Action Research Plan

Action Plan

 

Goal: Implement school-wide standards on note-taking and cross-curricular writing skills to increase student achievement and post-secondary success.

 

Objectives/Outcomes:

• Increase student abilities in oral and written communication.
  
• Increase post-secondary success for students.
  
• Increase high school success for students.
  
• Identify and implement a campus-wide note-taking and cross-curricular writing structure.
  

 

Action Steps What Will Be Done?	Person(s) Responsible Who Will Do It?	Timeline By When? (Day/Month)	Resources Resources Available Resources Needed	Evaluation How? What instruments?
Step 1: Form a committee	Principal	9/1/2010	A. teachers/staff   B. literature discussing college and career readiness	Survey of teacher interest
Step 2: Research various note-taking and writing standards	Committee members	9/15/2010	A. computers, internet access, professional library   B. none	Discussion at next meeting
Step 3: Agree on standards to be implemented	Committee members/ campus leadership	9/29/10	A. research committee members bring to meeting   B. library for meeting place	Discussion and agreement by committee members and administrators
Step 4: Creation of rubrics and skill documents	Committee members	9/29/2010	A. computers, internet access, professional library   B. example rubrics	Discussion and agreement by committee members and administrators
Step 5: Professional development for teachers and staff	Committee members/ campus leadership	10/6/2010	A. teachers and staff; time for professional development   B. background information; literature or research for basis of implementation; examples and handouts for staff	Teacher/staff survey of support and interest and additional needs
Step 6: Instruction of standards to students	Teachers/staff	Start of second semester 2011	A. committee created handouts and rubrics   B. instruction time; handouts for students; student buy-in	Student survey of initial thoughts
Step 7: Collection of data	Committee members/ teachers/staff	Ongoing	A. student work samples and assessment scores   B. prepared data collection forms	Comparison of test scores against student samples and data collection forms
Step 8: Collection of data	Committee members/ teachers/staff	June 2011- end of year	A. teachers and students   B. time; teacher and student survey	Compare data to survey comments
Step 9: Analysis and reevaluation of plan	Committee members/ administration	June 2011	A. data   B. comparison of data and teacher input on effectiveness	Discussion of committee members and campus leadership on effectiveness based on data analysis.
Step 10: Additional professional development	Committee members/ campus leadership	August 2011	A. teachers and staff; time for professional development   B. results of Spring data collection	Teacher/staff survey of additional needs
Step 11: Implement revised action plan based on data and evaluation	Teachers/staff	August 2011	A. committee revised plan and documents; previous year's data   B. instruction time; handouts for students; student buy-in	Comparison of new data to old data

 

Pulling the Gun on an Action Research plan

So after my week of study and reflection on action research I am no more married to picking one topic for further study over another. Writing about them both, thinking about them both, on top of seeing the great ideas of others...I want to take them ALL on!

Alas, I know this can not be done, and really, would I want to?

No.

But I am very curious about the action plans of others, and even though I am to pick between one of my two choices-
affects and effectiveness of the implementation of technology
or
the effectiveness of note-taking and writing curricula implemented on a school wide basis in regards to college and career readiness (aka-success)
I am not sure I can. I will for further discussion and reporting, but I'm pretty convinced I'll keep my finger on both topics for the next couple of years.

Benefits of Bloggin'

So....
To blog or not to blog? Is anyone really listening? Or reading for that matter?

I have never thought of having my own blog or thought anything I had to say was worthy of attention without a martini or two, unless my dog Jake was enraptured by me giving him a belly scratch at the same time. But I think there could be something to this 'blog' thing, and I do see it can act as an educational network system- these blog people just might have something.
BUT
Online classes...where do I begin?
It can be very alienating and it is so easy to only see things from your own point of view after an assigned reading or attempting an assignment. Blogging and connecting with other professionals to ascertain their thoughts on the same chapter or writing prompt can only assist in bringing me out of my laptop and into a real-world of beneficial discussion about new ideas.

So...Did I want to blog?
Um. No.
Am I doing it because I have to?
Or because I want to?
I'm pretty sure I can want to.
It is nice to connect with people who care about the same things-bettering yourself, advancing our students and our schools, life-long-learning.

Maybe I was a pretty quick convert, and these bloggers really have something going...

Action Research-What I've Learned

Previous to the start of this course I hadn't heard of Action Research, and I must admit it sounded a little daunting.

After beginning to Nancy Fitchman Dana's "Leading with Passion & Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher," I have a totally different outlook. I enjoyed her use of the term "inquiry" as opposed to action research most of the time as it doesn't make me think of hours poring over books in the library, one of the visuals I had in my head and she used in her text as explanation of her word choice.

Now I find myself excited about the thought of using more 'inquiry' and reflection in my work as I like to make the most informed decisions possible, and this type of work does just that. I have always wanted to understand reasoning behind different frameworks implemented by my administration and what prompted them to choose a particular one, sometimes to change it again the next year.

I now understand the importance of reflection and looking at data to revisit whether a previous choice was impactful or beneficial. If not there is no use feeling like you’ve made a mistake, but to move forward with a new plan of action based on your research data and again, try to come to the best choice possible for the situation with the information you have gained.
I will definitely use this type of inquiry in my classroom to determine whether choices I made last year were the best ones for the situation or particular content topic, and make adjustments for the coming year. I no longer feel trapped in a decision and feel the need to follow it out to the end. If I gather information and data that clearly show changes need to be made before the culmination of a project, instead of feeling guilty or like I was ineffective, I will now look at the situation as a research experience that I can adjust and continue to gather data on to be the most effective as a teacher I can be.

I can only see putting this type of action research into practice now in the classroom benefiting me as I move into an administrative role and am comfortable with the practice.