Action Research Week 4

Week 4 of the Action Research course has been extremely busy, not so much with the course work, but with the life I lead on a daily basis - teaching school.  In addition to being the special education teacher for my K- 5th grade school, I am also the lead testing coordinator.  That means, I am responsible for making sure students are grouped in the correct testing situations, accommodations are provided for those who receive them, test booklets are assigned and accounted for, plus making schedules and assigning test administrators.  For those of you who are fellow test coordinators, you understand what I'm talking about.  It's a big responsibility.  There is a lot at stake, for the school and students.  So, needless to say, Action Research has taken a back seat for this past week, and for at least most of next week. 

Today, I read a paper on student motivation by Cagra Tugrul Mart, from Ishik University.  "How to Sustain Students' Motivation in a Learning Environment".  The author states in the conclusion of the paper, "Motivation needs to be concerned about by every educator."  This is one of the points of my action research.  I'm not sure that teachers, ones that I work with, truly realize the impact of their behavior on student motivation.  We know this, but do we really understand this?  I'm hoping to find out as I conduct my action research.  I am hopeful that once we do realize our impact, that my school will see positive changes in its overall climate.

Reflections of Week 3

Putting my plan in a template and seeing what I would actually be doing helps organize my thoughts and actions.  I like having a plan and clear direction in which to go.  In looking at the 8 steps that are needed in designing and implementing my plan, I could see some gaps.  I will be looking and asking for assistance in filling in the gaps, mainly from the leadership team on my campus.  I am hoping that the research shows some clear patterns in student motivation and what is needed to impact our school's climate in a positive way. 

Action Research Plan

Goal: Find ways to motivate students, either intrinsically or extrinsically in order to improve school’s climate and ultimately test scores.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Develop a student survey on motivation	Donna Carnagey	March 2012/May 2012	Motivation surveys that are appropriate for elementary age students  (2nd – 5th graders)	Identify patterns or trends among students.  What is it that motivates students to do their best?
Develop a teacher survey on motivation.	Donna Carnagey	March 2012/May 2012	Utilize on-line survey programs such as Survey Monkey	Identify patterns or trends among teachers.  What motivates teachers to be effective in the classroom?
Have students and teachers fill out surveys; paper and on-line.	Students in grades 2 – 5, and the teachers of those same grade levels.	March 2012/May 2012	Surveys:  paper and online	Gather surveys; look for patterns or trends in motivation
Share results with the leadership team and Mr. McEwin.	Donna Carnagey	May or June 2012	Copies of trends/patterns to be given to the members of the leadership team.	Using the data, develop a plan of action for the next school year 2012 -2013, in order to positively impact our school’s climate.

Action Research Reflections - week 2

In thinking about and then discussing my action research project with my principal, we came to an agreement about the topic.  At first, I wanted to research RTI - Response to Intervention.  This is an area of particular interest to me since I am a teacher in Special Education.  I have been a teacher in this area for 23 years (25 total years in education).  I have become somewhat frustrated with the referral process and the identification of students who receive special education services.  In my current district where over identification has been a concern, it seems we have completely gone the other way and are not identifying students who may truly need the extra services.  There has to be a balance between the two!  We are "dumping" students who have never been in general ed. into classes without the proper assistance or training of the general ed. teacher.  My frustrations could go on and on....

So, I thought that making sure teachers were trained in appropriate documentation of the Tiers of Intervention would enable us as a campus to make good, solid special ed. referrals.  While my principal agrees with me that this is something we need to do as a campus, this might not be an actual "research" project.  So, we sat down and discussed this issue so more.

We began talking about student motivation.  How do we motivate students to do well in class?  On a test?  In their behavior?  How do we move students to find that doing well and taking pride in a job well done is reward enough?  This discussion continued into our PLC meetings with the different grade levels.  After hearing teachers voice their concerns about motivating students, my principal looked at me and said "there's your action research project".  So, I will be looking in to different ways of motivating students to do their best.  He also wants me to also look at how teachers are motivated.  What makes a teacher strive to do his/her best in the classroom?  Some interesting findings I'm sure await me!

So, what have I learned so far about action research?  It's a lot of work!  However, it's a very necessary part of being a great educator as well as administrator.  No longer are we able to teach with out looking at data and applying it in our classrooms.  As educators we have a responsibility to look at students as individuals and help them become successful, lifelong learners.

First Action Research Thoughts

Welcome to my thoughts on Action Research!  I hope as I go through the journey of learning how to conduct an inquiry and gather data, then use this data effectively that I will continue to use this process in my career as an educational leader. 

 Since I am not a person who is naturally inquisitive, I find the prospect of action research a little intimidating.  I'm not sure I will know exactly what questions to ask, or what questions do I want or need to have answered.  I understand that action research leads to an administrator taking on the responsibility for problem solving on their campus and leading the way to being a life-long learner.  The district I currently work for has really encouraged campuses to incorporate Professional Learning Communities and Leadership Teams.  This has given the principals on the various campuses a team of educators who can engage in inquiry of problems unique to their campus, analyze data, make improvements and then share that learning with other educators.


I can see the benefits for action research as an administrator.  I know that using action research can bring collaboration between the administration and faculty.  If the faculty sees and knows that the administrator is researching best practices and problem-solving issues unique to their campus, there is an ownership and community feeling on the campus. 
Educators have the ability through using action research to plan successful implementation of programs, make changes as necessary and even reflect on personal growth.