Case study 1

  
Discussion 2: Literature Review Step I

Scenario 
Your state is considering a required set of education standards that all schools must adopt. You have been nominated to serve on the statewide committee to inform the legislature as to which standards, if any, should be adopted. You will have the opportunity to take a stand on the following issue. Does a set of required standards improve or limit education for ALL students (e.g., general education students, special education, English language learners, gifted learners) in state schools? 

Consider the following questions: How can standards be implemented to improve the quality of education for ALL students in all levels and types of classroom (e.g., general education, special education, vocational)? Is it more effective to adopt district standards, state-specific standards, or national standards? Once you decide which standards to adopt, what materials, supports and training will be needed to implement them? How do different stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, government leaders, principals, teachers with various specialties and points of view, students, parents) feel about the issue of standards adoption and implementation? 

As you complete the courses in your program of study, you will be reading numerous research articles and other scholarly documents. As you read, your role will be to critically analyze the articles. To prepare for your work in this module, consider what it means to be a critical analyst rather than a reader/consumer of research. Reading an article informs you. Being a critical analyst transforms how you view, read, and respond to research, and builds the skills you need as a professional scholar who contributes to positive change. As you move through your program, be cognizant to select quality scholarly documents and literature from reliable sources. Visit the Specialization 

Resources List in the Toolkit to see reputable resources for your field of study.

For this Discussion, you will practice the skill of identifying and summarizing information from scholarly resources. To prepare for this Discussion, identify a minimum of four articles related to the case study. These articles should be in addition to those noted in the Further Reading List for the case study.
If you have not already done so, download the Research Article Organizer from the Toolkit to your computer. This tool will guide you in identifying key elements of research articles as well as key information.
Apply the tool to each of the four articles you found in order to identify key elements and key information in each article.

Post a 2- to 3-paragraph reflective evaluation of your experience with the tool. Evaluate the extent to which tool benefited you in organizing and summarizing information. Include what modifications you made (or could make) to the tool to make it more useful to you. Explain why these modifications are beneficial.

     Research Organizer is Attached