Wild Magic Farms: Increasing Student Engagement and Decreasing Academic Regression in Middle School Extended School Year Through Use of a Role-Playing Game

Author

Maryanne CullinanFollow

Date of Award

Winter 1-15-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PHD - Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Education

First Advisor

Dr. Barbara Govendo

Second Advisor

Dr. JoAnn Gammel

Third Advisor

Dr. Shane Tilton

Abstract

The Extended School Year (ESY) is a federal program that falls under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Law (2004) as part of Special Education in public schools in the United States. It is intended to help reduce regression in student progress towards Individualized Education Program goals. However, in New Hampshire, ESY struggles with a lack of clear goals, student buy-in and quality engagement. This study examined how a researcher designed role-playing game (RPG) could impact both summer academic regression and student engagement in a middle school ESY. Utilizing i-Ready testing (n=13) data and attendance data (n=9), this study compared ESY 2023 results with ESY 2024 results. Additionally, qualitative measures were used to collect student and staff impressions of ESY: student surveys, student small-group interviews, staff small-group interviews and work sample collection. The study determined that using this RPG positively impacted students’ emotional and cognitive engagement in ESY. It also determined that the RPG intervention was equally as good at preventing academic regression in mathematics as the more traditional methods used in 2023, however it was not as successful at preventing regression in reading. This study notes that i-Ready data cannot be used for measuring student writing skills, and suggests ways that ESY could be improved, including better communication between adults and a program purposefully designed with engagement in mind.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Language

English

Number of Pages

192

Embargo Period

12-7-2024

Recommended Citation

Cullinan, Maryanne, "Wild Magic Farms: Increasing Student Engagement and Decreasing Academic Regression in Middle School Extended School Year Through Use of a Role-Playing Game" (2025). Educational Studies Dissertations. 238.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/education_dissertations/238