Update on Action Research Project

With the new school year underway I have had a pretty good first month of school. I love the kids that I am working with at my new school. I am now working in a Life Skills class and ATP. The students are so open to learning so many new things from their teachers. It is refreshing after working in a regular math classroom. In regards to my ARP I have had to change it a little since I am not working at a new school that has different needs. I am going to keep the same concept of having an incentive program for the students, but it will be targeted at a specific group of students that are troubled and at risk. With being at the new school. I am currently making the changes to my ARP and my internship plan since the projects that were placed on it pertained to my old junior high. The amount of hours I have put into my project so far is 5 hours. I have gotten the data about the students, spoken to my principal, and created the plan. The next step as stated is to make the final changes for the high school with the data from the new students. The school has advisory every Wednesday, and this particular group of students gets together I will talk to these students to figure out where they feel they struggle with becoming successful in and out of school. Overall I wish I was further along, but with a new school and learning the ins and outs I will be up to speed in no time.

Action Research Plan Template

Action Planning Template
Goal:
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with the Assistant Principle and the Principle to come up with a team of people that will end the end be the discipline committee for the school	Principal and Assistant Principal	August 2013- December 2014	Previous schools years number of discipline referrals, what was the most common referral, ISS the students are missing too much instructional time how can we give	Each grading period we come together and analyze the amount of referrals we have had as a campus, and come up with a new strategy or keep going with what we are doing.
Come up with a list of positive incentives for the students ranging from free to a small fee that we would have to pay to get.	Assistant Principal, Discipline Committee	August 2013- December 2014	Think about what the student’s interests are.	Review over the list, and make any changes needed.
Create a point system that will also be posted for the students to clearly know what they will earn positive points for. We will be in teams this coming year, so all the teachers on my team will have the same students. We can come together and collaborate at the end of each grading period.	Assistant Principal, Janna Golden And other members of the Discipline Committee.	August 2013- December 2014	The input from the teachers on what they think should earn points ranging from 1-3.	We will know how well the students take to this system by how well they are also behaving in class when we don’t see them. Other students can refer them to get points at the end of class. (Must come tell the teacher)
Implement the new discipline act. It will be presented to the teachers in a faculty meeting.	Assistant Principal, Discipline Committee	August 2013- December 2014	A projector and screen, large enough room to accommodate the teachers, the presentation of the new things we will be implementing.	The feedback from the teachers.
There will be a posting of the disciplinary action on the morning announcement for the students to view at the beginning of the year.	Janna Golden and Mr. Longstreet	September 2013- December 2014	The creation of the slides for the morning announcements.	The feedback from the teachers.
There will also be a slide following that states an incentive program outside of the grades	Janna Golden and Mr. Longstreet	August 2013- December 2014	The creation of the slides for the morning announcements.	The feedback from the teachers.
Conduct a survey at lunch for the students to complete of the top 5 incentives that drive them to do better in school	Janna Golden And other members of the Discipline Committee.	September 2013- December 2014	A survey created by Janna Golden for the students to complete.	The students response.
Send a questionnaire to the teachers to what they think their ideas are for ways we can get the discipline issues at the campus under control.	Janna Golden	August 2013- December 2014	A questionnaire sent to the teachers that is created by the Discipline Committee.	The responses from the teachers.
Research online the benefits of positive reinforcement on students	Janna Golden	July 2013- December 2014	A plethora of different websites that have done research on the benefits of students being rewarded positively rather than negatively.	The information found, and the feedback from the committee.
Create a new system for how lunch detention is done, and what behavior issues will be granted lunch detention.	Janna Golden and the Assistant principal	July 2013- December 2014	The write up for the process of the new plan for LD, and a room for the students to sit in.	The amount of students that are getting lunch detention, and
Have a meeting in the morning before school to further explain to the teachers the new steps that will be taken to aide in the discipline on campus.	Assistant Principal, Discipline Committee, Janna Golden	August 2013- December 2014 Once a month (Every 4 weeks)	The Discipline Committee, the current feedback from the teachers, and the current list of write-ups.	The current list of write- ups and the teacher feedback.
Present the results of our implementation to the teachers at the end of the 1st and 2nd semesters	Assistant Principal, Discipline Committee, Janna Golden	December 2013- December 2014	The Discipline Committee, the current feedback from the teachers, and the current list of write-ups.	The feedback and current list of write-ups.
Make changes as needed after the 2013- 2014 school year before my last semester working on the action research project.	Assistant Principal, Discipline Committee, Janna Golden	December 2013- December 2014	The Discipline Committee, the current feedback from the teachers, and the current list of write-ups. We will also have a list of changes that will take place for all of the teachers to be informed about for the upcoming semester.	The changes that will be made.
Present the results at the end of the action research project.	Assistant Principal, Discipline Committee, Janna Golden	December 2014	A final report of all of the success that the implementation has had in and outside of the classroom.	The success of the students and a more tamed and calm school.

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

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

-JG

After completing my assignments for Week 2 for my Lamar EA program boy did I learn a lot. There are so many different areas that an administrator MUST think about when they are heading a school. The well being of the students, are the needs of the teachers being met, how are the students performing academically, behavior issues if their are any how do they need to be handled, PARENTS! Whoa lets take a step back. As a teacher currently I have some many ideas that seem like I could really make a difference in whatever school I end up maning "womaning", but in order to know that they are going to be successful it will take action research. Every portion of the school system needs to be properly researched so that the right decision can be made. This week in the Dana text that is truly what I figured out from the readings. All aspects need and deserve to taken at in depth! Onward to week 3 of the Research course. 

JG

Action Research

Through reading in the book Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana it talks in great detail about what action research is and its benefits. In the education world we are constantly being evaluated, whether it is by peers, our bosses, and ourselves there isn't a day that an educator shouldn't look back at how there day went in front of their students. With action research this is used after one has inquired on what needs some tweaking or needs to be out right changed completely. Starting your action research with the actual process of researching and developing a plan through the getting clarity on what the situation is that needs to be improved. Once getting clarity one must then put a plan of action together. I am a firm believer that “If you fail to plan you plan to fail.” With every idea or goal there must be a specific plan in place for referral to stay on track. Implementation and finally making changes once the plan has been put into action to make sure the best practices are being used. Action research allows an individual to all take steps to be at your best. It is one thing to simply say you want to make changes within a school or a classroom, but respect truly is gained when one can take what is constructive criticism and put a plan into action. What action research do you need to perform in your life? What major steps will you take to make it happen?

-JG