action research plan

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Action Research Plan draft

The following is the draft of my intended action research plan. I'm sure as time progresses other details will be added and other aspects will be revised but this is the "bare bones" of my research.

Goals and objectives	Activities	Resources and Research Tools	Timeline for completion	Persons responsible for implementation	Monitoring achievement of goals	Assessment instruments to evaluate effectiveness
What are the current instructional and disciplinary inadequacies of the Special Assignment Class (SAC) and Campus Learning Center (CLC)?	Data Collection: 1.Observations of both SAC and CLC class room settings to understand structure, routines, behaviors, and issues 2. Interview primary teachers of students in SAC and CLC about main concerns;  Interview students about their views of how effective SAC and CLC (assignments, instruction, discipline) 3. Collect Quantitative data: How many assignments are completed in these classrooms, How do averages, benchmarks, and TAKS scores of students in CLC compare to students in regular class rooms. 4. Perform literature review on effective in school suspension and campus based alternative learning programs.	I will review current SAC and CLC protocols and procedures. Biology and Chemistry teachers and students and SAC and CLC teacher and monitors will be involved in the research. Scores will be used anonymously. Data from Unit Assessments, TAKS scores and past benchmarks will be used Research literature on effects of in school suspension programs and campus based alternative learning programs on student achievement	January 2011- March 2011	Action researcher-Judith Momanyi Site supervisor Les Crawley-responsible for SAC and CLC programs SAC and CLC teachers	Actively monitor actual class settings. Continue communication with teachers to gage progress Obtain feedback from students in SAC and CLC and the teachers of the classes	Site supervisor and SAC and CLC teachers and monitors will assess the issues and proposed actions of improvement.
What actions can be implemented to improve student academic achievement and encourage positive behavior?	1.Interview teachers, students and SAC and CLC teachers and monitors about  suggestions on improvement actions. 2. Meet with site supervisor to approve improvement actions and then he will inform teachers and monitors of new actions 3. Observe SAC classes and CLC classes to get an idea of routines, issues, and suggestions for improvement	I will review current SAC and CLC protocols and procedures. Biology and Chemistry teachers and students and SAC and CLC teacher and monitors will be involved in the research. Scores will be used anonymously. Data from Unit assessments, benchmarks from March 2012 Research literature on effective in school suspension programs and campus based learning programs	March –end of 2012 school year and monitoring 2012-2013	Action researcher-Judith Momanyi Site supervisor Les Crawley-responsible for SAC and CLC programs SAC and CLC teachers	Actively monitor the effectiveness of the changes by observing  actual class settings. Continue communication with teachers to gage progress Obtain feedback from students in SAC and CLC and the teachers of the classes	Site supervisor, API and teachers and monitors of CLC will assess effectiveness of changes

anything and everything

Action Research can be conducted in all aspects of the school.  It can be something that involves instruction, new teachers, the climate and culture of a campus or even  a more efficient way to get students on the bus.  As long as the common goal of improving student achievement and student success is accomplished, then no matter how small scale or large scale the action research is, it is still beneficial and important.

The importance of Action Research

Action research is a powerful tool that allows an individual to actively participate in the design, experiment, and analysis of a problem that is specific to the practices which directly relate to learning and student achievement. Unlike traditional research which is usually based on a review of literature on studies carried out by someone else, action research is question or problem specific and focuses on the role that the practitioner plays and what can be done to improve the actions set forth in the resolution to the specific inquiry. There are several benefits to action research but in my opinion, gaining experience and expertise to positively affect learning on the campus is the greatest benefit.

               I think action research is going to be most effective in the way of PLCs for me.  Because our instructional design is very much grounded in the findings of our PLCs, action research should definitely be employed to maximize the effectiveness of PLCs. I would like to conduct action research on the effectiveness of higher level questioning in mastering objective/TEK.  This is something that comes up often in our PLC meetings but it just hasn’t been tackled. Through creating and implementing proper questioning and using different type of assessments and test data from previous years, we may possibly figure out the best ways to use this method and how effective it truly is.