Developing an Action Research Plan- Week Three

Goals and Objectives/Outcomes:

The goal of my action research project is to see if student performance increases because students are involved in extra-curricular activities (football athletes) as compared to students who are not involved in extra-curricular activities. I will look at data that includes the student grades and STAR testing results for those students involved in extra-curricular activities as compared to those that don’t participate.  I will look at student grades on a weekly basis using the skyward program that tells coaches when students are failing or missing assignments in the classes.  This tool is important in keeping up with student performance and keeping an open communication between coaches, students and teachers.  I will also look at the AYP indicators and PEIMS data to help me develop a plan for my research on whether extra-curricular activities lead to increased performance.  The core subjects of Math, Science, English, and History will be studied because the students have to pass STAR testing for these subjects for graduation.  As a coach I’m concerned that athletic periods will be cut, budgets reduced, and extra-curricular activities phased out in our schools.  With the data studied above I hope to show our administration that extra-curricular activities only increase performance in our schools.  I will also look at the surveys completed by the athletes and put together a chart of how the kids feel about extra-curricular activities.

 

Activities:

The first step is to target which groups we will be comparing in the study.  The first group is the students that are involved in extra-curricular activities particularly football players.  The second group will be the students that are not involved in extra-curricular activities in our school.  The next step would be to get with the counselors and PEIMS clerk to get all the information on grades, testing, and attendance for the students we will be studying.  The final step would be to look at the data and decide how we interpret the data as we compare the two groups in our study.  I would also like to develop a survey for the football players and ask them questions about how they feel extra-curricular activities have helped them not only on the field, but in the classroom.  As a coach I’m concerned that athletic periods will be cut, budgets reduced, and extra-curricular activities phased out in our schools.  With the data studied above I hope to show our administration that extra-curricular activities only increase performance in our schools.  I will also look at the surveys completed by the athletes and put together a chart of how the kids feel about extra-curricular activities.

 

Data Gathering:

I will look at data that includes

1.    Extra-Curricular Athletes Grades/Non Extra-curricular grades

2.    STAR testing results

3.    Sharyland Skyward for Students- I can check attendance, behavior, and grades of every football player on our roster. (250 total athletes)

4.    PEIMS Data

5.    AYP in the core subjects of Math, Science, Language Arts/Reading

6.    Graduation Rates of Athletes

7.    “No Pass No Play” Law from UIL

 

 

Timeline: May 2013-May 2014

I would like to study the data for about one year to compare the students and their progress on grades and testing.  We will look at the data from the above groups and determine whether student performance increases with the involvement of extra-curricular activities.

 

Persons Responsible:

 I will be conducting the action research plan with the help of my site supervisor, counselors, athletic director, athletic coordinator, PEIMS clerk, and Testing Coordinator throughout my study.

 

Monitoring Achievement Goals and Objectives:

The process for monitoring the goals and objectives of my research project will come from the PEIMS data, AYP data, and data from the testing coordinator for the STAR test.  The results from this data will help me understand the correlation between testing scores and grades between extra-curricular students and non-extra-curricular students in our school.  The data obtained and analyzed will provide information for administration that shows the value of extra-curricular activities on our campus and the role it plays in motivating our students to perform better in the classroom.  The survey that we put on survey monkey will also help us with data to show the importance of extra-curricular activities.

 

Assessment Instruments for Evaluation of Action Research Project:

The assessment instrument for evaluation of my action research project will be the comparison between extra-curricular kids and non-extra-curricular students on overall performance in the classroom.  The final study will be using overall grades and STAR testing results to see if the outcomes are validated for increased student improvement in extra-curricular activities in our school.

Week Two Reflections-Action Research Topic

I learned alot from the week two assignments.  I learned that there are many great action research topics to study to improve student performance.  They can come from nine different passions that were discussed in our readings this week by Dr. Fichtman.  These passions can lead to many topics that can be researched to help improve the quality of education for our students.   After listening to the three videos I realized that technology and data are two components that need to be researched and analyzed to help our students.  All three administrators agree that studying and interpreting data is essential for student growth.  I also met with my site supervisor and we decided that my action research project should deal with new technology in the classroom.  The "Bring Your Own Device" to school campaign was ultimately what I decided to research and study during my quest for a masters degree. 

Blogging

Educational leaders can use blogs for many different things.  Blogs are an easy way to get students to journal without calling it journaling.  Students hate to write free hand, but love to type on a computer.  Blogging also forces the students to read  and interpret what's on the blog.  It also allows for teachers and students to capture their own thinking over time and share their thought with other students or teachers.  Blogs can also have different formats that normal writing just can't produce.  For example, students and teachers can put images, pictures, text boxes, and links to other students or researchers that you can't do with normal writing.  Blogging is a great untapped tool for administrators, teachers, and students to use to capture their thoughts and ideas on the internet.  It is virtually an"Online Diary"for the blogger and its readers.

Action Research

Administrative inquiry or action research is a process of an administrator engaging and determining an idea and taking action for change based on what is learned from the idea by principals, teachers, and people involved in the school. The goal is to improve the learning and performance of your school.  The idea is focused on the insight to make and effort to change and improve the school by the administrators and teachers.  It allows the administrators and teachers involved to feel they have a say in the change and will work harder to make the change happen in the school setting.  It is the process of a principal engaging in a problem or idea and taking action for changing the idea based on what is learned as a result of the problem or question. We as professionals seek out change and want to determine how to change by posing questions or ideas and then gathering data to gain knowledge of the findings.  You then study the data along with other related data to the idea and make changes based on the findings and share those changes with the entire staff and department.  I feel that action research could be used in many different situations in the high school where I work.  Sometimes I feel we use a more traditional approach to solving problems where experts come in and give their findings, but recently with the expansion of technology in the classroom our school is shifting to more of an action research style.  Action research can also be used in dealing with excessive absences and tardies, STAR testing strategies, departmental curriculum, technology, and any other issues that administration deals with on a daily basis.  

The difference in action research to traditional educational research is the involvement of the administrators and staff to participate and use their personal experiences.  They collaborate with one another these experiences and decide what the best results are based on the collaboration with the entire staff.  They then put the changes into place and practice making those changes happen for all involved.  It basically allows for the people in the trenches to make decisions on what is best for the school and not outside people(staff development) to make and shape what happens at the school.  It breaks away from traditional research where experts tell you what is best at your school and now the staff and administration are the experts on what changes need to take place based on research and inquiry.  In our readings Dana Fichman lists four examples of how action research can be effective.  They are portfolio assignments, leadership meetings, professional learning communities, and building leadership teams that can be effective action research teams.