Presentation Reflection

Today, I completed the presentation component to the colleagues I worked with at the after-school program.  I presented my PowerPoint presentation, giving a summary of how the research question came about, what the literature review "story" was, what the question was, my plan for gathering and analyzing the data, my findings, the limitations and questions raised after my analysis was complete, and the conclusion and implications - strengths of the program and ways in which it could improve to reach the ESL students even more.  Overall, everyone was happy with the findings and did not really have much to comment and not really any changes to suggest.  The coordinator only mentioned that there were two "improvements" I mentioned that the program actually does do or were trying to fulfill.  I need to see if I need to change any of this in my presentation after consulting with my professor.  Other than that, I think my presentation and the final paper are ready to be submitted!

Research Update

Since my last post, I collected data two more times: once from observations of the final program session and the second, from one more interview.  The final observation wasn't very helpful because most of the students spent the time socializing, since they didn't really have homework to work on (with testing, end-of-the-school year, etc).  There were also less students because of a middle-school band concert going on that evening, as well as a youth group starting up their gatherings again.  The interview was with the English teacher of one of the interviewed students.  We had a productive, interesting conversation.

Throughout the data collection process, I had slowly begun to organize the data, especially the interviews.  I broke up the transcriptions of the conversations into categories, and those categories into other categories, grouped and regrouped, new categories formed, old ones were erased, etc.  It was an ongoing process of viewing how all the pieces worked together to answer the question.  When all my data collection was complete, I repeated this grouping/regrouping process multiple times until I was more or less satisfied with the resulting themes.  Then I began to write up the lists into my actual paper.  As I wrote, I still continued to organize and reorganize as I saw that some pieces fit better somewhere else.

I finally finished the paper and am waiting for feedback from the professor so that I can make final changes and submit it.  I will present my findings to the after-school program committee this Wednesday, if all goes well.

Data Collection Summary

Currently:
-Observations in written field notes from 3 different Thursday middle/high school sessions, and will be attending one more, the final one
-6 documents that are flyers explaining the program, an informative letter to church members, and an email correspondence
-Interviews with:
   *Program's coordinator
   *Two volunteers (one a current high-school teacher, one a former high-school teacher and current board member)
   *Three ESL students
   *One ESL student's parent
   *One of the interviewed ESL student's English teacher

As I analyze interviews and observations in particular, I have unanswered questions, which I immediately write down to ask the person at the next session, or if the interview was conducted via email, I immediately send the follow-up questions to the person.  I still have a LOT of work to do though!

Thick Descriptions of Two Field Notes

Example #1: ESL students sit together at one table.  There is a lot of talking (mostly in Spanish) and iPads and iPhones out, taking selfies, amongst the three girls there.  One boy at one corner of the table works diligently on his homework.

Thick description:
There are 6 other tables available for students to spread out, but the ESL students still sit together at one table.  This was not "assigned" to them; it was personal choice.  These students aren't all the same age or even in the same school (some are in middle and some in high school).  People from the same culture usually like to stay together.  I know this from my personal experience; my closest friends in school and those I spent my time with after school were all my Ukrainian friends, sharing my nationality and culture.  It didn't matter if they were younger or older than me.  The ESL students attending this program do not try assimilating themselves with the other students and prefer to spend the time with each other.  Talking to each other in Spanish allows them to share about things or people that they do not want others hearing or understanding.  Most of the time, the ESL students are not being productive and working on homework, especially for the first 20 minutes or so.  They will continue to socialize and play with their technological devices until a teacher comes up and asks them about their homework/what they should be working on.  The one boy always gets to work immediately and works until all his homework is done.  Grades are very important to him, and he proudly told me that he is a straight A student.  I even overheard him tell a classmate that he is thinking of being a doctor for his profession.

Example #2: Students are allowed to bring younger siblings with them if necessary.  Several ESL girls bring their younger sibling with them.

Thick description:
In most immigrant families, both parents need to work in order to make ends meet.  Many times, older siblings are given the responsibility of watching younger siblings, which means if there are activities they want to participate in after school, they cannot.  Because the after-school program gives students permission to bring siblings, ESL students who would normally stay home are able to come and get homework help, socialize, and eat a hot meal for dinner (along with the sibling).

Observation #5 Reflection

This past Thursday, I observed the middle-high school session again.  I got to interview one more student, one parent (out of three) has replied to my email interview (all three signed consent forms and agreed to participate), and one out of three teachers has also replied to my email interview.  This student's interview was not the best, but better than my second student, who was very unresponsive and short in her replies.  The parent's replies were also VERY short; I was left with a feeling that she really did not want to do it and just said whatever to "get it done."  I don't mean that I think her responses were dishonest--just that she didn't spend too much time thinking about them and giving meaningful answers.

I wasn't satisfied overall with what I observed in this session; the coordinator wasn't there because her grandmother passed away and she was at the visitation.  This is the second time that I observed when she wasn't there, and it seems that if she isn't there, there's a lot more socializing and a lot less work going on among the students.  It seemed especially noisy that day.  There were students working, particularly those who had an adult working with them, but there were less adult volunteer teachers there today as well.  I hope Thursday's data is not going to affect my analysis too negatively!

Observation #4 Reflection

Yesterday I went to my second session of the middle/high school students after-school program.  I did observe for a little, but most of the time was spent doing interviews: I interviewed the two ESL students who brought back signed consent forms and two of the volunteers.  I was very happy with the responses one ESL student gave, but not so much with the other student; no matter how I would word or reword my question, she gave very short responses.  Some of the responses the volunteers gave contradicted what the other said, but there were several responses that were very similar.  I look forward to seeing how all the information goes together when I will begin analyzing!  I have two more Thursdays in which I can interview any more ESL students who come regularly (if they return consent forms and sign assent forms), interview students' teachers, interview the ESL students' parents, interview staff members, observe, and obtain any more documents from the coordinator if possible.  I do hope to finish collecting all data by next Thursday though because I know I need to begin the actual analysis of all this data next week!

Observation #3 Reflection

This was the second elementary school session I observed, and MOST unfortunately, no ESL students showed up again.  I still observed and wrote many field notes, but I'm a little discouraged that there won't be much of anything I can use from them.  I'm REALLY hoping that Thursday will yield the data I so desperately need from teacher/staff and student interviews!  The one positive of being at the program today was that a newsletter was sent home to parents, and the coordinator gave one to me.  I plan to use it as one of my three methods of data collection for triangulation purposes, "documentation collection."  I've emailed the coordinator asking for any more documents they can provide me with, but I haven't gotten a response yet.  If she won't respond by tomorrow, I will talk with her in person tomorrow and see if I can get anything then.

**On a side note: Kids say the FUNNIEST things!  One of the kids, when coming in on Monday, turns to his friend and asks, "Who is that?", asking about me.  The friend says, "The girl who watches."  I thought that was a pretty hilarious "title"!  And another student asked me, "Are you giving birth?"  I'm 6 months pregnant.  Very interesting way to phrase the question! :)

Observation #2 Reflection

My second observation was very different from my first.  Today's program was for middle/high school students.  Students came in at different times, and they went straight to work on their homework, working on it for the entire first hour.  The remaining half hour at the end was spent eating a hot meal and socializing.  The coordinator wasn't there today because of personal/family reasons.  One of the staff members said there is supposed to be a motivational speaker the last 10-15 minutes, but I assume because the coordinator wasn't there, there was no speaker today.

What probably surprised me the most was how much the students socialized.  It seemed that the majority of them were not working on their homework.  I'm interested to see if they will act more productive when the coordinator is there, if she keeps them on task more, etc.  In casual conversation with one of the staff members, she mentioned to me that she thinks a lot of these students come just for the food and to socialize with friends; most don't seem to be interested in actually learning.

Specifically about the ESL students: there were five there today, and I explained the study to them and the consent forms.  I'm hoping with all my heart that they will bring back signed consent forms and be willing to be interviewed as well!  Several of them immediately said that they don't think their moms will be willing to be interviewed, but I requested that they still return forms because I need parents' consent for me to interview them as well.  I'm hoping for the best!  The ESL students sat together and only socialized among themselves the entire time.  I'm interested to see if that's the case every time as well.

Two staff members agreed to be interviewed next week and signed the consent forms, so I look forward to having a few of those done!  I already interviewed the coordinator during my first observation.  I hope to have a lot more by the end of next week.

Observation #1 Reflection

I observed the after-school program for the first time yesterday, and my biggest concern at the moment is the Monday observations...  I still have 2 more Mondays left before the program is complete, but I don't know if I'm just wasting my time and collecting extra data by going on those days.  Yesterday, not a single ESL student came, and the coordinator said that very rarely do any come for the elementary school program.  There are several that come for the middle/high school sessions on Thursdays, so I'm hoping Thursday will give me data that actually helps answer my research question!  Monday observations can only give me data on the effectiveness of the after-school program as a whole, which is not the focus of my paper.  Should I continue going for the remaining Mondays, or should I use that time to interview middle/high school teachers and parents who have given their consent to participate??

Study Timeline

Study Summary

Topic

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of a church-based after-school program and the strategies it implements that are successfully meeting the needs of the ESL students who attend it.

Motivation

Very little research is available that studies how after-school programs can help meet the needs of ESL students, a population that is often underserved in the education system.

Research Question

How does a church-based after-school program meet the needs of its ESL students through its characteristics and strategies implemented?

Method

Research Design

Qualitative case study, where data collection is at first broad, but with constant exploring, analyzing, and reviewing, the data collection is more focused.

Population

Elementary, middle, and high school students attending a church-based after-school program once a week.

Data Collection

I will collect data through interviews, observations/field notes, and document collection.

Data Analysis

I will analyze data using the qualitative data analysis method: I will begin with specific observations, note patterns in the data collected, formulate a hypothesis based on these observations, and develop general conclusions and theories.