Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal:  Due to a continual drop in Math scores over the last few years our administration has decided to move from departmentalization in 4th grade to self-contained classrooms.  How does the self- contained classroom affect the math scores of 4th grade students compared to that of departmentalization?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Gather Data from last year including overall passing rate, computer intervention summaries, District Assessments other formative assessments that were used.	Tina May	Aug 2012 Sept. 2012	Benchmark Scores Success Maker scores District assessments Formative Assessments	Spreadsheet of last year’s data including but not limited to: Benchmark scores, district assessments, computer intervention program and average passing rate of students as a whole. REVISIONS:
Success Maker (computer program) data as well as AIMS Web data Tier 3  students only	Tina May	Print data reports every two weeks Beginning Sept. 2012  and ending March 2013	Success Maker Program AIMS Web Tier 3 students	Is the overall improvement of these two pieces of data showing improvement of tier 3 students in general? REVISIONS:
Make a spreadsheet of student District assessments as well as other formative assessments for BOY/MOY compared to last years scores.	Tina May 4th grade teachers	Sept. 2012 Dec/Jan 2012/13	Access to online student Math scores. Overall grade average of this year’s students for each grading cycle.	Are assessments the same as last year in order to compare them the two? average passing rate of students as a whole Can improvement be seen? REVISIONS:
Teacher survey	Tina May 2 4th Grade teachers	Sept. 2012 March. 2013	Survey Monkey.com Survey #1 Both teachers taking this survey will have taught self-contained math last year. Survey #2 Same teachers will take the survey again and see if opinions have changed.	Two surveys will be conducted asking about climate and opinions of success concerning dept. and self-contained classrooms.  Data will be compared in Dec. to see if teacher’s opinions have changed. REVISIONS:

Week 2 Action Research

It is time I find my topic for my action research project.  I am having the hardest time deciding between the few topics that I have.  I LOVE RTI and the information it provides the teachers to guide their instruction.  However, I now work at a campus that one, does not understand the process and two does not believe it will work.  So, how can I ask a grade level of teachers to invest personally in this process if the administration of the school doesn't believe in it as well?   I will be meeting with my supervisor tomorrow to discuss this issue and decide.   The second topic that I am debating is to gather data from my 3rd grade students from last year and then compare it to this year when they are in fourth grade.  I will compare how they did when they used a computer program as an intervention in Math by their classroom teachers.  This was not used with fidelity and it was not used consistently.  Nor did the teachers use it to guide their instruction.   I will be responsible for the use of the program and collecting all data.  I will also use the data to guide my interventions with the students.    I can compare this data with that of last year.

I feel like I am learning so much about action research but I am still very nervous about the process.  I am hoping this class will walk us through how to put it all together.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

Educational leaders can use blogs to better communicate with every stakeholder.  This would allow the community to become more involved and proved a less threatening way to hold discussions and get feedback.  These leaders could also use blogs exclusively for communication between themselves and teachers.  A place to gather ideas and exchange opinions without holding yet another faculty meeting.
The possibilities are truly endless, however it would have to be monitored closely and that responsibility would be that of the leader.

Action Research and why I would use it.

Action Research.   A word I was completely terrified of.   A word that seems to entail hours upon hours of dreaded research, mountains of books and even more hours away from my family.  As I began to explore the true meaning by reading the texts and articles, as well as asking other administrators what they thought it meant, I became a little more confident.  In my words the definition of Action Research is...............
When an administrator or teacher sees a problem or issue that does not produce the highest expectation of the district and chooses to do something about it, personally.  To pose a question which is clear and concise and then begin to research, collect data and investigate what could change that would solve the problem or guide the researcher(s) to dig even deeper or change directions all together.   I have learned, through reading, that I want to be an avid action researcher and be a role model for all my stakeholders.  Action research is deliberate and systemic.  It is essential to the continued growth of the researcher as well as the campus as a whole.
I want to use what I have learned to begin an action research project on my current campus and the RTI process.  The problem at hand is that this process is not being used effectively or efficiently.   I would like to work with 4th grade teachers in the subject area of Math.  I know I will have a few teachers on that team that will choose to jump into the RTI process with both feet and I also know I will have a few who will choose not to.  I believe this will give me the data I need to prove that this process works, if used correctly and if the teacher takes personal ownership of the process itself.