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