Action Research Week 4

Week 4 of action research proved useful to me in that I learned about things that can affect the research.  My action research plan of determining the effects of the new writing program for our 4th grade students and hoping for an increase in 4s, was enlightened by the acknowledgement that the scores could be skewed by problems such as teacher effectiveness in delivering the new writing program to the students and  the consistency of time spent on the new writing program. 

One helpful insight provided to me by a classmate was that I should think about a percentage of 4s and 3s that I am hoping the students will attain in order to determine whether the program is a success or not. 

I feel that I have learned a lot from this week and appreciate everyone's input.

Julia

What I've Learned About Action Research

After studying a bit about action research, I've come to discover what an important role it plays in the life of an educator.  I've also discovered how much I already do this, but  just didn't know what it was called. 
Action research is a very practical method of assessing the value of new programs.  It begins with the act of wondering whether or not a certain program or methodology is beneficial to the growth and development of the students.  Through action research, an educator can analyze data collected (which can come in various forms depending on the program being researched) to determine whether the program in question proved to be of any value in the desired change.  The results of this data can be shared with others to encourage group discussion about whether to keep the existing program or seek out new ones. 

I've learned that this is such a valuable tool for educators because it allows them to easily test the usefulness of new  programs.  If these types of tests are not conducted, there wouldn't be much growth or positive change taking place in the schools.  Schools prove to be an ever changing environment based on student demographics and social trends (only to name a couple of factors).  We, as educators, need to be willing to try new ways to reach and help students grow (educationally as well as personally).  In order to do this, education cannot be stagnant.   We must constantly wonder about the effectiveness of the programs we have in place, test these programs by analyzing data, and discuss the results with others to come to a general consensus about the appropriate avenue to take for ultimate student success.

Applying Action Research

After studying action research in more depth this week, I have discovered that there are many areas in which action research can take place.  It doesn't have to be just on instructional programs (curriculum).  I've learned that there are many areas of importance within the school which would benefit from action research.  Although I see the value of all nine areas of action research, the three that most interested me were "Individual Teachers", "Individual Students", and "Social Justice".

Action Research Plan

Goal:  Through the use of the writing curriculum inspired by the Writing Academy, the 4th grade students will improve their personal narrative writing skills.

Objective:  Through the use of the writing curriculum inspired by the Writing Academy, the 4th grade students will improve their writing skills on the personal narrative and thus improve their performance of the writing portion of the state standardized (STAAR) test.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Pre-assess students by having them write a sample composition	Mrs. Barton	September 6th	Writing prompt	Teacher read
Implement new writing curriculum	Mrs. Barton 4th grade team	September 7, 2011-March 26, 2012	Writing Academy material with added material	·   Writer's Showcase (each six weeks) ·  Benchmarks ·    Teacher/Student Surveys
Administer STAAR test	Mrs. Barton 4th grade classroom teachers	March 26-27, 2012	STAAR test	STAAR results

Action Research Revealed

Having been an educator for 20 years, I'm very surprised that I have never heard the words "action research" before!  However, it is not surprising that I have actually done action research many times.  From what I've read about action research this week, I've discovered it is something that every concerned educator does whether they know the terminology or not.  Any time we question the value of a new program or activity, we collect datat to see if it helps our students.  In this way, we are able to either continue with the program or make adjustments and revisions to continue to improve.  I was intriqued to see how action research can be applied in so many different ways.  It was a very informative week!