Week 5 Reflection

This course gave me a major benefit of being giving structure to wonderings.  I constantly have tons of diverse thoughts running through my mind in education.  Does “x” effect “y” and how?  Could this have a positive effect on that? If  _____ changed how would that affect student achievement?  How can we change to better reach our children?  My mind naturally roams through subject matter and is naturally inquisitive into how we can change and be better.  I have the attitude of always seeking to improve upon what we are and do so in the most effective yet beneficial methods possible.  Before this course, I never knew quite how to deal with these notions, or “wonderings”.  I would discuss this in the appropriate company but never really knew how to make them gain any substantial recognition and analysis.  In the first week of this course that curiosity was answered with the definition of action research.  I think I always had kind of had some sort of knowledge of what action research was but had no real organized understanding of it and how to use it effectively.   Throughout this course, I gained a strong hold on what action research is, how to conduct it, how to use it and its implications on the field. 

One of the parts of this course I found the most beneficial was the section where we learned HOW to conduct the research.  I have so many things I would love to conduct action research on, however, lack direction on how exactly to do it.  The tools afforded to us through the two texts I feel were a major benefit to me.  This helped me categorize the steps of the project and then in each step, separate the different aspects of the steps.  The needs of the step, how it would be evaluated and measured etc.  This was a huge benefit to me, because this was a major deficit in the knowledge I brought to the table.  While I have several things I would love to conduct research on I lack direction and focus on how to actually administer the project.  After the two weeks we spent composing, working on and finalizing our research plans I feel like I have a much stronger hold on this area.  I now feel equipped with the necessary skills and tools to conduct the research itself. 

In the assigned readings and the course my understanding of how I can grow in the depths of the research and methods of research really began to come clear.  There are several tools I would never have considered using, for example blogging and certain types of surveys.  I have always felt surveys were not a very good data collection tool but throughout the course I have seen a couple examples of surveys which I feel would be beneficial to the research.  I began to see it wasn’t necessarily what you used at times, but how you use it.  I am also glad the reading/course stated the importance of  dealing with data in a respectful way and also articulating to the audience and participant how the data is being gathered and analyzed.  It is crucial that there is transparency throughout the project to all involved and all audiences so this protects the integrity of the project and ensures the survival of the results. 

In conclusion, the class as a whole was definitely relevant and valuable to me as it gave me the means to deal with my wonderings which I was already having.  

Week 4 Reflection

This week's reading and assignment allowed me to learn more about how to implement the action research.  Realistically, implementing research will be somewhat rocky and it is important to take certain steps which allow us to minimize these obstacles.  The content this week gave us the Force Field Analysis, The Delphi Model and the Nominal Group Technique as various methods to make the implementation of action research (or, in my opinion, change in general) go smoother.  These methods have a commonality of reducing dissonance and increasing buy in.  We then took time to analyze our peers feedback to us, as well as our meetings with our site supervisor.  This is continuing to go well, and I am looking forward to getting started.  I should be able to seriously get the ball rolling on my plan after Christmas break.

Week 3 Assignment

This week I learned a great deal about the design of the research.  I learned the importance of orchestrating how the research will take place and also how you will then share it with others.  It is also important to share key components of your action research with others.  In the following table is my revised research design:

Action Planning Template
Goal: To assess the effects of the TAKS Preparation model: Margaret Kilgo’s Rotating Review
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Prepare teachers for new TAKS prep curriculum (Margaret Kilgo’s rotating review) by beginning dialogue of the new model and send teachers to Margaret Kilgo training.	Karyn Cummings (teachers attending training) Donna Henry	May 2010-January 2011	*Staff development session *Travel disbursements *TAKS scores from previous year *Substitute if applicable	*Curriculum Report Card *Discussion in Department Meetings
Prepare for rotating review	Susan Barry Ashley Pruitt Tara Dvorak	January 2011-March 2011	*Staff development *Department Meetings (Prepare by asking staff what their needs and concerns are and addressing these) *Individual meetings	*Survey Part 1 for teachers; meant to discern teachers’ initial impression of curriculum & preparation method
Implement Rotating Review	Karyn Cummings Tara Dvorak Susan Barry Math Department Teachers	March 2011-May 2011	*Curriculum resources (plan, worksheets etc) *Activity resources if applicable *Paper for copies & copier machine	State assessment scores
Review of program (qualitative)	Karyn Cummings Math Teachers Susan Barry Tara Dvorak Selected students	May 2011	*Surveys *Location for interviews *Recording device	Surveys and Interviews of students and teachers
Review of program (quantitative)	Ginny Johnson Karyn Cummings Susan Barry	Summer 2011 (when scores return)	*TAKS scores from 2010 and 2011, cumulative and divided into subgroups *TAKS scores of individuals chosen to assess progression	Statistical analysis (percentage increase/decrease etc)
Analyze Results and make recommendation for future standardized test preparation and curriculum focus	Leah Randall Karyn Cummings Ginny Johnson Susan Barry	Summer 2011	*Qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis	Synthesis of qualitative and quantitative analysis to produce conjectures, conclusions and recommendations for the district

What I have learned about action research

This week in the readings of the Dana text I learned a great deal about action research.   First of all action research needs to be focused on a specific question or issue to be honed in on.  It is crucial that the research stays focus and does not deviate onto other topics, which can be quite easy to do when there are so many things going on in the context of the issue.  The researcher then needs to begin the process of gathering information.  While gathering information, the entire time the researcher needs to be engaged in reflection, or administrator inquiry, on the information gathered.  The information gathered needs to be from various practioners in the field who can offer experience, which is pertinent to the researched issue.  It may be prudent for the researcher to look at hard data, like drop out rates, test scores or grades.  The researcher needs to be open to discussing their findings with educators they respect to help them sort through all their findings and draw conclusions and potential solutions.  I will definitely use what I have learned to help me conduct action research in the future.  I think that the process and the results of action research are invaluable.  

Blogs could be very helpful for administrators.  Blogs provide a venue for administrators to explain what their goals for the school/district are and how they plan to get there.  They can also use blogs to address current events in the district which require attention.  What is unique about a blog versus a press release, or just speaking to someone, is the administrator has the opportunity to organize his thoughts and word his thoughts just as he desires for is audience.  This reduces the chances of words being taken out of context or things being misunderstood.