Research Finale

It was refreshing to hear about research that is self-driven and impacts students and educators directly.  It was difficult to narrow down the ideas for the action research plan, but once I did this, it was interesting to dig in and find research to validate beliefs I already felt were true.  I can also see how this becomes cyclical and a bit contagious.  One question, or wondering, leads to another one...all the while you are trying to better the environment of your campus.  The warning I can see is trying to change too much at one time based on the great research findings that come up.  As a leader, one thing must be accomplished at a time; too much will only overwhelm your staff.


During this course, I realized I need to make evaluating of my research a priority.  I think I get too wrapped up in only the student progress and not enough in evaluating what I, as a researcher and/or implementer needs to work on or re-assess from the planning stand point. 

All in all, I feel this was a valuable course.  A lot of time went in to planning the action research, so know, I hope all goes well.  We are just at the forefront of implementing such a big plan.  Whether successful or not, I'm sure it will be a learning process along the way.

My action plan below is still current, however, I am running into some road blocks with the personnel I am relying on to help with this project. My site supervisor has already agreed to help with motivating the ones who are assisting me. Yet, I am not sure it is really keeping my focus group engaged engaged at this time. I am not willing to throw in the towel on my project just yet, but I am considering alternatives in the event that this does not pan-out.

The information on Strategies for Sustaining Improvement was helpful and sparked many ideas to begin brainstorming the needs on our campus. Questionnaires and surveys seem a smart way to get good feedback from community members, staff members, and even students. The CARE Model is helpful for monitoring and assessing inquiry projects.

Action Research Plan

Here is my Action Research Plan.  Any and all input is welcome.  I am beginning to feel that I have taken on too large of a project and have not been given the time to see adequate results.  Is there a way for me to downscale this project?

Action Research Plan Benefits of Cross-Curricular Instruction By Darla Jackson
Goal:  Provide data to support cross-curricular instruction at the middle school level and increase student performance in vocabulary and increase retention of information through transferable knowledge.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Collaborate with site supervisor on the details of the project	Site Supervisor/ Principal	March 8, 2011	Articles containing information on cross-curricular instruction	Reflect on her advice regarding limited time for project, teacher involvement, and documentation
Identify student “control” group to participate in project	ESL teacher Core teachers (4)	March 10, 2011	Journal to begin: track student names, teacher reflections, observations, etc.	Ponder the best way to present this project to the students who are participating
Examine and evaluate current student data (MAP scores, TAKS scores, TELPAS results, and benchmark scores)	Core teachers (from this point on, I will refer to them as my focus group)	March 21, 2011	Testing data from cumulative folders and other relevant data	Create a spreadsheet to evaluate the data findings and identify areas of weakness
Meet for our first focus group planning session	Focus Group	March 22, 2011	Lesson planning template, district curriculum pacing guides per subject, format for pre- and post- assessments	Identify the most logical theme/concept considering each subject’s district requirements and accompany the theme with high frequency vocabulary
ESL cluster students begin receiving cross-curricular instruction by front-loading the common vocabulary for the chosen theme	Students Focus Group	April 1, 2011	Pre-assessment and SmartBoard presentation of vocabulary	Evaluate the results from the pre-assessment
Focus Group meets bi-weekly to collaborate on future lessons and evaluate results of student progress	Focus Group	April 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 28 May 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, 31 June 2	Evaluation template and reflection journal	Continue to evolve the project based on need and student progress
Students take the post-assessment	Students Focus Group	May 31, 2011	Post-assessment and self reflection data template (students will fill this out to see how they progressed)	Evaluate the results of the post assessment and complete reflection on the results
Focus Group meets with Site Supervisor to report findings	Focus Group	June 4, 2011 (Staff Work Day)	Copies of all assessments, data result sheets, and reflection journal	Present student data to support cross-curricular instruction
Staff Development as part of our School Improvement Plan (if results are favorable)	Site Supervisor Focus Group Whole Staff Student Participants	August 18, 2011	Supplies to reenact lessons (per subject) Glogster to show student results (click on student photos to show their growth) Articles used during research	Collaborate to find the best way to implement cross-curricular instruction (at least in 8th grade)

Action Research in Progress

I am definitely moving forward with the concept of cross-curricular instruction and planning.  To narrow this broad area of research, I have decided to take action using my ESL students and using only core subjects.  There will be 4 core teachers working on our instruction team, one from Science, one from History, one from Math, and one from Reading.  We will meet twice a week and create lesson plans and discuss ways to assess our ESL students' progress.  This will be a six week action research project.  Ideally, we would conduct this over a yearly span, but time is limited with the end of the year coming up.

I foresee the greatest challenge being time; time to get four core teachers to commit to this and time to create secondary instructional plans.  We will also have limited results due to the short time set aside for the project.

Areas of Interest for Action Research

After reading Chapter 2 from Leading with Passion and Knowledge, it became clear how self driven action research is for leaders.  As Dana states, you are "...taking charge of your own learning..." (Dana, pg. 29).  This style of learning leads to profound professional development that deals with the leader's direct needs (and those of his/her campus).  The examples and exercises put real-life experience behind the research.  Many of the examples given made me stop and realize how important it is to continue to grow and reflect and evaluate as an administrator.  There are so many things to consider...I imagine the research can become very overwhelming.  Prioritizing the needs of the campus will be imperative when deciding what to research.
Reading current editions of professional articles and journals will help feed the desire to further research because as we read, we question, and that questioning leads to the need for research.  Hence, the reason action research is considered cyclical.