Expanding students' ownership and responsibility for their learning in a traditional Algebra II classroom

Students in an urban high school Algebra II class in a northeastern state in the U.S. failed to meet academic standards after classroom benchmark data reviews. The district had introduced these reviews as opportunities for increasing student ownership of their learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of constructive dialogue by exploring intervention strategies implemented to increase student voice and ownership of their learning. The study's conceptual framework relates to Dewey's pragmatic principles on the importance of student involvement in their learning. The research questions concerned how students' weekly reviews of their academic progress and educational-diagnostic discussions (teacher-led classroom meetings) could increase student voice and ownership of learning. This sequential embedded mixed-methods study utilized a Classroom Environmental Scale (CES) survey, as pre and posttests to quantify the perceptions of student participants (n = 17) and their teacher. Dependent sample paired t tests were used for quantitative analysis. Participant qualitative reflective data provided from their journals complemented the quantitative datasets. Findings of the study revealed that charting academic progress and constructive discussions resulted in increased student involvement as demonstrated by students' willingness to express their views and take responsibility for their learning. One conclusion from this study was that student accountability improved when they were given voice to articulate their learning. In light of the study's results, it is recommended that student participation should be incorporated for improved academic performance. Positive social change could occur if schools provide effective teacher professional development that supports students' ownership of their learning and active student engagement.