This course has been useful in a number of ways for me. As I am working on a 3-year grant project, I will be using the information regarding quantitative and qualitative data analysis. I am interested in researching these methods further and best practices regarding creating research. I was happy to discover that Beaumont ISD has someone in the position of RESEARCH DIRECTOR! That seems proactive to me, and I like seeing that some districts are.
Good luck to everyone on their projects!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Review of Action Plan
I appreciate all the kind comments. My school has a need for staff development that will bring us together in working for the good of our students. With all the personnel changes that have occurred, maybe this is the year for positive change!
Additional suggestions made to improve the plan include:
* Research how to implement the initial idea.
* Provide data to staff as it becomes available and share with them.
* Determine how to gather feedback from reluctant staff.
These are all great ideas and will be implemented into my Action Research Plan:
* Research how to implement the initial idea- my principal is actually providing the staff development. I will work with her further to ensure that the follow-up activities match the information that is provided.
* Provide data to staff as it becomes available and share with them - Data will be provided to staff and administrators as it is collected and summarized.
* Determine how to gather feedback from reluctant staff - reward completion of activiites through a variety of methods such as: email to entire faculty with names of those who have completed, letters/email to PDAS administrator of those who have complied, etc.
Thanks. I am looking forward to a great school year and wish you all a great year!
Additional suggestions made to improve the plan include:
* Research how to implement the initial idea.
* Provide data to staff as it becomes available and share with them.
* Determine how to gather feedback from reluctant staff.
These are all great ideas and will be implemented into my Action Research Plan:
* Research how to implement the initial idea- my principal is actually providing the staff development. I will work with her further to ensure that the follow-up activities match the information that is provided.
* Provide data to staff as it becomes available and share with them - Data will be provided to staff and administrators as it is collected and summarized.
* Determine how to gather feedback from reluctant staff - reward completion of activiites through a variety of methods such as: email to entire faculty with names of those who have completed, letters/email to PDAS administrator of those who have complied, etc.
Thanks. I am looking forward to a great school year and wish you all a great year!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Action Research: Professional Development
Wonderings: - In what ways might a Professional Development of Whole-Group Book Study; contribute to enhanced learning opportunities and increased student achievement of diverse learners, while increasing collaboration and morale of staff?
-In what ways can I as a school leader, best facilitate teacher professional development?
Action Research Investigation Goals
• Increase collaboration of staff
• Increase morale of staff
• Enhance student learning opportunities
• Increase student achievement among diverse groups of students
• Increase personal leadership skills
Activities designed to achieve objectives
Provide professional development opportunities:
• Opening week back to school
• Professional development days throughout the school year
• Create opportunities for communication among staff: face-to-face opening day events and team building activities, periodic meetings for entire faculty, periodic meetings with departments and smaller collaborative groups, emails, blogging, etc.
Resources & research tools needed
• Meeting room for opening day - off-site location due to remaining construction on campus
• Books – purchase 300 copies for entire school staff:
Blankstein, A.M. (2010). Failure is not an option: 6 principles for Making Student Success the only option. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Rath, T., Clifton, D.O. (2009). How full is your bucket? Positive strategies for work and life: Educator’s edition. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
• Materials & Equipment to present information such as: projector, laptop computer, PowerPoint presentation, agenda, hand-outs
• Supplies for staff development including notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, markers, etc.
• Food and drinks to contribute to participants comfort and increase time involved in collaboration activities
• Funding provided through DoDEA Mathematics Initiative Grant
Persons Responsible
• Brenda Lohse, DoDEA Grant Project Leader
• Principal of school
• Assistant Principals of School
• Leadership team
Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities
June 2010
Reserve location
Submit purchase order for location
Submit purchase order for books
Submit purchase orders for supplies and materials
July 2010
Create Agenda for Professional Development
August 2010
Hold 1st professional development session
September 2010
Hold 2nd professional development session (Teacher In-service ½ day)
Begin reflection through use of technology (email or blogging)
Bi-Monthly, September 2010 – May 2011
Follow-up sessions (in face-to-face meetings and through use of technology such as emails and blogging)
October 2010
Create and disseminate surveys to gather preliminary data
Write preliminary report
February 2010
Disseminate surveys to determine Action Plan progress
Write preliminary report
May 2011
Summative Evaluations completed and collection
Write final report and present to school stakeholders including: parents, teachers, administration, district, and School Board
Process for Monitoring the achievement of goals & objectives
Formative and summative evaluations to obtain data and determine the effectiveness of professional development activities and follow-up.
Evaluation questions to include:
• Were staff development opportunities provided as planned?
• Did faculty and staff who received the professional development, implement the best-practice collaborative strategies in their classrooms?
• Did the professional development lead to the following stated objectives, and to what extent?
Increase collaboration of staff?
Increase morale of staff?
Enhance student learning opportunities?
Increase student achievement?
Increase personal leadership skills?
Assessment instrument(s)
During Professional Development Sessions:
• Agenda of Professional Development showing research-based strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners and increase collaboration among staff
• Sign-in sheets for all attendees
• Add Professional Development sessions to on-line tracking system (Eduphoria) to maintain data/ attendance of attendees
• Pre and post evaluations by participants regarding their level of knowledge to meet needs of diverse learners and how they will incorporate this new knowledge into their teaching
Post-Training:
• Surveys developed and created to gather participant information such as:
Prior –staff development knowledge
Post –staff development knowledge
Faculty and staff perspective on quality of staff development
Faculty and staff perspective on ability to implement objectives in classrooms
Survey completed by teachers, or other measures of accountability at specific intervals through-out the school year
• Summary of best-practice collaborative professional development activities
• Classroom Observations
• Copies of walk-throughs to verify use of information/ strategies learned
• Review of Lesson Plans to determine how teachers are incorporating training into their lessons
• Teacher comments to provide information on how the new knowledge is helping meeting the needs of diverse learners, and how it may be improving their achievement
• Follow-up training that may be needed by specific teachers, or if they feel additional information is required
• Journaling by myself and select teachers, specifically math department teachers; to reflect upon the process and changes that have occurred because of the information learned in the staff development sessions
• Blogs or other technology to provide a forum for teachers to communicate with one another during the process of change
-In what ways can I as a school leader, best facilitate teacher professional development?
Action Research Investigation Goals
• Increase collaboration of staff
• Increase morale of staff
• Enhance student learning opportunities
• Increase student achievement among diverse groups of students
• Increase personal leadership skills
Activities designed to achieve objectives
Provide professional development opportunities:
• Opening week back to school
• Professional development days throughout the school year
• Create opportunities for communication among staff: face-to-face opening day events and team building activities, periodic meetings for entire faculty, periodic meetings with departments and smaller collaborative groups, emails, blogging, etc.
Resources & research tools needed
• Meeting room for opening day - off-site location due to remaining construction on campus
• Books – purchase 300 copies for entire school staff:
Blankstein, A.M. (2010). Failure is not an option: 6 principles for Making Student Success the only option. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Rath, T., Clifton, D.O. (2009). How full is your bucket? Positive strategies for work and life: Educator’s edition. New York, NY: Gallup Press.
• Materials & Equipment to present information such as: projector, laptop computer, PowerPoint presentation, agenda, hand-outs
• Supplies for staff development including notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, markers, etc.
• Food and drinks to contribute to participants comfort and increase time involved in collaboration activities
• Funding provided through DoDEA Mathematics Initiative Grant
Persons Responsible
• Brenda Lohse, DoDEA Grant Project Leader
• Principal of school
• Assistant Principals of School
• Leadership team
Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities
June 2010
Reserve location
Submit purchase order for location
Submit purchase order for books
Submit purchase orders for supplies and materials
July 2010
Create Agenda for Professional Development
August 2010
Hold 1st professional development session
September 2010
Hold 2nd professional development session (Teacher In-service ½ day)
Begin reflection through use of technology (email or blogging)
Bi-Monthly, September 2010 – May 2011
Follow-up sessions (in face-to-face meetings and through use of technology such as emails and blogging)
October 2010
Create and disseminate surveys to gather preliminary data
Write preliminary report
February 2010
Disseminate surveys to determine Action Plan progress
Write preliminary report
May 2011
Summative Evaluations completed and collection
Write final report and present to school stakeholders including: parents, teachers, administration, district, and School Board
Process for Monitoring the achievement of goals & objectives
Formative and summative evaluations to obtain data and determine the effectiveness of professional development activities and follow-up.
Evaluation questions to include:
• Were staff development opportunities provided as planned?
• Did faculty and staff who received the professional development, implement the best-practice collaborative strategies in their classrooms?
• Did the professional development lead to the following stated objectives, and to what extent?
Increase collaboration of staff?
Increase morale of staff?
Enhance student learning opportunities?
Increase student achievement?
Increase personal leadership skills?
Assessment instrument(s)
During Professional Development Sessions:
• Agenda of Professional Development showing research-based strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners and increase collaboration among staff
• Sign-in sheets for all attendees
• Add Professional Development sessions to on-line tracking system (Eduphoria) to maintain data/ attendance of attendees
• Pre and post evaluations by participants regarding their level of knowledge to meet needs of diverse learners and how they will incorporate this new knowledge into their teaching
Post-Training:
• Surveys developed and created to gather participant information such as:
Prior –staff development knowledge
Post –staff development knowledge
Faculty and staff perspective on quality of staff development
Faculty and staff perspective on ability to implement objectives in classrooms
Survey completed by teachers, or other measures of accountability at specific intervals through-out the school year
• Summary of best-practice collaborative professional development activities
• Classroom Observations
• Copies of walk-throughs to verify use of information/ strategies learned
• Review of Lesson Plans to determine how teachers are incorporating training into their lessons
• Teacher comments to provide information on how the new knowledge is helping meeting the needs of diverse learners, and how it may be improving their achievement
• Follow-up training that may be needed by specific teachers, or if they feel additional information is required
• Journaling by myself and select teachers, specifically math department teachers; to reflect upon the process and changes that have occurred because of the information learned in the staff development sessions
• Blogs or other technology to provide a forum for teachers to communicate with one another during the process of change
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Hurdles & Wanderings
Two topics of action research that I am considering are: Professional Development for staff, and increasing parental involvement. Our school is facing many hurdles this school year:
- moving to a new campus
- Combining two separate campuses into one (9/10 grade and 11/12 grade campuses)
- Changing from block schedule to a more traditional 7-period day
- Many administrative & personnel changes over the last 12 months
- Decrease in teacher morale
- Increased emphasis on student achievement, with a push toward meeting Exemplary standards
Due to the many changes, the most pressing issue at this time seems to be that of Professional Development and building a more collaborative learning environment.
My pondering is: In what ways might a whole group (administrators, faculty, and other staff) technology-based book study contribute to how our school may create enhanced learning opportunities and increased student achievement? How can the teaching staff support one another while increasing student achievement?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
How Educational Leaders Might use Blogging
Blogging may be a great way for educational leaders to stay in touch with one another. Given that educators have historically been isolated from one another, this is a great way to share information without leaving home!
According to the text by Dana (2009), educational leaders can benefit by blogging in some of the following ways:
* capture thinking
* combine text, images, links to other blogs
* gather comments from readers
* gain insight into our own thinking over time
* serves as an online diary
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
According to the text by Dana (2009), educational leaders can benefit by blogging in some of the following ways:
* capture thinking
* combine text, images, links to other blogs
* gather comments from readers
* gain insight into our own thinking over time
* serves as an online diary
Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Action Research: What is it?
The strategy of action research or inquiry research offers principals a method upon which to determine what changes need to be addressed and then reflect upon the changes to determine the next course of action. The process should be systematic, rather than haphazard. Administrator inquiry also aligns with professional development guidelines for administrators.
Schools and districts must provide professional development that is meaningful for staff. At the school level, this issue has not been addressed by administrators. Too many times, staff development is just a "fill-in" because the district has said so. There is a need for collaboration among colleagues, more professional learning communities, more action research studies and true collaboration. The inquiry-based, action research as mentioned in this course is exactly what the schools need to be doing.
So, the problem is: how do we create meaningful, authentic professional development opportunities for educators with the goal of increasing student achievement? At my school, math scores are low compared to other areas; so we need to increase math achievement for all students including general education, special education, and other at-risk populations.
An action research study would be beneficial in solving this problem by providing a guideline in exactly how to begin, how to measure progress through formative and summative assessments and what these measures will look like. This is a great time for this course; I want this to be ready for the start of the new school year.
Schools and districts must provide professional development that is meaningful for staff. At the school level, this issue has not been addressed by administrators. Too many times, staff development is just a "fill-in" because the district has said so. There is a need for collaboration among colleagues, more professional learning communities, more action research studies and true collaboration. The inquiry-based, action research as mentioned in this course is exactly what the schools need to be doing.
So, the problem is: how do we create meaningful, authentic professional development opportunities for educators with the goal of increasing student achievement? At my school, math scores are low compared to other areas; so we need to increase math achievement for all students including general education, special education, and other at-risk populations.
An action research study would be beneficial in solving this problem by providing a guideline in exactly how to begin, how to measure progress through formative and summative assessments and what these measures will look like. This is a great time for this course; I want this to be ready for the start of the new school year.
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