Action Research Progress

I have made minimal progress with my action research plan. I was inactive in the program during the fall 2012 semester so I have not completed as many courses as I probably could have had I not been forced to miss that one semester. I do feel that missing that time has somewhat put me behind. I feel that the courses that I am taking are somewhat out of order but that has not deterred me from my goal. I have tried to complete some activities so I have made some progress. I have completed my parent surveys with the help of my school team members who have been very helpful. I still like the idea of trying to increase parent involvement. I think that learning about this topic will not only benefit me but my schools students and staff members. Parent involvement plays a crucial role in education and parents need to understand the importance of them being actively involved. I have also had a lot of changes with assistant principals at my school so I have had to constantly reshuffle some of my activities. With this being said, I do feel that I will be able to accomplish all of my documented tasks. I have had some things occur that has definitely slowed my progression but I know that will be able to complete my action research plan. I will definitely have to keep pushing myself and make any necessary adjustments to any problems that may arise in the future. 

Action Research Plan - Increasing Parent Involvement

SCHOOL VISION:  How can I get parents more involved with their child’s academics?

GOAL How will my action research plan be beneficial for the entire campus so that it impacts everyone?

OUTCOMES	ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES	TIME LINE	ASSESSMENT  INSTRUMENT(S) TO EVALUATE EFFECTIVENESS	PROCESS FOR MONITORING ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS/OBJ.
Meet with at least one teacher from every grade level to discuss student grades	1. Parent survey of wants and needs related to grades	1.  K-5th grade teacher 2.  Grade level assessment forms	1.  Jeremiah Willis 2.  Jeremiah Willis	1.October 2012 2. October 2012	1. reading, writing & math scores 2.  Personal Journal	1.  Teacher & site supervisor meeting 2.   Teacher & site supervisor meeting
Gather assessment forms for analysis	1.  Database of participants to compare data	1.  Excel spreadsheet to compare various grade level scores 2. Kindergarten teachers	1.  Jeremiah Willis	1. October 2012	1.  Review of data results from spreadsheet with teachers	1.  Teacher & site supervisor meeting
Meet with grade level teachers to discuss the topic of the research and gain insight on what to look for in the scores.	1.  Professional Development Activities to teach about resources available and how to use. 2.  Parent Newsletter	1.  Conference time and analysis of previous meeting notes 2.  Parent newsletters	1.  Jeremiah Willis 2.  Jeremiah Willis	1.  November 2012 2. November 2012	1. Data Survey results of instruction 2.  Parent informal feedback	1.   Teacher & site supervisor meeting
Can easily be adapted by other campuses in the district	1. Share results with administrator	1.  Meeting with administrator	1.  Jeremiah Willis	November 2012	1.  Spreadsheet and power point displaying quantitative and qualitative data obtained	1.  Feedback to teachers from meeting with administrator
Meet with grade level teachers to see what grades they would like to see their students achieve	1.  Through data collected and surveys given	1.  Conference times and previous meeting notes	1.  Jeremiah Willis 2.  Jeremiah Willis	1. November 2012 2.  Novemeber 2012	1.  Teacher informal feedback 2.  Teacher survey 2a. Personal Observation	1.   Teacher & site supervisor meeting 2.   Teacher & site supervisor meeting
Meet with my administrator to discuss the outcome	1.  Data collected, feedback from team	Teacher & site supervisor meeting	1.  Jeremiah Willis	1. November 2012.	1.  team survey 1b.  Personal Observation	1.  Share results at  Teacher & site supervisor meeting

Action Research progress so far...

After much speculation, I have decided to go ahead and move forward with my action research plan which will focus on Increasing Parent Involvement. I am still in the works as to how to attack this issue and I'm looking forward to any ideas or suggestions anyone may have. I have also come across some things I see being a problem in the near future. One of my concerns are the willingness of some teachers to participate. Another is getting the parents to actually participate in various surveys I may create. Please feel free to comment about any solutions or other problems you see.

Action Research Topic

Three topics that I have considered for my action research project are parent involvement in schools, student conflict resolution and increasing teacher morale. I am 98% positive that parent involvement is what I will choose because it such a huge problem at the school I work at. I also believe that parent involvement plays a huge role not only in their child's academic success but their success in life. Many parents feel that is the teachers job alone to help their child learn when in reality the majority of the responsibility falls on them as parents.

Benefits of blogs for Educational Leaders

Some ways educational leaders might use blogs are by posting ideas and experiences they have had. They can use blogs as an outlet to connect and share ideas with other educational leaders allowing them to gain knowledge from other outside sources.

What I've Learned about Action Research

What I have learned so far is action research is a reflective process of intentionally engaging in the systematic study of practices in order to find ways to improve or change based on the results. It is a powerful tool for professional development and can be used to gain deeper insight in order enhance the improvement efforts of any organization. Some benefits of conducting action researches are that it provides a meaningful way to grow professionally and allows principals to become role models for teachers and students. It is also a process which helps best practices to flourish and enables principals to spend more of their time becoming proactive rather than reactive. Some ways that I will be able to use action research in an educational setting include university coursework, Superintendent / district meetings, leadership teams, and professional learning communities. By taking part in university coursework, leaders have the opportunities to share their experiences with colleagues and classmates which enhance the inquiry process. Superintendent, district, and leadership team meetings allow leaders to share their work and the responsibilities of leadership with others as well as building a culture of collaboration. Professional learning communities allow groups to connect and network to learn from each others practice.