Action Research Outline

Daniel Young EDLD 5315

I. Focus- Impact of skill-based reading and writing standards in social studies classrooms

II. Purpose: To determine if building a social studies class around skill based reading and
writing standards has a positive impact on student English Language Arts performance

III. Research Question: Does cross curricular incorporation of skill based reading and
writing standards in a middle school social studies classroom increase student English
Language Arts achievement?

IV. Research Design: The design of this research project will be quantitative as the goal is
to examine, through the use of numerical data, the impact of ELA skill based (reading
and writing) standards that have been incorporated into a social studies curriculum on
overall student ELA performance.

V. Data to be Collected: To measure the outcome of the above research question, multiple
pieces of data will be collected and reviewed. These data pieces will include individual
student records at different points in their coursework, as well as Fall and Spring
benchmarking STARR scores.

VI. Measurement Instruments: The fall and spring benchmarking scores from the STARR
assessment will be used as the primary data point. The Renaissance (STARR)
“Renaissance Place” teacher platform will be the main tool used to compare and analyze
the data points. Student data from the course work will be compiled at specific
assessment points throughout the year and analyzed/organized using the basis Data
Analysis tools in Microsoft Excel.

VII. Focus of Lit Review: The literature review will begin by giving a short overview of the
move away from social studies at the middle school level (focus on the state of Illinois
where SS is no longer an assessed content). There will also be background given on the
move towards skill-based standards in the social studies classroom and the move away
from content specific (memorization based) standards. The central theme of the review
will be to focus on the impact on student ELA (the most highly assessed content at the
middle school level) achievement when skill-based reading and writing standards are
employed in the student’s social studies classroom. There is research on the impact of
skill-based standards in social studies content, but little on the cross curricular impact
between social studies and ELA when they are employed in the social studies
classroom. This research will add to that relatively small field of literature.
VIII. Potential Sources:
● Competency based learning in SS classrooms-
https://www.competencyworks.org/resources/five-lessons-from-a-social-studies-
teacher-how-competency-based-education-has-been-a-game-changer/
● Diminishing time for social studies in schools-
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/bring-back-social-
studies/279891/
 Action Research Outline
Daniel Young EDLD 5315

● Illinois State new skill based social studies standards-

https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Social-Science.aspx