EDLD 5301 Week 3 Action Research Plan

Wondering-  What are the common characteristics of effective teachers? Step 1 Examining the Work: Setting the Foundation- This section of the book discusses the need for inquiry and building interpersonal trust, but I feel the need to discuss the objective of my action research project.  I intend to identify those qualities that make a teacher effective in the classroom.  Once those qualities are identified they can be used for the new hire process and to bolster the existing teachers effectiveness in the classroom.  Step 2 Examining the Work: Analyzing the Data- I will use the STAAR Test results from 2013 to identify those teachers on campus whose students scored well.  I am not sure at this point what numerical value I will assign to a student who has “scored well” and who has not.  After a pool of teachers has been identified who students scored well, I will then use one or maybe two teacher surveys called a “Teacher Efficacy Scale” or a “GRIT” scale to identify routines, procedures, and best practices of all the teachers on campus to compare and contrast those effective and ineffective teachers. Step 3 Examining the Work: Developing Deeper Understanding- One of the pitfalls of using test scores from only one year’s sample is obviously only using scores that may reflect a small percentage of outstanding students.  A bigger sample size may be needed.  However, other than just using document analysis of test scores and questionnaires in the form of surveys,  I will also interview some of the effective teachers to further identify those best practices and possibly expose my findings to the campus leadership team before publishing my results. Step 4 Examining the Work: Engaging in Self-Reflection- I am not sure how self-reflection comes into play at this point of the action research project.  The self-reflection should come into play mostly before a particular quandary can be identified.  I do want to point out here that I will be using a district wide system called AWARE to collect the results from the STAAR Test taking into consideration the 2012-2013 scale scores. Step 5 Examining the Work: Exploring Programmatic Patterns- Although one way to examine programmatic patterns would be to conduct an equity audit.  This inquiry might yield results that can be very valuable at a Title I school such as mine; however, this is not what my action research project is about at this time.  I do need to point out that the timeline for my action plan is to culminate this fall so that the results of the project can be used in the spring semester for other Title I principals in the district to be able to further that project by using statistics from their own campus to use for the following school year.  Those principals, including my own, will be the persons responsible for implementation of the plan. Step 6 Examining the Work: Determining Direction- This step fits my action research project well.  In the book there are 3 steps to determining direction.  They are the following: 1) Revisit previous goals and priorities 2) Determine areas where more information is needed.  3)  Recognize limitations.  In revisiting previous goals and priorities there in or no goal more important or of higher priority than that of identifying qualities that make teachers effective either for the hiring process or for existing teachers in the classroom.  Once those effective teachers are identified through their student’s test scores more information will be gathered to further identify what processes, routines, and techniques those teachers used in the classroom.  We all recognize the limitations of research of this sort in the way that a normally effective teacher would use outstanding teaching techniques and still not have their students score as well as another more ineffective teacher for a myriad of reasons.  My goal is to merely point out those techniques or qualities that yielded positive results. Step 7 Examining the Work: Taking Action for School Improvement- Although I plan to use the campus leadership committee to bounce my results off of before I publish them, the bulk of the work on this action research project will be done by me.  I will also get help from my site supervisor and my field supervisor.  This section of the book recommends an action committee, but also recommends a written plan and documentation of the ongoing activities until the plan is complete.  The monitoring and evaluation of the plan will stem from the STAAR Test scores in the future years.  If those state test scores have risen, then this action research project will have been a success.  It is important to note here that the success of this project may not be known for a few years and I am watchful of any anomalies resulting from a class of overachieving or underachieving students. Step 8 Examining the Work: Sustaining Improvement- This section discusses various models for sustaining improvement such as Force Field Analysis, Delphi Method, Nominal Group Technique, and CARE Model.  These proposed models are all example of methods to sustain improvements in school in a general manner.  Although I have witnessed the Nominal Group Technique used in our campus leadership team meetings and I like this model the most because of the buy-in it promotes with all the group members, I would need more understanding on how any of these models would help my action research project.  I view these models as ways to identify needs of a campus and collaborate ways to fulfill those needs.