Research Action Plan

The goals of this action research project are:

• To improve the performance of economically disadvantaged students on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)
  
• To facilitate economically disadvantaged students in developing the skills necessary to become successful learners
  
• To encourage teachers to reflect on their attitudes concerning the efficacy of medications and interventions for economically disadvantaged students
  

Research Action Plan

ACTION STEPS	PERSON RESPONSIBLE	TIMELINE START/STOP	NEEDED RESOURCES	EVALUATION
Obtain approval for campus research project	Building principal, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum	January of the school year preceding the study	Research proposal, action plan time line	Approval to conduct research
Recruit and obtain background checks community volunteers, create database of volunteers	Local community faith based and service organizations	January as soon as research proposal is approved	Volunteer criminal background check forms, volunteer guideline packets	Volunteer database created
Obtain approval for monthly professional learning community meetings during instructional time and substitutes	Building principal	January of the school year preceding the study	Research proposal, action plan time line	Approval for meeting dates
Solicit teachers for participation in research project	Building principal/assistant principal   Teacher conducting research	May of the school year preceding the study	Copies of research proposal	At least two teachers will be recruited to participate
Obtain approval for 12 hrs summer in-service hours for participating teachers	Building principal/assistant principal   Teacher conducting research	May of the school year preceding the study	Copies of research proposal	Approval for in-service from curriculum director
12 hrs summer in-service hours for participating teachers (Needs of under-resourced learners, professional learning communities, and working with community volunteers)	Teacher conducting research Service center specialist Participating teachers	Summer preceding research year	A Frame work for Understanding Poverty (Payne, 1995) Under-resourced Learners: 8 Strategies to Boost Student Achievement (Payne, 2008)	In-service feedback/ reflection forms
Monthly learning community meetings	Teacher conducting research Participating teachers	Begin August tear of study/ end May year of study	Eduphoria! School Objects: AwareTM (2004) data disaggregation software (Disaggregation of student bench mark data, and TAKS results)	TAKS data improvement for economically disadvantaged students
Disaggregation of data from research study	Teacher conducting research Participating teachers	May, after results from TAKS released	Eduphoria! School Objects: AwareTM (2004) data disaggregation software	TAKS data improvement for economically disadvantaged students
Presentation of research project results	Teacher conducting research Participating teachers	August in-service prior to year subsequent of study	Data disaggregation presentation from study	TAKS data improvement for economically disadvantaged students

 

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template (Harris, Edmonson, & Combs, 2010, p. 85)

Research Proposal

I began as an educator 20 years ago. I came into education from a middle class family where education was not only expected of me, it was made a priority for me. I had a tremendous exposure to a plethora of world cultures and was taught to appreciate the value each had to offer. I attended an extremely culturally diverse high school of 1500 students. However, it was not until I began working as a high school athletic trainer that I truly became aware of the diversity that exists in the households in which many students live. I became aware of the reality of the culture of poverty, as described by Payne (1995), five years ago while teaching in a high school of 300 students in a small North Florida rural community. I had a unique experience weekly to travel to some of the homes of our most economically disadvantaged students. I was subsequently hired at a suburban Texas high school experiencing an unprecedented increase in economically disadvantaged students. Professional development for the district focused on attempting to change the campus culture and pedagogical methodologies aimed at improving the performance of these students from the culture of poverty.

Payne (1995) recognizes distinct difference between the cultures of the affluent, middle class, and economically disadvantaged. She asserts that students from any one class seeking an education in the culture of another class would face challenges and difficulties due to the cultural differences inherent within the classes. Epstein (National Network of Partnership Schools, 2009) lists several benefits of community involvement or mentoring on student performance: increased skill in communicating with adults, increased learning of skills that receive tutoring, awareness of careers and educational options for the future, connects the student to the community, provides students with needed resources for learning, and awareness of skills, talents, occupations, and contributions of volunteers. Increased academic performance, increased self esteem, increased motivation, and decreased discipline incidences are cited by Ferrara & Ferrara (2005) as benefits of stake holder involvement and interventions in schools.

I propose a project researching the effects of research based classroom interventions on the performance of economically disadvantaged students on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test compared to the results for the same grade level and test for previous years.. Preferably, I would like to use a teacher from each of the core subjects committed to learning for all to form a professional learning community centered around the improving the performance of economically disadvantaged students. The professional learning community would use the books A Frame work for Understanding Poverty (Payne, 1995) and Under-resourced Learners: 8 Strategies to Boost Student Achievement (Payne, 2008). The learning community will also be involved in seeking out research based interventions from other sources. I feel certain that I can find at least one teacher from each core subject to participate. If I cannot find a teacher from each of the core subjects, participation by two teachers in their classrooms should yield adequate qualitative and quantitative data from which to draw conclusions.

It is my expectation for the interventions to demonstrate an increase in student performance on TAKS. The climate and culture of our campus is mixed in its approach to dealing with economically disadvantaged students. Some teachers feel that interventions and modifications for economically disadvantaged students enable them to perform at a lower level of rigor. They hold these ideas in the belief that the interventions are ethically wrong as they violate a sense of equity among the students. Other teachers recognize the culture of poverty and seek to use the interventions and modifications to scaffold the students into the mainstream learning culture of the campus. I understand that I cannot change the actions or ideas of another person. I am fully aware that the probability of convincing some of these teachers to change their minds is at zero. It is my desire that the skepticism of some of those towards the center of the two poles on the issue of interventions and modifications for economically disadvantaged classroom students will diminish as a result of this research. Perhaps they will then feel comfortable within their own sense of educational equity to begin applying some of the interventions suggested in the literature for the economically disadvantaged students in their classrooms. .

References

Ferrara, M. & Ferrara, P. (2005). Parents as partners: Raising awareness as a teacher preparation program. The Clearing House, 79(2), 77.

National Network of Partnership Schools. (2009). Epstein’s six types of involvement. In Epstein, J.L., Salinas, K. C., Sanders, M.G., & Simon, B. S.
(1997). School and community partnerships: Your handbook in action. Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press Retrieved May 28, 2010, from:
http://www.cpirc.org/vertical/Sites/%7B95025A21-DD4C-45C2-AE37-D35CA63B7AD9%7D/uploads/%7B1310DD65-F94A-457D-A680-9EE824084458%7D.PDF

Payne, R. (1995). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.

Payne, R. (2008) Under-resourced learners: 8 strategies to boost student achievement. Highlands, TX: aha! Process, Inc.

Action Research: You can Lead a Horse to Water but You Can't Make Him Drink

     The purpose of  the school is to educate all students. All of the functions of the school should be focused on maximizing learning for all students to the fullest extent of their inherent potential. When considering all the areas that avail themselves to campus based action research, they all eventually affect the learning of the students.

      When I rode and trained horses for the public, I was once chastised by an older, more experienced horse training mentor for worrying too much about "why" a horse behaved or responded in a certain manner instead of simply getting on them to fix them. He told me to quit worrying about why and focus my energy and resources on changing those things. He was attempting to impress upon me the importance of not making excuses for the behaviors and work towards changing them. The same man taught me the key  to riding and training horses is through "feel" or two -way communication between every part of the horse and rider. A stream of constant data feed back and reassessment that allows  the rider to answer the why question at the root of the problem. He was telling me that what appears to be the problem and solution cannot be determined until I get up on the horse and research closely what is actually occurring through the data about the horses body movements collected via "feel". In the end, it can all be boiled down to a cue and a response relationship between the horse and rider based upon "feel". The rider can give a cue, modifying its intensity, duration, and location in order to receive a response. In the end, no matter how skilled the horseman, how strong the cue or how sweet the reward the response is entirely the horse's decision. You cannot make an 1100 pound animal do what is dead set on not doing, no matter how simple the task.

Action Research & Principal Inquiry: The Scientific Method Meets the Art of Teaching

     The connotation of the word research brings to mind images of a bleary eyed academic holed up in the stacks of a university library pouring over bound versions of journals. It also bring to mind endless sets of data and tables related by statistical analysis and other mathematical manipulations akin to voo-doo in the mind of the educational practitioner. Traditional research paradigms typically seek to either effect a change in educational methodology or to study a particular relationship within the educational environment. It tends to view the education practitioner as either a device to facilitate the change in question or as a subject of study. In essence, traditional research views the education practitioner as either a beaker or a lab rat, not a scientist. This traditional research is generally conducted by researchers far removed from the daily practices of education and student contact. Any or all of these factors may serve to sour the educational practitioner to the idea of research as a necessity and effective tool for change in education.
       The action research paradigm places the educational professional in the role of researcher. The beaker becomes the scientist. Like traditional research, it involves the basic steps of the scientific method learned by students throughout their school career: identify a problem or question, research the problem or question, propose a hypothesis (educated guess) or possible action plan based on the research, implement the plan (experiment), monitor the results (collect and analyze the data), evaluate (draw conclusions), and reflect on the outcomes (report the findings). The difference is that it occurs within the educational setting and the researcher/ educator is a part of it. The the beaker, lab rat and scientist are essentially one in action research. Interestingly , the concept of action research is a part of every good teacher's lesson cycle. He or she presents the material, checks for student understanding, then reteaches if necessary. When students have difficulty grasping concepts, the artisan teacher strives to find the most effective way to relate it to the students. Classroom artisans intrinsically understand  that if learning does not occur, neither has teaching. They change their approach until learning occurs.
        Reflection is a key component of action research. In traditional research, publication of results allows for other researchers to learn from and scrutinize the results. Reflection allows the education practitioner/ researcher to do the same, but with a focus on personal professional development. Reflection in physics refers to waves bouncing off of an object back towards their source. Refraction is the change in wave direction as a wave passes through a medium such as a lens. Perhaps the term professional refraction is better suited to action research than reflection. Professional refraction, if you will indulge me, serves as an agent of change for the future actions and ideas of the professional as they pass through the lens of the current action research process and its outcomes.
        Professional refraction can be accomplish via many mediums. A daily journal housed in a spiral notebook is an effective low cost method. The smart person learns from his or her mistakes, the truly smart person learns from the mistakes of others. In light of this axiom, would also not be true that the truly wise educator would seek to favorably alter their actions based on refractions from the lenses other educators research? This idea of group refraction lends itself to the use of blogs and on-line resources. Blogging and social media groups provide quick and easy access to the refractions of other professionals. They can also create virtual learning communities of professionals, These professional, who may be thousands of miles apart and would not have otherwise ever met, can now effectively engage in, and reap the benefit of group learning with a minimal amount of effort.
       Learning the cognitive fundamentals of teaching  or leadership can be challenging but is an obtainable goal. Obtaining and possessing the knowledge does not make one effective in its implementation. The is because the nature of education and people make each situation unique. A rigid unadaptable flow chart or trouble shooting manual is not an effective problem solving tool in the educational setting.The art of teaching and educational leadership occurs when one learns the nuances of applying the knowledge. This art of application can only occur as a result of modifying and adapting practices based upon the past applications of the knowledge, professional refraction.

References

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from action to analysis. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Martin, G., Wright, W., Danzig, A., Flanary, R., & Brown, F. (2005). School leader internship: Developing monitoring and evaluating your leadership experience (2nd ed). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Ringler, M. C. (2007). Action research an effective instructional leadership skill for future public school leaders. American Association of School Administrators Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 7(1), 27-43.

21st Century Schools

21^st Century Schools

 

A response to the blog : “Teach Paperless”

21 Things that will Become Obsolete by 20202

 

              I agree that many things will change over the course of the next decade. I do not feel that all of the changes will be affected to the degree that the author does. The obsolescence of grade levels, home work, and the end of parent conferences are some items mentioned by the author that I do not feel are going to change as much as the author feels that they will. The increase of apathy among the incoming students towards anything that is not exactly what they want to do does not change simply because technology is involved. Parents want to know why students have home work. They want to know why they can not learn it in the eight hours they are here. I do not think that twenty four hour access to schooling will change that fact.

              On of the biggest trends in higher education is on line classes. Professors realize and advise students that an incredible level of self discipline is required to succeed in this setting. Students today are of the generation that is the first to have every thing centered on them and their happiness. Simply implementing technology does not change this fact.

              I have spoken to and questioned students about the changing scope of education and technology. The upper level students are excited and eager for the changes. The average to below average students could care less. This is the same trend for success using block scheduling, project based learning, and countless other initiatives. The high students will succeed regardless of the pedagogical method employed. Those average and at the low end of average are going to fight no matter what we do.

              There has been research to suggest that teachers who have a one to four computer to student ratio in there classrooms are more apt to integrate technology regularly than if they access to a one to one ratio lab. The reasons cited are ease of access and preparation. the lab setting requires an additional level of planning over and above what is needed to incorporate group technology use already present in the classroom. In order to increase the level of technology integration at Lumberton High School, teachers need access to the technology without having to retrieve or schedule it with someone. There also needs to exist enough of it so that teachers of the same subject and grade do not have to alternate A/B block cycles. They need to be able to use the technology on the same days. 

                The computer on wheels were cutting edge when placed into use. They have diminished effectiveness due to time required to log on when used by a class. They would be ideal if this issue could be rectified. I consider them to be the same as a desk top lab. They still require scheduling by the teacher. If for some reason things do not work then the teacher is required to "punt" for her lesson. If students are absent or have extra time accomodations, the computers may be in another teacher's room. There needs to be some sort of daily student access point in each teacher's class room.

              A revision to our acceptable use policy needs to be considered. Our filter settings block many legitimate cites needed by students. Sending  a request for review of the cite blocking can take up to three days of instruction time on the block schedule even if their is a 24 hour turn around on the request. the current trends in liturature and the State Long Range Plan are for student on-line collaboration with others across the state, nation, and globe. If a teacher were to create on-line multi media content for students, they would not be able to access it during school hours on school computers.

              There is going to have to be a major paradigm shift in order for the standardized test to loose effectiveness. I also do not see the school lunch going away due to federal funding. I think that we have to be careful that we do not  fall victim to the Jetson’s Paradox when predicting changes in education. After all, I am still waiting for my jet car.

 

Reflection

EDLD 5352 Reflection

I envisioned this course covering issues of increasing student performance through varying methods designed to increase student engagement. I did not expect the course to cover the use of technology solely. I was interested to find that the state had put so much effort into the Long Range Plan for Technology. I was also interesting to see that the initiative to increase the integration of technology into the curriculum extends to the nation level and legislature. If the goal of the course was to impart the significance of technology integration in instruction and its legal implications, then I those objectives were met.

I found many of the claims of the professors and authors intriguing regarding the use of technology in the high school classroom. I feel that many if not all of the ideas and benefits presented throughout the course for the use of technology had great merit and validity. However, I do feel that some major issues were not discussed. What is a teacher supposed to do with a student in her technology laden class instruction that does not have clearance to have access to the internet while at school? What is a teacher supposed to do when a student has their privileges revoked during the middle of an assignment due to violation of an acceptable use policy? What about students with modifications allowing for extended time that do not have access at home? These practical issues are a few of the stumbling blocks to technology based instruction. I think that before we sell out we need to consider these issues carefully.

The biggest overlooked issue is student motivation. All of the initiatives discussed are wonderful; however, I feel their effectiveness is limited to the top 10% to 20% of the students. These are the students who are highly motivated. My discussions with students in conjunction with this course revealed that students are not motivated to learn just because technology is involved. They do use technology and embrace it. It is no different than getting them to read Shakespeare. I can be like pulling teeth; however, they will put their entire life on hold to read the Twilight series. Students that I spoke to replied that they would have no motivation to read a teachers blog unless it directly affected their grades. If students will not log on to get the answers to the home work problems, why would they log onto a teachers blog unless it was mandatory? If it is made mandatory, what is the teacher to do about those students who do not have access outside of school? Most districts’ filter settings do not allow teachers access to blog sites, let alone the students.

Blogging as a tool for parent communication has a great deal of merit. I feel the reality is that the parent who would be up to date on information are the only ones who would use the service. It is a corollary to many of the same student issues. Many districts already have policy documents on line. It is surprising to me the parents who will tell you during a conference that they have not read them. My district has an on line grade reporting system. The percentage of parents not involved in the program but on line is staggering. The benefits and draw backs of blogging are the same as that for any other method of mass information dissemination. If it is up to the public to retrieve the information there is a great percentage who will simply not participate. They will continue to blame the district and its personnel for what ever trouble has occurred due to their lack of participation.

There were some good ideas put fort during this course. I do feel that many were extremely unrealistic for the high school class room. I feel that the fact that the idea of personal accountability is lost on the majority of students and parents today has been totally overlooked. We are dealing with a generation of students who has been brought up to believe that life is about them. Most believe that if they are not successful or caught in the wrong that it is someone else’s fault. To attempt to monitor a class of advanced junior and senior students using smart phones and open internet access would be a night mare. I would not even want to imagine what it would be like in a class of average and at risk freshmen. Weighing the en loco parentis duty to protect student from the possible outcome of bad acts committed by others and themselves against the possible benefits of to learning, I have to choose protection. Until there is a method to monitor what is occurring on line in real time, many of these proposals will have to wait. I might suggest that some real time spent working in today’s regular classrooms over the course of a semester might bring some of these expectations into a more real light.

I did not have cognitive trouble completing the assignments. I felt that some were pedantic and included a great deal of busy work. I question the use of some of the articles. When new technology hits the store shelves it is already outdated. Reading articles discussing specific technologies that are more than a year old do not convey the most recent information. I feel that writing reflections on articles that are descriptions of document management software is simply busy work. If scholarly articles are assigned then I feel that reflection, quotes, or discussion is appropriate. Reading an article about some product to maintain web links is interesting and helpful, but hardly warrants a students’ time to cite and post discussions. As administrators we do not have to be experts in the most current technology. It would detract from our other duties to attempt such a monumental task. We need to understand technology’s importance and implications to education and not stand in its way on our campuses.

This course has given me a great deal of insight to technology in education. I feel that I am better qualified to lead in its use on my campus as a teacher and administrator. As a result of this course, I have volunteered to serve on our campus technology committee.

Campus Technology Plan

Campus Technology Plan
Our district has a 30 % economically disadvantaged student subpopulation. This subpopulation has a 66% passing rate on the Grade 10 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) for science compared to the state average of 65%. It has a 74% passing rate on the Grade 11 Science TAKS compare to the state average of 81%.
Based on informal interviews with students, administrators, technology specialist and teachers, it is apparent that the majority of technology use on the campus by teachers in the class room is to present teacher directed lessons. The majority of student technology use is to prepare formal papers or visual effects for class presentations. There is currently little or no student centered technology based learning, on-line collaboration with students from schools across the country, or technology driven problem solving critical thinking projects in the nontechnology based classes.
The major reasons cited included: the network filter settings, the amount of computers available for class room use, the time required to log on to computers via the wireless lap top labs, and the scope and sequence pacing requirements of the district curriculum guides.
An action plan to improve these areas would be expected to increase the teachers’ perception of technology use. This should increase teacher use of technology based student directed learning in the classroom. This increase should improve the amount of student engagement by meeting the individualized needs of learners.

The action plan includes:
• A student to computer ratio of at least one computer per every two students in a science class
• Each class room has a set of appropriate Vernier probes for the subject matter taught
• Teachers use at least 40% of class room instruction time for hands on labs using the probe ware system
• A comprehensive teacher professional development program on technology use in the class room, cyber safety and cyber ethics.
• Implementation of technology based problem solving lessons that are student centered
• A softening of the district filtering parameters to allow for teacher and student access to blog sites, video conferencing, and educational games
• The ability for teachers to create podcasts and students to access them while at school
• Implementation of a program to allow supervised access by students to district computers after school and on the weekends

The action plan above in conjunction with the professional development outlined previously will be implemented by the stake holders throughout the district as outlined on the District Organizational Chart for Technology Implementation.