Final Reflections

My final reflections on EDLD 5301Research course started in the beginning of the course when I first listened to Dr. Arterbury’s video lecture. I felt as if the Action Research Project was attainable and reachable because of the way he so clearly laid the project out.  I was apprehensive at first because I thought it was going to be something that I wasn’t going to understand or be able to achieve, but as he and Dr. Jenkins unfolded the course I felt like it was a goal I could reach.  The planning of the weeks that followed with first meeting with my supervisor to generate a list of questions, and then exploring ideas, was a perfect avenue to building a successful research plan. I was able to tap into an idea that useful to my current position at work and develop a plan that was practical and useful.  

During week one of the course we learned to build blogs.  While I found this to be incredibly challenging at the time, I have gained useful and valuable feedback from my classmates regarding my action research plan. During this week we also asked inquiry questions regarding the reasons why inquiry based action research is valuable and useful. The discussion board provided useful feedback in this area.  I have formed valuable connections from the discussion board and from the blogs that I hope to carry into future courses. My classmates have given me feedback and suggestions for improvement that I found valuable.  Cooperative learning is vital in the classroom setting.

In subsequent weeks the lectures provided deeper insight and guidance. Both professors helped build confidence and understanding in my ability to complete my action research project. Each week the video lectures added greater depth to the text by supplementing  the text and adding insight to the readings. I enjoyed the nine passions in the Leading with Passions and Knowledge book. This helped me see how action research can be used in a variety of ways in my educational career. It gave me a richer understanding of why several things were done in the past and how I can better improve my presentations of staff development in the future. I also enjoyed Chapter 3 in this book (Dana, 2009), describing the various ways to collect data. I had not really considered  all of the possible options in data collection. I am considering other possible ideas for data collection in my action research plan, such as using STAAR data. I plan to discuss this with my supervisor.

Overall, I have this course to be incredibly valuable.  My action research project is timely in my job and my supervisors are excited about it and are actually quite eager for me to finish it! It is pertinent to my job and meets the needs of my district and my supervisors.  This has been a highly useful experience and I am grateful.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge. Housand Oaks: Corwin.

The scoreback process for the Readistep test is complete. The data from the Readistep test has been gathered district wide and sorted into categories. After meeting with my supervisor she suggested that I contact the  DOI’s at all of the high schools to see how they are handling the information/scheduling piece of the process.  In other words, once the high school gets the list of students who are in the diverse pop groups who scored 80% or higher on Critical Reading or Math on the ReadiStep test,  what is the course of action for them?  She suggested that I gather this information from all 5 high schools, not just mine, to share “Bright Spots”. The questions I will be asking them are: 1. How are the identifying which kids need to be advised to take advanced courses other than self selection. 2. What organizational processes are they using?

Action Research Plan

SCHOOL VISION: GOAL:  Participation in advanced programs should reflect equal demographic representation of district and campus population. OUTCOMES ACTIVITIES RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES TIME LINE Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments To identify and serve diverse populations which include economically disadvantaged, Hispanic, and African American on the campus and district level Analyze Readistep data and STAAR data of 8th grade students to identify  diverse populations (economically disadvantaged, Hispanic and African American) who score 80 % or higher on Critical Reading or Math and encourage participation in advanced level courses in 9th grade. Resources and Research tools needed for data gathering:  Readistep data and STAAR testing data. List of students includes those testing 80%  or higher on Critical reading or Math on Readistep  and Advanced Academic Performance on STAAR. Besides myself, persons responsible for implementation are the counselors at middle and high school, Kathy Wood, Coordinator of Advanced Programs K-12, and Lisa Brittain, Director of College and Career Awareness. Spring 2012 – Fall 2012. To establish group. Ongoing with established cohort group until senior year. Report cards and District common assessments Follow established cohort group grades 9-12 to track academic performance on district common assessments, STAAR and classroom performance. Additional scheduling into advanced classes may be needed.

I enjoyed the readings this week...reading about the "passions" gave me lots of new ideas for inquiries.  As I read I would think of another action plan, and another.  It made it tough! I suppose this is a good thing...a good problem to have.  The passion on school performance gave me such a great idea that I actually wrote a plan idea  up that was based on it  and took it to my supervisor.  Again...a good problem to have...
It feels good to have a goal in mind...