24 hours ago, I knew absolutely nothing about what action research was, what it meant to utilize inquiry to initiate change, nor the framework to follow in the formation of an action research project.  What I did know, however, was that as an educator you need to always take a step back from your work, your curriculum and assess your student learning to see if your instruction was effective.  If something wasn't working out, it is your responsibility to initiate change.  I would look at the issue, whether it was students not understanding some particular concept, or something with higher stakes such as a class not meeting its' average yearly progress or AYP, on standardized tests and would create some plan of attack to implement change.

As I started reading the two texts from my graduate studies class through Lamar University, EDLD 5301, I received a formal introduction to administrative inquiry and action research.  What I have been learning from my readings is that the whole time that I have

 been making decisions about my school curriculum or how to address issues that were popping up in my classes, that I had been following a basic form of an action plan, but not of the magnitude that I was introduced to in our to course textbooks, "Leading With Passion and Knowledge:  The Principal as Action Researcher", and "Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps From Analysis To Action".  These two books are really getting me to thing about the importance of the process required, as well as resources needed, to foster effective decision making about school issues.

The steps to follow to form an action research plan, according to  "Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps From Analysis To Action", require the following:

1.  Stating Your Inquiry
2.  Collecting and Analyzing Data
3.  Develop a Deeper Understanding
4.  Engaging in Self-Reflection
5.  Exploring Programmatic Patterns
6.  Determining Direction
7.  Taking Action for School Improvement
8.  Sustaining Improvement


I wish I could say that it is just as simple as following the 8 steps up above but with each step, there is an intensive thought process that takes place that requires time, hard work, and detailed requirements in order for each step to be carried out successfully.  The process is not easy but it is rewarding and in the end you will see action research as an effective method to resolve or address issues. Action research is the type or process that can be useful for not just the school administrator, but the classroom teacher, too!

An idea for my Action Research Project/Inquiry:
Just yesterday our district approved to upgrage to the full version of PlascoTrac student accountability software.  This program automates much of the manual labor involved with the recording of student truancy, absences, etc. in a school setting.  The main feature that we had been using the trial version of this software for, was for students that arrived late to school after first period had started.  They simply scanned their school identification badge, and a ticket was printed out, the tardy/truancy was automatically recorded on their PowerSchool record, and they could go to class, but would be contacted by an administrator at some point during the day.  PlascoTrac eliminated the time and effort it took to have the students sign in, post a memo for an administrator to track them down, write them a paper pass and finally send them on their way.  Depending on the number of students, this process would have taken several minutes.  The new software completes this process in a matter of seconds.  PlascoTrac promises to boost school attendance figures and eliminates much of the time and energy needed with manual data entry.  We have our attendance figures from last year and what I want to do is to see how all of the newly enabled features in PlascoTrac will make a difference in attendance, as well as just what kind of a change was made between now and 16 months from now until the end of my internship to see if an increase was observed.  I am also going to, under the supervision of my site supervisor, become an expert on PlascoTrac and will assist the administrators in our front office on some of the features of this program, as well as work with the data that PlascoTrac provides.

Blogs as an effective and powerful classroom tool:
I believe that blogs can be of much use to education leaders, whether it be a classroom teacher or even a district superintendent.  The blog allows you to share your personal insight into education, learning, as well as problem solving in your working environment, as well as open you up to the feedback and inquiry of your peers.  They open the entire world of those in the same field as you for communication and collaboration.  They also are a quick way to post information which gets right to the the point, without forcing the reader to make multiple clicks and navigate a complicated website to read about what you have to say.  According to our course text "Leading With Passion And Knowledge:  The Principal as Action Researcher", we are encouraged to use blogs as a way to journal our thoughts. There are a place where we can store ideas and revisit them at a later time.  Let's not forget that blogging can also be used with and between students, too.  Nancy Dana, author of  "Leading With Passion and Knowledge," says that, "principals can share their journal writing or blogging time with students to model a love or writing."

In the high school that I currently teach in, our teachers post weekly updates to blogger.com under one of our high school user groups on a weekly activity we conduct in our homeroom classes which we have entitled, the "Character Corner".  It is here that we can post our student's reaction to the weekly topics and share ideas for activities that worked for us, and those items that would need to be revisited/revised.  Our blog allows be to post my results of the activity and be notified when I have received a comment or question on my post. Communication through blogs is a great way to help those of us that sometimes feel isolated in our classroom and too busy to get out there and really share with one another.  They make communication easy and less time consuming.


 

References

Dana, N.F., (2009).  Leading with Passion and Knowledge. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

           Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps to improve our schools. Eye on Education Press.