Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: Increase academic success by increasing parent involvement on our campus.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Teacher survey on parental involvement.	Myself	April 26-28,2012	Survey Monkey	Review Data
Parent Survey on parent involvement on our campus	Myself, Leisa Boswell-Web Site Coordinator	April 27-May 11	Survey Monkey	Review Data
Create Wiki for collaboration.	Myself	May 12	Wikispaces
Discuss Data with Team on Wiki	Wiki Team	May14-May 30	Wikispaces, Survey Monkey Data	Discussion
Research Articles on Parental Involvement and Discuss findings on Wiki	Wiki Team	May 31-July 1	Wikispaces, Literature, electronic searches	Reading, Discussion, Active Listening
Decide what strategies and opportunities to be implemented at the beginning of the year to boost parental involvement.	Wiki Team	July 2-August 10	Discussions on articles, wikispaces	Discussion, Active Listening
Present Strategy to Principal	Myself, Mr. Ashby-Principal	August 15	Wikispaces discussion and research
Implement Strategies	Campus Staff	1st 6 weeks	Not sure yet. Depends on our findings from our research.	Surveys, observation, feedback, Parent Sign-ins, field notes
Review of Data from 1st 6 weeks	Wiki Team, and campus principal	Beginning of 2nd 6 weeks.	Data from observations, surveys, feedback
Review of Discipline Referrals	Wiki Team, Mr. Willoughby, Assistant Principal	End of each 6 weeks.	Referral Data for current 6 weeks, and last year's 6 weeks.	Compare to Last Year's Data at this time.
Provide opportunities throughout 6 weeks for parents to be involved.	Campus Staff	Throughout each 6 weeks.	Not sure yet, depending on the opportunities we offer	Parent Sign-ins, teacher feedback, surveys
Review Failing Percentages for Semester 1	Wiki Team	January 2013	Semester 1 Grades and Last Year's Semester 1 grades.	Quantitative Measures, Reflection
End of year evaluation of program	Wiki team, principals	May 2013	All data throughout year	Quantitative Measures, Reflection, Surveys, Interviews, Field Notes, Parent Data

 

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

Reasons parents are not involved!

OK, so as you know my research topic is beginning of the year activities and procedures that will increase and boost our parent involvement.  So I am wanting  some different opinions on why our parents are not involved!! PLease leave your opinions in a comment!!

Thank you!!

Reflection for Week 2

     Week 2 for me was full of great thoughts. I have read so many interesting research topics that all could be used on my current campus.  Week 2 has also made me realize even more the importance of great leadership on a school campus, and without it, there is little success.  As a teacher, I am wanting to step up and play a more leadership role than I have in the past, and I feel like I can make some great changes on our campus using the process of action research. I also can't wait to share with my colleagues the ideas in my head! I feel like I am almost exploding with thoughts about how much better our campus could be with the development of action research on site!

Action Research Ideas

So I have been thinking and talking to my site supervisor about different action research topics. There are so many wonderings going on in my head that I feel it is hard to pinpoint one. I think on a broad topic, I am going to research parent involvement. I have a few ideas on this one, and I am going to present to you guys and I would love your input on which one! Topic 1: What strategies can be implemented to involve parents more in their child's homework? Topic 2: What beginning of the year procedures could jump start our parent involvement for the year? Topic 3: What activities could be implemented during the 6 weeks to give our parents multiple oopportunities throughout the day to be active on our campus? Topic 4: What would be the most effective communication to our parents about the need for parent involvement in our school? Please let me know what you think everyone!

Action research benefits

I have learned that action research is a great vital tool in the success of your campus vision.  It is a reason to reflect on what I am currently doing and review if I need to make changes. It is a chance for professional growth and an opportunity to collaborate with the stakeholders that are involved to meet the needs of my campus.  As I go through my school day, I am constantly pulled by the questions of why are the students on our campus not turning in homework, not being motivated, not coming to school, being tardy on a regular basis, and causing so many disruptions in their classes.  Also it astonishes me at how little our parents are involved in their own children's education.  I feel the process of action research can help me reflect on how things are, work with my peers to come up with possible solutions, and then gather the necessary data to decide if our goals were achieved. I feel Mark Bracewell in Dana's The Principal as Action Researcher said it best. " It's interactive, it's practical, and it's designed by student need and teacher need and principal need." There is really no better way to "create and recreate my school, my life, and my practice a question at a time." (Dana, 2009, Stoicovy)

Educational Leaders can use blogs to build a learning community. This is a great way to share and receive valuable information on any type of questions that you have to pose.  Blogs are a valuable form of communication and can give you a broad community to communicate with!