Action Research Plan Project

Action Research Plan Project How Can Data Driven School Wide Interventions Benefit Students Learning?
Goal: Use data to build intervention groups Improve student scores on core area subjects school wide
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Obtain a copy of the State Mandated Test scores and become familiar with the breakdown of the results.	Cynthia Reid	March 2013	District STARR Data	Take notes on any concerning areas seen in the data.
Review the district data of the results of the State test. Then analyze the results.	Cynthia Reid	March 2013 – June 2013	District STARR Data	Categorize data to determine the area of greatest need
Review curriculum assessments given district wide and web-based interventions.	Cynthia Reid Instructional Facilitator	March 2013 – June 2013	District wide results of core instructional assessments and data pulled from web-based interventions	Categorize data given from the district assessments and the web-based interventions and compare the two.
Interpret data received from resources.	Cynthia Reid	March 2013 – July 2013	Campus data, district data and state data	Reflect on any patterns that may appear or correlations throughout the data.
Using data given propose and implement a plan to begin for the targeted students to improve over all academic abilities.	Cynthia Reid Site Supervisor	July 2013 – August 2013	Campus data, district data and state data	Review and reflect on information received from data to help in the implementation of a plan.
Implementation	Cynthia Reid Site Supervisor Principal Instructional Facilitator Intervention Teachers	August 2013	Presentation of interventions during campus in-service. Campus data, district data, and state data.	Review intervention lesson plans, intervention observations, and teacher/ student survey.
Summative Assessment	Cynthia Reid Site Supervisor Principal Instructional Facilitator Intervention Teachers	March 2014 – May 2014	STARR Testing materials and district summative assessments.	Compare district summative data from previous years and STARR data (if available)
Present outcomes and future plans	Cynthia Reid Site Supervisor Principal Instructional Facilitator	August 2014	Updated campus data, district data and state data	Action research presentation

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

What I Have Learned About Action Research

This week I had a conference with my site supervisor and watch three interviews of administrators. The two things I heard said the most this week is, make sure you are interested in the research and make sure it is data driven.
I think these things are very important. If you do not have interest in the topic you are not likely to give all you have into the research. If you have a passion for the topic that will be researched, the desire to work hard will be there. I also believe you need data to help guide the research. The data gives a reason and a starting point to the research. Data allows you to ask more questions and discover more into the research.
At the start of my course I thought I should pick anything I had interest in. Now I know that is an important part to action research along with data. I know this research is to help myself  grow and develop as an educator, but it is also to help schools develop a stronger education system for their students and their staff.

How educational leaders might use blogs

I think blogs are a great tool to have in education. This allows educators to share their various experiences and thought in the educational field. This helps the educational community stay connected in a more accessible way. You are able to share picture of different things you have tried in school and in your classroom. You are able to brainstorm with other educators to get their opinion on various topics.  

What have I learned about action research. How can I use it.

Action research is a method of professional development for the use of self-discovery. This is a powerful tool to use when posing questions, collecting data, analyzing data, and finding a solution to the initial questions. 

Action research in the field of education is a departure from traditional methods of research. Research is starting to become something that is done from an insider point of view. Previously, research was done by an individual who knew very little about specific schools - it was one size fits all. The knowledge gained from the research would be presented to the administrators who were expected to make a change based on the new information. This would be passed down to school leaders who would take what they were given from the research and try to make accommodations for their schools and students. Action research allows the administration to see for themselves what works for their schools and their students.  Even within a district there are many schools with various differences. Traditional research does not lend itself to addressing the specific needs of these different schools.  Action research provides specific and timely feedback. Knowledge gained through action research helps stakeholders at every level from the upper administration down to the students.

I can use action research to better myself as an educator, grow from my experiences, and learn from others.

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog! Here I will be posting my thoughts about action research for my EDLD 5301 course. Enjoy and feel free to comment. :)