Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Leadership and Policies

First Advisor

Kathleen Cunningham

Abstract

This improvement project was designed to ensure students enrolled in elementary schools with a high poverty index received literacy instructional strategies that promoted literacy achievement. When analyzing Graham County School data, I noticed third-grade students attending high poverty elementary schools were not achieving literacy success at the same rate as third-grade students attending low poverty elementary schools. An improvement team, consisting of myself, administration, and teachers at a high poverty elementary school implemented the improvement science framework to further study the root causes of this problem. Utilizing the six principles of the improvement science framework, problem focused and user centered, attend to variability, see they system, embrace measurement, learn through discipline inquiry, and organize as networks (Bryk et al., 2017; Bryk, 2018; Wright, 2019), created an opportunity for intentional, efficient, and effective research that was designed, implemented, tested, and reviewed, thus created positive changes of literacy achievement for third-grade students while increasing efficacy for all members of the improvement team.

The improvement team discovered that administration and teachers were identifying third-grade students who were non-proficient readers but not identifying which area of reading the students were deficient. Additionally, all students identified as non-proficient readers were provided the same literacy intervention and not interventions designed to meet their specific instructional need. Through this discovery and the utilization of PDSA cycles, the improvement team designed a change idea that supported teachers with administering assessments to determine a student’s reading area of deficiency and designing targeted interventions for students identified as deficient in the areas of phonemic awareness and phonics.

Because of the success experienced by the improvement team and third-grade students, during this improvement project, organizing as a network as begun in the school district. Another Title I elementary school is utilizing the change idea tested with third-grade students identified as non-proficient readers in hopes to increase literacy achievement. Additionally, departments in the district, Student Services, Operations, Human Resources, Finance, and Instruction, are utilizing the improvement science framework to identify problems of practice, to identify possible factors causing the problem of practice, and designing PDSA cycles to create a positive change of action. The implementation of the improvement science framework will ensure effective and systematic continuous improvement actions are ensued throughout Graham County School District.

Rights

© 2024, Brenda Kelley

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