Week 3 Action Plan

1. Setting the Foundation- Our goal as a campus is to reach Exemplary status again, but also focusing on closing the achievement gap. As a team, we looked at the new programs we would be implementing together as a campus. We looked at the AVID college prep program, PALs peer mentoring program, and our new district RTI class time. We think that all of these combined are going to be beneficial for all students in some areas, but we wanted to know which of these is best to look at for student achievement based on scores. From that we decided that our RTI time is the main area of focus and our goal is to implement that in the best possible way for all students with high performance outcomes.

2. Analyzing Data- We will be examining quantitative data such as TAKS scores from the previous year, benchmarks, progress report grades, district Interim Assessments, and NWEA testing. Interventionists will look for patterns in the data to help make conclusions on what other types of data we may need to look at.

3. Developing Deeper Understanding- Another source of data for us to use is field notes from what is going on in these classrooms with students and teachers and even interviews. Interviews can be one on one with teachers or students or even focus groups to look at what is going in the classrooms. Data conversations with students, and even surveys on how they felt this was beneficial for them.

4. Engaging in Self-Reflection- Before making decisions it is important to self reflect. Self-reflection means to ask questions about myself, why am I an educator and looking at my biases. In order for me to see our surroundings better me must be aware of ourselves first. Self-awareness doesn’t just happen once a year, but it is constantly reoccurring and should be a part of the everyday reflection process.

5. Exploring Programmatic Patterns- We will be exploring patterns throughout the school and even the district. We will look at demographics and which students we are targeting quarterly. At the end of the year we will compare students and scores throughout the district to look further into the students we need to accommodate better and which schools are benefiting from RTI and how. Patterns across the district will be looked at quarterly as well through our track it system.

6. Determining Direction- All stakeholders will be asked to look at our vision and mission of this new implementation and where they see us going with it in the next year or two. They need be aware of what it is going to take us to get us to our goals.

7. Taking action for school improvement- We will include, interventionists, lead team members and team leaders will be part of the committee action plan. All of these stakeholders will be able to evaluate and review the activities that are taking place during the intervention period as well as monitor students progress by looking at assessments. Surveys will also be given to students that will allow them to express how they feel this time has helped them. It is important for the committee to review all of these things combined in order to make any needed changes or improvements.

8. Sustain Improvement- I am a firm believer in asking teachers, students and parents on their thoughts and opinions on what is going on in their campus. We can reach out to all of them by our campus parent weeklies and newsletters. It is important for us to inform all stakeholders of the results through the website and even emails. We want all of our stakeholders to have a say so on what is working and how we can improve what isn’t working during this intervention time.

EDLD 5301- Action Research WEEK 2

Week two took a closer look at action research and how it can applied in different school settings. I particularly liked the videos and interviews with different school administrators to get information on how they use action research in their schools as well as advice to take back. I learned to read other's research and find similar action research projects to help with mine, as well as looking at different types of data to help make improvements for what ever project we may be implementing at my campus. I also learned how different areas of education can drive our action research and how important they are in different ways. I also enjoyed talking to my supervisor about what action research project I will be engaging in at our campus. My action research is to look at our intervention time being implemented during the school day to see how it affects our struggling students versus our non-struggling students. We want to know if it will be successful for all students and help build staff satisfaction.

Educational Leaders

Educational leaders are blessed with new technologies that many did not have before. Technology can be so beneficial for administrators if they know what to use and how to use it. E-mail for communication, websites for campus communication, and even blogging for sharing information. Administrators can use blogging to share ideas that work and don't work in their campuses. It is a great way to share information, especially for something like action research. It is a great way to document progress and growth as well as read and learn from other bloggers. Blogging is a wonderful tool to communicate with other educators that may be facing the same problems. Reflection is also a huge benefit for administrators. According to Dana, "Weblogs are another excellent way principal researchers can capture their thinking as an inquiry unfolds" (2009 p. 87). This is an excellent form of data collection that will create an online journal or diary of the progress made. It is a great tool to help administrators stay on track and dedicated to the process.

EDLD 5301- Action Research

Action research is a process in which administrators become inquirers. Administrators have evolved over the years. Before it was just a list of duties to fulfill from the top down. Action research has changed all of that. Administrators are now able to ask inquiring questions and do the research to help find answers or solutions to those questions. Action research is a process that helps make change and figure out if that change is beneficial for all parties involved. It is a never ending process that comes up with more questions to help back up or make your initial question clearer. There are four phases of action research. First, define the issue to study. Second, review professional literature that pertains to the issue of study. Third, take action by analyzing and reflecting. And lastly, use and share the results of the action plan.

Action research has stepped away from the traditional educational research in that it is more introspective than what research used to be. Administrators need to be more in the trenches and dig deeper with their teachers and staff to fix any problems that arise. Similarly, teachers can use the action research process with their students to help in student achievement. Action research requires teachers and administrators to be inquirers. Inquiry is the action of asking wondering questions, looking at literature and data, creating a plan, then implementing a plan along with tracking it and making adjustments along the way.

I have also learned that action research is not something you do once a week or once a month. This is an ongoing process that needs to be routinely done. It takes a lot of planning and reflecting to see the progress of action research.