Teacher Turnover Rate in Rapides Parish

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Outline and Components of the Paper

Include the following titles only; do not include the Roman numerals or parenthetical notations. Do not add sections ​ (other than those in Chapter 2 unique to your literature review) unless you have discussed the proposed additions with Dr. Solice.

I. Title Page (Template in Moodle)

II. Signature Page (Template in Moodle)

III. Table of Contents

IV. Chapter 1: Introduction

A. Introduction

Some introductory remarks that describe the study in broad terms should precede the Statement of the Problem but not be identified with a section heading.

B. Theoretical Framework – Include a theorist whose work guides your study in this section.

i Statement of the Problem

You are conducting an investigation. Your study’s “problem” is what you are going to investigate that is missing from the existing body of knowledge on your topic. “Missing” could mean that your specific topic has not been researched or that research on the topic is limited. Your problem statement should identify that without stating literally that “the problem of this study is…” Identify the topic by discussing, briefly, what is missing from the existing body of knowledge (i.e., your topic).

ii Purpose of the Study

The study’s purpose is to investigate the topic to “solve” the problem you identified, to “fill the gap.” Begin with a statement, literally, of, “The purpose of this study is…”

iii Research Questions

Research questions should be somewhat open-ended; they are used to guide a study. Your literature research might reveal studies guided by closed-ended research questions. Closed-ended questions are not invalid or incorrect, but they can limit the scope of your study. Strong research questions begin with words like “how” and “what.” Beginning with words like “do” or “does” do not always allow for a broad scope of research.

C. Significance of the Study

Describe what makes your study unique? Why it would be of interest to others. Why is the topic important in the setting? To whom would it be of interest?

D. Assumptions of the Study

Studies are executed under the guise of unique assumptions. These assumptions are made by the researcher and are related directly to the execution of the study and the results it may yield. For example, an assumption of a study investigating fourth grade students’ LEAP mathematics performance scores may be that all students in the sample attended Louisiana public schools in grades K-3. Since LEAP is a criterion-referenced test aligned specifically with Louisiana’s grade-level expectations and since the fourth grade LEAP test assesses K-4 grade-level expectations, one may assume that the results reflect the performance of students who were preparing for the exam since kindergarten.

E. Limitations and Delimitations of the Study

Limitations are any elements, events, or characteristics associated with the study that may influence the results. Limitations may be out of the researcher’s control. For example, the LEAP assumption presented above could be converted to a limitation if the researcher has data on all students in the sample and can validate that some students did not attend Louisiana public schools prior to fourth grade. Another limitation may be the researcher. If interviews are used to collect data and the participants being interviewed have some relationship with the researcher, their responses may be tempered by that relationship, which may not yield completely accurate responses. This presents an issue of research bias. Sometimes, however, such situations are inevitable, and the researcher must present that.

Contrastingly, delimitations are decisions made by the researcher that may influence the results. Delimitations define the parameters of the research. Examples of delimitations could be literature topics you will not explore and why, populations you are not studying and why, and methods you are not using and why. Because delimitations are unique to each study and, specifically, each researcher, there is no standard set of delimitations; all are based on each researcher’s actions in a particular study.

F. Definitions

Definitions are used to present terms that are unique to the study and may not be common knowledge. These are presented as a list of terms and definitions—not in narrative form.

V. Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

The literature review must be a robust element of the proposal. It—with the prior introductory sections—should outline the idea you have and validate how it is timely, reasonable, and grounded within a related body of research. The literature review must be comprehensive and, through quality, scholarly writing, present the “gap” your study proposes to “fill” within the existing body of knowledge.

Present summaries and syntheses of the most current, most relevant literature related to your topic. Literature reviews should be comprehensive, not broad. The literature presented should relate directly to your topic. For example, if you formulated your topic around your preferred teaching style, your literature review should be as comprehensive as possible relating to that style. Reporting at length on other styles is not necessary unless those other styles are cogent to your study. Another example might involve an instructional design model. A broad literature search will yield numerous instructional design models. You need report only on the model you intend to investigate.

Sub-section headings must be used in the literature review. Sub-sections to help the reader follow the ideas being presented. These headings must be included in the Table of Contents.

The literature review does not include your words or your opinions; it is a report that integrates ideas from researchers who have conducted studies related to your topic. A characteristic of scholarly writing is the author’s ability to link others’ synthesized thoughts together with fluent language and transitional statements without embedding his or her opinions within the narrative.

The last paragraph or the last few paragraphs should summarize the main ideas presented in the review, and the proposal should include a reference list (section IX).

The literature review must be just that - a review of literature. Do not discuss other sections of your project study or insert phrases to connect the literature review to other sections of the document. In essence, the literature review should stand alone and make sense to a reader if he/she extracted it from the larger document.

VI. Chapter 3: Methodology

The methodology describes the overall research design and provides operational details on how the study will be executed. Remember that past tense verbs are used here.

A. Research Design

Describe the type of research you would use in this study. Quantitative? Qualitative? Mixed methods? Identify why the design you select is the most appropriate. Associate the design with each of the research questions you present in Chapter 1. Do not become bogged down in research classifications; select one of the three general designs and justify that selection for your topic and your goal. Do not expand your design beyond one of those three general frameworks. References from articles or research texts should be used to help substantiate your selection. Most of you should use one of the following research designs: survey, single subject, case study or action research.

B. Sampling

How will you select subjects or participants? Describe who will make up the sample and how those individuals will be selected. Some variation of random sampling is best; however, purposive sampling is sometimes better with project studies because your focus is a local problem, and specific individuals may be the best data sources.

C. Data Collection and Review

Once you complete your sampling, how will you collect the data from your subjects or participants? Interviews? Questionnaires? Will you use only performance scores and not involve anyone directly? If you are using data collection tools, how do you know those are trustworthy? Describe. Include a rough timeline that includes Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval through the completion of data collection. Discuss ethical matters like confidentiality and anonymity and how each will be assured.

You collected your data. Now, what will you do with it? Describe how you will approach organizing and reviewing the data to make sense of what you collected for your study. ​ You will report basic statistical or thematic analysis results. The focus of the data review is to make sense of the data in such a way that the results will guide your recommendations for future research.

D. Implications for Future Research

You will report a summary of the kind of treatment/ outcomes expected depending upon outcome results.

VII. Chapter 4: Results

Provide a sound introduction before moving to sub-sections.

A. Data Analysis

Provide an analysis of the data. Make sense of the data. Report the data using basic statistical and/or thematic analysis. The focus here is to make sense of the data in a way to guide your recommendations for future research.

B. Presentation of Data

Provide tables, charts, graphs, etc. to illustrate the data collected and analyzed. Data should be presented in a clear and organized manner.

VIII. Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations

This section may include additional sub-sections, depending upon how you choose to write it. This is the final section and should be comprehensive enough to stand alone from the complete report. This may result in some repetition of information from previous sections; such repetition should be as minimal as possible and may not be verbatim. Thus, copying and pasting is not allowed. In scholarly writing, ideas may be repeated but stated in different terms.

A. Summary

Provide a complete summary of the research from Chapter 4.

B. Researcher’s Reflection

Consider the work leading up to and through the construction of the study. What did you learn? How will this experience benefit you as a professional in your field? How might the research benefit you and your field globally? How has this experience helped you become a scholar-practitioner?

C. Recommendations for Practice and Further Research

Describe how your overall research topic and/or your study specifically could be used in a context other than what you have discussed. In what other settings could the project be relevant? What other “directions” could the investigation take? What other, related studies or projects could expand on your work?

D. Conclusion

The conclusion is your “final word” on the topic. In your own words, present what you want the audience to remember about the study.

IX. References

Construct a bibliographic reference list for ALL sources cited throughout the proposal/paper. Follow APA style guidelines rigidly.

X. Appendices

Include any data collection tools used (instruments, surveys, interview protocols, etc.), IRB documentation, and other materials that are cogent to the study and its execution.

Each appendix must be labeled by letter and title and is considered a chapter-level

section of the document. Thus, ​APPENDIX A: TITLE HERE​ would be listed in the Table of Contents on the same hierarchy level as the chapter titles.

Your final appendix must be the Affirmation of Academic Honesty statement with your signature. Because your final submission will be digital but not .pdf, you must insert either a digital signature (digital ID) or image of your signature on the signature line.