The main question of study is whether iReady instrument is useful in differentiating instructions for assessing students’ readiness, interests, and learning profile. Diversity in classroom possess challenges to instructors, especially when it comes to meeting the actual needs of students with special needs and gifted learners. Every student is unique and has a right to individualized learning through effective communication and conveyance of information. iReady tool seeks to bridge the communication gap between learners and instructors by ensuring that students get differentiated information. The study focuses on the effectiveness of the iReady tool. A quantitative research design is preferred because of its objectivity and generalization of the research results. A sample size of 20 students and 5 instructors has been proposed. Data will be analyzed through the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software 25.
Background Information
For decades, instructors have continued to face challenges related to ensuring that individual learners’ needs are met (Bayram-Jacobs, 2016). The realization that each student is unique and has special educational needs has led to the differentiation of instructions. Also, the education sector has adopted technology to enhance student-centered learning as well as ensuring that individual educational needs are met. The pursuit of evidence-based practice in learning is inevitable because there has been a growing need to provide quality education to all students regardless of their color, nationality, or cultural background (Bayram-Jacobs, 2016). iReady is a tool that has been developed to enhance individualized information dissemination. The tool plays an imperative role in fostering student focus, monitoring the student progress, set clear goals for each student or a small group of learners sharing similar characteristics, and adjusting the instructions accordingly. However, the effectiveness of the iReady tool in assessing the student learning, readiness, and promoting interests are still in question. The question is whether there is a statistically significant change in the quality of education and satisfaction compared to when using the traditional means of instruction dispensation.
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Statement of the Problem
Communication failure between the instructor and the learner can lead to poor student performance. Unless the instructor is empowered to establish each student’s strengths, weaknesses, interests, readiness to learn, and motivations, it becomes difficult to promote equality in learning (Glowa & Goodell, 2016). The diversity in the learning institutions demands a change in teaching approach, particularly in regards to how instructions are disseminated to learners. Some instructions will be interpreted differently by some learners because of their cultural background, exposure, and experiences (Ozdamli, 2017). The challenge explains why it is necessary to develop a diagnostic and monitoring tool that promotes the differentiation of instructions. The study is imperative because it now seeks to establish whether iReady has been effective in addressing the challenge of individualized learning.
Justification of the Study
Understanding the effectiveness of the iReady tool will help the education policymakers make necessary adjustments. The study creates an opportunity to gather evidence-based information that can help in making informed decisions in education. Through the research, it is possible to extract vital information from the instructors and learners who are already using the iReady tool in schools. The experiences help the policymakers to go back to drawing board to enhance the effectiveness of the iReady. Therefore, apart from determining the effectiveness of the tool, the other aim is to provide evidence-based information to education policymakers.
General Objective
To determine if the iReady instrument is useful in differentiating instructions for assessing students’ readiness, interests, and learning profile
Research Question
Is the iReady instrument useful in differentiating instructions for assessing students’ readiness, interests, and learning profile?
Research Methodology
Quantitative research design has been proposed for this study. The quantitative research is more objective and can be used to determine if a correlation exists between an independent and dependent variable (Goertzen, 2017). The method enhances the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the findings to other populations. The study findings are unbiased, which plays a vital role in making predictions about a social phenomenon, in this case, being the effectiveness of the iReady in assessing students’ interests, readiness, and learning.
Population and Sample
The target populations are students and instructors from an institution of higher learning that already uses the iReady tool. The research will select a representative sample from the population. A sample size of 20 learners and 5 instructors from the learning institution will be obtained. The sample size will take into consideration the student’s diversity in the school. Both male and females will participate in the study.
Sampling Technique
The sample will be obtained through the stratified and random sampling technique. The stratified sampling is used because the subpopulations within the larger school population in school varies. The goal of stratified sampling is to obtain a diversified sample size, which is vital in minimizing bias. After obtaining the potential sample, the random sampling technique will be used to pick the study participants. Random sampling technique is preferred because it ensures that every participant has an equal opportunity to participate in the study. This reduces sample bias and enhances the validity and reliability of the results.
Data Collection Method
A structured questionnaire will be used in this study. It will contain questions that reflect and are aligned with the research question. The respondents will be required to respond by indicating a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ against the question. The advantage of the questionnaire is that it is easier to administer. The questionnaire will be administered face-to-face or through online means such as emails.
Data Analysis
Data will be analyzed through the SPSS software version 25, because of its enhanced features for data analysis and display. The chi-chart results, correlation, and regression analysis will help to obtain objective information to measure the effectiveness of iReady in assessing interests, learning, and readiness. Both the descriptive and inferential statistical results will be obtained and displayed through tables and charts. The researcher will use the results obtained to make inferences and informed conclusion.
Limitation of the Study
The time limit is one of the study’s setback. A study of this nature requires more time to gather information from different populations, analyze, obtain results, and make a conclusion. The sample size will also be a major limitation. In a quantitative study, the sample size is usually large because it has to represent the global population. As aforementioned, the role of a quantitative to provide unbiased result that are generalizable in other populations. Since the sample size is obtained from one institution, there could be some issues of reliability and validity. However, this challenge can be addressed by enhancing the reliability the validity of the research tool and comparing the results with that of the past studies. The literature review will help to determine the reliability and validity of the results obtained.
Ethical Consideration
The researcher seeks to adhere to the ethical research considerations. The researcher seeks to enhance the participants’ confidentiality and the protection of their privacy. Respondents will not be required to provide their personal information such as names and address in the questionnaire. All participants will sign the consent form showing that their participation in the study is voluntary. The researcher will also inform the participants about the objective of the study and its significance.
References
Bayram-Jacobs, D. (2016). Student-centered learning: How does it work in practice? British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioral Science . 18. 10.9734/BJESBS/2016/28810.
lowa, L. & Goodell, J. (2016) Student-centered learning: Functional requirements for integrated systems to optimize learning Vienna, VA .: International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL)
Goertzen, J. (2017). Introduction to quantitative research and data. Library technology reports. 53 (4), 12–18.
Ozdamli, F. (2017). Attitudes and opinions of special education candidate teachers regarding digital technology. World journal on educational technology: Current issues . 9(4), 191-200.
