" I love it when a plan comes together!"

This week we were asked to draft an action research plan... I have posted the goal and the activities I will use. I only included the activities here. The resources and other topics are on my formal plan that I turned in with my assignment. If you have any questions about that...let me know.

Goal: Determine if our athletic program has a positive impact on student success

Analyze TAKS data for student athletes in varsity athletic period

Analyze 3,6,9 weeks grade reports for student athletes in varsity athletic period

Tabulate incidences of discipline referrals for student athletes

Track attendance data for student athletes

Administration of survey on role and effectiveness of athletic program in school.

End of year evaluation report used for year to year comparison

Collaborate and share findings with department heads and assistant principals. Input and collaboration to address needs areas

Week Two Thoughts...Wonderings...Wanderings

As week one ended and week two began, I have to admit that I was a little intimidated as to what topic or topics I might be interested in doing action research in. I am not sure about everyone else, but many times I tend to over think things. Several very worthy topics came to mind and I really had a hard time trying to decide what might be the best. (hence the wandering portion of my title) I did however get something pretty powerful from this week by watching one of the interviews. (It was Dr. Lewis the sup. from Pasadena) He said that you should do what is practical for you. Bingo...(now I not wandering...I am wondering) I decided that I wanted to focus on things that are practical and interesting to me. I am a coach so the topic of the role of athletics in schools is very important to me. I decided I wanted to select this as my topic. I know over the years I have seen countless examples of the positive impact of athletics. I have never been a part of any type of research to gather real data on this topic. I have however seen that if the academic and athletic departments in a school cooperate...good things happen. I welcome your thoughts!

Educational leader's use of blogs

In today’s school climate, we all find that we are spread very thin with all the issues that come up from day to day. This is a very real situation in regards to administrators and the varied duties they encounter from day to day. I believe that the blog can be a very useful tool for communication with the staff. The blog allows the school community access to the administrator’s thoughts on a given topic at a time and place convenient to the individual. In addition, it allows for responses to be posted and shared with the collective group. It can be a very powerful collaboration tool when used properly. Finally, the blog can be used effectively in Action Research. It allows for the sharing of ideas in a format that does not infringe upon the already busy and hectic schedules of everyone in the school community.

Reflections on what I have learned about Action Research

From my study of what Action Research is, I have learned a great deal. Action Research, also known as Administrative Inquiry, is in effect a systematic approach to improving practices for educational excellence. I think that this approach is very interesting in that the readings indicate research suggests that this is a practice of excellent leaders. It also indicates that the expert administrator will engage in this type of study to improve not only the school, but also the administrator’s skills as a school leader. I think the most interesting facet of this type of research is that it emphasizes the practitioner being engaged in the research. In a sense, it provides for a custom solution for problems that have circumstances unique to the individual school. I think that this is a great idea because when the practitioner is engaged in finding the solution, you tend to have a higher rate of buy in. From my experience, people like to be a part of the process of building and shaping policy and practice. The other forms of research and professional development tend to take “outside” research and attempt to apply it to schools. I think that many administrators feel “push-back” from teachers when they feel that a “one size fits all” solution is being applied to a very unique situation. It is also common in my experience that teachers see this “outside” research solutions as the “flavor of the month” policy. I think it is vital in developing a sense of community in schools to have a system like this in place to help shape policy and improve practices.