Assignment and Summary of Week 3, 5301

Chris Delmas’ Action Research Plan

Like many of my cohorts, my plan has changed several times. I started with my inquiry focused on my school’s culture, and now my site supervisor and I have come to an agreeable action research plan to study our mentorship program.

Description of setting and context of my study: It is my intention to see what kind of effect our mentors have on our student’s attendance, academic achievement, and behavior in the classroom. We have many at-risk students who need a mentor, role model, and someone to talk to, and our school is working hard to make sure that happens. Our professional mentors range from doctors, lawyers, city council members, nurses, ophthalmologists, tattoo artists, mechanics, and construction managers. A majority of our at-risk students lack either a male or female role model in their lives, so we look for ways to provide them with something similar and beneficial. We’ve seen good short-term effects, but I’m interested in the long-term data and information it will provide. At the very least these students will have meaningful conversations with local professionals who reside in our area, and in some cases were born and raised here.

Operational definition of my target population: Our target population will be at-risk students, and possibly students referred to the mentoring program by our counselors. We’re looking to provide a select group of students with a positive role model who can make a difference in their lives.

Sample selection process: We’re looking for students who have been retained, are falling far behind their peers, are receiving math and/or reading interventions, who are labeled at-risk for other reasons, economically disadvantaged, have constant behavior concerns at school, and in some cases students who are on probation for crimes committed at school or in the community. The sample size will be between 10-20 students, although more will receive a mentor.

Rational for sample process and selection: We believe in helping our at-risk population any way we can. The same goes for our entire population, but at-risk students need more help and support in order for them to succeed. They’re labeled at-risk for a reason, and educators have concerns about this sub-pop. We are addressing one social factor that may benefit other areas of concerns.

How I will conduct my research: I will collect data with the help of the registrar, the assistant principals, the response to intervention coordinator, my behavioral logs, our grant data collector and several other staff members who have vital data concerning our sample group’s progress or lack thereof in the three categories we’ll be researching: an increase in Academic Achievement, improved Attendance, and a decrease in Behavioral Concerns in the classroom (and at school). We will look at test scores, benchmarks, state exams, end-of-course scores, report cards, attendance records, office referrals, ISS (in school suspension) assignments, lunch D-hall attendance, etc…

I will also interview parents or caretakers of our sample group, their teachers, the mentors we assign to them, and to the students themselves. After inquiry, research, literary studies, and data collection we should be able to describe the effect of our mentorship program on our at-risk students. 

My updated Action Research Plan (February 8th, 2012)

Action Planning Template (revision)
Action Research Question: Does a professional mentor from the local community have a positive and measurable effect on their (our) at-risk student’s attendance, academic achievement, and behavior in the classroom? Goals of our Action Research: Increase in student attendance, positive growth in academics, improved behavior in the classroom. Objectives: Pose questions (one example) in order to identify which at-risk students should receive mentors, and in order to find out what mentor fits best with that student, track student data for 3 semesters in areas listed above, include mentor in implementation of plan and goals, measure and analyze various forms of data and make changes if no improvement is shown, share data with other schools with mentoring programs, our staff, and the community in order to make improvements and increase participation.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
·       Pose questions (wonderings) throughout the process ·       Create surveys for mentors and ‘mentees’ to measure qualitative and quantitative data ·       Document everything within the relationship ·       Involve mentors and parents on the process, and collect and use their input	·       Myself ·       Mentors ·       ‘Mentees’ ·       Parents ·       Administrators ·       Counselors ·       Teachers ·       RTI  (Response to Intervention) Coordinator ·       Others TBD	·       February 1st, 2012 ·       May 31st, 2012	·       Means of communicati-on between all parties (ongoing) ·       Volunteer forms for HR for each mentor ·       Class schedules of students selected (at-risk) ·       Survey Websites ·       Schedules of mentors ·       Press releases (already initiated) ·       Data tracking sheets (qualitative, quantitative)	·       Processes for evaluation include (but are not limited to): ·       Analyze surveys from mentors and ‘mentees’ ·       discussion meetings with parents, teachers, and counselors to inquire about progress ·       interviews with mentors and ‘mentees’ (separate and combined) to see what is and is not working, and what we need to change ·       monthly data collection and analyzing of data (3 categories/goals) ·       Monthly discussion with sight supervisor on changes throughout process ·       Etc… Assessment instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of the research study are a combination of the evaluations above and the following (but not limited to): ·       Conversations about data w/ our RTI coordinator ·       Ongoing analysis of collected data using software ·       Ongoing discussions with other school districts with similar at-risk populations and mentor programs ·       Surveys that include both qualitative and quantitative questions, as well as open-ended responses
ORIGINAL DRAFT: 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.

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improv

Action Research Plan -Working 'Final' Plan/Topic

Chris Delmas’ Action Research Plan

Like many of my cohorts, my plan has changed several times. I started with my inquiry focused on my school’s culture, and now my site supervisor and I have come to an agreeable action research plan to study our mentorship program.

Description of setting and context of my study: It is my intention to see what kind of effect our mentors have on our student’s attendance, academic achievement, and behavior in the classroom. We have many at-risk students who need a mentor, role model, and someone to talk to, and our school is working hard to make sure that happens. Our professional mentors range from doctors, lawyers, city council members, nurses, ophthalmologists, tattoo artists, mechanics, and construction managers. A majority of our at-risk students lack either a male or female role model in their lives, so we look for ways to provide them with something similar and beneficial. We’ve seen good short-term effects, but I’m interested in the long-term data and information it will provide. At the very least these students will have meaningful conversations with local professionals who reside in our area, and in some cases were born and raised here.

Operational definition of my target population: Our target population will be at-risk students, and possibly students referred to the mentoring program by our counselors. We’re looking to provide a select group of students with a positive role model who can make a difference in their lives.

Sample selection process: We’re looking for students who have been retained, are falling far behind their peers, are receiving math and/or reading interventions, who are labeled at-risk for other reasons, economically disadvantaged, have constant behavior concerns at school, and in some cases students who are on probation for crimes committed at school or in the community. The sample size will be between 10-20 students, although more will receive a mentor.

Rational for sample process and selection: We believe in helping our at-risk population any way we can. The same goes for our entire population, but at-risk students need more help and support in order for them to succeed. They’re labeled at-risk for a reason, and educators have concerns about this sub-pop. We are addressing one social factor that may benefit other areas of concerns.

How I will conduct my research: I will collect data with the help of the registrar, the assistant principals, the response to intervention coordinator, my behavioral logs, our grant data collector and several other staff members who have vital data concerning our sample group’s progress or lack thereof in the three categories we’ll be researching: an increase in Academic Achievement, improved Attendance, and a decrease in Behavioral Concerns in the classroom (and at school). We will look at test scores, benchmarks, state exams, end-of-course scores, report cards, attendance records, office referrals, ISS (in school suspension) assignments, lunch D-hall attendance, etc…

I will also interview parents or caretakers of our sample group, their teachers, the mentors we assign to them, and to the students themselves. After inquiry, research, literary studies, and data collection we should be able to describe the effect of our mentorship program on our at-risk students.