My 1st Action Research Plan

Action Research Inquiry / Planning Template 7.1 / Process Overview                                                                    

Background information leading to inquiry/Purpose

In our reading last week, I read about a school that had weekly school meetings. They treated this time to go over general information/expectations, have staff/student development, and recognize students/staff. The goal was to create a positive culture throughout the school. I have been talking with my students on how they feel about our school and its culture. I heard only negative things, so I knew we needed to improve our culture and work to increase our student’s achievement/engagement. I felt as if having meetings at least every other week would be beneficial at my school, but we are too large of a school to have our whole school fit into one place to meet.  Next year we are moving to academies where students are placed based on their career pathway. I felt as if it may be possible to have regular meetings with our academies. My supervisor thought this was a good idea, so we will be having at least two meetings a month with our whole academy (staff and students). The goal would be to create a positive school culture where students are engaged and motivated to succeed.

Sample using

I will be researching and collecting data on the academy that I am in. I am in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) Academy. These will be the students and teachers that I am interviewing and collecting data on.

Question/Subquestions

What role do bi-weekly academy meetings play in creating a positive and caring school culture?

• In what ways will the students and staff become more aware of positive things that are happening at our school?
• In what ways will bi-weekly academy meetings bring a positive culture back on to our campus?
• How will improving school culture motivate the students and staff to achieve and succeed in the classroom?
• How do the meetings improve student behavior?

Methods/Data Collection

• Field notes will be taken during the academy meetings to capture what is going on and jot down the staff and student reactions.
• Interviews will be conducted with students and staff of the academy.
• Artifacts will be collected. (emails, parent newsletters, correspondence to and from parents, meeting agendas…possibly more)
• Video may be taken at several meetings to observe nature of interactions and behavior.
• Weblog will be used recalling my personal experience and thoughts.
• Surveys will be conducted at various times throughout the year to get the perception of the students and staff members regarding the academy meetings and school culture.
• Correspondence will be collected from principals conducted walk-throughs to look for student engagement.

Data Analysis

• Ongoing

Timeline

May – Survey Staff and Students to get their opinion on our school culture, possible motivation techniques, and thoughts about having regular academy meetings.

June-August – Meet with Campus Improvement Committee / Principals to develop a plan of action and discuss meetings and agendas for the meetings

August – Staff development over new academies and the academy meetings…interview teachers to get their opinions

End of August / September – Begin academy meetings…write field notes and video first few meetings

October/November – Interview students and staff members to see how meetings are going…Is school culture changing? What else needs to be done? Re-evaluate plan/agenda if needed.

December-May – Continue to write in weblog, write field notes, and video at least once a month to document process. Keep any emails and artifacts that involve academy meetings. Conduct another survey to see how students and staff members feel about the meetings. (What we they like to see incorporated in to the meetings?) (Do they feel motivated? If not, what would help them feel motivated?) Look at student’s grades and test scores to see how they are changing. Continue to have principals looking at student engagement in the classrooms.

Action Planning Template (7.1)

SCHOOL VISION: New school vision focused on building a strong SHS culture where engaging, meaningful, creative learning can take place and where college and career readiness is emphasized.

GOAL:  To create a positive school culture where students are encouraged to be actively engaged in their classes through regular bi-weekly academy meetings that motivate students and staff.

Action Steps:	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with leadership team and campus improvement committee to discuss academies and meetings (goal/agenda..etc.)	Principals / teachers	May 2013-ongoing	Background information, proof of positive influence to create buy in	Take field notes to document meetings, keep artifacts from meetings
Provide information to students, parents, and staff about academies and meetings	Principal	April / May 2013	Computers / way to communicate, documentation of success from other places to show the positive effects of meetings and academies	Conduct informal interviews to collect opinions from others. Conduct a survey after the information is given to get more opinions from a larger group.
Have Staff and student development to teach them the procedures	Principals / Improvement Committee	August / September 2013	Places to conduct development, tools needed to conduce (paper, utensils, computers..etc)	Interview staff and students to get their opinions, document field notes about staff development.
Begin academy meetings (these will be held at least twice a month)	Academy principals / counselors / coordinator / teachers / student	August 2013 – May 2014	Access to technology, funds, places to conduct meetings, possibly hire guest speakers	Take video to evaluate reactions… take field notes…keep artifacts (agendas, handouts..etc) Conduct survey to see how people are being motivated and to see if the culture has become more positive. May conduct two-three surveys throughout the year.
Principals conduct walk-throughs to document student engagement	Academy Principals	August 2013 – May 2014	Computers, documents, program for walk-through submission and viewing	Collect these to see if there is a trend between teachers, classes and student engagement

Process Overview:

1. Setting the foundation – Meet with the principals and campus improvement committee to discuss academies and having regular meetings with academies. Talk about the school vision and what needs to be done to meet the vision. How can we improve our school’s culture?
2. Analyzing data – Use a variety of data as well as electronic searches for articles and other schools that have academies and/or regular whole school or academy meetings. Other data may include surveys, field notes, video, and interviews. Findings might include different topics to include during meetings or motivational activities.
3. Developing deeper understanding – After gathering data, we will need to evaluate and possibly do more research or use a variety of different research strategies (as mentioned above). We will need to continuously meet to re-evaluate and tweak some items in the plan.
4. Engage in Self-Reflection – We will need to continuously self-reflect throughout the year. Are we using the skills and resources that are needed? Have our students and staff “bought into” the meetings? If not, what needs to be done? Has our school culture changed? What could we be doing differently? What are we doing right?
5. Exploring programmatic patterns – Meet with principals and improvement committee to discuss solutions and pros/cons of the possible solutions. Try to identify all the negatives before coming up with solutions.
6. Determining direction – This would be where we would double check everything before our plan goes into action. Have discussed and come up with all of the solutions to the problems. Are the timelines and agendas in place for the meetings. We need to be sure we have a plan to monitor the project and determining its level of success.
7. Taking action for school improvement – Be sure to have the plan written with steps.