There were many aspects of this coursework that have been helpful in fine toning my action research plan. Nancy Fichtman Dana’s text, Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher, has provided endless insights, especially the insight she gave on narrowing down wonderings by using the nine areas of passion (p30-32). The weekly assignments were invaluable in retrospect. They assisted in narrowing my research topic and armed me with valuable tools to simplify and focus my research question.
My mental state coming in was one of excitement and an innate understanding of what type of leader I would eventually become. Only having one perspective of my school as a whole I never had the opportunity to even think about how things come together or what decisions have to be in place in order for a school to run smoothly. The vase amount of decisions that it takes to run a campus is ridiculously overwhelming. A leader has to be able to identify all aspects of need on each individual campus and create a system or procedures to meet those needs, and then a sound campus plan can be implemented.
That is so many things that I still want to learn. Thinking about it all is tremendously overwhelming because I think implementing all the new knowledge and anticipating the knowledge to come can be intimidating. A principal’s responsibility can be rather cumbersome but when you are firm with the goal and vision then that helps to focus a leader. Principals must have a clear vision of the direction in which they want to lead the campus. Another aspect that I will want to focus on is how to lead the unleadable.
One topic I would like to build upon is how to develop that strong leadership base. I truly want a strong school culture that fosters a positive sense of collaboration, instead of viewing it as duty. One way I can increase my knowledge base is by working closely with my site supervisor and focusing on what works. Having to conduct so much research allows me to see all the different schools of thought and how to narrow my focus and at the same time remaining flexible to new ideas. Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Action Research Plan
Action Research Plan
Objective: To determine if implementation of certain real world assignments that are linked to real world credentials for students increase postsecondary success or readiness.
Action Step 1: Select three preps of Senior English classes and introduce participants to the requirements for their individual portfolios containing but not limited to: job applications, resumes, cover letters, career research projects, college applications, scholarship applications, college essay writing and design.
Person Responsible: Sheri Ilo, 3 additional Senior English Instructors and Site Supervisor
Timeline: September 1, 2010 – September 30, 2010
Needed Resources: The Master Schedule and Student List
Evaluation: Classes will be identified by mid-September.
Action Step 2:Indentify Preps that will participate in this research study.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: September 15, 2010 – September 30, 2010
Resourses: Glencoe Literature Book and Ancillaries, Live Writing; Writer’s Notebook (Fletcher), Writer’s Inc., Senior Class Career Packet
Evaluation: Student successful completes job application, cover letter, resume, and career research project; graded with appropriate rubric.
Action Step 3:Students begin College portfolio with at least five college applications, three scholarship application with fafsa pin and application completed, college essay writings and design.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachersTimeline: October, 2010 – May, 2011
Needed Resources: Glencoe Literature Book and Ancillaries, Live Writing; Writer’s Notebook (Fletcher), Writer’s Inc., Senior Class Career Packet
Evaluation: Students must update portfolio with acceptance letters and scholarship awards.
Action Step 4:Portfolio evaluations.Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: Every nine weeks between October, 2010 – May, 2011
Needed Resources: Time during PLC (collaborative team meetings)
Evaluation: Each class will discuss progress of college/career portfolio each semester.
Action Step 5:Interview teachers to gather feedback and their daily observations.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: December, 2010 and March, 2011
Needed Resources: Interview protocol
Evaluation: Interview notes will be recorded.
Action Step 6:Collect and discuss student work during scheduled PLC’s.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: Every nine weeks between October, 2010 – May, 2011
Needed Resources: Student work
Evaluation: A portfolio of student work before and after the project will be maintained to determine growth over time.
Action Step 7:Disseminate research findings.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Site Supervisor
Timeline: July – August, 2011
Needed Resources: Student work
Evaluation: Action research findings will be shared with the faculty during a faculty meeting and will be available through the creation of a summary report.
Template adapted from the Harris et al. text.
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris et al. (2010) Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont. NY: Eye on Education.
Objective: To determine if implementation of certain real world assignments that are linked to real world credentials for students increase postsecondary success or readiness.
Action Step 1: Select three preps of Senior English classes and introduce participants to the requirements for their individual portfolios containing but not limited to: job applications, resumes, cover letters, career research projects, college applications, scholarship applications, college essay writing and design.
Person Responsible: Sheri Ilo, 3 additional Senior English Instructors and Site Supervisor
Timeline: September 1, 2010 – September 30, 2010
Needed Resources: The Master Schedule and Student List
Evaluation: Classes will be identified by mid-September.
Action Step 2:Indentify Preps that will participate in this research study.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: September 15, 2010 – September 30, 2010
Resourses: Glencoe Literature Book and Ancillaries, Live Writing; Writer’s Notebook (Fletcher), Writer’s Inc., Senior Class Career Packet
Evaluation: Student successful completes job application, cover letter, resume, and career research project; graded with appropriate rubric.
Action Step 3:Students begin College portfolio with at least five college applications, three scholarship application with fafsa pin and application completed, college essay writings and design.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachersTimeline: October, 2010 – May, 2011
Needed Resources: Glencoe Literature Book and Ancillaries, Live Writing; Writer’s Notebook (Fletcher), Writer’s Inc., Senior Class Career Packet
Evaluation: Students must update portfolio with acceptance letters and scholarship awards.
Action Step 4:Portfolio evaluations.Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: Every nine weeks between October, 2010 – May, 2011
Needed Resources: Time during PLC (collaborative team meetings)
Evaluation: Each class will discuss progress of college/career portfolio each semester.
Action Step 5:Interview teachers to gather feedback and their daily observations.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: December, 2010 and March, 2011
Needed Resources: Interview protocol
Evaluation: Interview notes will be recorded.
Action Step 6:Collect and discuss student work during scheduled PLC’s.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Participating teachers
Timeline: Every nine weeks between October, 2010 – May, 2011
Needed Resources: Student work
Evaluation: A portfolio of student work before and after the project will be maintained to determine growth over time.
Action Step 7:Disseminate research findings.
Person Responsible: Sheri, Site Supervisor
Timeline: July – August, 2011
Needed Resources: Student work
Evaluation: Action research findings will be shared with the faculty during a faculty meeting and will be available through the creation of a summary report.
Template adapted from the Harris et al. text.
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris et al. (2010) Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont. NY: Eye on Education.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Week 2 Reflection
This week has really assisted in clarifying what exactly i want to focus on. Having had an opportunity to work on our district pacing guide i had a unique opportunity to grasp an in-dept understanding of how important it is to have a sound framework for our professional teachers to create their our lessons from.
Due to State mandates we had to incorporate the new College Readiness Standards within our existing pacing guides while tweeking our existing curriculum. This process lead to my action research focus on the question that will implementation of certain real world assignments that are linked to real world credentials for students increase postsecondary success or rediness? This will lead me to follow my student for at least a year or so after graduation. This will be possible for me to attain because i am a senior English teacher and my class is structured to where i have past students return the year after they graduate to speak with my current classes about regrets and or advise they have for the current senior class.
Dr. Johnny Briseno, Principal of Rancho Isabella Elementary, also memtioned during one of our vidoes this week that action research allows for data-driven collaboration and discussion; so this will have a positive impact on my district and it will also lend to the merit of the information that will be gathered and reflected on.
I am now excited about my research path since I have the support of my site supervisor and I am comfortable that this is something I can truly research and implement.
Due to State mandates we had to incorporate the new College Readiness Standards within our existing pacing guides while tweeking our existing curriculum. This process lead to my action research focus on the question that will implementation of certain real world assignments that are linked to real world credentials for students increase postsecondary success or rediness? This will lead me to follow my student for at least a year or so after graduation. This will be possible for me to attain because i am a senior English teacher and my class is structured to where i have past students return the year after they graduate to speak with my current classes about regrets and or advise they have for the current senior class.
Dr. Johnny Briseno, Principal of Rancho Isabella Elementary, also memtioned during one of our vidoes this week that action research allows for data-driven collaboration and discussion; so this will have a positive impact on my district and it will also lend to the merit of the information that will be gathered and reflected on.
I am now excited about my research path since I have the support of my site supervisor and I am comfortable that this is something I can truly research and implement.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Why should educators use blogs?
Blogs are highly beneficial to educators for the primary reason of sharing ideas and having an open dialogue with other educators around the world. Blogs can even assist classroom teachers during creative unit plans and administrators as a communication tool with the school body.
What is action research?
Action research simply means "learning by doing." The text book definition of is "Action research...aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science simultaneously. Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning as a primary aspect of the research process."by ABL Group. Future Search Process Design.
The more I learn about action research, I can see that what seperates it from other type of research from general professional practices, consulting, or daily problem-solving is the emphasis on scientific study, which is to say the researcher studies the problem systematically and ensures the intervention is informed by theoretical considerations. Much of the researcher’s time is spent on fine toning the tools to suit the uniqueness of the situation, and on collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on an ongoing, revolving basis.
Several attributes separate action research from other types of research. First is its focus on turning the people involved into researchers, too - people learn best, and more willingly apply what they have learned, when they do it themselves. Second, it also has a social dimension - the research takes place in real-world situations, and aims to solve real problems. Finally, the initiating researcher, unlike in other disciplines, makes no attempt to remain objective, but openly acknowledges their bias to the other participants.
The more I learn about action research, I can see that what seperates it from other type of research from general professional practices, consulting, or daily problem-solving is the emphasis on scientific study, which is to say the researcher studies the problem systematically and ensures the intervention is informed by theoretical considerations. Much of the researcher’s time is spent on fine toning the tools to suit the uniqueness of the situation, and on collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on an ongoing, revolving basis.
Several attributes separate action research from other types of research. First is its focus on turning the people involved into researchers, too - people learn best, and more willingly apply what they have learned, when they do it themselves. Second, it also has a social dimension - the research takes place in real-world situations, and aims to solve real problems. Finally, the initiating researcher, unlike in other disciplines, makes no attempt to remain objective, but openly acknowledges their bias to the other participants.
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