WEEK 4, another "model" week

FINALLY! After having some little bus special issues myself, as I am a person with a learning disability, I have FINALLY finished my week 4 assignment!

Hallelujah all praises to be!


I was able to meet with my site supervisor last week, and that meeting was disappointing on many levels because we only met for a short time, he walked out as an emergency came up, and we did not agree on the specs of my research, nor had my plan- that mind you I labored over all week 3 to complete 3 different ways- been digested by him (he admittedly "glanced" over it).


I might just limit my scope to my kids, in the life skills classroom. I could just as easily continue with the same data points: performance, IEP progress in this case and TAKS ALT performance; behavior; and morale.



This was the determination after my meeting as explained in my week 4 assignment:

My site supervisor and I met briefly and he indicated that he in fact had not reviewed my research action plan. But, he had recommended that I focus on teacher retention and TAKS and how new teacher statistics relate to student performance on TAKS. That was not the focus of the research, basically because I believe I was approaching from a psychological standpoint, in that I wanted to know about the qualitative aspect of data points gathered from performance, but I wanted to also see if new teachers affected something in student’s psyche that converted into behavior challenges, choices in attendance and also student attitudes about school in general. We have not met a consensus because I do not want to focus on just one aspect of research, and that being TAKS because TAKS is administered in the same exact way no matter who the proctor is. I will not be revising my action plan as of yet, at least, not until after my site supervisor reads through my plan thoroughly and understands my point of view and my rationale in completing it.

continuing my rationale in another section was:

As I explained in previous accounts, I was selfishly thinking when this idea came to me. I had met one of the new teachers, and I had no idea what her name was. I realized most of the teachers, I didn’t know what their names were, nor did I know what they taught. I could recognize the students, but not the adults. I began to ponder if the students were feeling the same way. My thought process broadened to think about how that would factor into their academic achievement and social growth. As I read the Timothy’s comments, I kept thinking about student success in a marketable area, and at the end of the day, that’s the primary concern that any educational leader is most responsible for. I never thought of it in a business aspect. With Sandra’s comments, I realized that each area of focus that I was attempting to maintain was significant as to how turnover affects our students. Students come to school for education, of course, but they also are affected in their education by their behavior, their attendance, and their morale. If a student had a rapport with a former teacher, how in fact does the new teacher’s technique, relational style, factor into student growth, especially in a school like mine, where relationships are key factors in student growth.  In reading Rachel’s comments, I realized that about one third of the teachers at her school were new! WOW! That has to impact professional morale and student’s mindsets also. With consistency, there is a level of trust, integrity, accountability, dependency, standards that are maintained, grown, and protected. With turnover like that every year, teachers don’t care by December, because they’re already looking for new positions elsewhere. I imagine that dynamic translates into how they teach their students and furthermore how well their students feel they care, and ultimately how well their students perform. After reading the comments again, I am convinced that I will focus on each aspect of my research despite the recommendation from my site supervisor

Thank God Week 3 is Over!

I am so glad this week is over. I am working on the last section of this assignment, and I am just happy that I got through part two and three. I was pulling my hair out trying to create a detailed enough plan for a theoretical question. Since I have not started my action research, and have yet to meet my site supervisor to discuss it, it just seemed so abstract.

At this point, what I've learned about action research is actual tangible measure of how to plan out the inquiry. Having a guide does in fact help. I just hope my site supervisor approves of the topic, and I can get the support, to complete the research. This year has been hectic, and I'm not sure I'll even have time with my professional obligations as well every other obligation including my family to take this on in the way that I envision in my head... There are only 24 hours in the day, and I feel like I'm stretching between 19- 22 hours of every day, a teacher has to sleep right. Maybe my site supervisor can assist in strategically conducting this inquiry.

As I type this, my son is using me as a trampoline and a one party- wrestling match. Please let week 4 and 5 be less mind boggling and strenuous than this week.

This is the plan, man!

1.      Examining the work: Setting the Foundation –

After already identifying the issue of staff turnover in my internship plan, and then after seeing the faces of so many new educators on campus this year, I was curious as to how do annual staff turnover rates affect student success. I've been teaching 3 years, and last year there were 16 teachers in the Special Education dept, all but maybe 5 were new teachers. This year, all of Special Education teachers stayed, but the LSSP, the Diagnostician, all of the counseling team, most of the administrative team, all of the instructional coaches, the IT lead, and several core teachers changed to new schools/ districts. Honestly, I don't even know many of the new teachers (especially by name or subject), and I wonder how the students are experiencing this constant change. It's been an excellent change for us, the teachers, but I wonder how this impacts the students.   

Outcomes & Objectives by Action Research- Answer the questions:

1. How do annual staff turnover rates affect student success in academic progress, attendance, behavior, and morale?

2. What can be done as campus leaders to ensure that teachers come back and students have consistency in who educates them?

2.      Analyzing data –

Data Gathering Activities designed to achieve the objectives:

Charting student scores in their grades, benchmarks and TAKS data as measured against the subject and scores from the year previous. Use the attendance system already built into our campus. Run the data at given times. We do attendance data analysis every week with an overall view, but not broken down by demographic. In this case, take the data already calculated and break it down bit by bit to get to the score of: how many special education students were in attendance this week. If there is data from the year previous, compare, if not, use this year’s as a baseline. For gathering quantifiable behavior data, chart the amount of special education students and the number of referrals they receive, student’s records of in school suspension, off campus suspension, and designation to a long-term campus. In conjunction with writing goals, students will be able to journalize for a set time to appraise morale through a student/teacher survey. (Much like what was in the Dana text.)

3.      Developing deeper understanding –

Needed Resources:

Case managers will be an integral part in this inquiry. As the go-to person for the special education students’ resources, they will have first hand accounts of performance on assessments. Benchmark analytical software will continue to be utilized. Continue with the method we already have in place by case manager keeping updated assessment, IEP, BIP information in each student file. Additionally, having access to attendance audit reports, as well as time to plan with RELA teachers how to implement the student morale journals and the new teacher reflections through the campus mentor program.

4.      Engaging in Self-Reflection –

Just in completing this aspect of planning, I am finding myself drifting into various concerns about intervention plans, or drifting into information that doesn’t directly answer the correlation between new teachers and student success. I have to make absolutely sure that this research stays on track and doesn’t branch out into a huge, out of control snow ball. 

5.      Exploring Programmatic Patterns –

The idea is to find a pattern between the success of special education students in core subjects taught by former teachers and the success of special educations students taught by the new teachers who replaced them.  If there is a drastic decrease or increase in attendance, than before what can that be attributed to? Are less students being sent to in school suspension, long-term, home, are there more or less referrals by teachers this year than last? If so, or if not, what can qualify that trend?

6.      Determining direction –

Timeline:

Start, Fall 2010: First assessment data collection point will be on the first assessment, progress reports, CBA, or DBA (which ever comes first).

Weekly: Attendance Audit reports due.

Duration: gathering benchmark scores, progress report grades, Annual/ Review/ Assessment ARDs updates, decisions, and obligations, analysis of the student/ teacher journals every six weeks; percentage progress through interventions for students identified to need them;

Spring 2011: Spring TAKS data

3 weeks Before Christmas Break- teacher reflections, student assessment forms due to analyze progress

3 weeks Before Spring Break- teacher reflections, student assessment forms due to analyze progress

After Spring TAKS- student assessment forms due to analyze scores.

End, Spring 2011: Last progress reporting period

Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study:

Case Manager Feedback (what’s working, what’s not working, why is it not working and what will make things easier, more efficient).

Student Journals

Progress Reports

ARD 5bs, BIPs, and updated IEPs

Updated Student Assessment Forms

New Teacher Reflections

Evaluation:

Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives: There should be a spreadsheet that can be updated, tracked, and analyzed as this collection process continues. As the school year goes on, during department meeting and planning time, analyzing this data will occur to intervene if there are drastic declines in students’ scores and continue with making progress if scores are higher than before. Attendance will be monitored. Behavior documentation will need to be analyzed. Student journals and new teacher reflections will be collected and explored.

7.      Taking action for school improvement –

Since the teachers this year are visibly happier than last year, there has to be something that is affecting the students positively too. By getting results of this inquiry, it will be shared with the campus. That could also sway the amount of professionals that our campus retains for next year and beyond.

8.      Sustaining improvement –

Utilize the new questions generated by performing this inquiry to lead new inquiries. This could be beneficial in creating campus retainer committees in conjunction with the new teacher mentor program.  It could also possibly empower students to immediately take on a leadership voice of their own and express their concerns or their suggestions on how to better educate them so they will be successful. It appears that would be equally beneficial because the students don’t seem to chance, but the educators do.

It's the end of Week 2: Real Life Research Action Examples

So, week two is winding down and coming to a close. The assignment is due tomorrow. Upon reflection of action research and it's purpose as well as the teachings of the fundamentals of leadership, I have had a chance to hypothetically link good fundamentals to good future, research based inquiries.

This week, part of the assignment was to take 9 wonderings school leaders have and link them to hypothetical action research topics and identify the significance. For me, I can never not think of my special babies, and all types of scenarios were running through my head.

 

Here are a few:

1.    Curriculum development: A lack of Social Skills curriculum. How can I implement a social skills curriculum within Special Education? What does the social skills curriculum need to entail? What would implementation look like? How will I chart the information I receive into clean, usable data? Who would I go to for support in resources, implementation, and development? What special education students would need to be targeted for social skills instruction? What would staffing numbers look like? Will budget need to be factored into resources, implementation, and development, as well as possible staffing?

       With more students entering campuses as being diagnosed with Autism, a neurological disorder directly affecting social aspects of life, social skills needs to be a prominent aspect of learning for these students. Not only do students with Autism benefit from direct social skills instruction, but students within the gamut of special education utilize social skills models.

2.      Individual teacher(s): Self contained teachers in primary schools and their impact on post secondary outcomes. What is being implemented to ensure teachers in a self contained program are successfully implementing strategies and instruction to gear their students for post secondary success? Many students who come from elementary school settings do not have adequate vocational or behavior modification in their arsenal when they reach secondary campuses. That then translates into challenges that middle school teachers face, and with the new law changed in that eighth grade students in a self contained program no longer stay in middle school a fourth year, that limits the modification and training time a teacher may have. It then becomes a domino effect.

3. Individual student(s): The correlation between vocational implementation, social skills, daily living and functional skills as well as behavior modification and post secondary success for self contained students. When life/ applied skills/ speech communication disorder/ structured learning/ community based instruction/ adaptive behavior/ behavior training institution students reach 22 years of age, the government no longer affords them a free, public education. What is the success of these students as they have usually had instruction in these core areas from early childhood? Most students who complete these programs at 22 don’t retain employment or self sustainability. Where is the missing link in instruction and post graduation success (which in turn leads to a question of curriculum)?

It's the end of Week 1

The end of week 1, and today is 10/10/10. What an interesting figure.

All in all, week 1 has lead me to insight. After 4 years of undergraduate research, I was researched OUT. I had tapped out of all creative ways to manipulate data into something entertaining and educational, and for me, functional (as I needed to maintain that wonderful GPA). Masters level Educational Admin research is NOT starting off to be what I expected it to.

I am seeing that action research is very much like creating a case study and analyzing it, developing a process to fix the issue(s), and come up with effective, lasting solutions. I rather enjoy breaking apart case studies because I get to be creative and use my limitless imaginition. In leadership, those things should not be foregone simply because of the title and objective of it. Action research challenges good leaders to become great ones by changing the paradigm and forcing them to look outside of the box (sometimes Pandora's box, depending on what the campus issue is).

Participating in action research or a practitioner inquiry is similar to asking the question “how can I make more money” and versus an academic scholar telling you how, or some outside guru telling you how, you are investigating, examining, critiquing your own day to day, your own resources, your own needs, goals, and current situation to determine the answer to your question or solution to the problem. 

I came to a conclusion (one of many) that by performing action research, campuses are utlimately, truthfully speaking, more able to organically work within the otherwise rigid frameworks of state determined curriculum and “high stake” assessments thereof, in a way that adjusting to these strict, imposed frameworks becomes flexible in a self imposed manner.  And by learning this information now in a controlled leadership preparatory program, the article indicated that my data analysis skills will improve and more effective approach to professional development and school improvement plans will be easier to come by. I'm absolutely for those things.


 With that being said, this blogging thing might be quite interesting and could take off. I'm hoping that members of my class will be able to use our blogs for networking and bounce off of and rely on each other's ideas and voices as a tangible virtual community of Texas school administrative leaders. Now, on to week 2.

Hypothetically Speaking......

Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if this was an issue on your campus:

There are more professionals on campus this year, resulting in there not being enough available parking spaces. Teachers have begun parking along the sides of driveways and utilizing space bordering on or in designated no parking areas. This has caused the campus to be audited by the Fire Marshall as one of those driveways was blocked when a fire occurred in the Foods for Today classroom and the fire engine could not access that area, which was closest enough to manage the incident without causing damage to the classrooms. The campus leadership team gathered and created a plan of action that would put the campus in compliance with fire code by designating parking spaces to each campus personnel, and barring vehicles from parking alongside the driveway. Conversely, the new parking plan has now caused a disruption of bus services being able to get into the campus in a timely manner as the buses are backed up to get students off the bus, resulting in more student tardies, and on the bus in the evening resulting in a tremendous amount of parent complaints about students getting home too late. For one of the students who utilizes Special Transportation Services, he had a meltdown as he saw his bus in line but was forced to wait for his bus to make it to the building. This meltdown caused him and a faculty member injury. There was no budget funds allocated to extending a parking lot, so what can be done to fix the parking issue?

So basically, tell me what you learned.

Self directed investigating and detailing of an issue not founded by (outside) experts or best utilized for an academic audience, action research is a method of using the voices of those who are in the trenches, as the authors say, to identify and guide the process of searching, delving into an issue. Examination of this action research has indicated that this method, versus the process-product or interpretive methodology of research makes the results more relevant, more intrinsic in nature to the actual issue, and more importantly, it is self directed, self motivated. Participating in action research or a practitioner inquiry is much like asking the question “how can I make more money” and versus an academic scholar telling you how, or some outside guru telling you how, you are investigating, examining, critiquing your own day to day, your own resources, your own needs, goals, and current situation to determine the answer to your question or solution to the problem.  

I love how the author exchanges the use of the word research and implements the verbiage inquiry. Research is just a word that is always said begrudgingly. Inquiry seems to sunny and bright and like a nice stroll in the park by a stream, pleasant. The traditional education research is not the same as the practitioner/ action inquiry as the newfound method; it is best summed up in the quote of Mark Bracewell about the outsider giving instruction on what to do to teachers and students versus with them. Not to be mistaken for a trend, the administrator learner has been utilized in a capacity for several decades. This is not new, but has made an impact upon campus, classroom, curriculum, (etc.) outcomes in magnanimous, dynamic ways. I look at the number of classroom management techniques that are utilized, how many institutions there are dedicated to just that aspect of education. I can only conclude that each individual classroom management technique was based off of a self driven inquiry and research opportunity. Each strategist speaks of detailed personal accounts, personal experiences and of those with whom the authors/ collaborators work closely with. That can be a brave new start of the next person’s inquiry, as the inquirer can go from basic classroom management strategies to focusing on specifics such as student motivation strategies or classroom structure models. Action inquiry is like a never ending loom of fabric constantly being interwoven and built upon.