Week 3 Assignment, Part 3
Draft Action Research Project Progress Report
Title
Best
Scheduling Practices: What are the
Benefits of Blocked Scheduling Versus Traditional Scheduling?
Needs
Assessment
The need for research was determined
while contemplating scheduling options that maximized time, allowed for in
depth classroom instruction, increased rigor, and provided a push in of
additional student support from academic coaches to ensure that students would
meet the requirements of new state testing standards. My campus, Lakeshore Elementary is a new
school in its fourth year. Faced with new
testing standards, a rapid rate of growth, and changing demographics our state
testing scores have begun to decline from five to ten percent in all
subgroups. In order to meet the new
testing requirements we are looking in to different scheduling programs that
may allow for improved student success.
Objectives
and Vision of the Action Research Project
My vision is to create a scheduling
program for our campus that provides the best use of the school day by reducing
the amount of classroom transitions, allowing teachers the time to reach the
needed level of rigor to effectively teach the curriculum, and decrease student
discipline referrals.
During my action research project I
will collect data from equally leveled classrooms in the 2nd through
4th grades, half using blocked scheduling and half using traditional
scheduling. These classes have children
and teachers with equal abilities. Through the collection of data from district
benchmark assessments, state testing scores, student and teacher surveys and
discipline referrals we will assess the benefits of block scheduling versus
traditional scheduling to best meet our student’s needs.
Review
of the Literature and Action Research Strategy
The question of best scheduling
practices actually began after a visit to a Blue Ribbon School, Tice
Elementary, in the neighboring Galena Park Independent School District. Tice Elementary is a Title I school which has
held an exemplary standing for numerous years.
After our administration team visited their campus, we reflected on our
visit, the most noted observation was the campuses scheduling program. All classes were on a block schedule. As a team we decided that we should consider
a pilot program to determine if block scheduling would be an effective practice
for our school. I immediately decided
this would be a great action research project.
I am lacking in further research into the benefits of scheduling types
and this will be a priority for me as I continue my action research project. I am currently so involved with the actual
collection of data, that I have not put a priority on additional review of
literature on the subject. This is
something I feel I will have a better opportunity to research effectively after
I have finished collecting my research data during the school year.
Articulate
the Vision
The staff was introduced to the
scheduling pilot program and action research project at the end of the
2011-2012 school year. The ideas were
first introduced to the team leaders in an informative meeting in order to
solicit their ideas and answer questions about any concerns they might
have. Then a meeting was scheduled for
all staff to introduce the need for the pilot program and action research
project. Although not all grade levels
were participating in the program, if we adopted block scheduling in the future
it would be important for all grade levels to be aware of the project. As the school year came to a close and
positions were determined for the next school year, I began creating the classes
for the research and selected the teachers who would participate.
Parents were introduced to the new
scheduling practices during parent orientation before the start of school. Teachers shared with parents the need for
scheduling changes and the goals for block scheduling. Parents were receptive to the block
scheduling idea, and were excited about the benefits it would afford their
child.
Managing
the Organization
The organization of the project began
with identifying two similarly leveled classrooms with equally qualified
teachers for the 2nd – 4th grades. To do this I worked with my principal, Nancy
Morrison, to determine who would be filling teaching positions in each grade
level and the best teacher candidates to participate in the action research
project. I then worked with our school
registrar, Ms. Miller, to verify student data and class placements for the next
year when the data would be collected.
Finally, once teachers and classes had been determined I met with the
teachers who would be participating in the project the next school year to be
sure they had a firm understanding of the research question and the action
research process.
As the 2012-2013 school year began I
was faced with several issues regarding my project. The most difficult was that we registered
over 150 new students the week before school started and an additional 50 the
first week of school. This did change
the makeup of my original classes, and I had to work closely with our school
registrar to be sure that as students were placed in classes, my original classes
chosen for research were not negatively affected.
Manage
Operations
Once all classes were intact I was
able to begin the collection of data for my project. I first met with the teachers involved in the
project and gave them a timeline for my data collection. This correlated with our benchmark scheduling
and grading periods. I also gave
teachers a copy of the survey they would be completing at the end of each
marking period and a reflection sheet where they could note ideas about their
experience during the project. I wanted
to make their participation in the action research project as simple as
possible as I did not want it to take away from their teaching and student
learning.
As the project has progressed I have
been able to collect much of the needed assessment and benchmark data through
Eduphoria. This system allows for easy
access to student scores without the teachers having to do any extra work. I currently have not experienced any
difficulties in the research process. I
attribute this to the careful selection of teachers and students who are
participating.
Respond
to Community Interest and Needs
The idea of block scheduling is to
meet the needs of all students. This
includes students with special and exceptional needs and students of diverse
backgrounds. My campus is currently home
to a number of special needs programs and has a diverse population of students
from many ethnicities as well as socioeconomic groups. Students from these populations have been
included in the classes participating in the research process.
