Do-It-Yourself Science: An Urban High School Teacher Develops Student Self-Regulation

• In Event: Promoting College and Career Readiness Through Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom

Abstract

Research on SRL has focused mostly on understanding how specific motivational and cognitive processes are linked with student academic outcomes. Little research has examined how SRL-related interventions impact teacher practices, and ultimately student outcomes. Thus, this instrumental case study will describe and explain how one professional development program, All Learners Learning Everyday (ALL-ED), supported an urban high school Living Environment teacher in fostering SRL to help academically diverse 9th graders achieve standards. Three research questions guided the study:
1. How was SRL aligned with professional goals and curriculum standards?
2. How did lesson plans and materials reflect teacher understanding of SRL?
3. What was the teacher perception of SRL’s classroom impact?
The setting was a high school in NYC with a graduation rate of 56%, serving 427 ninth through twelfth grade students (73% male). At the time of data collection, the student race/ethnicity breakdown was: 6% Asian, 30% Black, 60 % Hispanic, and 3% White. About 22 % of the students received special education services primarily in inclusive general education classes and 9% were classified, English Language Learners. 77% of students received free or reduced lunch. Students, on average, entered 9th grade with a level 2 (out of 4) in math and English proficiency.
The teacher taught science for a total of five years at the same school. She participated in various PDs including six, two-hour ALL-ED workshops and monthly ALL-ED professional learning community meetings. Through ALL-ED, she became interested in fostering student SRL through daily instructional routines.
First, the importance of SRL was highlighted when the teacher aligned her goals to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and various other state and district standards. For example, four teacher goals: “to differentiate instruction, engage students, foster student independence, and offer effective feedback” aligned with the various phases of SRL, specifically goal setting, monitoring, and reflecting.
Analysis of teacher reflections, classroom photographs, and student materials demonstrated the teacher’s evolving understanding of SRL. Over time, the teacher changed from promoting general SRL strategies to more content-specific ones to achieve specific curriculum outcomes. SRL became infused throughout lessons, resulting in a more student-centered environment: “Each day…students planned how to meet the daily learning target, monitor their work, give and receive feedback, and reflect on the time they spent in class as well as if they met the daily learning target.” She further noted: “since my students were more independent, took more active role in their learning and I was not doing everything, I noticed that I was not as tired as I usually get at certain points in the year.” Teacher reflections such as “I want to continue fostering student independence, and feedback… by increasing the ways that I check for students understanding and use that real time data more effectively in class to help my students plan and monitor their learning” demonstrate how the teacher is using SRL to develop her own instructional practice. Student work revealed growth in SRL and needs in writing, science vocabulary, and using criteria to give feedback.

Authors

• Rhonda Suzanne Bondie, Fordham University

• Akane Zusho, Fordham University