Action Research update

 

The Effects of “Recycling” Warm Ups on Eighth Grade Science Standardized Test Scores

      Brandon Miller

ABSTRACT

 

                Every year thousands of students across the United States sit in a classroom with all their peers and struggle through standardized testing. Students are tired and exhausted from the previous week after every teacher tried to review the entire years’ information and cram it into 5 days before the exams. This article will exam a new method of reviewing this information without cramming it into a 5 day lesson right before the standardized exams. Inclusionary criteria for this review consisted of articles with the terms: warm ups, bell-ringers, review, and recall. My results were compared to earlier standardized test scores from the same district, campus, and grade level. My results are preliminary and will require further research to show their validity.

 

Introduction

 

                The majority of U.S. students will be required to take a standardized test of some form during their educational careers. Thus, some type of review is critical for these students to re-learn their years’ information and pass the standardized test. There are many ways in which school districts and teachers review this information, but this article will exam a new method known as “recycling warm ups,” in which students review their past information on a daily basis. Recycling Warm Ups are used as a review tool in the classroom on a daily basis to revisit or re-learn past information. The purpose of using recycling warm ups are to deter from the standardized test blitz weeks that all campuses have grown accustomed to. The problem with this type of review method is it exhausts the students and many of the students block the review out and care vary little about paying attention. With recycling warm ups, all the information is divided up into 3-5 questions per day and carried out through about 14 weeks. This style eliminates the exhaustion and allows students to review the information over time rather than all at once right before the exams.

                What makes a standardized exam review successful? There seems to be a gap in literature that explains the best way to prep students for the excessive standardized test they must face every year. There is literature on the use of bell ringers and warm ups as a current review tool in the classroom as I will be visiting these throughout this article. The purpose of the current article is to review past test data and current test data after the implementation of the recycling warm ups in hope to find a positive correlation with the new review method.

 

METHODS

 

Database Search

 

                I used the Lamar University Library article database and the EBSCO Host database for articles. The keywords in the search included: bell ringers, standardized tests, review, and warm ups.

 

Inclusionary/Exclusionary Criteria

 

                The two articles selected followed my criteria. The guidelines we set were (1) peer review articles published in English from 2000 through 2013, and  (2) articles focusing on standardized test review, warm ups, or bell ringers. Exclusionary criteria were (1) articles written before 2000 and not published in English, and (2) articles not focused on the implementation of bell ringers, warm ups, or standardized test review.

 

RESULTS

 

Key Features of the Study

 

Target Population

 

                The study focused on students between the age of 13 and 15 in eighth grade science or IPC at La Vernia ISD Junior High School. The students assessed were divided up amongst 3 different teachers; two others and myself.

 

Design Features

 

 

Outcome Measures

 

 

RESULTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES