ACTION RESEARCH PLAN!!

Goal: How is the student attendance rate affected when students are involved with the fine arts organizations (Band, Choir, Dance, and Theatre) of my school?

Objective: To examine the daily attendance of students involved in the fine arts organizations throughout the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year.

My plan is in the following order:
Action
Steps

Needed
Resources

Timeline:
Start/End

Person(s)
Responsible

Process
For
Monitoring

Evaluation

1. Monitor daily attendance of students in the fine arts programs
Daily Attendance Report of each program or the head director can log the attendance through their Skyward attendance
Start Date:
8-23-10
End Date:
12-17-10
Head Directors of each program:
E. Collazo
S. Goforth
R. Heitzman
A. Taylor
Each week, the head directors will log which students in the program missed a day of school. The director will follow up to see if the day was excused, unexcused, doctor, etc.
The head directors will analyze the findings in their data and meet with the others to discuss the findings. This evaluation will be used for the staff development presentation, when deemed necessary by the school principal.

2. Conduct a survey from the students (through survey monkey) to collect data on why they attend school on a regular basis
Set up a survey through survey monkey; computer access for students during timeline
Start
Date:
9-1-10
End Date:
10-30-10
Audra Taylor will set up the survey; head directors will ensure all students in their program complete the survey by deadline
Each head director will allow time for the students to participate in the survey during class or after school if the student cannot take the survey in their home. The head director will keep a log of all their students’ completion of the survey.
The head directors will analyze the data collected through the survey. If any information was shared by the students, we will use their quotes for the presentation.

3. Report the findings of the action research project to the faculty and staff of the school
Presentation needs would be a laptop, projector, and screen.
Start and End Date:
Second semester staff development day
Head directors will present with Audra Taylor as the lead presenter
A powerpoint presentation would be designed to report the findings of our topic to the staff and any other stakeholders who attend.
I would love to have a survey for the teachers to fill out at the end of the presentation to evaluate what they think about our topic.


If the outcome of this study comes out in a positive way, our school would need to find a way to get more students involved with some sort of activity so they would have a reason to attend school everyday. Something needs to motivate them especially when our school has so many students with very hard family lives. I really would like to survey the alumni of the programs as well and see if these programs were motivation for them when they were in school.

Lessons learned in week 2

I really found the three interviews to be helpful with my action research thought process. I really enjoyed the comment made by Dr. Lewis about making action research practical research. It is very true that if it is practical to you, your students will benefit and that is my main goal. I also enjoyed Johnny B's vibe. He seemed like a great principal to work for. He seems like he is very hands-on and easy to talk to. It is always a great idea to look at other districts to see what they are doing and what is working for them. It may not be the same for your school, but the ideas can always be modified to what your school needs. Good stuff this week! Excited for next week!

How can educational leaders use blogs??

OK...well, educational leaders can use blogs for collaboration and support. These leaders can use their blogs to share experiences and insights by posting ideas or reflections of their daily or weekly issues or thoughts. The blogs can sometimes challenge you by reading something someone else has done. It can help you continue to learn from each other about different situations and problems that may occur in yoru school.

What action research means to me

Well, now that I have read all about action research, I think it is a really cool aspect of professional development. I am a firm believer of continuing education everyday. I just like to learn. I think action research involves a continuous search to better yourself as an educator through various activities. Let's suppose you have a problem or concern in your classroom. You must identify the problem first and then analyze any data you may have with your concern. From this point, there are many options you can do to start your research process. You could search the internet, talk with other teachers, or locate readings to see what others have done in your situation. The main thing is to find out as much as you can before making a decision. You have to try to think of all aspects before making your decision. As an educator, you need to understand every aspect and break down all parts of the problem or concern. This will enable you to make the best decision for your students.
I plan to use action research in many different ways. First, I am going to commit to writing reflections. I want to be able to leave some of my reflections to the next teacher who takes my place at my campus. I am a drill team director and I have many different things happen each day. I deal with students and parents on a daily basis, as well as teachers and adminstrators on different occasions. I believe that this would be a good way to contribute to the action research process. Second, I want to continue to talk with other directors and schools to find out the different ways their program exists in their school. I want to include as many students as possible. This is a direct effect on my topic of how attendance affects student attendance. And last, I want to stay on my school's leadership team so I can find out what our school needs to do to become an exemplary campus.