Week 3 Assignment, Part 3

Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

 

Morning Study Hall:  Does it Increase Weekly Quiz Scores More Than After School Study Hall?

 

Vision:

The goal of my action research plan is to increase the number of African-American and Hispanic students attending a tutorial program on a regular basis.  This program is designed to increase students study skills, test taking strategies, and to develop higher retention rates through varying levels of practice.  The purpose is to support existing programs and offer additional services to students at our school.

Needs/Reasoning:

            We have a high level of socially economic disadvantaged students on our campus.  In our district we have the highest number of students that qualify for free lunch.  Our Hispanic population is the highest in the district and our African-American population is the second highest in the district.  A large number of our students are faced with having to go from school and be a “parent” figure at home by watching their younger siblings.  Because they must go straight home, these same students that need extra support and more one on one direct teaching are missing out from the benefits of a tutoring program.  My district has put an emphasis on after school tutoring which works for most of the schools in the district, but evidence indicates that after school programs do not work for the students on our campus.  With a morning tutorial program, we will be able to get the students with a fresh mind at the beginning of the day, instead of hoping they show up at the end of the day when they are tired and worn out.  The table below indicates a need for increased attention in the sub group areas of African-American and Hispanic:

Sub Group	% of Population	% of Population that Attend Tutorials	Mean Quiz Score in 8th Grade First Two Weeks
African-American	34	31	58
Hispanic	46	28	65
White	12	35	77
Male	43	44	66
Female	57	50	72

The information shown above indicates that for every 100 African-American students, less than 32 of the students are attending tutorials.  For every 100 Hispanic students, less than 28 students are attending tutorials.  We can reach every single one of those students before school, given that the students attend school on a regular basis.  There is a decided need to reach the African-American population as the science scores indicate.  Our greatest potential for growth is in science, which is why the program will use science quiz scores as a standard for measuring growth.  Science also gives weekly quizzes using an electronic clicker device which allows me to gather and desegregate date instantly.

Literature review:

            During my review of similar research, I came across a literature review conducted by the NorthWest Regional Educational Laboratory.  In their review of afterschool literacy programs, they concluded that “activities in after school programs must be engaging (Britsch 2005).”  The key words in this conclusion are “must be.”  With morning tutorials, the student is fresh and easily has the capacity to tackle more rigorous levels of work.  Because the student does not have to be given the bells and whistles treatment in the morning to hold their attention, it is easier for the math teacher or science teacher to cover more technical work.

            When is the best time for a student to learn information?  That is up to the student.  Research indicates that the population is split.  A portion of the population learns well in the morning and the other portion of the population learns best at night (Pytel 2006).  The question is then, what is going to affect the student’s learning capacity?  I found two things will affect the student’s learning capacity:  the teacher and getting the student in the situation that a teacher has a smaller ratio to work with.  Pytel illustrates that teachers work best in the morning and are more tired after lunch.  If the teacher is supposed to be the one who makes the difference and impacts the student’s learning capacity, it would make sense to have morning tutorials rather than afternoon tutorials.  The teacher is more energetic in the morning (on the whole) than they are in the afternoon.  The other part is getting the student in the environment that a teacher can have more focused instruction.  If the student cannot attend afternoon tutorials or is sluggish in the afternoon, why would we ask them to attend afternoon tutorials?  If the student has to take care of family business every day after school, how can we reach them on a more individual level?  We cannot reach them unless we provide those support structures at a different time.

This is a program I have been wondering about for a few years.  We have a campus full of students that have a thirst for knowledge, but have a very poor work ethic.  We also have a problem where the students are roaming the halls in the morning and it feels like they are wasting time.  At times the front office is cluttered with students looking just to talk to someone or keep from sitting around in the hallway.  I am looking to give students a purpose in the morning time.  We have a section of class time every day that is set aside for DEAR time (drop everything and read for 15 minutes).  This time could be added to the first part of the day along with morning announcements and then students are released to first period. The intentions of this study are to create an environment in the mornings that give students a place to connect with each other, their teachers, and have quieter place for them to study and get help with homework.  This decision was made with the advice of my building principal and the associate principal (my site supervisor).

Sharing the vision:

            I have not shared much information with the staff to date, because the data is still young.  The plan has been shared with the administration and with the department chairs of each core team.  Once we have collected substantial data to allow us to make conclusions, I will lead a professional development class that will allow me to disseminate the findings to a large group.  At this professional development, I will discuss the purpose of my research and the pros and cons of morning tutorials.  I will also share student insights that will give perspective to the program.  The program has been shared with parents who attended open house.  I discussed the purpose of having morning tutorials and the reasons I believe the program will be successful.   I choose to start at open house, because I wanted to boost support for the program.  We have a lot of parents that talk to each other outside of school and I hope that this will get them to talk about the program and garner the support of other parents who were unable to attend open house.

Management of organization and operations:

            Several tasks had to be completed for the initial start of the project.  The first task was to collect data to support a need for the program.  Because we are a Title I school, all tutorials on our campus require a sign-in sheet.  Each sheet is kept with the Title I coordinator for data purposes in case we need to demonstrate our efforts to support student learning.  I worked with the Title I coordinator to put together the necessary data for my project.  We used the sign-in sheets for the spring semester of 2012 to find out which subgroups and gender were attending tutorials most frequently.  This information was used in conjunction with last year’s AEIS report to build the initial data table.

            I then went to the 8^th grade science team to get a gain support from the program in one of the core subjects.  Since the science department gives quizzes each week, I saw an opportunity to have an objective measurement of success.  These teachers are going to provide me with the average score for African-American, Hispanic, white, male, and female students for each weeks quiz.  They can easily provide this information because of the clicker system they use and the program that the data loads into automatically.  Both teachers have agreed to tutor twice a week in the afternoon (school and district requirement) and then after eight weeks, they will tutor only in the mornings.  The numbers of each session will be given to me for each of the subgroups.  I will then, at the end of the semester, analyze the data to determine if there is an increased need for morning tutorials or if there is no significant increase. 

Responding to special needs:

The biggest need our students have is a safe place to work and study.  When they leave school, they have other responsibilities to take care of, such as watching siblings or even having to go to work.  We have a large group of students, over half, that fit into this category.  They need help getting organized, they need more time to study, and they need direction on how to study.  In the afternoons, they have to leave to take care of family business, and education sits on the back burner.  By incorporating a morning study hall that is more than “by appointment” we can avoid students wasting their time sitting idle in the gym or cafeteria.  Many of our students would best be served devoting that time to reflection or extra practice.  We would help out a great amount of students by offering morning tutoring, and there by helping ease some pressures at home by getting away from the traditional after school tutorials.  We also service the students by helping them when they have a fresh mind.  At the end of the day not only is the student tired from learning, but the teacher is tired from working.  There is more vigor in the mornings which should lead to higher retention.  Morning tutorials also set the stage for the day.  When a student starts their day off by tackling trouble areas, they are primed for the rest of the day.

 

 

 

 

Week 5

The practitioner research course was very time consuming, but had an enormous amount of information that is useful to both principals and teachers.  The most important aspect I took from the course is the need for constant reflection.  This is referenced many times in the Dana text and was an ongoing process throughout the course.  In the first course of the program, we had to read a leadership book and I choose the book, Monday Morning Leadership, written by David Cottrell.  The book had two of the eight chapters dedicated to reflecting in a leadership position.  I only bring up the previous course to further illustrate the emphasis put on reflection for the leader of an organization.  In the remaining parts of this reflection, I will discuss three examples of reflecting we did in the class.

The first example of reflection is the assignments that required us to look at our research and the research of others to find areas that might encounter trouble.  We were required to complete this task in week three.  The reflection on this topic did not just occur in week three, but also occurred when we looked at our research plan with our site supervisor in week four.  This type of reflection forces the researcher to think through their research process and attempt to minimize problems that are foreseen.  Each step of a research plan should be reflected upon and looked at by numerous people to ensure that potential problems are negated.

The second example of reflection was the week two assignment “common action research.”  In this assignment we had to read several pages about different areas of research for education.  The second part of this assignment had us discuss a wondering from the reading or our school that pertains to that area.  This assignment involved a great deal of reflection to determine need within the school or district.  This type of reflection is a process that all leaders should work through at least once a year if not twice a year to find new wonderings.  The more reflection a leader does, the more prepared and informed they potentially will be.

The third example of reflection comes from the week five reading in the Dana text, “what are some quality indicators for practitioner research?”  For the assignment we were asked to reflect on our research to determine how we can use the indicators while writing our design.  The reflection does not stop there, because the questions for each indicator help a researcher find problems within each section of the research problem to ensure that you have a purposeful and needed wondering and design.  This reflection should be done throughout the implementation of each project being completed.

        Anyone can be put in a leadership role, but not everyone is a leader and not all leaders are in a leadership role.  As I have gone through the first two courses I am finding that the most key attribute a leader has is the ability to properly reflect on their situation and know what to do with those reflections.

Week 4

This week was interesting.  I met with my site supervisor and we discussed the beginning stages of my action research plan.  I have full aproval from the campus administration and I have already started recruiting teachers to aid in my research and my next step is to develop the survey that will be given to students at the end of the semester.  My site supervisor did not have any major suggestions for changing my plan but did make recommendations on teachers who might be interested in assisting my research.

Study Hall in the Morning Research Inquiry

 

SIP or PIP (SCHOOL or PROFESSIONAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT) PLAN OF ACTION

 

 

 

 

SCHOOL VISION: "We envision schools where students and staff are enthusiastically engaged in learning within local and virtual environments. We see schools that encourage collaboration and cultivate a sense of belonging. We see learning standards that are rigorous and relevant. We see learning standards that inspire creativity and problem solving. Ultimately, we see schools that prepare students for many paths and that empower them with skills to successfully live in a rapidly changing world."

 

GOAL: The goal of this action research program is to increase the reading fluency and comprehension, writing skills, and test taking skills of students at Ross Sterling middle school. There will also be an emphasis on community and service and how they can impact the community in small ways. The research is aimed at being a pilot for a school wide program starting in the 2013-2014 school year.

 

 

 

OUTCOMES	ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES	TIME LINE	Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT	Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
Increase time spent studying outside of class.	Students receive tips and training on best practice study habits and strategies. Students will demonstrate these tips and strategies throughout the program.	Survey of student habits and portfolio.	Six teachers and the building principal.	August 2012-March 2013	Students will be required to show proof of completion of strategies and keep a study log in their portfolio. Interview parents about student's study behaviors. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Interview parents about student's study behaviors. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.
Increase reading levels and stamina.	Students use reading strategies to increase reading levels and build stamina by reading primary source academic material.	Readings and fluency/comprehension assessments.	Six teachers and the building principal.	August 2012-March 2013	Students will be given a pre/post reading fluency comprehension test. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.
Increase student writing levels.	Students will write in a multiple formats to increase writing skills. Students will be required to keep a portfolio for their writing samples and journal entries.	Student portfolio and writing assessments.	Six teachers and the building principal.	August 2012-March 2013	Writings by students will be assessed on a regular basis and log for improvement. The students will keep all writing samples in their portfolio and monitor their own progress. At the end of the program students will have an exit meeting where they will discuss their writing strengths and weaknesses. This data should be kept up with by the student through weekly reflections. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.
Increase use of test taking strategies.	Students will answer practice questions using testing strategies.	Practice questions and test taking strategies.	Six teachers and the building principal.	August 2012-March 2013	Students will be assessed each time we have a test strategies day to measure use of testing strategies. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.
Increase student word knowledge and retention of vocabulary words.	Students will build their lexicon by learning four new academic non-content vocabulary words per week through different strategies. Students also will be required to learn a new word part each week.	Vocabulary words, word parts, and vocabulary assessments.	Six teachers and the building principal.	August 2012-March 2013	Student will be quizzed every three weeks for retention of vocabulary. Each quiz will include words from previous weeks as well. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.
Decrease tardiness of students to all class.	Students will discuss with each other what it means to be principled and the reasons why it is important to be principled. They will draft a "Principles Contract" for each individual program class.	Attendance audits.	Six teachers and the building principal. Attendance specialist.	August 2012-March 2013	I will collect tardiness data every three weeks and discuss will other program teachers. This data will be used to remind students of the importance of being focused on getting to class and being prepared. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.
Increase student awareness of community and service.	Students will participate in a school wide initiative to recycle and read about the importance of serving your community. Students will also read about different ways they can help out. They will each be required to write out a plan to benefit the community.	Recycling program.	Six teachers and the building principal.	August 2012-March 2013	Student work will be assessed on how well they develop a plan of action. Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.	Teacher reflections on student performance in the program and recommendations for improvement.

Week 2

Week two's assignment was a beast!   The interviews were revealing in that they have an emphasis on data and reflection.  I feel like their viewpoints are in line with my own.  In my class we take a quiz each week to assess where our progress is and then after the quiz the students get their grade immediately and reflect in their journal ways they can improve their score and the areas they need to work on moving forward.  The Dana text was beneficial in assisting me on my decisions for completing an action research project.  I was relieved to have had the nine sections with different interests to help organize my thoughts.  That coupled with the site supervisor meeting helped me narrow a focus.  Great news for me this week is that the building principal offered to have me sit in on meetings when the principals are doing master scheduling for next year!!!  The idea I am taking away most this week is from Dr. Kirk Lewis when he said, "research must be practical."  It really is pointless to do research if you are not reflecting about the needs that pertain to your situation.  Essentially, research should not be done just to do research.

Educational Leaders

I think a really good example of an educational leader using a blog would be to set up a line of communication for parents and staff.  Some parents do not was emails to clog up their inbox, but with a blog the parent can visit the site as they wish to get information about their child’s school.  I think a superintendent could easily use a blog to disseminate information from board meetings to administration and teachers in the district without sending out mass emails that may get deleted or overlooked.  In the blog the superintendent can pose questions or give suggestions for engagement.  Most importantly when a superintendent visits a school and has positive experiences, they should blog about these to motivate other schools to have these same types of experiences. 

Action Research!

Action research is a newer type of inquiry that leads a principal to find problems by asking questions and then searching for solutions to these problems.  The problems can be discovered through coursework, leadership meetings, campus teams, or personal learning communities.  The problems may be school specific, district specific, or general to education.  The problems at one school or district are different from other schools or districts.  Different from traditional types of research, action research incorporates information obtained from people in the classrooms and at the schools.  The foundation of action-research is that teachers and principals use introspection to identify problems and “wonderings,” which leads them to make better choices and decisions.  I have found a greater respect for my administrators after reading the Dana text, because I never really thought of them as daily ‘firefighters” looking for solutions to problems on a constant basis.  The picture painted in the reading describes a principal in constant distress throughout the day.  When I think of the principals as a firefighter, I see more clearly for the need to reflect on a daily, if not at least weekly, basis.  It is important for the administrators to emphasize the need for staff members to reflect as well, because teachers should think about what they are doing and then try to do it better.  After all, we ask are students to go home and reflect (study) on the days lesson and see where they can improve.