Thursday, August 5, 2010

Action Research Planning for Week 4

Goal: Determine if instructional tutors have an impact on the improvement of struggling students using pull-out tutorials.
___________________________________________________________________ Action Steps/Person Responsible/Timeline/Needed Resources/ Evaluations
Gathering info on struggling students/TAKS Non-Masters
Teachers/Instructional Tutors/ Instructional Coaches /Interventionist/Testing Coordinator
Sept. 2009-May 2010
TAKS Results/ TRPI / Voyager Report
Disseminating TAKS Data for instructional tutors to collaboratively list non-masters who were 3rd graders but are presently in 4th, and for 4th graders who are now in 5th. Data for current third graders will be based on the Progress
Monitors and TPRI Summary the current year
____________________________________________________________________
Analyze the curriculum objectives for TAKS subjects per grade level
Teachers/ Instructional Tutors/Coaches/Interventionist/
Sept. 2009-Jan 2010
TEKS Objectives/ Six Week Outlines/ CBA's/ Progress Monitors
Establishing a plan for instructional tutors to address and provide layered instructions for TEKS taught during pull-outs at various intervals during the day
____________________________________________________________________
Implementing Principal the Daily Schedule for Instructional Instructional Tutorial Pull-Outs
Principals/ AP/ Teachers/Tutors
Sept. 2009-May 2010
Master Schedule /Teachers' Daily Schedule/ Tutors' Daily Schedule
Monitor the engagement of instructional tutors with struggling
students/TAKS Non-Masters during tutorial pull-outs
____________________________________________________________________
Instructional Tutors scheduling for daily tutorials
Principal/AP/ Tutors /Attendance Clerk
Sept. 2009-Jan. 2010
Teachers Master Schedule
Monitoring the attendance of struggling students and the impact that working daily with a tutor will have as they provide layered instructions
____________________________________________________________________
Instructional Tutors will analyze/interpret students daily performance and assessment
Teachers /Instructional Tutors/Grade Level Chairpersons/ Instructional Coaches
Every Six Weeks from Aug. 2009- May 2010
Curriculum Based Assessment/ Informal & Formal Assessment/Mock Test/Bench Mark Exam
Review and monitor individual scores to determine patterns in TEKS objectives causing difficulties
____________________________________________________________________
Redesigning Scheduling Implementations making more time for tutors to enhance
the improvement of struggling students
Instructional Tutors/ Teachers/ Instructional Coaches/ Principal/ AP
September 2009- Jan. 2010 End of First Semester
Report Cards/ Mock testing/ CBA's
Establishing which students if any have shown significant gains and determining which students may need additional tutoring ___________________________________________________________________
Evaluating and Collaborating the Process With Involved Stakeholders
Project Leader/Site Supervisor/Instructional Tutors/ SBDM team/ Other Interested Stakeholder
May 2010-July 2010
2009-2010 TAKS Results/ Report Card Records/ Summer School Records
Collaborate with all parties involved in the action research and determine if the program has shown student improvement. Make adjustments on the research plan if needed and collaboratively decide if we should keep of scrap the use of instructional tutors.
____________________________________________________________________
Sharing the results of the action research
Project Leader / Principal/Site Supervisor
May 2010- July 2010
Preliminary TAKS Results Grades 3rd-5th
Presenting action research to staff using evidence of TAKS data analysis info to determine
if having the extra assistance of tutors have an impact on success of struggling students

Friday, July 23, 2010

Action Researches for School Life

WEEK 2 REFLECTION

In this week's assignment, I read the next chapter of the class textbook. What I gathered from reading this chapter was that the major focal points of this chapter were to disclose nine targeted areas in which many school leaders perform action research. In my opinion each of the nine targeted areas are what schools must have as a potential background or basic foundation in order for student achievement and learning to foster. In the text, the author describes these nine areas as major wondering of school administrators. The areas of questioning/wondering are as follows: (1) Staff development, (2) Curriculum development, (3) Individual teachers, (4) Individual students, (5) School culture/community, (6) Leadership, (7) Management, (8) School performance, and (9) Social justice or equity issues (Dana, 2009). After reading this chapter, I understand why these nine areas are questioning areas of school leaders. Each of these targeted areas are pivotal to school /student improvement.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Many Uses Of Blogs...

Blogs can be a handy tool for educators to use as they conduct an action research. It can also be a great form for networking with a group of peers or simply to gain greater insight that allows them to capture their thinking as they study their own administrative practices. Through the usage of blogs, the administrator can receive feedback from worldwide bloggers who happen to read what the administrator has blogged.

Action Research WEEK 1 REFLECTIONS

In this assignment for this week, I have learned so much information about action research. I learned that the name action research is usually though to be a form of research that brings a change related to either a social or justice focus. I learned that action research combined with practitioner research has now become known as inquiry. Action research also called administrative inquiry can be a useful form of professional development where instead of bringing outside researchers in to educate the administrators of a school/district, the administrators engage themselves in a systemic and intentional process in which they utilize to study their own administrative practices and based on the inquiry's results and takes action to redirect anything that hinders the student learning and improvement (Dana 2009). I also learned that administrative inquiry/action research can be summed up in six steps which requires the principal to observe what needs changing, reflect on ways to make the change through questioning and wondering, gather and collect information to become knowledgeable about their question/wonder, consult the data using literature that is relevant to the situation, based on a new understanding received during the inquiry, make changes in his/her practice, and finally share the changes with all the stakeholders. The final thing I learned in regard to action research is that it is quite different from the traditional form of research. With traditional research the practitioner is seen as technician or story character with the researcher being someone outside of the educational setting. Traditional research has a process that is linear and discursive and the questions represented in the research are from the researcher. Action research is a whole different concept. The practitioner is now a storyteller, operating on the inside of the school's organization. The process of collecting the data is cyclical, with the main source of questions coming from the principal. This is basically what I learned from this week's lesson on action research.