Week 2 Action Research Update

I have learned that action research can be a bit ironic. The basis is change, inquiry, analyzing, and reacting. I've changed my topic, inquired about why my old topics won't work, analyzed the information I've learned and others have given me, and now I'm reacting by reflecting on the process. I'm being funny and serious at the same time; that's how I get by. I knew I needed to focus my research on something more finite than "the change in the school's culture", so I've picked an area that is very important to me and our principal. I will discuss changes or edits to my research topic with him this week and post what we've decided on. I'm excited about the whole process, and it's a great learning experience for me.
I read something interesting in our 'Dana' text. Our intent as administrators isn't to change or control other people's practice, we're trying to understand their practice and discover new ways to improve it. That's a quote that will stick.

Change of plans explained

My first action plan was to see how TTIPS funds could help improve the school. This approach was too broad. I changed my plan to focus on one particular point of emphasis, one that we all want to work to improve. Attendance and Academic Achievement. I want to see if a mentoring program I'm designing and implementing will have a positive effect on both attendance and academic achievement. Sure, we're doing other things for at-risk students to improve both, but I want to see how a mentor fits into the picture. It can't possible be a negative, because I already have mentors assigned and they are having a very positive effect in the short-term. I'm interested to see the long-term effects of this program.

Action Plan Template

Action Planning Template
Goal: Will a mentoring program help improve attendance and academic achievement at our high school?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Pose questions (wonderings)	Self	February 1st, 2012 December 15th, 2012	Means of communication, Volunteer forms for HR, schedules of students selected (at-risk)	Assigning mentors to mentees and setting up a schedule
Collect Data	Teachers, administrators, mentors, attendance clerk	February 1st, 2012 December 15th, 2012	Phone, computer, email, EOC data, STAAR/TAKS data, benchmarks, attendance data	Collect test scores, bench marks, class averages, state exam scores, and attendance history during term
Analyze Data and Make Changes	Teachers, RTI committee, Self	June 2012, August 2012	Phone, computer, email, EOC data, STAAR/TAKS data, benchmarks, attendance data	If results show improvements stay the course, if not try something new
Share findings with others	Self	December 2012	Means of delivery to HS in particular, and district offices	Deliver information to Principal, Superintendent, High School staff, and parents of mentees.

Week 2, Change of Plans, Action Research Project

I have decided to research whether or not a new mentoring program I'm coordinating will have a positive effect on attendance and academic achievement. We have a glaring attendance problem at our high school with our at risk students. We're on block scheduling, so if they miss one day of school they've missed two days of four of their eight classes. Obviously there's a connect between daily attendance and academic achievement, so I want to see if the mentors we're providing can have a positive effect on the students who receive one. The students who are identified as at-risk and are selected for a mentor will benefit from the mentors. In most cases these are children who don't have a strong nuclear family. Some don't know there mothers or fathers, some do but wish they didn't, some live with grandparents, friends, or cousins, and some of the students we've selected have lived through very difficult experiences. We feel they all need someone to talk to, a pseudo parent if you will, and providing them with a mentor will provide them with a trusting individual they can talk to. I hope a mentor will provide them a reason to come to school and excel, a person to praise them when they've done well and pick them up when they've fallen. Our district will also benefit (directly) if the mentoring program is effective. Average Daily Attendance is important for fiscal and academic reasons. An increase in ADA means more money from the state (and we all know budget cuts are coming), and higher test scores are paramount at our school because we were rated academically unacceptable last year. Our teachers will benefit from higher academic achievement and improved attendance because they won't have to reteach, catch students up, and tutor as many students as before. I will look at their test scores, end of course exams, benchmarks, state exam data, class averages, and attendance records over the course of the next year in order to analyze whether or not we're helping and making progress. If we are, we'll stay on course. If we're not, we'll make the necessary changes once we've identified them. I don't see anything negative about a mentoring program, and I've already seen short term results. 

Action Plan Update 1/25

Awaiting word from professors on my action plan. I worry that it's too broad or complex of an issue, but I hope it's not because it ties closely to what I do. I'll post some more when I find out.

Action Research

I have learned that action research is an ongoing look at what you've (in this case an administrator) been doing on a daily basis, how your approach is effective, and how it needs to be altered. It's a constant process that requires one to systematically redefine how to be a successful administrator. Action research poses what, how, and why questions in order to define what is successful, and what needs to change in order to be successful. Administrators are advised to use an action research approach in order to inquire about the various issues he or she deals with on a campus on a daily basis. By using the approach on themselves, administrators are able to learn what they're doing wrong by inquiry. Based on the results of their inquiry they should be able to identify areas where improvement needs to occur in order for their school to be a successful learning environment wherein all parties are learners. 

I may be able to use action research to inquire about my current responsibilities in order to uncover things I'm doing incorrectly, and things I need to start doing in order to be successful. I can also use action research on a weekly basis in order to identify things I'm doing that are not a good use of my time, and things I should be doing more to use my time more wisely. Action research is interesting to me and it seems to make a great deal of sense. I'm looking forward to putting it into action (for the lack of a better term) and improving my skills in this area. 

I believe that educational leaders could use blogs in order to discover new ideas and techniques from counterparts around the world, from teachers at all levels, and from other professionals in various industries that have some of the same issues we face as administrators of a campus.