Progress of Action Research

The purpose of this action research is to identify how the school’s new change to departmentalization impacts student performance. The goal is to identify areas of struggle to develop, find means of positively supporting this new change and expand/maintain areas of strength. So far I have interviewed teacher and students from multiple grade levels about the change from self contained classrooms and departmentalized classrooms. I have gotten mixed responses from both parities about this change. It seems like there are both pros and cons of departmentalization. Many teachers explained that departmentalization helped them focus on two subjects instead of five. This helped them have detailed well planned out lesson plans.  Since the quantity of subjects they taught reduced, teachers were able to integrate more technology in the classroom and have more time analyzing the students’ areas of weakness. This enabled them to reach out for professional development that met their needs. On the other hand, many teachers struggled with making schedules and losing teaching time while transitioning between classes. Since some of the team teachers had different classroom management styles, they had difficulty managing some of the students’ behaviors.

       The students had mixed responses about departmentalization. Some of the younger students liked the fact that they had two teachers. They felt that it was exciting to move from one class to another. It also helped them discover the subjects they excelled in and what areas they need to work on. However, some students complained that they had to learn two different set of rules. They explained that though their behavior seemed okay they could not seem to meet their teachers’ expectation in their other class. Furthermore, some of them felt rushed packing up and moving from one class to the next. They hated taking things from place to place because it would fall down and they had to collect it each time and so forth. 

           Based on my interviews, I have discovered the areas of strengths that need to be maintained and the areas of weakness that need to be developed. The areas of strength that need to be preserved are the facts that teachers got to have more concentrated planning due to the reduced subject as well as the fact that students became more aware of their areas of strengths. On the other hand, transitions and management techniques are areas that need development. Therefore, I am currently researching effective strategies for transitions and management in departmentalized classrooms. My next step would be used the research based ideas to propose a plan for teachers to implement in the classroom. 

My Understanding of Action Research

10/28/2012

Action Research Plan

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template

     Goal:  The purpose of this action research is to identify how the school’s new change to departmentalization impacts student performance. The goal is to identify areas of struggle to develop, find means of positively supporting this new change and expand/maintain areas of strength.

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Action Steps        Person(s) Responsible     Timeline            Needed Resources      Evaluation

1. Interview teachers and students about the change to departmentalization	Second through fourth grade teachers and students who switched from a self-contained to a team-taught classroom will participate in an interview.	Interviews will be begin by 11/12/2012 and will be completed by 12/30/2012	Interview questions about self-contained classrooms and departmentalized classrooms	I will analyze the student and teacher responses to interview questions and determine areas of needs; I can use this information to research means of developing these areas of struggle.
2. Research studies that compare and contrast self contained classrooms and departmentalized classrooms.  I will also research possible areas of struggle.	I am responsible for researching both types of teaching environments.	Research will begin by 11/01/12 and will be completed by1/13/2013	*Studies about self-contained and team- taught classrooms *Comparisons of schools who practice in the contrasting environments	*Feedback from research studies on the benefits and disadvantages of both learning environments *Possible solutions our areas of struggles
3.Teachers will take part in a survey that compare and contrast our student performance in self-contained and departmentalized environment.	Teachers will take part in a survey. Teachers will provide past and current CBA or TAKS/STAAR scores. I will analyze the feedback from the surveys.	Survey 1/26/12   through 2/15/12 Collection of scores 1/30/2013 through 2/10/2013	Survey that compares student performance in both environments Current and previous CBA or STAAR benchmark scores	Analysis of the results in either environment
4. In depth research about how to make departmentalization an effective learning atmosphere.  Collaboration with CEIC to implement a plan to support departmentalized classrooms.	I am responsible for research. CEIC Committee and I will collaborate a plan	3/2013 through 6/2013 (This may be reviewed again the following school year)	Research about how to effectively carry out departmentalizatin	Teachers will fill out a rubric about the plans for strengthening departmentalization

      

     Action research is the active task of administrators’ posing an inquiry in relation to their education realm that they feel is worthy of exploring. The process of collecting data in this research involves proactive means such as actively collaborating with the teachers and staff, conducting surveys and interviews, collaborating with other principals and research from professional texts. This investigation differs from traditional practices not only because it offers principals choice in their content of study but also because they get to explore concepts that they are directly dealing with; this in turn helps each schools improve in their individual areas of need.

      This form of inquiry is very well structured and leads to deep understanding.  It allows administrators to act as scientists. After posing wonderings, it causes the principals to conduct various investigations, trail and error tests, self reflect on results, implement an action plan and then refine and reform the action plan. This detailed framework makes the principal both accountable and a model life long learner in the community.

    A great way for one to decide what action research to take on is by asking oneself “ what is a problem of study that my school is facing?” After deciding on a topic to study, there are various ways that an administrator can integrate the study in their everyday tasks. A few ways to do this is by having discussions with other administrators at district meetings, providing surveys for the faculty at staff meetings and involving committees within the school to provide feedback about the wondering. 

      I could use action research to gain insight on an issue I feel is problematic in my school; upon my learning I could share my findings with my principal and see if she feels as though my plan for action is worth implementing. At the moment I would like to explore the concept of having standards to promote a student to another grade level, particularly at the primary grades. In my school we currently do not have standards for a student to go to the next grade level. The RTI process can be very slow and some who need it do not qualify for the RTI requirements. Therefore, some children who are very behind grade level, are constantly playing catch up. So I wonder if low achieving students in the  primary grades would be caught earlier if there were standards in place. Would they perform better in the secondary grades?Would teachers be more accountable that students’ needs are met if promoting standards were in place?

How Blogging is Beneficial to Educating Leaders

     Blogging can be very beneficial to educating leaders. It could serve as a system for displaying news to other educating leaders. They could also read other administrators blogs and gain insight from it. It could even be a system to help them with their action research. They can blog about the research and use the comments as a means of collecting and analyzing the data.

10/16 Reflection on Action Research

    I learned that there are nine key areas to consider for action research. These categories include staff development, curriculum development, individual teacher(s), individual student(s), school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice.

       One aha moment I had this week was about the significance of becoming data driven. I learned that gaining facts is key to making decisions in action research. Data can be collected from both school sites, the district and outside sources.  Something valuable that I took from this is that I do not have to generate the answers to all my wonderings; I could rather look to see what has worked at other schools and districts to piece together the necessary ingredients for a recipe to my schools success. 

     
      This week I also learned that action research should not only be conducted by principals but should be taught and done by teachers as well. It helps teachers be active problem solvers in their classroom.