Sunday, August 5, 2012

Week 3 Assignment, Part 3 Draft Action Research Project Progress Report


Hernando Payne

EDLD 5397

August 5, 2012

Week 3 Assignment, Part 3
Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

a.            Title – Affirming that the needs of the sub-populations of S.F. Austin H.S. are being met and assess how effective technology has been in this process.

b.            Needs Assessment – In keeping in line with the campus improvement plan and based upon the 2011-2012 EOC data and TAKS data the campus did not meet AYP due to the performance of two subpopulations in mathematics. The data is based on this year’s state exam data.

c.             Objectives and Vision of the action research project. (ELCC 1.1) – All students at S.F. Austin will meet or exceed the standard set by the State of Texas Education Agency for all statewide measurements. Research will be directed towards looking at other high schools in terms of the strategies implemented at those high schools where these subpopulations are represented as the majority demographic and a positive correlation will be sought between these implementations and improved student performance amongst these sub-populations.

d.            Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy – Apply Best Practice to Student Learning (LCC 2.3) –
One of the references used: Echecarria, J., Vogt, M.E., Short, D. (2008). Introducing sheltered instruction. Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model 3rd edition (1-20). United States of America: Pearson Education, Inc.

SIOP is one of the best practices indicated for our Hispanic population; many of whom are LEP. I have used this strategy before with great results and it is indicated as one of the interventions to implement.
My campus was noticing small but noticeable indications based on campus data that there was trouble within some of our subpopulations and after reviewing this year’s data; those indications manifested themselves in us not meeting AYP in mathematics. I decided to implement an action research project concerning this matter since we were engaged in looking at this already. The personnel involved in the research are the campus improvement specialist and the campus principal. We considered last year’s data and the year before that. Decisions made will be noted in the research project.

e.            Articulate the Vision (ELCC 1.2) – My action research is tied into the vision for the campus which is communicated through the district website, school website, and school newsletter.

f.             Manage the organization (ELCC 3.1) –Most of the responsibility, if not all of it, rest on myself. Student privacy and safety will not be an issue as this research is entirely based on data and evidenced based research. I had to wait until we had our data teams meeting this summer to get the final piece of data I needed. I know we can shore up our deficiencies with our subpopulations and this is a priority on our campus. I plan to present evidence that these strategies do work and must be implemented immediately.

g.            Manage Operations (ELCC 3.2) – I already met with the campus improvement specialist and campus principal about my research. Although the campus improvement specialist has been promoted to assistant principal it will not affect the work on this research project. The administration realizes that we need to go in this direction to address the subpopulations in mathematics and to make sure we are good in reading as well.

h.            Respond to Community Interest and Needs (ELCC 4.2) – This research will bring forward the best practices currently employed by high schools that have a majority of the subpopulations we are now getting in increasing number. Many of our teachers have never had to use these strategies but now we must begin to not only implement these strategies but also change our overall approach to teaching. Our students have changed and so must our methods. Some of these methods include SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), word walls, and real world application when it comes to math science. We might even consider changing who we look at to hire when it comes to math and science. At the high school level, an ACP candidate may be better than a recent School of Education college graduate due to the real world experience the ACP candidate can bring to the classroom. I have been involved in professional developments concerning this and will be looking to find research that addresses this.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Action Research Plan

SCHOOL VISION: Increasing the number of students taking AP courses and decreasing failure rates; especially for freshmen.



GOAL:  To affirm that the needs of the sub-populations of S.F. Austin H.S. (spec. ed, 504, at risk, low socioeconomic, LEP/ESL, and all ethnicities within this target population) are being met as the overall student population becomes increasingly diverse both ethnically and socioeconomically and to assess how effective technology has been in this process?





OUTCOMES
ACTIVITIES
RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED
RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES
TIME LINE
Benchmarks/
ASSESSMENT
Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
To affirm that the needs of the subpopulations of S.F. Austin H.S. (spec. ed, 504, at risk, low socioeconomic, LEP/ESL, and all ethnicities within this target population) are being met as the overall student population becomes increasingly diverse both ethnically and socioeconomically?
Students take the District Assessment for the fall 2011

Students take TAKS for the 2011-2012 school year.
Campus District Assessment data from 2010-2011 & 2011-2012

Campus AEIS reports from 2010-2011 and 2011-2012
Dissemination of data and the identification of positive or negative trends in comparison to the interventions enacted to address the area. This school year will be compared to the previous school year.

I will be working alongside the campus improvement specialist
December 2011- August 2012
District Assessment Data for the Fall of 2011, TAKS scores for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, and the campus AEIS report for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

How effective technology has been in this process?
Review and Conduct campus walk-throughs to observe technology being used in instruction and conduct teacher interviews.
Campus data from 2010-2011 & 2011-2012

Campus AEIS reports
Dissemination of data and the identification of positive or negative trends in comparison to the interventions enacted to address the area. This school year will be compared to the previous school year.

I will be working alongside the campus improvement specialist
December 2011- August 2012
District Assessment Data for the Fall of 2011, TAKS scores for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, and the campus AEIS report for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Reflection in Action Research Week 2

This week has really shown me how beneficial, if not mandatory, action research is to tackling problems at one's campus in a systemic and collaborative manner. It really does feel like you are controlling the growth and development of the students and faculty and not feeling so overwhelmed as you manage the day to day activities of the campus.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs

Educational leaders might use blogs as venues to collaborate with other colleagues who may be addressing the same issue and therefore, increase the impact of each other’s action research. There is so much perspective to be gained from the sharing of the findings of other colleagues’ action research.

What Have I Learned about Action Research

Action research allows me to provide a platform for identifying a problem or issue on my campus or within a district and use a process of evidence based analysis to come to a resolution concerning the issue. I also learned that action research is a great way to involve stakeholders in the process of realizing that there is something that needs to be addressed or improved and the process of action research allows them to see the evidence as they realize that “they” are a part of that evidence for change.  Successful action research also requires me to be reflective in my everyday practice which will help me to develop expertise in my practice. It also gives me the opportunity to provide structure and organization in tackling issues in a systematic fashion that will be separate from the day to day management and random emergencies that can occur at any given moment. Most importantly, it enables me to be proactive rather than reactive. It enables me to model the change I want to see in my students and someday, my staff. It will ultimately lead me to becoming the head learner at my campus as I demonstrate a willingness and a process to enhancing the education of all stakeholders in the school community.