Action Research Draft-Handling Tardies

(a)Title: The Effect of Weekly Consequences on Student Tardies

(b) Needs Assessment: Tardies were a major issue at our campus last year.  Tardies continued to rise as the 2010-2011 school year progressed.  Tardies were tracked through the “tardy table” and the data was analyzed every six weeks and students were called down to the office when available by AP’s when time permitted.  This system seemed to have minimal effect on students attempt to improve on tardies.  Tardy numbers were higher during 6^th and 8^th period.  Other periods were averaging 10-20 tardies per day while 6^th and 8^th period was averaging 20-25 per day.

(c) Objective and Vision:  The vision is to create a way to give the students a more immediate consequence to catch tardies earlier and reduce the number of tardies.  Action research will be used to make improvements on student tardies.  Data will be collected from last year’s attendance reports and compared to this year’s attendace report.  To help improve the tardies, students will be gven a consequence every week for the number of tardies they have.  Students will be given a consequence for their 5^th tardy instead of waiting until the end of the six weeks to give a consequence.  Reports will be run to see if improvements are being made when compared to last year’s data.

(d) Review of Literature and Action Research Strategy:  To ensure that I had plenty of options to improve the tardy numbers at our schools I researched different schools with similar problems with attendance and found different strategies I could use to help the research.  Randy Sprick gave the idea to have consequences that were more immediate therefore bringing the problem to the students attention while it is fresh on their mind (Sprick, 2007.) I also looked for ways to handle the consequence end of the tardies. Together with the administration team we decided to go with a graduated consequence scale. (NEA Today, 2001.)  The administration team also considered giving a consequence that included manual labor, but for reasons due to budgeting were unable to commit resources to this type of program.  Only the administration team and myself were included in the decision to use the graduated consequence for tardies and the weekly consequence.

(e) Articulate the Vision: The goal of the new tardy program was communicated to the students via P.A.  All students were given an explanation during the first week of school and again during the third week of school in the student behavior presentation.  The program was also communicated to the staff through email.  Data was provided and used to back up reasoning for this type of consequence.

(f) Manage the Organization:  Through several meeting s assignments were given to several staff members to help the program run smoothly.  I was put in charge of assigning the main consequence such as after school detention and in school suspension.  All assistant pricipals were to help with students who were repeat offenders.  The school secretary was in charge of creating a list of students who were to stay after school for detention and to create a list of students who did not attend after school detention.  Student aids were used to hand write office request and bring students down to the office to receive their consequence.

(g) Manage Operations: Since the project needed much help from other people and a need for a central command was not necessary, a type of collaborative meeting was held to work out all the problems that may have arised or arise in the course of the project.  The task were not assigned but a volunteer system was used and each task was taken care of.  Phone calls would be done by the assistant principals and myself,  paper work was to be done by school secretaries.

(h) Respond to Community Interest and Needs: In our school time management is not a topic of frequent discussion at home with out students.  Bringing the tardy issue to the forefront and making students aware of it will help them become better prepared to be productive members of society.  Any anctivy or project that the school does that can improve productivity of our students will better the community.  Hopefully parents will begin to understand the importance and begin talking to the students about time management and its importantance in life.

References

Sprick, R. (2007, October). Taming the Tardies. Retrieved from http://www.safeandcivilschools.com/research/articles/tamingtardies.pdf

NEA Today. (2011 , September). How to Handle Chronic Tardies. Retrieved from http://kcsos.kern.org/schcom/stories/storyReader$82?reload

Online Chat Experience

I connected to the chat on March 22, 2011 with Dr. Attaway.  The chat was very informative on many random topics that I did even think about.  I was very useful for asking questions that are not only about the course but also the Lamar program. I enjoyed the chat experience and I can see the many benefits of using this type of program in education.  Teachers could use this for distance education with students who are not able to attend class. Administrators could use this type of program to conduct meetings and districts could use this for professional development.

Technology Integration Plan

Technology Integration Action Plan
Goal: Gather, analyze, and using data from a variety of sources for informed campus decision making focusing on integrating technology, instructional leadership, professional development and organizational leadership.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Develop District Technology plan that uses appropriate data to make recommendations for technology use on campuses.	Superintendent, Board of directors, Chief technology officer.	Yearly	All stakeholders must dedicate time to ensure all have input and buy in.  Appropriate surveys must be taken into account including but not limited to STaR Chart data, PEIMS, AEIS, Teachscape, NetSpeakUp Data.	TEA will issue a certificate that  states that the technology plan is in accordance with state standards
Surveys must be completed yearly by teachers, administrators and students to determine current level of technology integration and technology needs.	All students, teachers, administrators	End of school year and beginning of school year.	Computer access	Technology officer should ensure that all administrators have confirmed their campus complete in completing all required surveys.
Professional development should be prepared for administrators and teacher leaders to collect and analyze data gathered from surveys.  Professional development should be available online.	Administrators, teacher leaders	Beginning of year and ongoing.	Computer access and network capable of handling online courses.	Administrators should ensure that their campuses are following the district plan to use online courses for data analysis improvement.
Professional Development for teachers should be held to help integrate technology into curriculum.	Campus teachers	Yearly; ongoing	Professional Development time	Make sure the professional development aligns with District Technology Plan.

Klein Int. STaR Chart Analysis

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A Summary of : Transforming American Education (U.S. Department of Education)

The U.S. Department of Education has put forth this draft so that state and local offices can be guided in their development of their curriculum.  The plan focuses on five areas that schools should focus on. The five areas are as follows; Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure and Productivity.  The Learning section tells that today’s learners can no longer be taught in the old fashioned ways. Today’s learners must have lessons that feel unique to each learner and they work collaboratively. The goal is for all learners to have engaging and empowering learning experiences.  The plan recommends schools to use technology resources to improve learning.  The next section described is the Assessment area. The plan recommends to find a new way of assessment that includes all stakeholders and to use assessment data to make decisions about what type of lessons will most benefit the students. The third section discusses Teaching.  The way teachers teach must change to include technology.  To do this, teachers must have professional development that is collaborative and ongoing. The plan recommends that teachers be but in teams that work cooperatively to use data to drive instruction. The fourth area discussed is infrastructure.  The plan calls for technology resources for students and teachers when and where they need it. The final area discussed is productivity. The plan calls for better use of financial resources as we continue to improve the education system.  The plan recommends that we use technology to manage and improve the cost associated with improving policies.

A summary of the Progress Report for the Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2008

The 2008 Long Range Plan for Technology Progress Report discusses in detail the 4 key areas of the Plan.  The first area discussed is Teaching and Learning.  In this key are Texas schools have made positive gains.  The schools are moving away from being labeled as “developing tech” to being labeled as “advanced tech” schools.  The ultimate goal is to have all schools becoming “target tech” schools.  This in general means that teachers are using technology more in the classroom to “direct instruction, improve productivity, model technology skills, and direct students in the use of productivity applications for technology integration.”(Region One Education Service Center, 2008) Teachers are showing the students how to incorporate technology into their learning. The second key area discussed is Educator Preparation and Development.  Educators need to prepare to teach the new learners of today through professional development and by being equipped with the proper resources to do the job. According to the data from the progress report “There was a 20 percent drop at the Target Tech level.” (Region One Education Service Center, 2008)  This means that fewer campuses are meeting the requirements of providing professional development to ensure that all teachers are prepared for the new technology and ways to incorporate it into the technology. Hopefully Texas will make more gain in the future as a result of these findings. The third area discussed in the progress report is Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support.  This area describes how administration is supporting teachers by providing help and resources to improve the implementation of technology in the classrooms. This area has seen a positive gain in the “advanced tech” category and the “target tech” category. This increase will hopefully continue as teachers feel more supported and encouraged by their leaders.  The fourth area is Infrastructure for Technology. This area is analyzing the physical resources that are being made available to the 21^st Century learners. This category also saw positive gains as school moved towards becoming “target tech” school. So in conclusion three areas saw positive gains and one area, Educator Preparation and Development, saw a negative drop in score.

Reference:

Region One Education Service Center.  (2008). Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020.

Teaching and Learning: A part of Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology is made up of four parts: Teaching and Learning, Educator Preparation and Development, Leadership & Support, and Infrastructure for Technology.  I will summarize the first section.  The Teaching and Learning Section of the Texas Long Range Plan assures that all stakeholders in education have the necessary tools to use technology to increase student achievement.  The students should be led by their educators in creating their own education through the use of technology.  The teachers must educate students on how to use technology to collaborate with others and find resources to enhance their learning.  Teachers must also use technology to make engaging lessons and modify lessons to meet the needs of the 21^st century learners. Our campus, Klein Intermediate, has made steady gains in this area. The rating for Klein has gone from a 13 out of 24 to 15 out of 24.  This has changed the classification of our campus from “Developing Tech” to “Advanced Tech.”   This is a result of the Klein school district pushing the implementation of technology in all classrooms. Klein has been working tirelessly to achieve a 1 to 1 ratio with student tablets so that all students are prepared for post secondary education.  This trend towards “Advanced tech” is also seen in the State ratings for the Teaching and Learning section.  Texas schools when from 20% being in the “Advanced tech” classification to 25% reaching this classification. (Region One Education Service Center, 2008) I believe that if teachers are given proper professional development on how to incorporate technology in the classroom, schools will continue to move towards the “Target tech” classification.

Reference:

Region One Education Service Center.  (2008). Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020.

Action Plan Template-Please comment

Action Planning Template
Goal: To reduce number of students arriving to class late by implementing CDD (Cleaning Duty Detention), thus decreasing student referrals, improving student achievement and increasing teacher morale
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Conduct a survey to find the current level of teacher morale pertaining to students’ discipline and tardies during passing period.	I will be responsible for creating the survey and having it approved by either my site supervisor (Lisa Jakubek) or our principal (Bob Anderson.) The letter will be placed in the mailbox of all teachers to be completed and returned to me.	Survey will be conducted before the last week of the 5th six weeks.	Paper, teacher time.	What percentage of the surveys were returned?
Analyze data on most current Campus Common Assessment. Create breakdowns by grade, ethnicity, and gender to later be analyzed.	I will try to disseminate the data but may request assistance from a colleague who is well versed in handling data in excel. I will have to get approval from site supervisor (Lisa Jakubek) to look at the student data	The data analysis should be complete by the end of the 5th six weeks.	Computer access, administrator access to get student scores,	Were all grade levels included in the data analysis? Is the data breakdown easily read by people who are not involved in the conducting of the research?
Gather information to find the number of students arriving late to class on average. Create breakdowns to find what period do most tardies occur; which students are frequently late.	I will again be collecting the information and again have to get approval from site supervisor (Lisa Jakubek) to look at the student data.	The due date for this activity is week 2 of the 5th six weeks.	Tardy logs, computer access, administrator access to data.	Breakdowns should be easily read in an excel spreadsheet.
Analyze data to see how many discipline issues occurred during the passing periods.	I will be responsible for collecting the referral information from the assistant principal’s secretary (Lisa Benfer)	The due date will be the 3rd week of the 5th Six weeks.	Computer access, time to analyze referrals	What percentage of discipline issues were found to be during the passing period?
Compose a letter to inform parents of the change to consequences if students are repeatedly tardy.	I will work with site supervisor on writing a concise letter to parents describing what we will be taking for repeated offenders.	The due date will be the 4th week of the 5th Six weeks.	Paper, parent address labels, stamps	Record page to show that parent has been contacted. The parents can be asked to sign that they approve of the consequence.
Make phone calls to the parents of students who were excessively late during the year to prepare them for the new consequences to make sure they buy into the program.	I will, with assistance from any voluntary teachers to make the phone calls.	This process can be done during the 6th six weeks and during the summer before the school year begins	Time, phone access, phone number list.	Record will be kept to account for which parents were contacted.
Inform students of new consequence for repeated tardies: Cleaning Duty Detention through assembly or PA announcement.	Principal will have to approve the action research and then make the announcement to the students.	This should either be done during the first week of school of the 2011-2012 school year.	PA access.
Implement new tardy consequence of Cleaning Duty Detention for students who are tardy 3 times.	This will involve administration keeping track of the number of tardies for each student.	Continuous during 2011-2012 school year.	Teachers to administer detention, compensation for teachers that are staying after school to monitor detention.	Records will be kept to keep track of the number and names of students attending.
Analyze the effect of new tardy consequence. Comparisons should be made with data gathered in earlier action steps	I will work with site supervisor to analyze the data and find area where improvement has been made and any gaps in the data.	First analysis should be done at the end of the 1st six weeks and every six weeks after	Computer access and access to student records	A data summary of the data findings will be reported to principal and faculty to show if there is improvement.
Conduct a survey to find the changes (if any) to teacher attitudes of passing period.	I will create the survey, have it approved by principal and the teachers will complete the survey.	Should be completed by 2nd Six weeks and every other six weeks after.	Teacher time, paper.	A summary and evaluation of teacher morale should be reported to principal and faculty.

Just thinking

How about an action research project on how to reduce the amount of paper that a prinicpal has to go through throughout the day?? like figure out what types of papers cross over the desk the most and see if they can be minimized, just thinking on my blog......

Action Research Being Developed

I have considered many options and discussed these with my site supervisor and I have decided to conduct my action research over "student tardies." This seems to be a hot topic in our school right now and I'm hoping that I can make an impact that will change how the students view hallway time.

Blogs for Educators

I think blogs for educators is a great way to share ideas and information.  A blog could be used by administrators and educators to share programs and interventions that have been successful and what has not worked. Blogs can also help someone involved in action research. The blog can be used to help compose a working inquiry, find a way to collect data and other parts of action research can all be simplified and help with the time and distance constraints of personal face to face interaction.

An Introduction to Action Reasearch

Action research is a powerful tool for teachers, administrators, and anyone else who wishes to make improvements in their profession.  Action research is a type of research where the user decides that there is an area of their job where an improvement could be made. The process of action research begins with the identification of a problem or inquiry that the researcher has.  They then must research literature about the topic they are curious about and find ways that people in the past have dealt with the same or similar issue.  The next step is to implement the solution that they believe will be suitable for them. Third, the researcher then analyzes the data that has been created or studies the results of the implementation and decides if the program is successful. The researcher then reports the results to colleagues and other constituents to encourage this process. The use of action research is different than other improvement programs in the fact that the question, solution and data come from the actual user. The solutions do not come from a third party that is not experiencing the issue first hand. This makes the solution more personalized.  Action research is not really an assignment that has a beginning or an end, but rather a way of becoming a life long learner and helping others become learners.