Every teacher goes into teaching to make an impact and yet sometimes the gap between the intended outcome and actual result can seem so wide.  This leads us to the question, “Why is there so often a gap between results intended and actual outcomes?”  It seems that Stoll, L., and Temperley, J. (2015), have presented the answer by asking a leading question as a possible solution, “Why spirals of Enquiry?” 
This overarching question helps us to inquire through a spiral of enquiry, Stoll, L., and Temperley, J. (2015):

• “What’s going on for learners?”
• “How do we Know”
• "Why does this matter”

Unless we ask ourselves these questions throughout our practice, we are unable to make the necessary adjustments to close the identified gaps early on to make effective change and achieve improved outcomes for learners.  This inquiry will be analysed and critiqued using, Rolfe’s Model of Reflection as displayed in the diagram below:

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​Figure 3: Rolfe’s Model of Reflection (Otago Polytechnic, n.d.)

Our school goal was to increase the student’s engagement and achievement in mathematics.  On reflection, the initial actual impact did not affect my target group of students which was the intended outcome, however it did improve learning outcomes for most of the class.  We changed the ‘Take Action’ plan to close this gap by adding in buddy helpers.  Stoll, L., and Temperley, J. (2015).

The evidence from the ‘Take Action’ phase shows that  this peer-to-peer learning has proven by the formative data assessments to show progress by students achieving their specific learning outcomes after two weeks, from daily practice and tutoring with their peers and being able to progress onto the next learning outcome in mathematics.
It was also anticipated that teachers would work more collaboratively together and while it is still a work in progress, small groups of staff have been working more closely together in groups of two or three on their respective levels. 
The impact of this on future inquiry practice would be to consider the impact of mixed ability groups on student engagement and achievement to see if a more informal process of peer-to-peer tutoring would close the gap between the intended and the actual outcome.
Future focused questions around teachers as stakeholders from, Table 1: Questions for further discussion on Spiral Inquiry (Adapted from Stoll and Temperley (2015)).

“Are there other teachers in your school that you could work with on future Inquiry? How would you get others on board?”

I will continue to work with my two colleagues and continue to build working relationships with other teachers across the school that could strengthen my own teaching practices.  

Please comment below if you have had any success with mixed group abilities.
 

References
 
Halbert, J., Kaser, L., & Koehn, D. (2011). Spirals of Inquiry: Building Professional Inquiry to Foster Student Learning. Paper presented at 24th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement. Limassol, Cyprus. Retrieved from: 
http://www.icsei.net/icsei2011/Full%20Papers/0053.pdf

Ministry of Education (n.d.). Primary school teachers use maths assessment to increase student agency. Retrieved from: 
http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Snapshots-of-Learning/Spirals-of-inquiry-Maths-assessment

Ministry of Education (n.d.). Stories from the field. Retrieved from:
http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leading-learning/Spiral-of-inquiry-leaders-leading-learning/Stories-from-the-field

Otago Polytechnic. (n.d.). Reflective Writing. Retrieved from:
https://www.op.ac.nz/assets/LearningAdvice/Reflective-writing.pdf

Stoll, L., and Temperley, J. (2015). Narrowing the Gap with Spirals of Enquiry: Evaluation of Whole Education’s Pilot. Whole Education, UK. Retrieved from:
http://thesendhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/narrowing-the-gap-with-spirals-of-enquiry.pdf
 
 
 

Data Analysis – Reflection on Evidence

As teachers, we set out to raise student achievement and I initially noticed that a few students that were under-achieving were already disengaged at the beginning of the year, with a negative attitude towards mathematics.  The school, as high stakeholders decided to provide professional development for teachers to raise achievement.
The initial assessment data of student’s results at the beginning of the year showed that twenty percent of students were below the expected level.  The initial Action Research question posed was about how student engagement and student achievement could be improved. 

An App game were planned to raise engagement and student achievement including the traditional mathematics games and activities.

 The latest quantitative data on the standardised assessment, Junior Assessment of Mathematics (JAM) showed that twenty percent of student’s quick recall of basic facts still required attention.  We also used student observations and student conferences as formative assessment to collect qualitative data that confirmed the JAM quantitative assessments.  This provided a triangulation of assessments to confirm data analysis that some students still need to improve the quick recall of their basic fact knowledge.  Forty percent of the cohort that were under-achieving overall did not make enough progress, even while playing online games.  These students were not retaining the required knowledge.
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The next Action Plan question posed was, “Does peer-to-peer teaching help student engagement and achievement in mathematics?”  We discussed solutions with colleagues, researched and implemented mathematics buddy helpers.  These buddy helpers would have a list of learning outcomes to cover on a rubric with their buddy daily.
 In the first two weeks, we noticed that students were showing progress that had not shifted over several months.  This success resulted in us training up more buddy helpers who felt a greater sense of engagement and purpose in their learning.  We also found that students being helped were more engaged in the process because of their peer-to-peer relationship with the other students.

This led to the inquiry question, “If I set up buddy helpers in peer-to-peer teaching, how will it affect student engagement and achievement?”  These students, they required ongoing use of mathematics materials practice with daily assistance. 

The social action that was decided on with my colleagues and co-action research, was to initiate buddy helpers between classes, to select students who would be able to assist other students through selected practice materials from a rubric that met the next steps in their learning. 
My colleagues and myself have created a learning circle where we interact regularly by discussing and sharing teaching ideas collaboratively.  We are also all part of a wider junior school Circle that is Participant Lead where the leader analyses and compares data throughout the year.
 

References

Babione, C. (2015). Practitioner Teacher Inquiry and Research. USA: John Wiley & Sons.

Briggs, S. (2013). Open Colleges. How Peer Teaching Improves Student Learning and 10 Ways to Encourage It Retrieved from: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/peer-teaching/

Efron, S. E., & Ravid, R. (2013). Action research in education: A practical guide. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. (e-copy available in Unitec library).

Gray, J. (2012). What data can and cannot do. Retrieved from:
 https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/may/31/data-journalism-focused-critical

Guido, M. (2013). Prodigy Game: 15 Easy peer Teaching Strategies to Help Students.  Retrieved from:  https://www.prodigygame.com/blog/advantages-disadvantages-peer-teaching-strategies/

Johnson, D. W. (2014). Student-Student Interaction: The Neglected Variable In Education. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Johnson50/publication/239541917_Student-Student_Interaction_The_Neglected_Variable_In_Education/links/54807d9a0cf20f081e725739.pdf

Riel, M. (2013). Learning Circles - An innovative form of Collaboration.
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufaRaDuhQ0M&feature=share
Riel, M. (2014). Analysing Data. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwWPwyv60E4&feature=share
Te Kete Ipurangi. (2018). Teaching Strategies for Inclusive Classrooms, Part 2: Peer Tutoring. Special Education. The Three Rs of Diversity – accessed by TKI. Retrieved from: https://www.inclusive.tki.org.nz/assets/inclusive-education/MOE-publications/teaching-strategies2.pdf

Schildkamp, K., Lai, M. K., & Earl, L. (2012). Data-based decision making in education: Challenges and opportunities. New York: Springer.

How ethical issues are being addressed in the ‘Take Action’ phase
The Problem
Within the ‘Take Action’ phase of my research, we found a loophole in the App that presents an issue around privacy and ethics.  NZARE (2010) has expressed that the purpose of the research should be to do good and not bring any harm to others and in this instance, by way of privacy.  While I do not think that anyone has been harmed in the process of collecting and sharing student work between school, students and whanau (family), we found that parents could access other students work and comment on it.  While the teacher still had to approve the comment, parents were still able to view other students work and comments on their work which posed a privacy and ethical issue for the teachers.  The main stakeholders are the school, the student’s parents and particularly the students, whose privacy was potentially at risk.  The school is potentially responsible for this risk.  All student’s privacy of our ethnical diverse students should be considered and especially the needs of minority groups and students under-achieving.  Hall (2001), NZARE (2010).
 
The Solution
Our solution as a school is to prevent parents from being able to access other students work to prevent any issues around student’s privacy.  We are in the process of changing the settings on the technology so that parents could not view other student’s work through their own sign in or through other students.  It is unfortunate that other students will not be able to view each other’s work unless the teacher shares the work with a whole group of students, which is still possible.  Thankfully, we have not had to shut down the technology altogether as we have found a way around this issue.  The course of action to solve the viewing of other student’s work by other parents and their family members is for teachers to change their class settings on the website for this App to prevent this from taking place.  The teachers owe it to the students, parent’s and schools as part of their ethical code of conduct required for teacher registration to ensure their student’s privacy.  Hall (2001).
 
Future considerations
In consideration of future research and teacher inquiry action, a sample group could be set up to check settings and the ethical impact on students before launching into the sharing of information online.  It is important to discover technical issues that may cause unintentional privacy issues before they occur.  Finding checklists to ensure the necessary precautions have been taken will help to prevent these issues from occurring in the first instance.  Hall (2001)
Overall, the feedback from parents around the sharing of student work in real time has been very positive and the students have thrived on the digital parental involvement in the sharing of their learning experiences.  Parents have valued being able to view what their children are learning, being more involved in their children’s education, which is essential for our Maori and Pacific Island cultural groups.  Students have also expressed their enthusiasm at sharing their learning with their Whanau (family) as this is a very important part of their culture, particularly our minority cultural groups of Maori and Pacific Islanders. 
 
References

Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards.Retrieved from: 
https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf


Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. In IIPE Conference, Brisbane.

New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE). (2010). NZARE Ethical Guidelines. Retrieved from:  http://www.nzare.org.nz/portals/306/images/Files/NZARE%20EthicalGuidelines2010.pdf