Action Reaserach/ Week 5

As the course comes to an end, I reflect on the different topics that we studied during this five weeks and the one that caught my attention was the collection of data. With the accountability culture prevailing at our schools today, the most visible data type is test results. I never imagined that in action research, other sources of information would be taken into account such as interviews or surveys that might seem more informal for some. Interviews, when well planned, can reveal important information that can be useful in the improvement of a school (Dana, 2009).

I would suggest the use of this important tool as a way to discover how stakeholders at a school think or feel about an issue affecting the school performance, but in combination with other sources of data collection. I found this chapter very useful to implement strategies to resolve an issue or implement a solution to a problem based on different perspectives.

When the word research is heard, what comes to mind is graphs, quantitative data and

laboratories, but with technology; other strategies are also available such as pictures and videos which are a good strategy to document action research. I have also learned to use data collection strategies and more important, I realized that this strategy is also useful for any other discipline or project outside education. As I discussed in paragraph one, interviews are a good source of data and technology can complement their effectiveness when used to record information. With the ideas presented by Dana’s book on how to use technology, pictures and videos used in action research become a powerful tool to record information that I would use in every action research project. Technology becomes important to streamline the gathering and the processing of data, as I shared in a posting in week 4, when a survey is designed to give numerical value to an answer; the survey then can be shared in Google forms. This way, data can be organized on a spreadsheet, providing an effective way to filter and share the results with other educators.

Another part of the course that I also enjoyed was the three videos from three action research

practitioners. I think that their participation in this course was meaningful for me and presented the

opportunity to know of first hand how action research is made. Their advice was very wise. In the first video, Dr Briseno, talks about how data is imperative in the decision making process and how nothing is changed if data is not present or more research about the issue is made. Dr. Chargois tells us that through action research an educator can keep learning and how action research can be used by

classroom teachers to find solutions to pressing issues in a particular classroom. In other words, Dr. Chargoise suggests that teachers learn pedagogy and content, but also they have to be knowledgeable in action research to become better teachers and have a more profound impact in students’ learning.

I am really excited for the opportunity that this course gave me to know more educators and their valuable experiences.

Week 4/ Action Research

This week, I tried to contact my site supervisor through email, but there was no success. I had foreseen this difficulty and before the school year was over, I was able to meet with him to discuss my action reserach question. At this meeting, a new action reserach topic was also discussed that looked more critical for our school. A revision was made to my action reserach question at that time. I am looking forward to meet with him personally to share all the progress gained in this class!

Week 3 Reflection

This has been a very long week, full of information and work. I have completed my action research plan with a lot of effort, but I think I am in the right track. One of the most productive parts of this week assignment has been the templates that everybody is using to frame and organize our thoughts and actions. I like the way how this new knowledge can be used in any profession to take informed decisions. I also like the fact that interviews are part of action research as this gives a human touch to any action research, contrary to the only data approach taken by some administrators. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed with all the assignments...I just submitted this week assignment and there is already the next one waiting for me, but at the same time I feel sucessful to have survived three week of this course.

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
School Vision: Provide educational tools that offer students the opportunity to refine their math skills applied to the state mandated test. Goal: Deciding on maintaining the emphasis on ST Math adjusting the monitoring method or discontinue its use.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Collect TAKS data in the area of math from 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school year.	myself	August 2011	TAKS reports	Complete when improvement of 20 students struggling in math over a two year per is analyzed for trends and improvement.
TAKS data in the area of math from 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school year	Myself	May 2012	TAKS reports	Completed when improvement of 20 students struggling in math over a two year period is finished.
Conduct a survey among 7 teachers to know their opinions on the effectiveness of the software. A group of at level students will be briefly interviewed as well.	Myself	August 2012	A set of questions to be designed	Completed w hen teachers’ responses are analyzed
Read online information and research about ST Math software if available or request research made to software developers.	Myself	September 2011	Articles, online resources, research from software developers if available.	Completed when the resources obtained are read and analyzed to determine if the software offers any educational benefit that would reflect on overall TAKS results.
A school using the same software will be contacted to ask for feedback about the use of the software and its results in previous years.	myself	October 2011	Identification of a school using the software	Feedback received will be compared to feedback received from teachers on campus.
Reflection	Myself	June 2011	Blog	A final reflection about the researched topic will be posted to my educational blog.
Findings	Myself	June 2011	All data and information collected	Upon approval, a final report about the topic will be written to be shared with computer lab teacher and administrators of school

Week 2 Reflection

It is evident that when an action research project is planned, there are different sources of information that need to be taken into account. As Dr Briseno expressed “We don’t make decisions without looking at data first.” Every school leader will find on data one of the first and most important source of information. Schools posses a wide array of data sources to support action research project on any of the nine passions described on Dana’s book.

Another source of information that is readily available is books and articles that can contain information on the same research topic that is being analyzed. As Dr. Lewis suggests “Reading research that others have done and tear it apart” may be a good option to apply what is “practical” to our own particular situation. This is a very wise advice that I would apply to my own research project.

The third source of information that I would consider important as well is the observation of the scenario where the problem, issue or dilemma is taking place. This would provide a first hand experience on the situation. People that are involved with the effects of the problem that is being studied would also provide a valuable source of information for our action research project. The second week of the class provides a solid foundation for my action research project.