Week 3 Action Plan

OUTCOMES
To determine a correlation between students being late to class (tardy) and student academic achievement.
To determine the average number of tardies in a given academic core class for students who have scored below a 70% in the given class and for students who have scored between a 70-79% in the given class.
To determine if there a “magic number” of tardies after which student scores drop off significantly (defined as 5 or more average points).





ACTIVITIES
Confer with academic core class teachers from McMath Middle School’s 7-1 academic team to inform them of the purpose of the study and ask for their participation in this study.
Along with my colleagues, actively monitor tardies throughout the first six weeks of the 2010-2011 school year.
Following the first six weeks of the 2010-2011 school year, it is necessary to compile the number of tardies and the average for each student in each class from Team 7-1
With the information gathered, to determine the average number of tardies in a given academic core class for students who have scored below a 70% in the given class and for students who have scored between a 70-79% in the given class.
With the information gathered, determine if there a “magic number” of tardies after which student scores drop off significantly (defined as 5 or more average points).
Repeat this process across the second and third six weeks of the 2010-2011 school year.


RESOURCES/RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED
The most vital resource to collecting this research is the cooperation and assistance from my colleagues at McMath Middle School.
Gradespeed reports for Team 7-1 students averages and tardies across the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year.






RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES
Persons responsible to address activites include myself, Brooks Baca, and also, pending their cooperation, Joan Stelter, Becky Hunt, Ruth Westbrook, and Shandra Sanders.







TIME LINE
August 19-20, 2010 – Confer with colleagues to petition their cooperation and assistance in this project.
August 23, 2010 – October 1, 2010 – Actively monitor tardies throughout the first six weeks of the 2010-2011 school year.
October 2, 2010 – October 8, 2010 –
Compile reports on averages and tardies and complete the previously mentioned calculations and averages for the first six weeks.
October 4, 2010- November 5, 2010 –
Actively monitor tardies throughout the second six weeks of the 2010-2011 school year.

November 6, 2010- October 12, 2010 –
Compile reports on averages and tardies and complete the previously mentioned calculations and averages for the second six weeks.
November 8, 2010 – December 17, 2010 –
Actively monitor tardies throughout the third six weeks of the 2010-2011 school year.



Benchmarks/
ASSESSMENT
The assessment instrument to assure validity for this project will be the deviation of the data between the three different 6 weeks.
Maintaining an average deviation across the three different six weeks, or trials, will constitute valid data. Varying deviations will create questions that must be answered.





This week I really had a chance to think deeply about Action Research Project and I gained the opportunity to put together my action plan in a clear, concise, organized way.

Week 2 Reflection

In working through Week 2 of Research one of the aspects I appreciated the most was the discussions by the Academci Scholars. Through their discussions I really saw, through the lense of an active school leader, how Active Research plays an active role in their professional lives. It is one thing to read about a topic like research in a textbook, but to see these scholars talk about its importance was a huge part of the week to me.

Action Research and Educational Blogging

After learning more about action research this week, it is clear that it can be a vital tool for the educator, both the teacher and the administrator. Action research is a way for educators to look deeply at their methods and improve them. Action research allows educators to become creators of data instead of users of data through a series of action steps. The action steps are Plan, Act, Observe, and Reflect. Once these steps are completed, the "teacher-researcher" has the opportunity to Replan, Act, Observe, and Reflect creating an open ended spiral of action, observation, reflection, and reaction. This method of research is a critical tool for an educator because it provide them with a means to solve relevent problems. The action research model empowers teachers and administrators alike because this type of research gives the user the power to conduct his own research rather than depend on the research of others. A couple of examples of how action research can be used in the classroom are finding out how to involve kids in the learning process, implementing policies, including technology in the classroom, and many, many more. While some may consider this an amatuerish form of research, when used by an informed educator, it can be a powerful catalyst for change in the classroom, school and ISD.

I feel that a properly maintained blog can be a powerful tool for an administrator and I believe this for 2 reasons. First of all, blogs can provide a valuable means of communication for parents, students, community members, and other school stakeholders. Administrators can provide up to the minute announcements, changes, and other school information to stakeholders in a very simple and easy way. Secondly, I believe blogging can be a powerful tool for administrators when used to communicate with other administrators. Blogs can be used as a peer to peer support system as well as for collaboration efforts.