Action Research Plan (Rev 1)

Here is my updated Action Research Plan after meeting with my site supervisor.  Those that veiw my plan post comments based on your professional opinion and any insight is welcomed.

Action Planning Template
Goal: To make freshman students’ transition to high school comfortable by teaching them social skills and providing academic support that will affect favorable academic performance.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Identify a group of at risk students from the middle school that I will monitor throughout the school year.  (a sub population of approximately 15-25 that will include: Hispanic, Asian, African American, & Whites)	Deandria Brigham (site supervisor) and Middle School Counselor	August 2012 - May 2013	Students being monitored previous year academic performance (A.E.I.S report for middle school) & discipline referrals	Identify subgroup by giving demographic information to compare with current results to determine if monitored students improved, stayed the same, or declined.
Were the monitored students discipline referrals referral’s reduced and by what amount/percentage?	Reginald Ervin (me): site supervisor will pull the data from our referral system	August 2012 - May 2013	Skyward discipline referral data keeping source	Indentify whether there was any change in referral’s; increase/decrease or no change
Were the social issues of the monitored students minimized versus the freshman students that were not monitored?	Reginald Ervin	September 2012 (check this maybe after the first grade progress 6th week) – May 2013	N/A	Interview, survey or Questionnaires (use survey monkey to create the survey)
Did the increase in academic workload cause behavioral issues? (skipping classes, absent from school, tardies, classroom discipline issues)	Reginald Ervin	mid-September 2012 –May 2013	Skyward (attendance/discipline record keeping)	Number of absences, tardies, and discipline referrals

My Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: To make freshman students’ transition to high school comfortable by teaching them social skills and providing academic support that will affect favorable academic performance.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Identify a group of at risk students from the middle school that I will monitor throughout the school year.  (a sub population of approximately 15-25 that will include: Hispanic, Asian, African American, & Whites)	Deandria Brigham (site supervisor) and Middle School Counselor	August 2012 - May 2013	Students being monitored previous year academic performance (A.E.I.S report for middle school) & discipline referrals	Identify subgroup by giving demographic information to compare with current results to determine if monitored students improved, stayed the same, or declined.
Were the monitored students discipline referrals referral’s reduced and by what amount/percentage?	Reginald Ervin (me): site supervisor will pull the data from our referral system	August 2012 - May 2013	Skyward discipline referral data keeping source	Indentify whether there was any change in referral’s; increase/decrease or no change
Were the social issues of the monitored students minimized versus the freshman students that were not monitored?	Reginald Ervin	September 2012 (check this maybe after the first grade progress 3rd or 6th week) – May 2013	N/A	Interview or Questionnaires
Did the increase in academic workload cause behavioral issues? (skipping classes, absent from school, tardies, classroom discipline issues)	Reginald Ervin	mid-September 2012 –May 2013	Skyward (attendance/discipline record keeping)	Number of absences, tardies, and discipline referrals

I would like to say thank you to Lisa Howard for assisting me tonight with getting my settings corrected so that I may have followers.  Yeah Lisa!

This week I had some concerns regarding my action research.  As I begin looking at articles regarding freshman high students and the many issues that they have with transitioning to high school I realized that there is a lot of information.  The other major concern that I am having is that no one is following me and my professor says she can not access my blog.  What did I do wrong in creating my blog page?  I hope some of my colleagues can follow me.  Also, I am looking forward to talking with my site supervisor this week to try to gain some more insight on potential questions/direction that I should be looking to go in for more data collection.

EDLD 5301 Week 2 Reflection

What I gained from this weeks lesson is that action research has two parts the purpose and significance of the research.  The purpose tells 1) what you will do or look at, 2) must be focused and be clear in direction, 3) must be reasonable and feasible, and 4) must be ethical and approved.  The significance is who is expected to benefit from the research.  Also after viewing each video clip the common thing that each interviewee stressed was using data to drive instruction and use it to help with increasing student progress/achievement.  From the textbook reading I gained that there are nine passions and one of the passions will potentially drive my initial question for my action research.  In the web conference I got some insight on my wondering and some additional advice and direction.  This week my plan is to begin reading literature on my wondering to help reduce some of the anxiety of doing an action research project.

How Educational Leaders May Use Blogs

Educational leaders can use blogging as a way of sharing ideas and thoughts with other professionals in the field.  This can also be a way of capturing thoughts and ideas that otherwise may not get captured on paper that can be referred to at a later date.

Description of Action Research

What I have learned about action research is that it is different from traditional research.  Traditional research involves the findings of an expert, which in most cases is a professor from a university that is isolated from the reality of his/her study.  My understanding of action research is that the person doing the research is actively involved with the study/research and that person is likely to facilitate changes based on the knowledge that is generated from the research (Dana 2010). 

Action research is a continuous process that is a series of reflections that include a diagnosis of a practical issue that needs improvement or needs to be resolved.  Once an issue has been identified, then there must be formulation of a plan and within the plan there must be strategies and from there implementation for effectiveness (Dana 2010).  Based on the results this can determine if the issue is considered resolved or if it has been improved.  Depending on the outcome, the data can spur inquiry in a more defined direction or a different direction.   At this point reflection is necessary.  The reflection gives the researcher an opportunity to digest the findings and determine if the results are desirable. 

The way that I might be able to use action research is I will be apart of the study, which makes the research interesting and not so dull.  By taking an active role allows me to see first hand whether my results are desirable or undesirable.  Of course, in my research I would want the results that support my original inquiry, however if it does not support it then redirection is necessary.  With the redirection, my reflection will pose more questions based on my original inquiry and from here the process starts over.