Action Research September Update

My action research project had a rough start.  The first step of my plan was to verify student data and class placement with the school registrar and verify classroom schedules with grade level teachers.  The week before school started we had over 150 new students register, and now into the first month of school our number of new students has risen to over 200.  We also have a new registrar this year that has no previous experience.  As we were adding new teachers and classrooms the first two weeks of school, it was difficult to verify student data, classroom schedules and be sure that my originally created classes for the research were left intact.  I had to make sure that the classes I used for my action research were equally weighted in academic ability with equally qualified teachers to get valid data as to the advantage of block scheduling versus traditional scheduling.  At this point in my plan I have two classrooms at each grade level (2^nd-4^th) that are participating in the research project.  Beginning assessments show the classes to be equally leveled and I have highly effective teachers in each class.  These classroom teachers will be working closely together to provide equal instruction to both classes in each grade level.  The month of October brings our first District Benchmark testing and I will be gathering data from the Math and Reading assessments for my project.  I will also survey teachers as to the advantages and disadvantages they have noted with the different scheduling types.  Finally, I will document discipline infractions from office referrals and weekly discipline charts to track student behavior in each classroom.

I have heard both positive and negative feedback about the block scheduling versus the traditional scheduling. 

 

Block Scheduling:

ü  Ability to cover a great amount of material in depth

ü  Ability to get to know students on a more personal level

ü  More class time due to fewer transitions

ü  Works well with Guided Reading Centers

-          Students are restless

-          Discipline issues with students who are not strong in subject area

-          Teachers get bored with subject matter, tired

Traditional Scheduling:

ü  Students don’t get bored because subject matter is changing

ü  Teachers like the change of subject matter, energizing

ü  The students are used to it, do not have to change

-          Loss of time due to class or subject transitions

 

 

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal:  To assess the benefits of block scheduling versus traditional scheduling in the areas of student academic success and discipline.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Identify two similarly leveled classrooms with equally qualified teachers from the 2nd-4th grade levels to participate in the action research project.  One class from each grade level will use traditional scheduling and the other class block scheduling.	Mrs. Morrison Mrs. Pfeifer	August 2012	Class Matrices, Classroom Schedules	Mrs. Pfeifer will verify student data and class placement with registrar.  Mrs. Pfeifer will verify classroom schedules with grade level teachers.
I will keep records of students’ progress and achievements through campus and district based assessments and STAAR testing results.	Mrs. Pfeifer Mrs. Rodriguez Mrs. Vannett	August 2012 – June 2013	Class Matrices, Eduphoria Data	Mrs. Pfeifer will analyze classroom testing data in Eduphoria program.
I will keep records of student discipline infractions through office referrals and weekly discipline charts.	Mrs. Pfeifer Mr. Wiggins Classroom Teacher	August 2012-June 2013	Class Discipline Chart, Office Referral Data	Mrs. Pfeifer will analyze classroom discipline data through discipline charts and office referral data.
I will survey the six classroom teachers involved to assess their personal feelings as to the effectiveness of their scheduling type in relation to achieving in depth instruction to meet the rigor of the STAAR testing.	Mrs. Pfeifer	May 2013	Survey created by Mrs. Pfeifer	Teachers will complete a survey of their personal feelings in reference to scheduling and rigorous instruction.
I will survey the students to assess their feelings as to classroom activities, preparedness, learning capacity, and interest in subject matter in relation to class schedule.	Mrs. Pfeifer	May 2013	Survey created by Mrs. Pfeifer	Students will complete a survey of their personal feelings in reference to classroom activities, preparedness, learning capacity, and interest in subject matter in relation to class schedule.

Research Reflection

Through this week’s assignment I realize the importance of looking at what other campuses similar to mine are doing to deal with issues that are occurring at my campus.  I will consider information gathered from other teachers and campuses and use it as a tool when completing my own research.  I also want to be sure that I protect the identity of all students and complete my research in an ethical manner.

Blog Sharing for Leaders

There are a multitude of ways that blogging can be beneficial in the educational setting.  This is especially important because blogging is a form of reflection that is important to the action research process.  While administrators may use blogging as an open forum for communication between teachers and themselves, it is also becoming a useful tool in the classroom.

This year I had the opportunity to use the educational blogging site, Edmodo, as a classroom tool.  We used it weekly to answer questions and reflect on a novel we were reading in class.  I also used it at the end of the year as an open forum for students to discuss and reflect on their experience in my class.  I was able to get valuable student feedback that will be helpful in creating lessons for student-centered learning.

I will also be using Edmodo this summer as part of a book study at my campus.  We are reading chapters weekly and reflecting on our reading through the blog.  This is very beneficial as it is always difficult to get teachers together during the summer due to schedules.  With Edmodo we can blog to communicate at our leisure and it can be done from anywhere. 

I feel that blogging will continue to be a valuable resource for administrators, teachers and students.  It will be exciting to see new ways it will be used in the future as an educational resource.

Action Research Ideas

When reflecting on the idea of action research, it just makes good common sense. What better way to reflect and improve on your teaching than by examining student progress and comparing data. Why wouldn't a teacher want to evaluate student data and share their finding so that students will be more successful? Action research, as defined by Nancy Fichtman Dana (2009), is a step by step process of identifying a situation or need, reading literature reviews and researching the topic, collecting data in the school with real children and real problems, and identifying changes that can be implemented to help students and teachers.

Teachers who believe in a student-centered teaching philosophy use this process every day. It might be on a smaller scale, but when a teacher takes the time to develop a lesson and solicit ideas and insights from others, delivers the lesson and reflects on the students' learning accomplishments and identifies areas that can be improved, action research has taken place. If the teacher determines from the learning outcomes that the students did not master the lesson objectives, it is the teacher's responsibility to redesign the lesson to ensure success and mastery for all students.

As a classroom teacher and grade level team leader I would use action research to inquire about many topics. One that is a significant area for inquiry and action research are the benefits of traditional scheduling versus block scheduling. This topic has been researched and debated over by many, and it is a key component to student success. With the increasing standards of state testing and diminishing school budgets, we must work efficiently with our time and personnel resources.  Which type of scheduling would allow maximum benefits of these?  We also need to ask ourselves which type of scheduling allows us to build relationships with our students while at the same time gives us the ability to present lessons that increase the rigor of classroom content for student success. 

I would also like to begin an inquiry, using action research, into the benefits of having a special education co-teacher in a core curriculum classroom.  I think that all of the children in the classroom should be evaluated to address the success and failures of this type of special education programming. Is the classroom a true co-teaching environment with two teachers teaching, or is it one teacher teaching while the other is keeping students on task? This is important to understand before evaluating the results of any data collection.  This again is an important issue to address considering the increasing standards of state testing and the changes of special education testing requirements and eligibility.  Providing for the needs of all students, both mainstream and special education, is a top priority in education, but how to do this is an area of great debate.   

Both of these issues are of great importance to me because they affect not only my students, but students throughout classrooms every day.  My goal as a teacher and future administrator is to provide students and colleagues with the utmost opportunity for success.  I believe the use of action research is beneficial to achieve this goal.