Sharing My Action Research Plans, Progress, Findings, and Recommendations

1. Providing background information: At Kilgore High School, those in administrative positions have raised the bar for accountability among teachers and students alike. In order to help students succeed, the teachers will need to reach out and garner the help from parents at home. Our school does not have a high parental involvement participation rate and there are few programs that encourage parental involvement. I would like to action research to find the possible results of the implementation of higher parental involvement on student achievement at our school.
2. Sharing the design of the inquiry: I will give surveys to students and parents to find barriers that effect parental involvement. Student interviews will also be conducted to examine how higher parental involvement has effected their achievement of academic goals. Computer generated data will also be used to examine student performance during the duration of the research.
3. Stating the learning and supporting the statements with data: I intend to prove that parental involvement will have a positive effect on student achievement. I plan to develop a parental involvement program in hopes to encourage parents to participate in their child’s education. Data from the action research will follow a student’s progress throughout the entire study.
4. Providing concluding thoughts: I will reflect on the conclusions of my action research to find if parental involvement indeed positively effects student achievement. I will develop and make adjustments to parental involvement programs that have been implemented in order to improve their success. I will also develop other inquiries upon this action research. For example, what are the most common barriers that prevent parents from becoming involved in their child’s education and how can these barriers be eliminated. Academically, how are students effected that are from broken homes or come from single parent households?

Action Research Project: "Parental Involvement"

Action Research Project
Parental Involvement
1. Setting the Foundation: At Kilgore High School our administrators have raised the bar for accountability. In order to help students succeed, teachers will need to reach out and garner the help of parents at home. If the parents become more involved then it is believed that the success of students will increase as well.
2. Analyzing Data: Student surveys, parental surveys, individual student reviews, and computer generated data will be used to obtain information. Student and parent surveys will contain questions the researcher would like to see answered. Student interviews will cover topics that deal with barriers that they foresee when trying to get their parents involved. Computer generated data will include general homework assignments, standard tests, and state assessments.
3. Developing Deeper Understanding: Students and parents both face many barriers when it comes to parental involvement. Many students come from broken homes and do not live with their parents. Some students only live with one parent who might work nights while the student is at home. Many of these barriers play a significant part in parental involvement.
4. Engage In Self Reflection: Is this action research beneficial for my campus and do I have the resources to provide adequate solutions to problems? Will this action research be able to find the resources to sustain the solutions for years to come?
5. Exploring Programmatic Patterns: Some of the problems that I will encounter will consist of the surveys. I do not know how serious the students and parents will receive them. I also understand that I will not receive all parent surveys. I hope the instructor will give students extra points or some other benefit for receiving parent and student surveys.
6. Determining Direction: This research project will find out if parental involvement will improve the overall success of students. Collaboration with teachers and my site-based supervisor has helped with the approach to this project. This action research project is on schedule to be completed by March of 2011. Evaluation methods to monitor this project include student assignments, test scores, state assessments.
7. Taking Action For School Improvement: This project will include a written plan that will be discussed with the teacher participating in this project and my site-based supervisor. Once details of the research project are concluded, a summative report will be drawn up based on the findings.
8. Sustain Improvement: If parental involvement does significantly impact student performance, I hope to recommend a plan to develop a parent/student involvement program. This program will encourage parents to get involved with their child’s education and teach them the importance of their involvement.

Action Research Plan

Goal: To find what possible results will come from the implementation of higher parental involvement, as well as possible barriers that will come from trying to involve low income and minority parents in their child’s education.

Action Step 1: Give students a survey of questions that the researcher wants to examine.
Person Responsible: Myself and the student’s history teacher.
Timeline: In January 2011 the students will complete the surveys in class immediately upon receiving them.
Needed Resources: Paper and a copy machine.
Evaluation: Analyze the findings and formulate a plan to involve parents in the classroom setting.

Action Step 2: Give parents a survey of question that the researcher wants to examine.
Person Responsible: Myself, the student’s history teacher, and the students.
Timeline: In January 2011 the parents will complete the surveys. The students will have one week to return the surveys.
Needed Resources: Paper and a copy machine.
Evaluation: Analyze the findings to evaluate and make changes to parental involvement plan.

Action Step 3: Conduct student interviews.
Person Responsible: Myself
Timeline: February 2011.
Needed Resources: Paper and a copy machine.
Evaluation: After the parents have become involved, then the students will be interviewed. Changes will be made to help overcome problematic barriers.

Action Step 4: Collect and Analyze Computer Generated Data.
Person Responsible: Myself and Site-based Supervisor.
Timeline: Throughout the entire action research project.
Needed Resources: Computer, access to student’s grades.
Evaluation: Examine and analyze data periodically to evaluate student progress. Adjust and modify parental involvement plan according to findings.

EDLD 5301 Week 2 Action Research Findings

During week two of my action research class, I have learned valuable information about action research. I learned the bulk of this from the interviews that we watched. One important tool that I learned was that when doing action research, try to find other schools or school districts that are similar to your own and that are experiencing the same problems. Through collaboration you can find if they are doing action research on the same topic, what are they doing to fix such problems, and what solutions have or have not worked. I also learned that action research should be relevant to your campus or district. Researchers should research topics of interest that are beneficial to their particular campus or school district.

How educational leaders might use blogs.

Educational leaders might use blogs in several different ways to improve leadership under their administration. I believe that leaders can most effectively use blogs by using them as a resource for news. Leaders can use this source as a means of communicating important information to stakeholders. Also, stakeholders can visit a leaders blog page at their convenience. Blogs work around the schedule of busy persons. When stakeholders find time, they can use this resource.

What I have learned about action research and how I can use it

I have learned several different characteristics of action research through this week's assignment. Not only did I learn the definition of action research, but I learned how I might be able to use it as a future leader. I believe that a leader who possesses more ways to solve problems perfects his or her ability to lead. This makes for a strong and respected leader. Action research uses several different methods in order to study existing problems and issues. The advantage to action research is that it can be collaborative and involve many stakeholders. Educational research typically involves one researcher looking for an answer. Action research can use a number of stakeholders within an organization to solve current problems. Action research also is a reflective process. This allows researchers to use past experiences to find solutions to existing problems within an organization. These reflections tend to avoid errors that have been made in the past dealing with issues. Researchers can also reflect on what has solved problems in prior years and use the solution to solve current problems. I believe that I can use action research as a future leader to solve certain problems or conflicts that I may encounter. I feel that I could use action research as a means of addressing situations such as improving student test scores, professional development, or parental involvement. I intend to use action research because it focuses on localized problems or conflicts that may appear within my community, school district, administration, faculty, or school.