My Action Research Plan, Draft 2

Action Planning Template
Goal: Is the campus vision being used effectively on this campus toward improving student achievement? What are the beliefs and feelings of the campus instructional staff relating to how we are doing in meeting the objectives and goals of the CIP? Do the responses on a survey indicate a clear understanding and support of the campus vision? Do the responses on a survey indicate the teachers feel ownership in decision making or do they feel like they are powerless? Do the responses on the survey indicate how teachers feel we are doing as a campus and if they are receiving enough administrative support to do their job? Are the shareholders aware of the campus vision and it’s power in guiding campus improvement?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Create a survey for teachers asking them to name factors that are important to them to be happy working on this campus.	Self	January – March 2011	None Web searches for sample surveys	I will use this as a beginning point to compile a list of most frequently mentioned factors with which to proceed.
Create a blog for teachers and staff to participate in discussing School Climate.  If possible, this blog will be set up to allow for anonymous postings and will be by invitation only (not a public blog)	Self	October 2011	Blog website Internet connection	Conversations on the blog will be compared to responses on the surveys.  They will also be evaluated for possible solutions for fixing problems that are contributing to a negative climate.  These solutions will be research and may be tried as part of my research.
Reflection	Self	Ongoing and at the end of this phase	Any new Research available Survey and blog	Take some time to reflect on data so far, especially to see if my question needs to be revised and to ask if I am on the right track
Share the raw data with the staff and use it as a springboard toward revitalizing or rewriting a shared campus vision	Self	August – September 2011	None	Inservice session at the beginning of the school year under direction and approval of principal.  Do we need a new vision?
Follow up with CPAC to discuss a plan for the vision and CIP	Self	October 2011 – December 2011	None	CPAC response will determine if I can take this to the next level and see if improvement can be made in an area
Working with the CPAC, create a plan to address the problematic factor with actions we agree should improve the area.  Repeat as needed	Self, CPAC representatives	January – May 2012	TBD	Monitor campus response to initiatives through blog responses, interviews, and observation

Week 2 - Action Research by Passion

The more I learn regarding Action research, the more I believe it is happening, in an informal manner, more often than I first imagined at the beginning of the course.  I appreciated the topics discussed in the interviews of District and campus administrators and how they used Action research, especially in regard to the disaggregation of data.  I am looking forward to this kind of research and am very thankful it is what it is, as opposed to traditional research, or pouring over someone elses research, without being able to create my own.

Action Research

I have found the information on Action Research very interesting.  I dreaded the idea of research, but the idea of being a researcher for problems or challenges of my own, and then doing the research necessary to address it is so appealing.  Action Research, or Action Inquiry, as it is also known, is the process of a leader engaging in systematic, intentional study of a challenge through the context of his/her own administrative practices and then taking action for a solution or change based on what was learned then. Action Research encourages reflection, ownership, and local control.  It engages the researcher to live the research and thus leads to solutions that are relevant and can be fully understood and implemented.  It is important to note that conducting action research in learning communities, whether campus based, or with other leaders within an organization may well be the most effective way to conduct research.  Traditional research, conducted by outsiders, such as Process-Product research and the Quatitative Paradigm have the problem that it is transmissive and the users of the research don't have any ownership.  It the research is faulty, it is unlikely the users will say so, for fear of being seen as a failure.

Blogging for Edcucational Leaders

I am new to blogging, unless you count Facebook as a blog.  I actually worry that using a blog may become just one more thing teachers need to check for information and may become a frustration if used as a communication venue.  But, to use it as a way of sharing with other leaders to work toward solving problems and improving systems, then blogging can be very powerful.  It is hard to conduct research in isolation, and blogging would allow a sharing of resources and actually creates a learning community.