children from low-income families cannot afford some essential learning resources, thus affecting classroom efficiency. Another problem is that schools matter so much more than learners for most institutions. Wehby (2022) states the primary issue rests on the social setting within which schools function, such as neighborhood, peers, settings, and family. Such situations make it challenging for poor students to utilize educational opportunities. Hence, implementing market-oriented or accountability reforms without shifting the social policy will penalize educators for aspects beyond their power and potentially push the ablest tutors toward schools serving less-privileged learners.

The Situation That Led To an Interest in This Topic

The situation that led to my interest in pursuing this topic is my experience in my current working setting. I realized two of the students in my class were never actively participating in class and were either asleep or worn out. During playtime, they isolated themselves and lacked the energy to play with others. While other learners were energetic, motivated, and ready to learn, their faces were demotivated, tired, and unhappy. This sequence continued. Accordingly, I shared this with the lead tutor, who did not follow up so much. Nonetheless, I became friendly with the students, inquired more about their problems, and realized they came from impoverished families. The kids never got enough meals at home or even missed breakfast, so they felt hungry, tired, and sad when they came to school. They could not concentrate in class. This issue encouraged and compelled me to research this issue.

Population and the Target Population

The chosen population for this research is students from pre-K to fourth grade. The reason for selecting this group is research demonstrates that poverty transforms the way kids’ brains develop. It shrinks parts of their brain, particularly for planning, decision-making, and memory. This group of students can freely and correctly express their issues with little difficulty and without fear of intimidation because they fully believe in their teacher. Therefore, the target population is young students aged 5-10 years or grades 1-4, and I will target about 50-60 students. The population is appropriate for the study because they are young and can accurately and genuinely answer simple questions or issues around them easily.

Research Question

One research question is, what strategies can be used to support children from low-income families to get the necessary support to be successful in the classroom?

Conclusion

Embarking on this research and this focus area will be beneficial as it will enable tutors to understand how they can successfully support learners from low-income families so these students can also succeed in their classrooms. Learners from low-income families experience different problems and challenges from their families, neighborhoods, and environments that affect their concentration and learning at school. As such, the tutor’s role is to identify such learners, give them the best support, and motivate them to learn to improve their vocabulary, reading, and effort, ultimately improving their overall success in the classroom. The research will act as an eye-opener, giving positive insights into supporting learners from low-income families.

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 References

Jacob, B. & Ludwig, J. (2008). Improving Educational Outcomes for Poor Children.

Sagor, R. (2000). Guiding School Improvement with Action Research. Ascd.

Wehby, G. L. (2022). Oral Health and Academic Achievement of Children in Low-Income Families. Journal of Dental Research, 00220345221089602.

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You are embarking on an exciting journey into action research. No matter what your current or future role is in early childhood education, action research is a framework you can use to take action that can lead to positive changes for young children and improvement in your school or center. You could focus on working with young children, families of young children, or early childhood education (ECE) teachers or staff. The opportunities for making a positive difference in any ECE role are endless.

In this assignment, you will choose your area of focus and research question for your action research proposal in Week 6. This content will become the Introduction section of your proposal. Choose your area of focus carefully because after Week 1, your area of focus cannot change. You may make minor changes to more clearly establish and solidify your area of focus, but the 6-week timeframe does not allow for major changes to your Action Research Proposal. For more information, watch the ECE660 Week 1 video.

Prepare
In order to help you choose an area of focus and research question, re-review the following as needed:

Week 1 Instructor Guidance
Chapters 1 and 3 from the course text, Action research: A Guide for The Teacher Researcher
Chapter 5 from the ebook, Guiding school improvement with action research (Links to an external site.)
How to Do Action Research in Your Classroom (Links to an external site.), from the National Association for the Education of Young Children website
Read the following required resources:

Picking a topic is research (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Narrowing a Topic and Developing a Research Question (Links to an external site.), from the UAGC Writing Center
Problem statement (Links to an external site.), by E. A. Wentz
Library OneSearch (Links to an external site.) tip sheet from the UAGC Library
Keywords are critical (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

Reflect
Your area of focus and research question should be directly related to a situation that you would like to change or improve upon in your own classroom or organization. If you are currently not working in an early childhood education setting, you may use a contrived situation based on previous experience, articles you have read, or challenges you are aware of in the field that align with your career goals and interests. You may also draw inspiration from resources or articles that you have read or learned from in your previous MAECEL courses, your bachelor’s degree program, or in your professional studies and experiences. Perhaps you have a child in school, and you would like to improve something at their center or school. If you have other ideas for a population to work with, be sure to contact your instructor to get feedback and advice.

Remember to choose an area of focus that
centers on teaching or learning in early childhood education,
is within your locus of control,
is something you are passionate about, and
is something you would like to change or improve.

Write: Content expectations. The following content areas are required in this assignment:
Significance of the proposed study: In one to two paragraphs,
Describe your current professional role and setting. If you are not working in early childhood education at this time, you can use a previous or future role that aligns with your career goals and interests.
Explain the purpose of your study and the student outcomes you want to influence.
Explanation of problem: In two paragraphs,
Explain a statement of the problem or situation that led to this interest or why you want to pursue this topic.
Population: In one paragraph,
Describe the target population (age/grade, quantity of participants).
Explain why you have chosen this target population for the study, including details about why this population is appropriate for the study.
One research question
Develop one research question that aligns with your area of focus and clearly addresses what you hope to answer and influence in this proposed study. The question needs to be answerable and it must appropriately represent the population or participants you identified.
Research and Resource Expectations
Use of at least one scholarly, credible, or peer-reviewed source is required, in addition to the course textbook.
Next Steps
Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to ensure you have achieved the distinguished levels of performance for each criterion. Submit the assignment for evaluation no later than Day
The Action Research Proposal: Area of Focus paper
Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style (Links to an external site.) as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft Word (Links to an external site.)
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper in bold font
Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
Student’s name
Name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Due date
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) and Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Writing Center resources.
Must use at least one scholarly, credible or peer-reviewed sources in addition to the course text.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source.
To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view Quick and Easy Library Research (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Writing Center for specifications.

Area of focus: The purpose of my study is to see how students from low-income families can receive the necessary support they need to be successful in the classroom.

A research question needs to be made based on the area of focus I’ve chosen.