Meeting with site supervisor on action research plan

I met with my site supervisor. She was very encouraging about my action research plan. We thoroughly reviewed each step. We discussed a concern that teachers may feel stressed at the need to reflect so often along the way but in the end she seemed most excited that we would be using the tool itself to collect our data. She felt this would be a powerful way to provide the teachers hand-on experience with the tool from a student’s point of view. My project will focus on K-5. During our sharing we discussed the possibility of using the tool to motivate student attendance at the HS level. She was thinking that maybe student attendance data could be used. She also wanted to make sure that we keep in mind that there could be parent resistance to what we are doing. She said she recently attended a board meeting and a parent felt that all students below High School should be blocked from entering in their own URL’s. This parent felt that students would only be using the internet to go to pages that a teacher has directly provided. It is both sad and scary to think that there are parents out there who feel this way. We felt I should pose this as a discussion question on the research wiki and have the teachers blog what they might tell this parent. Posing this question on the blog does not change my action plan, it is just a topic starter I will provide. She was satisfied with my plan including my last set of revisions.

Action Planning Template

Action Research Topic - What kind of impact the availability of a “safe” District web 2.0 environment has on student achievement.

It was challenging to generate three topics that I might want to pursue using action research; after discussing the topics with my site supervisor I became aware of potential politics within the district that I was not aware of before. It was not my intention to stir the pot with my topic choices. I am glad we decided on a tech initiative that is within our realm of control. I am excited to finish the plan for possible implementation of this research topic.

Blogging –

There are several ways a blog can be used by educational leaders. A blog can help to develop collaboration and support. It can allow those who have never met to collaborate and discuss best practices. It can provide a space in which to contribute ideas, solutions or even questions. “Blogging also gives us an opportunity to reflect on our practice so that we become more intentional about what we do on a day to day basis.” (Poling & Borell)

Action Research -

This topic to me at first was very confusing. I found it difficult to focus on the information being presented in the lecture. I had to stop the video and listen to sections of it several times. As I read the Dana text it started to fall into place. I realized maybe I should have started with that first. Putting into practice my own inquiry on this topic I found myself trying to determine the relationship between action research and the practice of continuous improvement. I see many similarities. Our district has continuous improvement at it’s heart. Although my understanding of this topic and how it relates to continuous improvement is still evolving here is what I have come to learn about action research.

Dana talks about the term “research” and how it can carry a “baggage prone” connotation. I agree with this. As Dana, I prefer the term inquiry over research and so will choose administrative inquiry as I continue. Administrative inquiry is the, “systematic, intentional study of one’s own professional practice.” (Dana, 2009) Reflection is also a big part of the process. The individual poses a question or a “wondering”, data is collected and analyzed and relevant literature is read. This provides an opportunity to develop new understandings and ultimately this can lead to making changes in ones practice. (Dana, 2009) “The steps in action research include identifying a classroom learning problem, developing and implementing an action research plan, collecting and analyzing data, and evaluating and sharing results (Calhoun, 1994; Sagor, 2000).” “Administrator inquiry becomes a powerful vehicle for learning and reform.” (Dana, 2009)