Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

Improving Academic Performance Among Economically Disadvantaged Students

Needs Assessment

A needs assessment was conducted on our campus that revealed a need for improvement in our Economically Disadvantaged (ED) students in Math and Reading.  According to the testing data, ED students made up about 42% of the 8^th grade student population in 2011-2012.

Curriculum Based Assessments are common assessments that all students in MISD take once per six weeks.  The district passing standard is 70%.

2011-2012 Curriculum Based Assessments (CBA’s)

8th Math	CBA 1	CBA 2	CBA 3	CBA 4	CBA 5
Campus % Met Standard	31.54	45.08	38.04	46.03	37.28
Economically Disadvantaged  % Met Standard	24.76	33.96	28.95	37.27	28.21
Difference	-6.78	-11.12	-9.09	-8.76	-9.07
Campus % Score	55.12	63.61	60.64	65.24	60.14
Economically Disadvantaged  % Score	50.86	58.62	54.89	61.56	53.75
Difference	-4.26	-4.99	-5.75	-3.68	-6.39

8th Reading	CBA 1	CBA 2	CBA 3	CBA 4
Campus % Met Standard	55.36	27.4	57.43	48.95
Economically Disadvantaged  % Met Standard	50	16.38	46.43	39.32
Difference	-5.36	-11.02	-11	-9.63
Campus % Score	70.87	64.41	68.85	65.84
Economically Disadvantaged  % Score	68.37	61.03	64.68	62.09
Difference	-2.5	-3.38	-4.17	-3.75

2012 AYP Results

According to the TEA Adequate Yearly Progress Results in 2012, our 8^th grade ED students had no change from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012, and 87% met the standard (which met AYP).  Our 8^th grade ED students had a -3% change from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012, dropping from 81% meeting standard to 78% meeting standard (which did not meet AYP).  The required improvement for Math in 2013 is 2% for ED students.

Objectives and Vision of the Action Research Project

The vision of my action research project is to improve the academic performance of ED students on our campus.  My goals for my action research are:

·      Decrease the difference between ED performance and Campus performance on CBAs in 2012-2013 from 2011-2012 by half in 8^th Grade Math and Reading

·      Meet AYP in both Math and Reading.  Have improvement of 5% in both content areas from the 2012 AYP results.

Review of the Literature and Action Research Strategy

Two of the major readings that inspired my research were Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty and Under-Resourced Learners.  These two books have helped me better understand why there may be a gap between the academic performance of ED students and the rest of the student population.  These two works directly point at the need for action research on campus dealing with students who are economically disadvantaged and under-resourced.  Upon review of testing data from 2011-2012 and completing a campus needs assessment with my administrators, I immediately noticed a significant gap in performance among ED students.  After discussions with my administration, we could see that improving the performance of ED students, would drastically improve the overall performance of our campus.  I decided to do my action research project on improving academic performance and ED students because it not only interested me, but it could also drastically improve our campus.

References

Payne, R. K. (2005). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands, Tex: aha! Process.

Payne, R. K. (2008). Under-resourced learners: 8 strategies to boost student achievement. Highlands, TX: Aha! Process, Inc.

Articulate the Vision

I originally communicated the vision of my action research with my administrators shortly after the needs assessment meeting and discussion for the CIP for 2012-2013.  I communicated the vision with the 8^th grade Math and reading teachers at the beginning of this year, since they would be implementing the strategies in their classrooms and collecting data.  I communicated the vision with parents, students, and community members in a letter I sent with a survey attached to return to me.  This survey included questions about what perceived barriers could prevent students from performing at a high academic level.

Manage the Organization

The implementation of the strategies used and tasks for this research include several people.  I have several responsibilities for this research including designing the research, creating the parent letters and surveys, collecting and analyzing the surveys, analyzing data, and reporting my findings. The 8^th grade Math and Reading teachers on campus will be given a list and description of several effective strategies that will be used with ED students in the classroom, and collect data when they implement these strategies.  Student learning is a priority, and we need to be using effective instructional and relational strategies for all students.  Different types of students may need different strategies at different times.  Student learning and safety are the two most important items when dealing with students in an educational setting. 

Manage Operations

The main strategy that I will use to lead the operations of this research is organizational and servant leadership.  I will ensure that all parties involved in using strategies have the information and support necessary to effectively implement strategies and record data.  I will create and distribute a handbook to all 8^th grade Math and Reading teachers that includes guidelines, strategies, data recording sheets, and any other materials they will need for this research project. 

The research plan originally started with a needs assessment done late in the spring semester of the 2011-2012 school year, in which I participated conducting along with our administration.  We looked at several areas in need, and the one that seemed to affect the largest number of our students was the under-performance of the ED subgroup.  We discussed possible strategies for improving the overall campus performance, and we decided that the best pace to start was improving performance among students in the ED subgroup.

Respond to Community Interest and Needs.

This action research will serve the needs of our students by implementing strategies that are designed to help all students but especially those who are economically disadvantaged and under-resourced.  The strategies we implement are strategies that have been proven to be effective among students living in poverty and are under-resourced.  The ED population on our campus has almost doubled to almost half of our student population over the last 6 years.  Economic and demographic trends in our area show that the ED population in our attendance zone will continually increase in the years to come.  It is prudent to begin addressing the issue of under performance among these students, as our ED population grows steadily.  This research could drastically improve student learning and performance on our campus and in our district for years to come.  

Action Research Plan

Final Reflections on EDLD 5301: Research for Teachers

Final Reflection

This course taught me a great deal about making a difference on a campus through action research. As I have written in a blog post and in my discussion this week, I have never understood how administrators come up with ideas, strategies, policies, or procedures that can drastically change one or several aspects of a campus, until I took this course about action research. I understand that there is no exact science to improve every campus, so it always seemed like a “magic power” administrators had when they were able to initiate a huge campus changed. Action research provides the opportunity for continual inquiry, assessment, and improvement.

I have had several conversations with my dad (a 17 year high school principal, and designer of our districts’ alternative education program’s school of choice, Mesquite Academy) about how he created such drastic changes that positively impacted the lives of those involved in the schools. Most of these questions were “HOW did you do that?” or “HOW did you think to do THAT?” I am always amazed at the changes that he is able to initiate. My dad saw a need for and designed a program for at risk students in our district. He designed a school of choice and was the principal of the school for 12 years until central office asked him to go to one of the 5 high school campuses to improve several aspects of the school, which happened to be the lowest performing school with the highest economically disadvantaged population. Over the last 5 years, he has completely changed the campus environment at that school and the students are performing better than they have in the past.

I interject all of these stories about my dad because I am always wondering “HOW?” There had to be some sort of “magic power” or secret principals’ book passed down from generation to generation of great principals. Unfortunately, neither one of these exist. There is no magic power or secret book that usually fixes problems on a campus. It is intentional inquiry, research, and implementation of research based strategies that improve most situations.

What I have come to understand through this course is that action research and intentional inquiry can be the first step to some of these great changes that I have watched my dad initiate over the last several years. Action Research involves an initial inquiry when a problem is put on the table. Through thorough investigation of data and research of literature on the topic at hand, it is much easier to start to "fix" on little problem at a time.

The first part of action research in inquiry. Administrator inquiry, is the process a principal takes to engage in "systematic, intentional study" of a specific area that needs improvement and taking action to implement and change as a result of the inquiry (Dana, 2009). Inquiry is important because without digging into the data, the principal will not know the areas that need to be addressed.Many teachers and principals constantly go through the process of inquiry, unknowingly. In order for it inquiry to be the most effective, it must be done intentionally, and a plan needs to be designed around it.

In an article in the Journal of Scholarship & Practice, Ringler (2007) writes about four steps to effective action research:

1. Defining and Issue to study- this is decided through the process of initial inquiry

2. Review of Professional Literature- that discusses strategies to implement or case studies related to the item(s) in question

3. Take Action- implementation of chosen strategies for improvement

4. Use and Share Results- assessment and analysis of the strategies implemented and the new data

Sandra Harris (2010) writes about eight steps that provide a “framework for examining school improvement.” These eight steps include similar aspects of action research that Dana and Ringler also discussed in their books, but it goes into a little more detail and gives some other specific action steps.

All of the authors addressed in this reflection discuss similar qualities that are foundational to action research: inquiry, data collection, and implementation of research-based strategies, assessment, and evaluation. This process is imperative to leading a school to improvement. Dana (2009) writes about how viewing the process of intentional inquiry as a “journey,” instead of a destination, will lead to continual learning and the ability to sustain improvement.

It is important for us as educators to understand the process of inquiry and action research in order to effectively initiate positive change and improvement in our schools. I have really enjoyed this course (even though the title “Research for Teachers” gave me a little scare before the course started). I thought it would be a bunch of busy work, readings, and writing of research papers on education. Looking back over the course, I am really glad I have been exposed to action research and how to use it to improve schools. I will use action research in the future, and continue to reference the text books from this course as I embark upon my inquiry journey!

Works Cited:

*Harris, S. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

*Dana, N. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

*Ringler, M. (2007). Action research: An effective instructional leadership skill for future public school leaders. Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 4(1), 27-37.

Revised Action Research Plan

Originally, I planned to study both African American and Economically Disadvantaged (ED) students, but after some careful consideration and discussion with my site supervisor, I decided to focus my attention on the ED subgroup on our campus. I think this will help us take a more focused approach to implementing helpful strategies.

Here is my Revised Action Research Plan:

Please comment on this blog and let me know what you think about my action research plan. I am also very open to suggestions on strategies to implement or finding you have discovered in your experience with low SES or economically disadvantaged students.

Action Research Plan

Here is my action research plan. It provides a brief overview of what my action research will include over then next year.

Why is action research important?

My whole family is in education. My dad is a principal if a 4A high school in Mesquite. My mom is a principal of an elementary school in Mesquite. My sister is a high school Spanish teacher and coach at a high school in Mesquite. My wife is an elementary school teacher in Mesquite, and I am a middle school math teacher, coach, and aspiring administrator in Mesquite.

I have had many long conversation with my parents about being in leadership roles in the schools. I have asked my dad several times questions like this:

• How did you create such a change and turn that school around?
• How do you get your teachers to "buy in" to the new policies and procedures?
• How did you come up with that idea!?
• What made you want to make that change?
• If something is not up to par, how do you fix it?
• How do you identify the sources of problems, and what process do you take to fix those specific problems in an effective and efficient manner?

I understand that school leadership is not an exact science, and I always thought that effective school principals were just really creative and had some sort of "power" that helped them achieve results when things were looking bad.

As I have begun to learn about action research, the answers to some of these questions are becoming much clearer.

Action Research involves an initial inquiry when a problem is put on the table. Through thorough investigation of data and research of literature on the topic at hand, it is much easier to start to "fix" on little problem at a time.

There is no magic power or extreme creativity that usually fixes problems on a campus. It is intentional inquiry, research, and implementation of research based strategies that improve most situations.

Why educational leaders should use blogs...

Blogging is the 21st century journal, except all of the entries can be viewed by manny followers. This allows educational leaders to write freely about their experiences, share ideas, and get feedback from others. It extends traditional journal reflection to a collaborative experience, and has the ability to benefit many people. Collaborative interaction has always been an effective tool, and blogs help us take collaboration to a new and very usable level.

What is Action Research?

Action research is a type of research that "highlights the role practitioners play as knowledge generators" (Dana, 2009). It allows the leaders the opportunity to inquire, collect data, implement strategies for improvement, and assess and interpret the data according the the original inquiry. The idea is to have the research done by leaders in the organization as opposed to outside researchers analyze the group's data.

As an educator, constant analysis of campus data is imperative to become or remain successful. The students seem to be constantly changing learning styles and standardized, high-stakes tests are always getting more and more challenging. In order to stay on top of the changes in student learning and testing, principals must teach the teachers how to implement action research. Proper inquiry, data analysis, strategy implementation, and assessment of changes are necessary skills to effectively use an action research plan.

The first part of action research in inquiry. Administrator inquiry is the process a principal takes to engage in "systematic, intentional study" of a specific area that needs improvement and taking action to implement and change as a result of the inquiry (Dana, 2009). Inquiry is important because without digging into the data, the principal will not know the areas that need to be addressed.

According to Ringler (2007), there are four steps to effective action research:

1. Defining and Issue to study- this is decided through the process of initial inquiry

2. Review of Professional Literature- that discusses strategies to implement or case studies related to the item(s) in question

3. Take Action- implementation of chosen strategies for improvement

4. Use and Share Results- assessment and analysis of the strategies implemented and the new data

Action Research has many benefits. Conducting action research constantly helps principals stay detail oriented with the day to day maintenance of the learning environment. Education is like a used car, without proper maintenance, little things will start to go wrong. These little breakdowns could lead to complete vehicle failure if not properly fixed. Education is the same way. Action research allows the principals to constantly analyze what needs to be fixed or improved in order to run a successful campus. One of the reasons that action research is beneficial is that the administrators and teachers play the key role in the research process instead of outside researchers. This is often more effective because teachers and administrators know the students and the campus data better than anyone else, allowing the to facilitate, imlement, monitor, and assess the changes necessary to student success.

*Dana, N. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge:the principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

*Ringler, M. (2007). Action research: An effective instructional leadership skill for future public school leaders. Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 4(1), 27-37.