Student Surveys

To get more student input (in addition to the interviews I conducted), I distributed a modified version of the My Class Inventory (MCI) via surveymonkey to my students. MCI asks questions that indicate five factors: satisfaction, friction, competitiveness, difficulty, and cohesion. The most interesting finding from my survey for me was that all responses showed a 1, the lowest possible answer for friction, even in classes that I would definitely have described as having some friction. Also interesting was that the satisfaction in the two classes that I felt had the best class atmosphere was lower than for the other classes.

Similarly to my interview findings, the majority (92%) of students didn't believe the atmosphere in the class had any impact on their grade. After analyzing data on my classes' grades and discipline, and reviewing research on the topic, I'm certain that class environment does affect achievement, so I find it surprising that so few students believe the two are connected, and I wonder what the implications of that are.

While it is interesting to see some student responses to these questions, I don't know how much they really tell me. For one thing, more than 60% of respondents finished my class with an "A," meaning that the most academic students were overrepresented in the responses. Also, I didn't receive any responses from my class with the most discipline problems, worst grades, and worst class climate, and only 13 responses total.

I think it would be interesting to conduct the full version of the my class inventory next year, in hopes of more conclusive responses, and to be able to compare student's views on the class climate with my own.

Review of Relevant Research

I've done quite a bit of reading regarding my inquiry, and I want to share some of the sources and findings here. A common theme across these articles is the importance of making students feel that you care about them as individuals, and the relationship between that caring atmosphere and improved student achievement. Besides for the convergence on caring and respect, a trend that carries across all of the sources is the way class environment relates to achievement. In the first text it's language anxiety, linked to classroom environment, linked to achievement. In the second it's individualized instruction, linked to classroom environment, linked to achievement, etc. This is helpful to me because it shows me thatthe connection between these things that I noticed in my classes isn't only in my classes- it fits with others' findings as well.


Most of what I found in these articles matches well with the data I have collected about grades and discipline referrals, and also to the student interviews. For example, the articles repeatedly mentioned the importance of things like collaboration, group work, games, and competition, all things my students mentioned in their descriptions of classes that, in their opinions, had good class environments. The only piece that didn’t fit was that most students don’t believe there’s a connection between environment and achievement, and not only my data, but the data used in these articles shows that it does.

This data has provided me with several specific strategies to employ in order to promote a positive class environment. This will inform my further inquiry, as I will look for more information about how to implement those things, and make a plan of action for changes I’ll make in the next school year. These sources have helped me process some of my thoughts about my inquiry, especially the pieces about racial bias in the classroom, which is another area that I already chose to research further, but may continue to study.

The following are the sources I’ve found helpful for this inquiry:

Awan, R.N., Azher, M., Anwar, M. N., & Naz, A. (November 2010). An investigation of foreign language classroom anxiety and its relationship with students’ achievement. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 7 (11), 33-40. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 15 July 2012.

Carlson, D. L. (Sep. 2008). Playing the classroom-as-game: Building a community of learners at the start of a new year. English Journal 98 (1), 57-60. Proquest Research Library. Web. 23 July 2012.

Downey, D. B & Pribesh, S. (Oct. 2004). When race matters: Teachers’ evaluations of students’ classroom behavior. Sociology of Education 77 (4), 267-282. Proquest Research Library. Web. 23 July 2012.

Ferguson, R.F. (July 2003). Teachers’ perceptions and expectations and the black-white test score

            gap. Urban Education 38 (4) 460-507.

Haley, L.D. & Caparo, R.M. (2001). Strategies for teaching in heterogeneous environments while building a classroom community. Education 122 (1), 80-86. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 15 July 2012.

Johnson, D. & Johnson, R. (1986). Learning together and learning alone: Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Boston, MA:Allyn & Bacon.

Lada, J. (2006). Ready for change: Creating a positive and disciplined environment within the school. Rowan University, 2006. New Jersey: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT); ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. Web. 24 July 2012.

Data Analysis- grades and discipline

This week I’ve been organizing and analyzing my grades and discipline from last year. The grades are important to my inquiry because I felt that in the classes with a better environment the grades were higher, and I wanted to see if that was really consistent. Since then I’ve also seen that research shows that students who feel connected to school generally do better academically, which fits with my guess that class environment and achievement are connected. The discipline data is important because it has such an impact on the atmosphere of the class. Part of my wondering was about how my role as a White teacher affects my interactions with my diverse students, so I examined the data  based on classes, but then separated it and looked at it on the basis of race and gender also.

The grades matched with my expectations. There was a 10 point difference between the average grades in my two Spanish One classes. The class with the best environment (in my opinion) had a class average of 88%, and the class with the worst class environment, which was also the class with by far the most discipline referrals, had a class average of 78%. In my Spanish Two classes, the difference between the grades wasn’t as great, but the two classes with less stable class environment, and more discipline problems, had a class average of 80%, and the class with a much better environment and only a few discipline problems for the whole year had a class average of 84%. These findings support other studies on the relation between grades, discipline, and class environment.

I also broke my grades down by race and gender, out of curiosity to see how my data fits with data on the “achievement gap.” I found that my data doesn’t match with findings that show that White students tend to outperform Black students. I looked at grades based on race and gender, and in every class a different group had the highest class average, and when I averaged all classes together by category, there was less than 2% difference between any group.

The discipline findings gave me some interesting feedback as well. My school uses the PBIS system, so expectations are very clear in our school/ my class. The staff voted on behaviors that they believe should be teacher handled, and those things qualify as a “minor discipline referral” (MIR.) When a teacher gives this referral, he or she briefly documents the incident as well as the follow up, whether that be a meeting with the student, a phone call to a parent, referral to a guidance counselor, etc. The action taken by the teacher is the only consequence, but the incident is documented. If a student receives three minor referrals for the same thing, it becomes a “office discipline referral” (ODR) and is handled by an administrator. Other things that become direct major referrals are cell phone use and dress code, as well as things like major disrespect, as decided by the staff. Consequences for these incidents are handled by an administrator and usually begin with a day or period in an alternative learning environment (ALE.) Every 4 weeks there is a school-wide reward (ice cream social, cookout in the stadium, popcorn and games in the gym) that only students who haven’t received an ODR can attend.

Something interesting for me was examining what most of my referrals were for. Although the referrals are documented and entered into a computer database, the teachers don’t have access to that database, so, while I had a vague idea of which things were happening most, analyzing the data in this way was enlightening.

The majority (43%) of my minor referrals were for inappropriate language. This meant swearing in many cases, but sometimes it was non-profane disrespectful language, or comments that were generally inappropriate for school. The fact that I documented so many instances of this shows me how important it is to me, and I don’t think this is something I really emphasized at the beginning of the year last year. One problem I had with this area is that there were a lot of repeat offenders. A handful of students had more than 3 MIRs for this same thing, which means it should have become an ODR and been dealt with on a higher level. Because it wasn’t, students didn’t take the “warning” MIR seriously, and calls home and student-teacher-conferences were ineffective.

The most common ODR (57%) was for electronic devices. Since this was named as a major issue, there are no warnings. I wonder if that’s the best way to handle this particular issue, as a student texting, while detrimental to that student’s learning, doesn’t really interrupt the flow of the class in the same way other major issues do. It’s really unfair then, in my opinion that the punishment for texting in class is the same as the punishment for causing a major disturbance, threatening a student or teacher, or showing major insubordination or disrespect.

I find that it’s easier for me to remember the negative experiences than the positive sometimes. Many of the first things that come to mind when I think about my teaching experience last year are the (relatively few) instances of extremely bad behavior in my classes. It was reassuring to see that the majority of my referrals was for electronic devices, not aggressive student behavior or defiance.

Looking at my data in this way also helped me to remember how many of my students were doing the right thing all the time! 70% of my students never even had an MIR, or a “warning” referral, and 57% of all total referrals came from just seven (7%) students.

I found that the majority (92%) of all referrals were for black students (who make up 59% of my students), but there was no relation between racial makeup of a class as a whole and the number of referrals within the class. While I’m concerned by the disproportional number of referrals for Black students (especially males), 7 individuals received referrals for most of those cases, meaning the majority of students had zero discipline referrals. I’m still working on what that means, and have decided to focus my inquiry more on this particular part of my question than I had intended.

Introduction and Interviews

Last year I taught two sections of Spanish 1 and three sections of Spanish 2. In two classes, one of each level, the students formed a special bond in the class, and the atmosphere was very collaborative and friendly. In my remaining classes the students worked more as individuals and the atmosphere was conflictive and at times even hostile. I rarely if ever had discipline issues in the classes with the positive atmosphere, but had several problems with the other sections. I used more or less the same lessons and techniques with the different classes, however I found that my “good” classes consistently scored higher on tests and quizzes. Clearly classroom atmosphere and student achievement are linked, but I’m not sure what was different in the classes to create such diverse class dynamics, and I want to study this further so that I can recreate similar atmospheres to those positive ones and avoid having any more conflictive classes.

This led me to ask the following questions:

*What factors impact the classroom dynamic and contribute to a positive learning community? 

*Which of those factors relate directly to me as the teacher, and what can I do to nurture a class atmosphere that will foster student growth? 

*How much of an impact does classroom atmosphere have on individual learning?
*How does my being a White, female teacher affect the classroom atmosphere?

I've created a research plan to help me find some answers to my questions, including data elements such as interviews, grades, and literature.

Today I carried out the first round of student interviews. Some of the responses were similar to what I expected, but some were surprising. For example, one student named her English class as an example of a class with a really positive atmosphere. Another girl in the same class named it as an example of a class with a really negative atmosphere. Similarly two girls with the same biology teacher (but different classes) named the class as either a good example or a bad example. On the same note, one student from one of what I considered to be a "bad" class said she thought the atmosphere in the class was really good. What I conclude from this is that classroom atmosphere is very subjective, but the students did give me some indicators of what a positive classroom environment is like for them, and these things tended to be the same across the board.

For example, students valued the relationships formed in classes in which teachers worked to make learning interesting for them- incorporating games and group activities into the lessons. They said group activities gave them a chance to get to know new people in the class, which made it more fun. One student also noted that her math teacher personalized the lessons for the students so they all felt like individuals in the class.

Several students mentioned discipline both as a good and a bad thing. When describing a class with a bad atmosphere, some students said part of the problem was disrespectful or misbehaving students, and the teacher ignored the problem or got mad but never did anything about it. On the other hand, several students said that in classes with good atmospheres, the teachers used positive behavior reinforcement, and followed through with consequences when students didn't follow the rules.

In summary, from a student's perspective it's important for teachers to make learning fun, give the students opportunities to get to know each other and work together, and to be consistent with classroom discipline.

Of the seven students interviewed, five said they don't think the classroom environment affected their grades, and only two said they do think it did. However, in the majority of the cases students grades were at least one letter grade higher in the class they described as having a good atmosphere.

*These seven interviews were conducted with students from three of my sections, so I will update these findings after I've interviewed students from my other two sections.

The following are the questions I asked:

1. Think of a class with a really good atmosphere. (The students got along, everyone was respectful, etc.)

2. What makes that class stand out? (Describe it/ give examples.)

3. How did the teacher contribute to the atmosphere?

4. Now think of a class with a really bad classroom environment.

5. What makes that class stand out?

6. How did the teacher contribute to the atmosphere?

7. What were your grades in the classes?

8. Now think about your Spanish class. (If it wasn't named as a good or bad example.) Did you feel it had a good or a bad environment?

9. Do you think I did anything to affect that? In bad situations, what do you think I could have done differently?

10. Do you think the class environment affected your grade?