Final Thoughts ... For Now

What follows is a brief glimpse of my Week 5 reflection assignment. The assignment really made me thing about what I had learned, how I can use this new information, and how I may apply it in the future.

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Prior to the start of this course, I thought of research as something that other people did. Those other people would be university faculty, theorists, or possible district administrators. But never did I think that I would be the researcher.

The readily accepted idea of research is that of a faculty member of a university faculty that is “considered alien to the everyday happenings in schools” (Dana, 2009, p. 4). Dana continues that, in this type of university based research, principals are expected to navigate educational situations based on what outside experts (e.g. university researchers) suggest they do (2009, p. 4). If we, as administrators (or to-be-administrators, in my case), rely on outsiders to do our research, the research won’t match up. Therefore, the benefit of administrative inquiry over traditional research is that it removes the “middle man” from the situation and puts the power in the hands of a person (an administrator or teacher) with first hand experience with the situation.

This idea of performing my own research seemed foreign to me, and stayed that way through the end of Week 1. But by the end of the week, I truly began to understand the reasons why I should conduct my own research. Put into a classroom context, it would be the same as if a fellow grade level teacher came to me with test scores and I designed an intervention program for her students without ever meeting them or learning of their specific needs. The grade level teacher needs to be the one to design the intervention program because she has specific knowledge about each child that will help her to design a proper program. As an outsider (similar to a faculty member of a university), I don’t have firsthand knowledge of her students, and my intervention program will most likely not deliver the results needed or desired.

Once I understood my role as researcher, I began to look deeper at the students of my campus, the results we have been achieving, and the goals that we have set. There are so many possible research topics that came to mind, and it was difficult to narrow my choices down to a single wondering on which to focus my research project.
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And with that, I will leave you with my official EDLD 5301 wondering. I will be performing research on this topic throughout the fall semester, and I hope to present my results to district personnel before Christmas 2010.

Would a year-round educational plan be received positively by the staff, parents, and students of my campus, and might it be successful in comparison to other schools with similar demographics that are already in a year-round system?

Update to My Time Line

I am happy to report that the meeting with my site supervisor went very well. She thought that my time line was well-planned, and that I should be able to accomplish all of my tasks in the given time frame. Unfortunately, something has happened at our campus that may throw my time line off a bit.

One of our team members, the woman in the classroom next to mine, was recently diagnosed with cancer and will most likely be out at the start of the year. She and I team teach certain components of our curriculum and work very closely together. At this point she is seeking treatment options and will be away from her classroom indefinitely.

My supervisor is hoping I can step in to help the long-term substitute in establishing some classroom management, assessing students, and helping to fill her shoes on various committees until she returns (assuming that she is able to return within the year). I am more than happy to do this, but these additional responsibilities may force me to reconsider my time line.

At this time, we agree that the time line will work. However, if need be, we will change the time line as needed to accommodate the extra duties that I am undertaking while my coworker is away from the campus.

Wow... That Looks Daunting

In looking back at the plan I have set in front of me, I am daunted by the amount of work that is coming in the weeks and months ahead.

But I can take solace in the fact that the research is being done for the best reason of all - the education of our students. The facts that led to this research project are simple: what is currently being done is not working, and something needs to change.

While switching to a 12-month educational calendar may not be the right answer, continuing to do what we are now doing is unacceptable. Our students deserve better. It is up to us as their teachers and administrators to provide them with everything we can to prepare them for the future!

Time Line and Action Plan

What follows is the Time Line and Action Plan for my Research Project.

The "wondering" for my research is: Would a year-round educational plan be received positively by the staff, parents, and students of my campus, and might it be successful in comparison to other schools with similar demographics that are already in a year-round system?

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Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Time Line (Start/End)	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Begin research on schools currently using 12-month calendar	Joel S.	start: 08/02/2010 end: 09/30/2010	Internet	Collect data including data prior to change to 12-month calendar, and data after change to 12-month calendar
Receive full permission to take surveys from all selected individuals	Joel S., principal, district official (to sign off)	due: 08/20/2010	n/a	Printed copies of emails or written letters stating that permission is granted
Prepare Prezi file (Internet-based Powerpoint) to showcase how a 12-month calendar would look and work	Joel S.	start: 08/25/2010 08/31/2010	Computer, Internet, Sample 12-month calendars	n/a
Prepare surveys for parents, students (grades 3-5), faculty and staff	Joel S., secretary (copies)	start: 08/17/2010 end: 09/02/2010	Colored Paper (color coded by grade level or district employee), Copies, Statistics students at SFA (if needed) for composition of unbiased questions	n/a
Request time for presentation at district school board meeting in November or December	Joel. S	due: 09/03/2010	Computer, Internet	Slotted time for school board presentation
Show teachers in Grades 3-5 Prezi file that they should show students prior to completing survey	Joel S.	staff meeting on 09/01/2010	Prezi File, Computer, Projector, Internet	n/a
Students in Grades 3-5 complete survey during school	Teachers in Grades 3-5	start: 09/07/2010 end: 09/10/2010	Prezi file, Computer, Projector, Internet	Completed surveys are turned in by the end of the afternoon on 09/10/2010
Prepare surveys (questions) for teachers and administrators of schools already using a 12-month calendar	Joel S.	start: 09/13/2010 end: 09/24/2010	Computer, Internet, Statistics students at SFA (if needed) for composition of unbiased questions	n/a
With prior permission, email surveys (using SurveyMonkey.com) to teachers and administrators already using a 12-month calendar	Joel S.	start: 09/27/2010 due: 10/01/2010	Computer, Internet, SurveyMonkey account	Completed surveys are submitted by 11:59pm on 10/01/2010
Send out surveys to ALL families and ALL staff and faculty	Joel S., ALL grade level teachers, ALL faculty and staff	start: 09/14/2010 end: 09/21/2010	Surveys	Completed surveys are turned in by the end of the afternoon on 09/21/2010
Send out survey reminders to ALL families and ALL staff and faculty taht have not yet returned the completed survey	Joel S.	due: 09/16/2010 (to pass out to teachers)	Colored Paper (color coded as before	n/a
Analyze survey results (using numerical rubric) from parents, students, faculty and staff	Joel S.	start: 09/24/2010 ends: 10/08/2010	Completed Surveys, Computer, Spreadsheet software	Surveys will show support and/or opposition towards suggested 12-month calendar
Analyze survey results (using a numerical rubric) from teachers and administrators of schools already using a 12-month calendar	Joel S.	start: 10/04/2010 end: 10/15/2010	Completed Surveys, Computer, Spreadsheet software	Surveys will show support and/or opposition towards currently used 12-month calendar
Organize data results from both surveys into user-friendly formats for publication and presentation to administrators from school and district	Joel S.	start: 10/18/2010 end: 10/22/2010	Completed surveys, Computer, Spreadsheet software	Surveys and data from schools will be in pie charts, bar charts, etec., for easy understanding by all individuals
Begin writing formal action research paper	Joel S.	start: 10/24/2010 end: 11/12/2010	Computer, Internet, Word processing software	n/a
Design Prezi to accompany action research presentation to school and district personnel	Joel S.	start: 10/31/2010 end: 11/12/2010	Computer, Internet, Results of research and data	n/a
Present to school and district administration at November or December school board meeting	Joel S.	due: 12/31/2010	Computer, Internet, Prezi file, Printed copies of results	Campus and district administration will make final recommendation and decision regarding change from 9-month calendar to 12-month calendar

Choosing an Action Research Topic

During the academic year, I spend so much of my time concentrating on my lesson plans, small group interventions, RtI data, benchmark testing, parent contact, etc. There's just NO TIME for looking at the big picture. This week has afforded me that time... time to learn about the 9 Passions (outlined in "Leading with Passion and Knowledge" / Nancy Fichtman Dana, 2010) and view my school and district through each of them.

When looking inward and finding the things that really matter to me, then comparing my list to the 9 Passions, I found that there were many areas where I could concentrate my efforts.

After working on my assignment and stopping to ponder my choice for action research (and, quite frankly, to take a break from staring at my computer screen), I think I have finally come to a conclusion of where my mind is pulling me. As I wrote in my assignment for Week 2: How might a year-round schedule benefit or hinder the academic achievement of our students based on current demographics (including socio-economic makeup)?

My campus is considering switching to a magnet school, where the draw would be a leadership curriculum based on Stephen Covey's "7 Habits," as well as a year-round education (as opposed to the 9-month education system currently used). I feel that this is the most timely of wonderings, and it would be the most applicable to my current position.

So we'll see what I discover. Perhaps I will learn that year-round school would be beneficial for a low socio-economic school such as mine. Perhaps I will learn that year-round school would NOT be beneficial because of the high numbers of migrant families that attend our school. Regardless, I am looking forward to the journey of reading, learning, and growing.

Principals Should Try Blogging

Principals often need to be able to share information quickly and efficiently with different people and organizations, including school board members, teachers, parents, community members, the press, state officials, etc. To this point, principals have mainly focused on paper-based newsletters and messages. To disseminate messages more efficiently, administrators should try blogging.

Blogging allows a user to control the flow of information coming out of the school in a efficient and relatively painless way. Through blogging (especially at regular intervals), principals can select a particular audience to target (e.g., parents), craft a message that is clear and concise, allow for feedback, and publish their thoughts within a matter of minutes.

Gone are the days of running copies for every student in the school, forwarding messages to multiple groups of people, or learning that information was taken out-of-context by a member of the press. Instead, principals will be able to save resources (and funding that should go towards the education of their students), include everyone in their update (by publishing on a regular schedule), and ensuring that only the information that they want to be publicized is done so (by personally controlling what they publish on their blog).

While it's a leap of great lengths for some, blogging should be viewed as a viable method of information dissemination and public relations.

Action Research - What I've Learned

I haven't had a chance to do a lot of work with action research, but to this point, it looks like something that will be very valuable to me as an administrator in the future... and something that I would have liked to have seen in the past

In the traditional style of educational research, university professors consider current educational trends and create educational models that they believe will benefit today's administrators, teachers, and students. Unfortunately, this means that someone removed from the world of public K-12 education is creating a system by which K-12 employees are to work. These models may work in some situations, but certainly not all situations.

For example, a model may work well in a higher socio-economic area where students have both parents living at home, a parent that stays home during the day and is there when they leave and return from school, and works diligently with the childon their homework. The same model may not work as well in a lower socio-economic area where students are in single parent homes, where parents work two or three jobs and are rarely home with their child leaves or returns from school, and doesn't have time to work with their child on their homework.

I liken this to how a former employer operated. I worked as a DJ at a radio station in Minnesota for a few years while attending a nearby university. They received their playlists and music rotations (e.g., the listing of the songs their audience wanted to hear and the order they should be played in) from a company in Seattle. There was a disconnect between the audience members in Minnesota and the programmers in Seattle. For this reason, the station wasn't nearly as successful as it could have been. Had the station done its own research to determine what the listeners wanted to hear (perhaps supplemented by the information gathered by the Seattle firm), their "listenership" would have been much stronger, they could have charged more for their advertising, and they could have shared their newly found profit with their employees.

It is this way with action research, as well. If a university professor creates a model that is followed by administrators, teachers and students, there is a disconnect between the audience (teachers and students) and the programmer (the university professor). However, if the local administrator performs their own research, they are more apt to have a better understanding of the needs of their audience, and the gains can be shared with all audience members (students, teachers, administrators, district personnel, etc.).