download the May 2011 issue (PDF). - Inside Chappaqua

TARP Initiative Spells S-U-C-C-E-S-S
What do three teachers–Alissa
Stoever, Lilli Ross, and Paul Bianchi–beside
different subjects and
grade levels, have in common?
In a word: TARP, short for
“Teacher Action Research Project,”
a cutting-edge program that Dr.
Lyn McKay, newly elected Superintendent
of Schools, initiated when
she was Assistant Superintendent
for Curriculum and Instruction as
a way of engaging teachers in educational
research projects. Three
teachers explained why TARP is
quickly proving to be the “killer
app” for educational progress on
a practical level…
Supercharging the Classroom
In keeping with the “lifelong
learning” mantra characterizing
the award-winning Chappaqua
School District, teachers selected
for the TARP program, now in its
third year of operation, create a
research question they answer in
their classrooms.
Alissa Stoever, a kindergarten
teacher for four years at West
Orchard School, says TARP allowed
her to consider new ways of improving
her teaching: “My students
were blossoming and growing as
learners and problem solvers,” but
something was missing in Playland.
22 Inside Chappaqua May 2011
By: Vicki de Vries
During their
unstructured,
40-minute
playtime, her
typically curious
five year olds
went back and
forth from the
housekeeping
center to the
block center to the writing center
and so on in an aimless fashion.
“Their maturity level and social
interaction skills did not match up
to their academic performance,”
and students would switch centers
as often as five times, or, on average,
spend only eight minutes per
center.
This wasted time became the
focus of Stoever’s “action research”
question “How can play time become
more productive?” Designing
a “workshop model” to help students
develop their language and
higher level thinking skills proved
to be the answer. Students would
sit on a carpet and listen as she
explained a strategy for them to
consider using during play time.
One successful strategy utilized
the simple rhyme “When you think
you’re done, you’ve only just begun,”
which the class used in their
writing center. “It was as if a light
bulb went on when they applied
this rhyme to what they could do
at the centers,” said Stoever, who
collected data to track how many
times students were changing centers.
The results were remarkable.
Many students were able to stay at
the same center for an entire play
period, while others, for as long as
a week.
A Great Learning Experience
“Some things I did were not
always highly successful, but I
learned from them,” said Lilli Ross,
a 5th grade special education teacher
at Seven Bridges School, where
she provides collaborative support
in math, reading, and writing and
co-teaches math in a fully inclusive
classroom. Ross’s first-year project
focused on how to help special
education students develop selfmanagement
techniques. “I learned
how resilient students are about
learning new things,” said Ross.
“What do powerful writers do?”
became her new research question,
which she answered by using
a variety of approaches to connect
basic writing skills with real-world
events, including inviting a local
journalist to speak. As a result, “my
students began to see themselves
through a new lens,” said Ross.
“Engaging in action research is
rigorous and time consuming, but
when you see the effect on the kids,
it’s definitely worth it.”
New Ways to Revitalize Teaching
For Paul Bianchi, a physics teachers
for 26 years, 13 at Horace Greeley
High School, TARP has revitalized
his teaching approach: “This is
what most teaching will be like in
10 years. Technology has made it
possible to rethink what happens
in the classroom.”
Still in his first-year research
project, Bianchi enjoys answering
the question “How does making
class notes available online affect
student performance?” by daily
posting his course notes on Blackboard,
Greeley’s online software
portal for class assignments and
documents. “Students discuss
online notes and solve physics
problems in small groups, and I
can spend more time helping the
students.”
Bianchi is already planning for
next year’s research question:
“Where will I take this?” A likely
answer may be linked to technology.
Bianchi waxed philosophical:
“It’s easy to lose a bit of idealism
and the excitement that first attracted
you to your work. TARP has
made me feel a great deal of enthusiasm
in my work.”
Another attractive feature of
TARP is sharing research findings
with other TARP participants and
staff developers, who meet every
six to eight weeks as a group. Core
groups of three teachers from
different grade levels meet every
month. “It’s amazing how much
cross-fertilization takes place,” said
Ross, “and it’s contagious!”
Vicki de Vries is a writer, editor and
educator who thinks this TARP should
be cloned.