Author: Nicole Bogusch Major: Elementary Education
During the fall semester of 2019, I performed research in the elementary education department under my advisor, Dr. Marica Imbeau. The purpose of this research was to evaluate what teachers are doing to elevate their classroom in regard to the environment, opportunity, physical space, and instructional supports. Preschool teachers have an especially important role as the early developmental years are critical periods of growth for children. Having a quality preschool classroom involves the teacher, the instruction, and the environment, and when all of these factors are combined, the students are more likely to be successful in the short- and long-term future.
As a senior Elementary Education major, fall of 2019 meant my first semester in an internship placement. I was placed at Willis D. Shaw Elementary School (Shaw) in Springdale in a first and then third-grade classroom. While at Shaw, I began my research on preschool classrooms. Right from the beginning I encountered a roadblock: I needed to obtain approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to officially start my research. I initially struggled with gaining access to the form and then knowing how to complete the form. I had never completed anything like this before and the language used was far too confusing. After struggling to figure things out alone, I sought advice from my liaison, Dr. Heather Young, who guided me through the process and then helped me with my letter of support from my principal, Mrs. Cynthia Voss. Furthermore, with Mrs. Voss’ letter of support and my eventual approval from the IRB, I was able to initiate my research by approaching Shaw’s preschool teachers and their classroom aids and asking them to participate in my research.
For my research, I sent each preschool teacher and classroom aid a google survey to complete. This survey asked teachers to rate their classroom environment, classroom opportunity, physical environment, and instructional supports on a Likert scale. A Likert scale is a seven-point scale that is used to allow the individual to express how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement. In this case, a 1 was strongly disagree, and a 7 was strongly agree. I then asked a number of questions where the teachers to ranked how strongly they felt their classroom and their teaching met the statement included in each question. For example, if the statement was, “I utilize books as a foundational base of instruction,” the preschool teacher would then rank how strongly they agree with this statement on a scale of 1-7.
After getting responses from the teachers, I then scheduled a time to observe in each classroom, where I went into the classroom during school hours and observed. While observing, I followed an observation protocol which guided how I spend my time in each classroom. The protocol that I created mirrored the questions that I asked the teachers to rate themselves on. For my protocol, I simply checked if I saw an indicator and then wrote down evidence for the check mark. I observed the physical space as well as the teachers, I additionally went around and observed the students playing. I was able to collect data from four very different preschool classrooms all within the school I was interning at. The data I collected showed indicators in all of the desired fields, despite each classroom having a different environment and overall feel.
Throughout this Honors College Research Grant, I have been able to realize my passion for creating a quality classroom. I have learned what makes a quality classroom and I have seen how students positively respond to these factors. Using the results of my research, I will complete my thesis and defend it in the spring. Throughout my journey, something that consistently went right was the fantastic help that I received from mentor teachers, who were more than understanding and offered to work with my schedule and let me go and observe the preschool classrooms during different parts of the school day, and from both Dr. Imbeau and Dr. Young who guided me through my roadblocks and supported me throughout my research. I was blessed to be placed in such a flexible and welcoming school to conduct my research in.