Reflections, Week 4- 5301

Week 4 of Action Research provided some great readings and some understanding of certain research methods. Not knowing what some of them were called, I realized that our campus already utilizes a couple of those methods. Using the CARE model allows you to see the many issues that a campus can face and gives a guide to assist with a solution. I am ready for Week 5 and to get started on my project.

Week 3 Reflections 5301-Research

This week has been a long one regarding the assignments. Much of the information for the action research plan is redundant. I am hoping that in week 4, my online colleagues will give me some good tips on how I can improve on my plan. I enjoyed viewing the other action plans from my classmates and look forward to following many of them for my own campus needs. The videos of this week were very informative, as I feel they are every week. I will continue to follow the 8 steps of the action plan to revise my own plan as I proceed.

Action Research Plan- Week 3; 5301

SCHOOL VISION: To provide all stakeholders multiple opportunities to participate in the evaluation of their children. GOAL: All students will be expected to meet or exceed requirements for an Exemplary rating. Outcomes Activities Resources/ Research Tools Needed Responsibility To Address Activities Time Line Benchmarks/ Assessment Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments 1)Provide a technology orientation for all parents and students on campus. 2)Technology orientation videos will be available on district website, all year for current and incoming families in the district. 1)Video campus and district administrators and team leaders and place videos on website. 2)All campus teachers will stream videos on parent orientation/ meet the teacher day. 1)a.Surveys from teachers and team leaders. 1)b.Input from principal, assistant principal, super- intendent and sample of campus parents. 2)Electronic web searches including Google, bing, survey- monkey, and yahoo. Graduate student Principal Asst. Principal Super-intendent Team Leaders Teachers Campus Technology Director District Technology Coordinator Action Research Project will be in place by parent orient- ation and meet the teacher day in August 2012. Videos will be viewed and reviewed for possible editing by team leaders, principal, and asst. principal. Sample parents will be chosen as the parents who volunteer on our campus. This sample will view the videos for possible editing. As Needed

Reflections of Week 2 5301 Assignment

This weeks readings, videos, and assignment, really enlightened me. The action research project was explained thoroughly this week. The more I dive into this program, the more excited I am to learn of all this. In seven short weeks, I have completely changed my outlook on administration. I didn't realize how many decisions my principal and assistant principal have to make on a daily basis. Being in my little classroom, down my little hallway, does not prepare me for what problems our campus faces everyday. I am so excited to continue learning more and I love being able to see a different side of education.

Week 2 Part 3- Selecting action research topics

Week 2 Part 3- Selecting action research topics

The three topics I narrowed down for my research topics are:

1.       How will our campus make team leader meetings more productive, and how will we implement teacher peer coaching?

2.       Our campus will use technology to provide information from teachers, the principal, and superintendent, to all parents in the district for parent orientation and meet the teacher.

3.       Our campus will find a way to remove computer and library from the PE rotation and place them back into the teachers’ weekly schedule, and locate funds to rehire a teacher for the music program to be put back into place.

My conference with my site-mentor, who is my campus principal, went well. We discussed all the issues at hand. He really liked the team leader meeting idea, but thought the other two ideas were more pressing for our campus at this time. We both really liked the computer/library/music project and we are both very passionate about that idea. However, we agreed, that the powers above us would not allow results within the time period I needed to have my project complete. I had brought up the technology idea at our September site-based meeting, and he really liked it. He even brought it to the attention of our superintendent. We decided that the technology information for parent orientation was the most realistic project for me to research and implement within the Master’s program.

For my action research project, I will research the use of technology and communication between my campus and parents. Our campus is very large at over 700 students from grades PK-4. We are literally busting at the seams. This year was our first year to have parent orientation at the same time as meet the teacher. This happens the day before the first day of school. The plan was for parents of students in Pk-2 to meet in our gym for 15 minutes and listen to our principal go over campus policy and procedure. Then parents were to move on to their children's classrooms and listen to their child's teacher give an orientation for that grade. Third and fourth grade followed 45 minutes later. The first problem was the gym could not hold everyone that showed up. The second problem was that some parents did not want to sit through the principal orientation; they just wanted to meet the teacher. Then, the teacher had parents showing up at staggered intervals not allowing the teacher to give a proper orientation.

At our site-based meeting in September, I asked my principal if we could video him and stream him into the classrooms. He loved the idea. We have now decided that I will video him, the superintendent, and the team leaders for each grade level, and I will upload those videos to our district website. Because all classrooms on our campus are equipped with a SmartBoard and overhead projector, we will ask all parents to show up in their child's classroom at the same time. Teachers will show the videos in their classrooms all at the same time. For families with more than one child at the school, we will still stagger the times, but if they want, they will be able to view the orientation videos on their own time if needed. These videos will be available all year for families new to the district and for those that would like to review for clarification.

This will allow for teachers to not be so stressed during this busy time and it will allow for our principal and superintendent to be free to move around campus during such an important event. Students will get to meet their teachers and parents will get the much needed information for their child's upcoming school year. If parents have a source to go to, some of their questions may be answered without having to set up in-school conferences resulting in loss of time from work.

I am very excited about this project. This will allow me to work with all grade levels on the campus and also allow me to work with several of my administrators throughout my district.

Week 2 Part 2- Common action research topics in school settings

The following are nine common areas of passion for action research projects as identified by Nancy Fichtman Dana. These nine passions are listed below.

1.      Staff Development is the first area identified. An example of action research for staff development is peer coaching. According to Dana, 2009, peer coaching helps veteran teachers to grow and learn while allowing the principal to help with the process. We all see teachers who have taught for many years get stuck in the same routine over and over again. Peer coaching would allow for inquiry and implementation of professional development among veteran and new teachers. Researching how other schools are progressing will benefit all teachers.

2.      Curriculum Development is the second area identified. An example of action research for curriculum development is, "how do we increase student writing scores for state mandated testing using staff teams and the updated Writing Academy curriculum?” Our fourth grade state writing test scores increased last year from 88% to 99%. The use of action research was effective in analyzing data and implementing the proper techniques that teachers used to provide material to the students. Students had a deeper understanding of what was expected of them, and they were able to follow through.

3.      Individual Teachers is the third identified area. An example of action research for individual teachers is, “What type of support help new teachers succeed?”  (Dana, 2009, p. 40) This is so important for administrators to research. Our new teachers can become overwhelmed very quickly. Teachers fresh out of college think they know how things really work, until that infamous first day of school. Making certain our teachers knows what to expect and how to get help should they need it, is crucial for success.

4.      Individual Students is the fourth area identified. An example of action research for individual students is, " what effect does our title program have on struggling readers? "My campus does use this action research project with a staff team. We are always looking for ways to improve our title program where it will have the greatest impact for all students. We are constantly meeting and asking vital questions about what is working and what is not working.

5.       School Community/Culture is the fifth passion. An example of an action research project that my campus actually implements is, communicating among grade levels for the understanding and expectations of all students from grade level to grade level. We do have a staff day set aside to place students in groups of academic readiness for the following year. Before the next year begins, we receive that information from the prior grade level and we see what progress the students made, what interventions were needed for that success, and when the school year starts, we assess where their academic levels are at that time.

6.       Leadership is the sixth identified area. An example of an action research project for leadership is, “How do we develop curriculum leaders?” (Dana, 2009, p. 54) This is an important research plan as we always need to find ways to make sure our student curriculum is up to date with the ever changing world and how our students are being assessed. Inquiring about what our district needs in means of curriculum should be an ongoing inquiry, research, and implementation process.

7.       Management is the seventh area that was identified. An example of action research for management is, "how will we find a way to remove computer and library from the PE rotation and place them back into the teachers’ weekly schedule, and locate funds to rehire a teacher to allow for the music program to be put back into place?” I feel very passionately about this topic and do plan to revisit this idea when my Master’s program is complete, if not before.

8.       School Performance is the eighth area identified. An example of action research of school performance is, “What actions can our faculty take to improve reading achievement of our lowest quartile students?” (Dana, 2009, p.59)  This research is important and our campus actually uses this action throughout the school year. We do have staff teams set up to meet on staff days to ensure that reading classes and intervention classes are being utilized and implemented for all students at all levels.

9.       The ninth passion identified is Social Justice. An example of action research for social justice is, "how do we meet the needs of our ESL students?” Our district, as all districts, have to make certain that our English as Second Language learners are receiving instruction that they not only understand, but also receiving instruction that challenges them and makes them life-long, successful learners.

References

Dana, F. N. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.

Week 2 Assignment, Part 1- Action research from scholar practitioners

Johnny Briseno and Dr. Kirk Lewis are the two scholars I chose to discuss for this week’s assignment. Johnny Briseno is the principal at Rancho Isabella Elementary School in Angleton ISD. I felt I could relate to him because I currently teach at the elementary level. One area of action research discussed by Mr. Briseno was peers telling peers. In other words, he wanted his teachers to learn from his other teachers. Mr. Briseno seems to feel strongly about always getting the facts, figuring out what problems his campus faces, the source of the problem, and looking at qualitative measures as part of his action research. He recommended this process as a good way to implement action research. By researching and allowing his staff to be part of a campus plan, it helps them to identify students that may be in academic trouble and allows the campus to take part in achieving their goals.

I really enjoyed hearing how Mr. Briseno runs his campus and implements his action research. I do feel like our campus principal utilizes the same actions for our campus and I’m glad to know that our district is moving in the same direction as other districts across our state.

Dr. Kirk Lewis is the Superintendent of Pasadena ISD. I chose to discuss Dr. Lewis for two reasons. One, I have family that work in his district and two; I liked to see where the action research fell from a Superintendent’s point of view. One topic of action research mentioned by Dr. Lewis was grant research. He discussed in some detail about their district’s current research through the Gates Foundation. This research allowed for his district to provide teachers with the knowledge to change their instruction delivery to ensure that students understand what they’re learning at a deeper level. Dr. Lewis believed the detailed, informal professional development and disaggregation of data was essential action research topics for his district to flourish. He recommended that educators should research what was practical to them and what they could directly apply to student learning.

Dr. Lewis was my favorite of all three speakers, as his thoughts seemed to be the most realistic. He talked about how teachers who hold a Bachelor’s degree don’t have the understanding that those who hold a Master’s degree have, regarding action research. He believes that action research will allow for student success over theoretical research.

Listening and watching administrators who have put action research into place is exciting for me to see. I believe this will help me move forward with my own research project and realize those goals that I have set for myself.