Leadership, Life, and Learning: Action Research Plan

Action Research Planning Template

Goal: What are the passing rates of our LEP population on district assessments and the STAAR test over one year after instituting an online reading intervention program and do the results show a significant close in achievement gaps between our LEP population and our “all students” category?

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Setting the Foundation: Meet with site supervisor to determine possible action research topics and narrow them down per the discussion. Focus on a campus need with the idea of improvement and refinement in mind.	Site Supervisor: James Hallamek, principal CCMS Action Researcher: Linda Autrey	October 2012	1^st meeting to narrow action research topics: 10/12/2012 2^nd meeting to decide topic: 10/18/2012 3^rd meeting to present action research draft plan: 10/26/2012	Tracking meetings and journaling about them through weekly assignments in EDLD 5301 Site mentor feedback and approval on action research draft plan
2. Analyzing Data: Collect data from spring 2012 state assessment scores for LEP student and all student categories. Compare lexile scores of LEP students with all students for spring 2012. Collect data on district assessments and benchmarks to compare any progress or closing of gaps between LEP student and all student categories. Interview language arts and reading teachers (7^th-8^th) about what they think the needs of the LEP students are in terms of state assessments and district assessments. Ask them what impact they think the Classworks reading intervention program might have on the learning of our LEP students. Compare those interviews to an interview with the campus principal (my site supervisor).	Site supervisor: James Hallamek, principal of CCMS Action researcher: Linda Autrey CCMS ELA teams: Amanda Richason Amber Davis Naomi Kramer Rebecca Ramirez Kirsten Laskowski Karla Sonnek Cristine Pogue	October 2012 October 2012 October 2012/ December 2012/ February 2013/ June 2013 November 2012 November 2012	Eduphoria reports on STAAR performance for CCMS 7^th graders for last year Student lexiles from Eduphoria and Skyward in report form Ongoing Eduphoria reports on district assessments to compare LEP Student performance to All Students Survey and interviews in place during common PLC time to get feedback on what teachers think LEP students need to raise their lexile scores Time to interview my site supervisor to compare his answers to our language arts department’s answers	Site mentor and ELA team feedback on data presentation and lexile scores Post ongoing data collection in blog to track progress and share results Site mentor feedback on interviews and posting/journaling on interviews with ELA teachers and site mentor about needs of our LEP student population in terms of reading
3. Develop a Deeper Understanding: Examine qualitative data from teacher and site supervisor interviews and quantitative data from Eduphoria, Skyward, and Classworks to determine whether LEP students are progressing in the program and improving their lexiles and reading assessment performance. Reflect on whether tweaks to the implementation of Classworks and/or My Virtual Reading Coach are needed (additional resources, changes in implementation method, data collection, etc.). Review of all data current up to each checkpoint for evaluation	Action Researcher: Linda Autrey	December 2012	Eduphoria data charts, Surveymonkey.com data charts, Classworks and Skyward data reports Written reflections Data charts that show progression of LEP students from last year’s STAAR through each district assessment this year	Present findings current up to now to site supervisor Post journal reflections on blog Revise action research plan or implementation program as needed
4. Engaging in Self-Reflection: Journals and reflections about the process of the action research, the data of the project, and analysis of data and findings thus far Gather feedback from ELA teachers and site supervisor on my performance.	Action Researcher: Linda Autrey	December 2012	Written journals and reflections Go over action research timeline and measure whether timeline goals are being met See if any new data is needed to measure program success Surveymonkey.com for departmental and site supervisor feedback on the ongoing evaluation of the reading program	Journals posted on blog; data breakdown and survey data posted on blog Evaluation by peers and site supervisor via surveymonkey.com
5. Exploring Programmatic patterns: Interview site supervisor, secondary curriculum director, and assistant principal about programmatic patterns in our school and district. Analyze the efficiency of the reading intervention program in improving student scores and lexiles. Determine our needs in meeting AYP in reading at our school for this year.	Site supervisor: James Hallamek, principal of CCMS Secondary Curriculum Director: Nancy Roll Assistant Principal over ELA: Alan Laurent Action Researcher: Linda Autrey	January 2013 March 2013	Interviews with Hallamek, Roll, and Laurent Eduphoria data	Identify programmatic patterns and share them on blog Post interview responses on blog
6. Determining Direction: Meet with site supervisor and secondary curriculum director to determine the effectiveness of the online reading intervention programs and perhaps decide if or how it should be used next year. Examine possibilities for integrating Classworks or My Virtual Reading Coach as more of a supplement to language arts curriculum for all students and at other grade levels beyond grades 5-8.	Site supervisor: James Hallamek, principal of CCMS Secondary Curriculum Director: Nancy Roll Action Researcher: Linda Autrey	May 2013	Charts that graph the progression of the LEP Students through district assessments and the reading program throughout the year. Information about program budgets in instructional materials for 2013-2014 school year.	Present information over the course of the year to secondary curriculum director and site supervisor for evaluation. Budget feasibility and forthcoming STAAR scores will determine whether the program continues. Journal about this presentation’s outcomes on blog.
7. Taking Action Steps for School Improvement: Make recommendations about how this or future online reading intervention programs. Create a month-by-month reading intervention plan for the following school year utilizing the reading intervention classes with the reading intervention online programs with early data for all 7^th and 8^th graders before the 2013-2014 school year.	Site supervisor: James Hallamek, principal of CCMS Action researcher: Linda Autrey	June-July 2013	Compilation of all data in reading scores for the 2012-2013 school year with the spring 2012 reading scores for this year’s 8^th grade (their 7^th grade scores) to present to CCMS ELA teachers and administration in presentation format (Prezi or PowerPoint) The proposed plan for reading intervention laid out month by month with student data for the 2013-2014 school year	Journal about the recommendations made based on the action research on my blog. Teacher and administrative input on the proposed action plan for reading intervention for the 2013-2014 school year
8. Sustaining Improvement: Final presentation of action research findings and recommendations to site supervisor, director of secondary curriculum, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction Site supervisor’s final evaluation of the action research plan	Site supervisor: James Hallamek, principal of CCMS Secondary Curriculum Director: Nancy Roll Asst. Sup. C&I: Jane Pollard Action Researcher: Linda Autrey	July 2013	Compilation of all data in reading scores for the 2012-2013 school year with the spring 2012 reading scores for this year’s 8^th grade (their 7^th grade scores) to present to CCMS ELA teachers and administration in presentation format (Prezi or PowerPoint) with the proposed plan for reading intervention laid out month by month with student data for the 2013-2014 school year	Share all presentation materials and reflections on blog. Share all presentation materials at a district-wide principal’s meeting and perhaps the school board.

8 comments:

UnknownOctober 28, 2012 at 8:59 PM
I know that Dr. A said that there wasn't a single right way to do all this stuff and that we were not going to be graded based upon following a form but upon the content of our submissions...but yours looks a whole heck of a lot more right than mine does. I suppose we'll see. I don't know. I mean, my template doesn't exactly follow the 8 steps, it's more of just a timeline of the research. My version of the cell phone thing follows the 8 steps, though. Gosh, I don't know anymore.

Anyway, I saw elsewhere that you were going to use Classworks with your kids. Is there any chance you will take the state up on the free Istation subscription, as well? I'm just asking because we can't afford jack in the way of interventions, so I'm going with what's free, but I'm also shopping for anything that might be better in case the day comes that the state pulls the funding for Istation OR by the grace of God we manage to get some funding and can choose the best available program.

Either way, I'm keen to follow your research to see whether Classworks offers more than Istation.
UnknownOctober 28, 2012 at 10:31 PM
I think you plan follows the 8 steps nicely and is a solid action research plan. You should be able to gather some good data to help you form you conclusion. I see that you had some hard decisions to make about what action project to choose. I think this is a good one, which may give you some good insight on how to help your school's LEP students improve their reading performance. Good luck I look forward to you conclusions
UnknownOctober 30, 2012 at 5:49 PM
Great job! No suggestions for change here. Sorry!
Meaza TassewNovember 1, 2012 at 3:39 PM
I think you have a great means of gathering data through standardized tests and interviews that take qualitative data into consideration. Something that I think may be beneficial to your research is analyzing the concept of sheltered instruction. If your school uses sheltetered instruction, which is a supportive teaching teaching for LEP students, you may want to assess if it is helping meet the needs of LEP students or how it can be be improved to help your school. If your campus does not use sheltered instruction, it may be a form of instuction you may want to research on to implement as part of your improvement plan. I hope this helps. By the way please follow and comment on my blog at http://mtassew.blogspot.com thanks!
UnknownNovember 3, 2012 at 1:48 PM
Funny you say that, because last year and this year we have spent a lot of time reviewing our sheltered instruction practices. Our teachers have been trained for several years now, and we have seen a difference in student performance. We have found that it helps ALL students because it embraces the concepts of modeling and explicit instruction (thinking out loud, etc.).

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Action Research Plan

8 comments: