Week 3 Assignment: Actions Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: Increase student achievement and retention through parental support and involvement.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Create an Action Research committee composed of teachers, administrators, counselors, and technology support staff.	I will request committee membership with the assistance of my site supervisor and campus principal.	Beginning of Campus In-service activities to be completed by the middle of the 1st grading cycle.	Professional input from site supervisor and principal	Weekly Committee Meetings
Break students into groups based demographics: ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status (At-Risk), grade level, then create sample space	School Counselors	Middle of the 1st cycle to the end of school	Mapper, Student Data Sheets	Weekly Committee Meetings
Survey the sample of students to determine if they live in a one or two parent home	Teachers	Middle of the 1st cycle to the end of school	Survey forms	Weekly Committee Meetings
Make parental contact via phone, email, parent conference Chart student Achievement in the classroom and extra-curricular activities every grading period	Action Research Committee Action Research Committee	Throughout the school year Each grading cycle	Mapper, Student Data Sheets, Student Schedules Progress notices, report cards, standardized test, formal and informal assessments	Weekly Committee Meetings Weekly Committee Meetings
Chart student attendance including absences and tardys	Action Research Committee	Entire school year	Attendance profiles, Tardy station reports	Weekly Committee Meetings
Chart parent contacts: responses to teacher phone calls, emails, attendance to parent conferences, PTA involvement, Extra-curricular activity involvement	Action Research Committee; Classroom Teachers; PTA, Coaches; Activity Sponsors	Entire school year	Teacher contact logs, PTA committee, meetings with coaches and sponsors	Weekly Committee Meetings
Formulate an analysis of the data collectively and broken down by demographics	Action Research Committee, Site Supervisor	End of each grading cycle	Data collected throughout the action research	Weekly Committee Meetings
Create and Action “Change” Plan to increase student achievement through parent support and involvement	Action Research Committee, Administration, Counselors, Support Staff	Entire school year	Parent conference, PTA, Teacher support of the parent, Parent support of teachers, Parent and teacher support of students
Increase student achievement and retention through parent support and involvement	Action Research Committee, Administration, Counselors, Support Staff	Entire school year	All stakeholders	Progress notices, report cards, standardized test, formal and informal assessments
Reflection: Is the action research plan providing the directives needed for action “change”	Myself and Site Supervisor	Endo of 1st Semester; End of school year	Conferences with stakeholders
Determining direction for sustaining improvement	Action Research Committee	End of the school year	The committee will create, copy, and distribute a survey all stakeholders involved in the research	Collect and analyze data received from the surveys. Propose additional action research to improve the research project and implement those improvements for subsequent school years.

Week2 Assignment Reflection:

The Principal.....is he just a leader of the building and the staff or is he responsible for modeling action research and continuous learning from staff and students?  The answer to that question come clear in the reading from the Dana text and my own personal experiences.  I believe the principal, just as the rest of the administrative staff and all educators, should model any and everything they expect from students and each other.  The nine common Action Research topics fit well in any school climate and should be an integral part of increasing student achievement and teacher success and retention.  I am encouraged by the idea of pursuing my action research project and working with my site supervisor and peers in fostering inquiry and wondering that will produce change.

How Educational Leaders Use Blogs

Blogs are an efficient way for educational leaders to share inquiries and work.  It's very important that the inquiries are placed in a professional conversation that will contribute to the knowledge and teaching and administration.  That's the only way that change will take place!

What I Have Learned About Action Research

Action research is the most productive and efficient way of collecting data, analyzing, and implementing change that can effectively produce positive and compelling results.  Unlike traditional research that is usually performed through university study and research, action research is initiated through questions of wondering by the by individual desiring the change.  It is similar to reflection because we actually seek out change and reflect by posing our own questions, collecting the data to gain insights about our questions, analyze the data, then make changes in practice based on the new findings from the inquiry and share them with others.   Action research is preferred over traditional research because, by design, it is a system that is not conducive to optimal results because traditional research may not specifically address school needs because the finders are typically defined as outsiders to the school and do not have a clear understanding of the daily needs of the classrooms. For this reason, action research and administrative inquiry are the best method for change because it addresses the immediate needs for specific campuses.

There are several areas were action research is used by principals and administrators to try to improve school quality, professional development, and ultimately student achievement. These areas include university coursework, professional learning communities, and leadership teams.

Welcome Lamar EDLD 5301 Team

Welcome to my Action Research blog.  I will be posting more information about my action research project and progress soon.  Please join me for some great conversation.