Action Research Plan

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template
Goal: What actions can our faculty take to improve parental involvement of parents who do not feel welcome at our campus?
(1) Action Step-Administer parents involvement response surveys

Person(s)
Responsible- Administrator, Counselor



Timeline- August 2010-October 2010
Start/End

Resources- Time and team members to collect completed surveys

Evaluation- Log of surveys completed and returned
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(2) Action Step- Improve 2-way communication system
Person(s)
Responsible- Administrator, technology specialist, translator

Timeline- August 2010-June 2011
Resources- Staff (Parent trainer coordinator, IT-Specialist) for campus staff
trainings

Evaluation- Teacher/parent communication logs
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(3) Action Step- Improve parent recruit system used to
extend parent’s opportunities to serve
on school committee(s) (i.e. SBDM, PTO, Curriculum Team)

Person(s)
Responsible- Administrator, department level chairpersons, PTO Chair
Timeline- August 2010-June 2011
Resources- Time (parent meetings and workshops), staff (leadership team to
conduct focus group meetings/surveys to learn of areas of interest
parents)

Evaluation- Increased parent membership on reform committees,
minutes from meetings documenting parents input, attendance
and volunteer logs from parent meetings and trainings

Week 2

One of the more insightful lessons I learned from week two was from Dr. Chargois video concerning the implementation of action research projects. He addressed the critical aspect of not implementing studies during critical times such a standardized testing (usually the month of May) , along with discussing the ethical delimmas that must be considered when conducting research. The protection of identity was a no brainer, however, I didn't think of ethics to the extent of what one maybe possibly researching would oppress the campus in any sort of way. I believe this is a good enough reason to seek out research that other campuses and districts have conducted on similiar areas of interest and take note of what worked and didn't work and more importantly of why it didn't work-possibly because of timing and/or some underlying ethical issue(s).

How educators might use blogs

Educators using blogs goes beyond providing support for one another in pursuit of the sames interest and/or goals. Educators can use blogs as an avenue to store their own ideas and others, along with referring back to them at various times (i.e. reflection). In addition the utilization of blogs allows educators to share ideas and seek insight from other educators (i.e. feedback) concerning the research and/or educational practices they are currently engaged in.

What I learned about action research

Thus far, I learned just how important action research is to aspiring administrators such as myself and veteran administrators. With the never ending demands that are place on administrators, along with possessing the ability to respond, lead others and manage the day to day operations in the pursuit of school improvement, one must actively engage in intentional studies of their own administrative practices. I learned that action research is a great professional development tool to be used to gain a clearer understanding of why various issues and concerns are existing in classrooms and in schools today, where as it creates opportunities for administrators to focus on goals and where viable solutions can be researched, identified, and implemented as practitioner’s practice to improve what’s wrong or to better understand what works (Dana, 2009). Another aspect of action research, which I learned and am looking forward to using, is its reflective practices. In order to grow as a strong leader, you must be able to reflect back on the decisions and actions you make. In making future sound decisions in an effort to improve learning, I want to be able to competently, make decisions and take actions based on my ability to reflect back on my prior experiences and make adjustments as I go forward. Martin (2005) states that “Expertise is gained as one learns to adjust the performance based on the factors and one’s experience with them.” (p. 104). In the end, the use of action research will undoubtedly help me with the goal of school improvement by focusing my attention on the following questions: Where are we now? Where do we need to be? And How do we get there?