Action Research Update

Action Research Project Title: How do extra-curricular activities affect students’ grades, tardies and referrals?

Blog URL: http://laurenmiksch.blogspot.com/

Number of AR Project Documented Hours: 10 hours

AR Project Summary (at least 250 words):

As a whole, everything is on track in regards to my Action Research Plan. Although, I have several months to go, this past month has been successful. I have defined my groups which include students that are not involved and students that are in athletics, band, orchestra, cheerleading, and chess club. I decided to collect data on 30 students that are involved and 30 students that are not involved. The third week of school, after schedule changes died down, I communicated with the three other core teachers that will be involved, Mrs. Allen (Social Studies), Mrs. Cochrane (Language Arts), and Mrs. Whitehouse (Science), and let the teachers know of the 60 students being tracked. I also reminded them at the end of each six weeks I would need each student’s final grade. Last week, although a week behind schedule, I emailed the sponsors of the extra-curricular activities, and asked for a copy of the by-laws or contracts given to students in order to participate in the activity. I have received all but one of the by-laws back and after looking at the by-laws, the requirements seem to be about the same for each activity. Next Monday during our Accelerated Reading (advisory) period, I plan to pass out surveys to the students to complete. I originally planned for this to take place this week, but the administrators asked that I wait a week as we have “Social Etiquette” to present this week to the students. Next Friday will be the last day of the six weeks so I will then be able to gather the first six weeks data which includes tardies, grades, and referrals for the 60 chosen students.

Week 5 Reflection!!

It's week 5 people, wahoooo!!!

     

        Before beginning this course, EDLD 5301 Research, I had no idea what to expect.  I had heard horror stories of how it was going to be the toughest class yet.  I was nervous yet eager at the same time to begin this class.   However, I have learned abundance in this course. Prior to taking it, I had no idea what an action research entailed, even though I was aware of the term. The books, lectures, blogs, and discussion boards have been particularly helpful during the entire duration of the course and in my current action research on the affect extracurricular activities have on students’ grades, tardies, and referrals.

       The two books we used, “Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher” by Nancy Dana Fichtman and “Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps from Analysis to Action” by Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, and Julie Combs both contain a wealth of information on anything that pertains to conducting action research. However, Harris et al.'s book is the more real-world one as it provides an actual outline for conducting action research. As the title suggests, it names eight steps in a school improvement action research. Put another way, it takes a more systematic method to reflection and clearly outlines everything involved in action research. If I were to focus just one thing, it would be the “CARE Model Planning Tool.” This tool provides a clear and usable framework for planning for school improvement (Dana, 2009).

       Another thing I have benefited from is blogging. Reading and participating in discussions in my classmates' blogs has allowed for an informal conversation where we did not have to worry about citations and APA format which led to an exchange of ideas, suggestions and recommendations. The discussion boards for this course also contributed to the exchange of advantageous comments used to create our action research plan. It also helped that the discussion prompts were more reflective and did not involve the summary of the text, while helpful in gaining a deeper connection with our resources, does not really contribute to our own action research. There were three suggestions from my blog that I applied to my own action research.

       In closing, I have found this course to be helpful and relevant to my professional career, and one that will help me develop into an outstanding administrator in the near future.

Updated Action Research Plan

I have included my updated action research plan. The only changes include:
Adding the names Allen, Whitehouse and Cochrane to who I am emailing in column two, and changing interviewing to conducting a survey using Survey Monkey in column four.  Thank you advance for the comments!

Action Planning Template
Goal: How do extra-curricular activities affect students’ grades, tardies, and referrals?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Define groups-   -Extra-curricular      students     -Athletics     -Band     -Orchestra     -Cheerleading     -Chess Club -Non Extra-     curricular      students   30 students that are extra-curricular and 30 students that are not involved (students from my classes)	Lauren Miksch	August 26, 2013-September 4, 2013	List from Extra-curricular sponsors	List gathered from sponsors and student spreadsheet is created with students listed by activity
Communicate with core teachers of the 120 students- Making them aware that a spreadsheet will need to be completed at the end of each six weeks	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science)	September 4, 2013- September 7, 2013	Email Betty Allen, Trina Cochrane, and Cheryl Whitehouse	Completed spreadsheet sent to Core teachers so they are aware of students that are being tracked.
Communicate with extra-curricular sponsors of requirements to participate in the activity. Interview sponsors.	Lauren Miksch, Santiago Ochoa (Athletics), Valerie Klem (Orchestra), Tanya Moore (Cheerleading), Barbara Myers (Orchestra)	September 9, 2013- September 13, 2013	Interview Questions	Copies of interview notes; Copy of by-laws or contracts given to students.
Conduct survey using Survey Monkey	Lauren Miksch, extra-curricular students, non-extra-curricular students	September 16, 2013- September 20, 2013	Survey questions	Survey questions, computer
Gather 1st Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	October 4, 2013-October 11, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 2nd  Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	November 8, 2013- November 15, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 3rd  Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	December 20, 2013, January 10, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 4th Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	February 21, 2013- February 28, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 5th Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	April 17, 2014- April 24, 2014	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 6th Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	May 29, 2014- June 5, 2014	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Analyze and Interpret Data	Lauren Miksch	June 8, 2013-July 8, 2013	Data, interviews	Create graphs displaying data.
Share results with administration and make recommendation	Lauren Miksch, Beau Sanchez (Principal), Jennifer Lundquist (AP)	July 9, 2013- July 30, 2013	Graphs, Paper, Calendar to schedule time to share results	Handouts of graphs and paper

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: How do extra-curricular activities affect students’ grades, tardies, and referrals?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Define groups-   -Extra-curricular      students     -Athletics     -Band     -Orchestra     -Cheerleading     -Chess Club -Non Extra-     curricular      students   60 students that are extra-curricular and 60 students that are not involved (students from my classes)	Lauren Miksch	August 26, 2013-September 4, 2013	List from Extra-curricular sponsors	List gathered from sponsors and student spreadsheet is created with students listed by activity
Communicate with core teachers of the 120 students- Making them aware that a spreadsheet will need to be completed at the end of each six weeks	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science)	September 4, 2013- September 7, 2013	Email	Completed spreadsheet sent to Core teachers so they are aware of students that are being tracked.
Communicate with extra-curricular sponsors of requirements to participate in the activity. Interview sponsors.	Lauren Miksch, Santiago Ochoa (Athletics), Valerie Klem (Orchestra), Tanya Moore (Cheerleading), Barbara Myers (Orchestra)	September 9, 2013- September 13, 2013	Interview Questions	Copies of interview notes; Copy of by-laws or contracts given to students.
Conduct interviews (survey) with students	Lauren Miksch, extra-curricular students, non-extra-curricular students	September 16, 2013- September 20, 2013	Student interview (survey) questions	Copies of interview (survey) questions
Gather 1st Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	October 4, 2013-October 11, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 2nd  Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	November 8, 2013- November 15, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 3rd  Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	December 20, 2013, January 10, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 4th Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	February 21, 2013- February 28, 2013	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 5th Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	April 17, 2014- April 24, 2014	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Gather 6th Six Weeks Data: Tardies, grades, and referrals for 120 chosen students.	Lauren Miksch, Betty Allen (Social Studies), Trina Cochrane (English), Cheryl Whitehouse (Science), E-School (referral count), Ed Echols (ISS-tardy log)	May 29, 2014- June 5, 2014	E-School referral results, tardy count, report cards	Student record spreadsheet is filled out
Analyze and Interpret Data	Lauren Miksch	June 8, 2013-July 8, 2013	Data, interviews	Create graphs displaying data.
Share results with administration and make recommendation	Lauren Miksch, Beau Sanchez (Principal), Jennifer Lundquist (AP)	July 9, 2013- July 30, 2013	Graphs, Paper, Calendar to schedule time to share results	Handouts of graphs and paper