Web Conference/EDLD 5326 School Community Relations

I thought the web conference was very helpful in answering any questions that we have about the Week 5 assignments, TK20, and sharing different community and parent involvement plans.  This was actually my first time to attend a web conference and I found it to be very informative and helpful.  I look foward to attending more in the future.  I plan on getting a mircophone and web camera so I can interact more with the other students and the professor.  Dr. Jenkins is very helpful and informative and the students are willing to help and share any information they have concerning assignments, TK20 and other information or software that other students need help with.

Action Research-Week 4

I think it's great that you will have meetings. I think I will carry that into my action research and have meetings with my teachers to discuss the progress of my action research. I think that is very important. Thank you for sharing your action research! –Jennifer Nguyen

I admire that you are taking the bull by the horns and leading your team in figuring out the new curriculum! Your story is a familiar one. My district just implemented a new textbook adoption, and we have received almost no training on the materials and how to use them. Good luck on your endeavor!  -James Mahler

Based on my peer suggestions and comments I feel really good about my action research plan and didn’t see the need to make any changes with my plan.  Based on the peer comments I am moving forward with implementing my action research plan.   

My meeting with my site supervisor was very helpful with giving me tips and the confidence that I needed to successfully implement my action research plan. One suggestion that I plan to use in my action research and in the rest of my leadership career is meeting management. It was suggested that I assign each group member a specific duty or role such as time keeper, task manager, recorder of meeting minutes, etc. ” I always struggled with meeting management until it was suggested to me that I assign roles. Once I started using this system, my meetings were much more effective, efficient, and productive. Also, rotate the responsibilities. Keep every group member on their toes!” After receiving this personal insight on how meeting management will help with your productivity I plan to always use this system in any meetings that I conduct.

Action Research Plan

TOOL 7.1 Action Planning Template Goal: Facilitate teacher professional development to aid in their integration of the STAAR Test and CScope academic concepts throughout our elementary curriculum. Action Step 1.Identify area of focus and develop research questions Person Responsible Erica Seastrunk, Teacher Timeline: Start/End November/December 2011 Needed Resources Meeting with principal and 5th grade teachers Evaluation We will meet and decide on some specific research questions to focus on to achieve the stated goal. Action Step 2. Review CScope online curriculum Person Responsible Erica Seastrunk Timeline: Start/End December 2011 Needed Resources Internet and CScope online curriculum Evaluation I will compile a list and copies of several CScope documents that teachers need an in-depth understanding of to use when planning their curriculum lessons for their students. Action Step 3. Presentations/collect data Person Responsible Erica Seastrunk Timeline: Start/End December-May 2012 Needed Resources Curriculum test scores, district benchmark scores, STAAR results, online gradebook for scores from daily assignments, TEK assignments, and Scope unit test Evaluation The assessment data from daily assignments, tests, and district benchmarks from the first semester will be collected and compared to those same assessments during the second semester after CScope staff development has been presented.  There will also be an assessment for the students to take after every CScope unit as it is covered, to determine if, on average, students tend to master the CScope objective better during the semester before the teacher CScope staff development or after or if there is no difference. Action Step 4. Develop/deliver lessons that include CScope exemplar lessons & student journals Person (s) Responsible 5th grade teachers Timeline: Start/End December-May 2012 Needed Resources CScope online curriculum, supplemental resources Evaluation Beginning in the second semester, I along with the four other 5th grade teachers will begin incorporating CScope exemplar lessons and student journals as our primary instructional strategy and will use the data I collect from various assessments to compare the students’ academic growth and attitudes towards their subject areas to that of the first semester. Action Step 5. Analyze data Person Responsible Erica Seastrunk Timeline: Start/End April-May 2012 Needed Resources Curriculum test scores, district benchmark scores, STAAR results Evaluation Compare the assessment data collected from the first semester to the second semester to see if there are any marked changes/ improvements.  Also, examine the difference in their fifth grade state assessment results compared to their 3rd and 4th grade results.  Action Step 6. Compile action research into a paper Person Responsible Erica Seastrunk Timeline: Start/End May-June 2012 Needed Resources Data and resources used in all previous action steps Evaluation Compose a presentation to share my findings with my colleagues and use the Delphi Method to determine where the next area for action research should be.

Week 2 Reflection/Comments

I gained a tremendous amount of valuable information about action research in this week's readings and videos.  The school leaders provided insightful information and wisdom on how research can increase student success on campuses and in the entire school district.  After reading in Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher, by Nancy Fitchman Dana-pp.29-68, pp. 93-94 (ch. 2), I was able to understand why action research is needed and increases student success in a school; weither its directly or indirectly related to student acheivement. After viewing the videos and reading Chapter 2 I believe I was able to identify three topics for an action reseasrch project that will benefit my school campus a great deal and  am looking foward to discussing these topics with my site supervisor.

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs

Sharing your reasearch in the form of a blog will help you play with, develop, and challenge ideas that have developed about your educational practices as a result of engaging in research. Blogging automatically connects you to a large audience of professional educators in all positions and can be a wonderful way to share your research with colleagues that are 1,000 miles or more from your school.

Learning and Using Action Research

The role of the instructional leadership requires skills of facilitation and enpowerment, under a unifying vision, to provide effective learning experiences for students because no one instructional leader in isolation improves learning for all childern.  Therefore, teachers with the support of an instructional leader are provided support and direction necessary to address learning in their classroom.  Learner-centered leadership promotes the facilitation of action research in the classroom as a method of improving teaching and learning.  The action research process is an effective tool for improving teaching and learning with the instructional leader playing a vital role in the process by strengthening teachers' self-confidence and self-efficacy through action research.  Action research is grounded in scientific inquiry that tackles learning concerns in a case-study approach.

There are many benefits to using action research, a major benefit is the improvement of teaching when focusing on improving student achievement.  Facilitating the process as case studies, whole class, or whole school can be effective strategies for teachers' professional growth and accountability.  By engaging in the process of administrator action research with principals or teachers within your own building, you are forced out of isolation and surround yourself with other professionals conversing about practice in systematic and meaningful ways.