Final Thoughts on Research

I can honestly say that I will miss this class because I have come to learn a lot and have come to get to know some of my classmates.  I have a lot of really smart and determined classmates.  It will definitely be a challenge trying to compete with a majority of them when I try to become a principal.  I thought this research class taught be alot.  I felt that it taught be how to properly research something.  I am a person who has a lot of passion for certain topics.  When I have that passion I am very determined to find an answer, with no hesitation and no stopping.  After talking with my classmates, as well as Dr. Abshire, I have learned that it is okay to shoot for the stars, but make sure that I have enough fuel to make it.  There are a lot of topics out there that are million dollar topics.  Can I be one of those who can find that million dollar question?  You bet your butt I can BUT it will take me a lot more practice at action researching and investigations before I can do something like that.  It has been a pleasure getting to work with all my classmates for this class and I look forward to the next.

Issues and New Thoughts for Action Research

So I have been running into a few issues when it comes to my research.  I have been interviewing a lot of the repeat offenders who are always in ISS.  When I talk to them they have the walls built up to where they have a "tough" response that does not help my research.  I have learned that I will have to be able to get to know these kids better and show them that I truly do care.  When I show them that I care then I am hoping that they will be able to let me in so that I can get some really good responses that will help me to be proactive in my research.  Also I have learned from a couple of people in my research class that I need to try to look at some specific things when it comes to my research.  These people told me to focus on the classes that the kids are getting in trouble.  They also said to maybe sit in a class and look at how the teacher's class is structured.  There could be a possibility that the class may be structured in a way that makes a lot of these kids act out.  They also recommended that I look at the ISS instructor and see how this person directs ISS.  This really helped me a lot because these are definitely some really key issues that could help me to obtain my research.

Action Research Agenda

OUTCOMES  & ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES	TIME LINE	Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT	Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
1. Select Sample High School to obtain demographic information	AEIS Reports, PEIMS Data	Principal	March 2011 – 1 day	None	None
2. Obtain District and Campus Data regarding demographic information	AEIS Reports, PEIMS Data	Principal	March 2011 – 1 day	None	None
3. Obtain Discipline Data Reports	Campus Discipline Data, PEIMS, AEIS	Principal, Assistant Principals, and Deputy Secretary to Discipline	March 2011 – 2 day	None	None
4. Observe Students and Teachers Through Walkthroughs	DataWalk software, PDAS, Behavior Monitoring System	Principal, Assistant Principals, and Instructional Specialists	March & April 2011 – 10 Teaching  Days	PDAS and DataWalk software will tell us student engagement, compliance	Much of this information is quantifiable, but the objective is to see if student affecting classrooms due to negative behavior
6. Survey Teachers regarding Classroom Management Plans	Teacher Survey, PDAS/DataWalk Software	Principal, Assistant Principals in charge of appraisals of teachers	April 2011 2 Class Days	Teacher surveys will allow us insight onto what is being done in the classroom to prevent administration disciplinary actions on students due to negative behavior	Social Skills are taught in every classroom during mentor times. Ideally  these lessons over reach into every area of school so in the classroom is where some of largest problems begin.
7. Implement Positive Behavior Support System for six weeks	Teacher Professional Development Materials, Lesson Guides, Lessons	Teachers	April-May 2011 – 6 weeks	Action Steps taken in Step #8-9	Action Steps taken in #8-9
8. Evaluate PBS and its effect on student discipline through Disciplinary Reports from the Campus, and AEIS/PEIMS Reports	DataWalk software, PDAS, Behavior Monitoring System	Principal, Assistant Principals, and Instructional Specialists, Teacher Leadership Team	May 2011 – 2 Days	PDAS and DataWalk software will tell us student engagement, compliance	Much of this information is quantifiable, but the objective is to see if student affecting classrooms due to negative behavior
9. Survey teachers on its effectiveness	Teacher Survey, PDAS/DataWalk Software	Principal, Assistant Principals in charge of appraisals of teachers	May 2011 – 2 Days	Teacher surveys will allow us insight onto what is being done in the classroom to prevent administration disciplinary actions on students due to negative behavior	Social Skills are taught in every classroom during mentor times. Ideally these lessons over reach into every area of school so in the classroom are where some of largest problems begin.

Reflection of My Current Assignment

This week really helped me to clear up some issues I was having with my action research plan.  The reading and the discussions that I was able to have with my classmates helped me to think about some really key questions and elements that I need to know for the plan.  I was able to develop a schedule of the different tasks for my action research plan.  This really helped relieve the stress I was having because before I had no idea how I was going to split up each of the tasks and when I should complete them.  I am starting to feel more encouraged when it comes to completing this tasks.  I do understand that I have a lot to deal with and a lot of things to solve, but I do feel that I am on the right track to tacking the tasks ahead. 

Action Research Plan

Being a teacher in the regular education program, I have seen so many behavioral problems.  What I also saw was the same kids getting in trouble repeatedly.  We all obviously know that it is not an uncommon occurrence for there to be behavioral issues on a campus. But where the true issues lie is for there to be behavioral issues to the smallest caliber so that the student can get attention just so that he or she can be placed out of the classroom.  This is my opportunity to be able to analyze, from an administrator’s standpoint, what is truly going on with these kids and what is the school not doing as a whole to be proactive against student behavior?

This is a very critical issue because with behavior problems comes a lack of time in classrooms learning, which also takes away from a teacher's time to teach, reduces administrators time from instructional, administrative, and community leadership. More importantly, repeat offenses occur to where the kids want to be in ISS instead of the regular classroom. 

My proposed action research deals with student behavior and how to best fix it through positive support systems implementation in our schools. The purpose of this study is to determine and develop a positive behavior support system and program that uses best practices to deter negative student behavior in the school setting including classrooms and any campus grounds. I also want to be able to restructure the ISS program to where no student would ever want to detention again.  The importance of this action research is to administrators, classroom teachers, para-professionals, and staff a series of strategies to prevent negative student behavior from interrupting a positive atmosphere for students to learn in the upcoming school year.

This action plan will observe student disciplinary issues with this current school year to base need areas in student discipline including but not limited to: truancy, attendance, minor classroom infractions, major school board policy infractions, violence, and vandalism. The goal of the action plan is to create best practices to decline the number of students being sent to in-school suspension and alternative education institutions.

Action Research - Are There Limits?

I have been really focusing on two specific action research topics. The first one has to do with the effectiveness of ISS programs and trying to find other ways of constructive punishment. The second one that I chose was trying to find a way to narrow failure rate gap of the African American, Mexican American, and Hispanic populations. When I presented this to Dr. Abshire in this past Thursday's web conference, she brought to my attention that the second one was very broad and that it would essentially be very difficult for me to find any success in this action research. When I heard this it kind of brought me to a stand still because this is something that I am very passionate about. Although Dr. Abshire said that I should pass on this research and focus on my ISS project, I have decided that I will continue to pursue both action research topics. I know that I have somewhat an impossible task on my hands but I still feel that I can get to the bottom of a lot of issues that could possibly help my school, as well as myself, in narrowing the failure gap. So everyone, please keep your fingers crossed for me : )