Week 3: Kriewald's Action Plan

1. Goals and objectives/outcomes of the research investigation
· 100% completing homework throughout the year
· Improved TAKS scores
· Improved classroom grades
· Assignments completed with 75% or higher passing rate

2. Activities designed to achieve the objectives
Implement after-school detention four days a week
Focus on areas of Reading, Math, and Science
Positive Reinforcement
Teachers must maintain data on all homework
Parental Involvement: Sign off on homework assignments
Allow child to stay after-school
Track students achievements at end of year (Beginning to End)
3. Resources and research tools needed for data gathering
· TAKS scores
· District Benchmarks
· Grades of low-performing students

4. Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities

Weeks 1&2 Discuss with teachers my action plan and request data needed

Weeks 2--4 Analysis data and visit with teachers if needed

Week 5 Disclose data results and literature results
Implement plans for after-school detention and schedule for Teacher
volunteers to stay after school

Weeks 6-10 Review grades, benchmarks, and any pertinent data
for results


5. Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan
This action research plan will comprise of the three TAKS grade levels,
Third Grade, Fourth Grade, and Fifth Grade. Third grade and Fifth Grade
consists of three teachers, one of them being the Lead Teacher. Fourth
Grade consists of four teachers, one of them a Lead Teacher.
I will implement the schedules for after-school detention. Provide form letters
(to parents about detention) and daily sign-in sheets for students. I will track students
who have attended and those who did not.

Teachers who volunteered to stay after school will also be part of the action research
plan.


6. Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives
· I will be tracking students who attend detention.
· Teachers participating will monitor grades, common assessments, District
Benchmarks, etc of students.
· Lead Teachers will analysis and discuss data with their grade level.
· Lead Teachers and I will share data results.

7. Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study
· Tracking data
· District benchmark scores
· Common Assessments scores
· Grades

Shift Happen's 2010

My Three Topics of Possible Research

Our assignment includes discussing the direction of our action research project with our site supervisior(s), due to summer break our discussion was via e-mail. I shared with her a general list of ideas. She expanded in detail what is needed on campus. I decided to take a step further and poll my coworkers. I sent an email to my campus and had 5 responses. I found that not very many people read their school emails. I organized the information by gathering responses and highlighting topics that were recurring. Three major topics came up:

A. Technology
1. Separate training for those who are proficient in technology
2. Separate training for those who are still learning the basics of technology
3. Training to be presented by Technology Specialist and not the Teacher who went to a workshop.
4. Integration of technology in Social Studies
5. Implementation of technology in a more effective way that students would want to use it in their homes to improve student achievement.
6. Training on good websites, how to make them accessible and relevant for students on campus and at home

B. School Environment
1. Student attitude and behavior
2. Teacher attitude
3. Team building through out the year

C. Assessment
1. Define Common Assessment
2. How often should it be used?
3. How effective is assessment and can it
accurately measure students’ academic progress?
4. How can Common assessments be implemented
into the Aware program we already have in the district?
5. Kinder assessments are not age appropriate


In the three proposed action research studies, I found that both Teachers and Students will benefit. The ultimate goal in education is student success. Below I have elaborated more on the benefits of each of the topics.


Technology
Teachers will benefit from being technology proficient.
Technology will be integrated in curriculum to enhance learning.
Teachers will implement technology to enhance intellectual rigor and skills.
Students will benefit by increasing marketable technology skills.
Enhance student retention by offering technology enriched classes.

School Environment
This topic has many key stakeholders: Faculty, Student, Administration, Staff, and Parents. Our campus has experienced many changes in personnel and we have not addressed campus environment. It is crucial that all key stakeholders feel: welcome, safe, respect, their classroom conducive to learning, etc. The school environment is the thread that binds our school together.

Common Assessment
The teachers will benefit in understanding how assessment can be powerful. Yes, benchmark data is not always authentic. Consequently professional development in Common assessment will provide a deeper understanding in developing authentic assessment. Students be will benefit in that the Teacher can focus instruction or tutoring to achieve success.

The Three Principals!

The Three Administrators!

The week began with viewing videos from 3 different principals, Mr. Briseno, Mr. Chargois, and Mr. Lewis. They had interesting information to share. I did have issues with a statement from Mr. Briseno, “They [teachers] better know which of those kids are being successful on TAKS.” As a teacher I would not want to be put on the spot and have to remember everyone’s scores. Mr. Briseno’s statement made me feel that his teachers had to know all the data by heart and could spit out when needed. I really took offense.

Thursday was my first webinar with Dr. Jenkins and I truly enjoyed his session. He had such a positive and jovial manner. He was impressed with our ideas and supportive to students who needed the help. When I logged off, I went away with a smile and good feeling about this class. Thanks Dr. Jenkins!

I am having trouble deciding what to focus my research on. During the webinar, I found that I was not alone. Apparently several students are having problems also deciding from their 3 topics. It was also interesting reading about the range of topics being written. Next time I will make it a point to show up on time!

How Educational Leaders May Use Blogs

As Educational Leaders, it is important to create a vision for the future and persuade others to follow. The 21^st century leader must work even harder to incorporate technology. A leader can play an important role in technology integration by modeling technology. Blogging is an excellent tool that can serve many purposes. Blogging permits leaders to share their thoughts and experiences. It is a great communication tool and the comment feature allows for feedback. Blogging facilitates collaboration with other leaders in the district or around the world.

What I have learned about Action Research

I first thought it was a new approach, but in my readings I read that Action Research as been around for quite awhile. “Action research did suffer a decline in favor during the 1960s because of its association with radical political activism (Stringer 2007:9). It’s only the last 25 years that Action Research has made a come back. It is a form of inquiry to investigate and evaluate a person’s work for improvement. Well, it seems time consuming and in reading it is time consuming when first implementing. Yet, I spend hours online researching strategies to improve student achievement. And when one strategy does not work I try another. So why would action research be any different? Is it not worth the time, if the problem can be resolved?

Teachers are known to either complain that students not academically ready, or they complain that they don’t have a voice. I see action research is an opportunity for teachers to take matters into their own hands. For example, our school has gone through many changes in the last five years, mainly a different administrator each year. In addition to the revolving administrators, we also had an influx of new teachers. Changes at all levels has resulted in inconsistent application of policy, low moral, and collaboration is not visible among teachers,staff and administrators. Each teacher and grade-level seem to be working independently, thus creating a lack of harmony. Action Research would be a great tool to resolve some these issues we are wrestling with on my campus.