EDLD 5301 - Completed

I learned a great deal about action research in this course, and am actually ready to get started with my action research project when school starts. I am anxious to see what direction the ARP leads, and what results it produces. I am glad to have EDLD 5301 completed, and look forward to starting the new class. I am sure it will be more challenging with school starting up, and all of the added activities that entails, but I think that with proper preparation and planning, it will be manageable.

Week 4

This week was a very informative week. I took a look at my action research project and analyzed ways that I could make it better. Thanks to everyone who posted comments last week. Some pointed out things to consider. Others left encouraging comments. All were appreciated, and I feel like I am on the right track, as far as my action research plan is concerned.

The reading for this week shared different strategies to use in our ARP. I plan to use the Delphi Method to gather information regarding our tardy policy, potential problems to address, and potential ways to address the problem. This method gathers information from the stakeholders (teachers) and through a few rounds of interviews/surveys brings the focus onto one or two issues that need to be addressed. I think this method will allow me to gather potential areas to address, and narrow that focus to the one I will eventually address, while allowing the teachers on the high school campus to offer their insights. I think this will be informative for me, while giving them a say in the process. I feel like this is important since my goal is to decrease tardiness and the interruptions it causes in the classroom and learning process.

My Action Research Template

After meeting with my site supervisor, I have completed the outline of my action research plan. We agreed that I would develop a plan to address out current tardy policy and the administration of that policy. In the past I have noted that teachers are less than pleased with this policy and I will gather information from them, from administration, from published articles on tardiness and ways to decrease it, and from other school districts within the state of Texas. My plan will cover the 2013-14 school year. My template for preparing and implementing the plan is below......

Action Planning Template
Goal: to decrease student tardiness during the school day, thereby increasing instruction time, and decreasing interruptions to the learning process.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Interview teachers regarding areas of concern associated with our current tardy policy	I will conduct the interviews of core classroom teachers at the HS	First week of school.	Surveys and interviews	Review the surveys and interviews to establish a plan to address and reduce student tardiness.
Explore ways to address the concerns discovered above	Myself – reading student handbooks from other districts, emailing former colleagues and principals, and reading articles on tardiness and policies to address tardiness.	Second and third weeks of school.	Online student handbooks, emails, articles on student tardiness and solutions.	Become familiar with and evaluate various options to reduce student tardiness.
Select a strategy to address the tardy policy concerns and present the strategy to the principal and AP.	I will select a strategy to incorporate into our tardy policy. The principal and AP will review the strategy and make suggestions or changes.	Fourth and fifth weeks of school strategy will be selected and approved. ** Our first six weeks grading period is actually 5 weeks.	Strategy and plan gathered in the step above. Principal and AP input.	Principal and AP will evaluate the strategy and make suggestions or changes to make the plan suitable to our needs.
Implement the strategy to help reduce student tardiness.	I will be responsible for implementing the strategy and collecting data during the course of the study.	Beginning of the second six weeks – Sept 30, 2013 through May 30, 2014.	TBD – based on strategy selected from steps above.	Data will be analyzed and adjustments or changes to the strategy will be made as needed to reduce student tardiness.
Examine the effectiveness of the strategy implemented by comparing tardiness records from last year with this year periodically and surveying teachers.	I will evaluate the strategy implemented throughout the process. I will present information to the principal and AP periodically to keep them up to date and suggest changes or seek their input.	Sept 30, 2013 –May 30, 2014	Attendance (Tardy) records from 2012-2013 and from 2013-2014 for comparison. Teacher surveys Administrator input	Changes (if needed) will be implemented to make the strategy more effective in reducing student tardiness.
Data analysis and final evaluation	My principal, my AP, and I will evaluate the overall effectiveness of the action research plan implemented.	June 2, 2014 – June 10, 2014	Action research data gathered. Attendance (tardy) records Teacher surveys	Did the action research plan reduce student tardiness? Was the plan practical and effective for our campus, faculty, and administration?