Action Research Plan-Take 2

The Effects of AM Tutoring Action Research Plan

Goal: The goal of my action research study is to determine the effects of AM tutoring on struggling students’ academic growth.

Action Step (s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline:  Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Discuss with site supervisor possible options for my action research study.	Mary Dawn Murr (site supervisor) and myself	February 2013	Notepad and Pencil	Notes taken during my discussion with my site supervisor.
Discuss with and explain to the Kindergarten teachers and 3rd Grade Teachers my Action Research Study.	Kindergarten teachers, 3rd Grade teachers and Myself	March 2013 and September 2014	Notepad and Pencil	Notes taken during my discussion with the Kindergarten and 3rd Grade teachers.
Interview Kindergarten and 3rd Grade teachers who take part in AM tutoring on their opinions of AM tutoring.	Kindergarten teachers, 3rd Grade teachers and myself	March 2013 -May 2014	Tape Recorder, Notepad, and Pencil	Recording and notes taken from each interview. (Include interviews in PowerPoint)
Interview Kindergarten and 3rd Grade students who attend AM tutoring on their opinions of AM tutoring.	Kindergarten and 3rd Grade students and myself	March 2013-May 2014	Tape Recorder, Notepad, and Pencil	Recording and notes taken from each interview. (Include interviews in PowerPoint)
Interview Kindergarten and 3rd Grade parents who have children attending AM tutoring on their opinions of AM tutoring.	Kindergarten and 3rd Grade parents and myself	March 2013-May 2014	Tape Recorder, Notepad, and Pencil	Recording and notes taken from each interview. (Include interviews in PowerPoint)
Research the effects of AM tutoring on struggling students.	Myself	March 2013-June 2014	Internet, Library, and Scholar Journals	Research the positive and negative effects of AM tutoring on struggling students. Research effective techniques and ideas to use during AM tutoring.
Tutor struggling Kindergarten students in the areas of Language Arts and Math and 3rd Grade students in the area of Language Arts.	Currently: Kindergarten Teachers Next Year (if I move grade levels): Third Grade Teachers	September 2012-June 2013 September 2013-June 2014	Tools used to tutor the struggling students	Document observations that show positive and/or negative results.
Collect data from the beginning, middle, and end of the year (report card grades and benchmark scores) for Kindergarten students attending AM tutoring.	Kindergarten teachers and myself	March 2013-June 2013	“Data Collecting” Excel sheet found on our staff drive, Benchmark Scores, Report Cards grades, Kindergarten Teachers’ data, and Excel sheet	Analyze report card grades and benchmark scores from the beginning, middle, and end of the year and record information into my own Excel worksheet
Collect data from the beginning, middle, and end of the year (report card, benchmark, and CBA scores) for 3rd grade students attending AM tutoring.	3rd Grade teachers and Myself	September 2013-June 2014	“Data Collecting” Excel sheet found on our staff drive, Report Cards grades, Benchmark scores, CBA scores, 3rd Grade Teachers’ data and Excel sheet.	Analyze report card grades, benchmark scores, and CBA scores from the beginning, middle, and end of the year and record information into my own Excel worksheet.
Create a PowerPoint presentation with: ·      Data tables/ graphs showing the effects of AM tutoring on report card grades, Benchmark scores, and CBA scores from the beginning, middle, and end of the year for struggling students in Kindergarten and 3rd Grade ·      Teacher’s, student’s, and parent’s interviews ·      Research	Myself	March 2013- May 2014	Excel spreadsheet showing report card grades, Benchmark scores, and CBA scores from the beginning, middle and end of the year and PowerPoint	PowerPoint presentation on the effects AM tutoring has on struggling students’ academic growth.
Present findings to Kindergarten teachers and 3rd Grade teachers.	Kindergarten teachers, 3rd Grade teachers, and myself	May 2013 and May 2014	PowerPoint presentation	Share with the Kindergarten teachers and 3rd grade teachers my findings on the effects of AM tutoring.
Present findings to the Principal and the Assistant Principals and discuss any possible changes if needed.	Administrative Team and Myself	May 2014	PowerPoint presentation	Share with the administrative team my findings on the effects of AM tutoring. If we find that the effects are negative, develop a new tool to help these struggling students succeed academically.
Present findings to the whole staff.	Staff and Myself	May 2014, after I present to the administrative team	PowerPoint presentation	Share with the whole staff my findings on the effects of AM tutoring and any changes that will be made if needed.
Implement a change if one was made or begin studying any further wonderings	Possibly Administration, Staff Members, Students, and Myself	August 2014	None at this time	None at this time

Conference with My Site Supervisor

My conference with my site supervisor went very well. Mary Dawn, my site supervisor, talked over my action research plan with me and provided me with some very helpful insight. One of the things Mary Dawn wanted clarified was which Kindergarten and 3^rd grade teacher would I be interviewing. Together, we chose three Kindergarten teachers for me to interview this year. When it came to which 3^rd grade teachers I would interview, we were uncertain at this time due to the fact that I do not know what subject I will be teaching and with who I will be teaching with next year. The next topic Mary Dawn and I discussed was which parents I would be interviewing. We decided that I would take a sampling of parents. In other words, I will choose two random parents from each teacher’s homeroom to interview. In total, I will interview 8 Kindergarten parents and 8 3^rd grade parents. Next, Mary Dawn and I got to the data collecting part of my action research plan. While Mary Dawn was reading over my plan, she asked me how I was going to determine if AM tutoring is truly effective. In other words, Mary Dawn wanted to know what was I going to compare my data that I collect from the struggling students who attend AM tutoring to. From there, Mary Dawn mentioned some possible groups to compare my data to.  The two possibilities were comparing the AM tutoring students to students who were not invited to AM tutoring or comparing the AM tutoring students to students who were invited to AM tutoring but were not attending. After brainstorming together, we decided to compare the data I collect from the struggling students who do attend AM tutoring to the struggling students who were invited to AM tutoring but do not attend. We also decided that I will be collecting data from two struggling students who attend AM tutoring and two struggling students who do not attend AM tutoring from each classroom. As a result of these numbers, I will have a total of 16 Kindergarten students and 16 3^rd grade students that I will be collecting data on; 8 students who attend AM tutoring and 8 students who do not attend AM tutoring. This part of our conversation really helped me clarify my desired outcomes of my action research study. I am hoping to see that the gap between struggling students who attend AM tutoring and non-struggling students decreases due to extra help from AM tutoring. My prediction is that the gap between the struggling students who do not attend AM tutoring and the struggling students who do attend AM tutoring will grow because the whose who attend are getting that extra help and becoming more successful. The final topic Mary Dawn and I discussed was my idea of presenting my findings to the parents. Mary Dawn felt like this was not needed in my action research plan. Mary Dawn felt this way due to the fact that I am only looking at two grade levels and only at 16 students from those grade levels. In other words, I am only looking at a small amount of students. These 16 students do not represent every student in the school. Therefore, my data and findings does not need to be shared with every parent. Mary Dawn did say that I could share my findings with those parents that I interview due to the fact that they were involved in my study. As a result, I have decided to take out the action step “present findings to the parents” from my action research plan. All in all, my conference with Mary Dawn went extremely well. Mary Dawn helped me narrow in on my data numbers and she reassured me that I was researching a topic that was very meaningful to the administrative team. Mary Dawn even said that she was looking forward to hearing my results. 

Very Rough Draft of My Action Research Plan

The Effects of AM Tutoring Action Research Plan

Goal: The goal of my action research study is to determine the effects of AM tutoring on struggling students’ academic growth.

Action Step (s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline:  Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Discuss with site supervisor possible options for my action research study.	Mary Dawn Murr (site supervisor) and myself	February 2013	N/A	Notes taken during my discussion with my site supervisor.
Discuss with Kindergarten teachers and 3rd Grade Teachers my Action Research Study	Kindergarten teachers, 3rd Grade Teachers and Myself	March 2013 and September 2014	N/A	Notes taken during my discussion with the Kindergarten and 3rd Grade teachers.
Tutor struggling Kindergarten students in the areas of language arts and math and 3rd grade students in the area of language arts.	Currently: Kindergarten Teachers Next Year (if I move grade levels): Third Grade Teachers	September 2012-June 2013 September 2013-June 2014	Tools used to tutor the struggling students
Research the effects of AM tutoring	Myself	March 2013-June 2014	Internet and Journals	Research the positive and negative effects of AM tutoring on struggling students. Research effective techniques and ideas to use during AM tutoring.
Collect data (report card grades and benchmark scores) for Kindergarten students attending AM tutoring from their Kindergarten teachers.	Kindergarten teachers and myself	March 2013-June 2013	“Data Collecting” Excel sheet found on our staff drive, Benchmark Scores, Report Cards grades, Kindergarten Teachers’ data, and Excel sheet	Analyze report card grades and benchmark scores and gather in my own Excel worksheet
Collect date (report card, benchmark, and CBA scores) for 3rd grade students attending AM tutoring from their 3rd Grade teachers.	3rd Grade teachers and Myself	September 2013-June 2014	“Data Collecting” Excel sheet found on our staff drive, Report Cards grades, Benchmark scores, CBA scores, 3rd Grade Teachers’ data and Excel sheet.	Analyze report card grades, benchmark scores, and CBA scores and gather in my own Excel worksheet.
Create PowerPoint with data tables/ graphs showing the effects of AM tutoring on report card grades, Benchmark scores, and CBA scores of struggling students in Kindergarten and 3rd Grade.	Myself	March 2013- May 2014	Excel spreadsheet showing report card grades, Benchmark scores, and CBA scores and PowerPoint	Create a PowerPoint presentation on the effects AM tutoring has on struggling students’ academic growth.
Present findings to Kindergarten teachers and 3rd Grade teachers.	Kindergarten teachers, 3rd Grade teachers, and myself	June 2013 and June 2014	PowerPoint presentation	Show the Kindergarten teachers and 3rd grade teachers my findings on the effects of AM tutoring.
Present findings to Principal and Assistant Principals.	Administrative Team and Myself	June 2014	PowerPoint presentation	Show the administrative team my findings on the effects of AM tutoring. If we find that the effects are negative, develop a new tool to help these struggling students succeed academically.

Selecting An Action Research Topic

Three Topics for Possible Action Research

1. Individual Teacher(s): What types of support help new teachers succeed? What will help new teachers attain success in their teaching careers?

1. Individual Student(s): What is the effectiveness of AM tutoring on struggling students?  What is the relationship between struggling students’ participation in AM tutoring and their academic success?
2. Management: How can we all work together to make the transition to lunch and PEAM a cooperative and pleasant time for both Kindergarten and 1^st grade?

Conference with my Site Supervisor

My conference with my site supervisor regarding topics of interest for my action research went extremely well. Mary Dawn, my site supervisor, and I worked collaboratively on developing some of the ideas and some of the ideas I thought of on my own. For instance, when I sat down with Mary Dawn to develop my internship plan back on class one, Mary Dawn thought of the idea of creating a way to help teachers remember to take attendance at 10:00 a.m. everyday. This task would help me meet the requirement of the leadership skill titled “school operations/policies.” The reason Mary Dawn mentioned this idea is because my mentee this year is one of many staff members that continuously forgets to submit her attendance. Mary Dawn wants me to help my mentee and the rest of the staff members who forget to submit their attendance remember to submit their attendance daily at 10:00. From this point in our conversation, we sidetracked and started discussing my mentee’s progress so far. We discussed some areas my mentee is strong in and some areas my mentee is weak in. I then asked Mary Dawn how I could help my mentee succeed more and that is where one of my idea for the action research study came from. The other two ideas for action research were thought of on my own. When I shared my ideas with Mary Dawn, she was very impressed. After sharing my ideas, Mary Dawn gave me some advice on both topics. Mary Dawn then asked me the golden question, “which topic would impact students the most?” I thought about that question for a couple of days. The topic pertaining to AM tutoring impacts struggling students across the campus. The topic pertaining to transitioning impacts two Kindergarten classes. After answering Mary Dawn’s question, my decision for which topic I would complete my action research on was simple.

The Topic Agreed Upon for the Action Research Project

The topic my site supervisor and I agreed upon was the topic of individual student(s): What is the effectiveness of AM tutoring on struggling students? or What is the relationship between struggling students’ participation in AM tutoring and their academic success? We both feel like I will be able to collect a lot of data on this topic as well as read a lot of articles and research. Also, we both feel as though my action research will benefit our campus as well as the students a great deal because we will either learn that AM tutoring is effective or we will learn that AM tutoring is ineffective and if it is ineffective, a new strategy will need to be put into place. 

Interview Reflections

I really enjoyed Dr. Johnny Briseno interview. Dr. Briseno spoke about how his campus is very data driven; they always need to know why something is the way it is. I really like how Dr. Briseno allows his staff to collect qualitative data as well. Qualitative data is data from the student’s life. For instance, questions like “what is going on at the student’s home” or “how is the student feeling this week.” I believe these types of questions and answers factor into the student’s success on a test. In other words, maybe the student’s mom just had a new baby and the baby was up all night screaming and crying. As a result of the new baby, the student did not get a good night sleep and therefore, could not concentrate on the test and failed. I believe this information should factor in when it comes to looking at the data on this student. I also enjoyed Dr. Briseno’s idea of “sharing what works.” Dr. Briseno mentioned that when one of his staff members finds something new that works, he asks that staff member to share it with the entire staff rather than him sharing the information. I like how Dr. Briseno is allowing his staff to have ownership of their own hard work. High five to Dr. Briseno! The final thing Dr. Briseno shared in his interview is he told us not to shy away from reading about our interests. Dr. Briseno told us “not to reinvent the wheel.” We should read up on our problems and as a result, we could really help our campus.

Dr. Timothy Chargois’ interview is the other interview a learned a great deal of information from. Dr. Chargois spoke about some of the examples of action research studies that have been brought to him and his district; The Ethical Situations of Effective and Ineffective Teachers Project and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation Project. Dr. Chargois also spoke about the requirements he has when it comes to someone wanting to bring an action research study to his district. (I find this information very helpful for my future.) Dr. Chargois stated that for his district to even look at an action research study, he must first understand and see the change or changes the study will make to the students’ performance. From there, Dr. Chargois requires that the study protects the identity of the students and teachers, that the district has access to the results at the end, and that the study does not demean a campus or the district in any way. I find all of these requirements reasonable.  I feel as though Dr. Chargois is helping his district grow from action research studies as well as protecting his campus. Another idea Dr. Chargois spoke of in his interview, just like Dr. Briseno, was the idea of being very data driven. Dr. Chargois mentioned using data multiple times throughout his interview. Dr. Chargois wants all teachers, new and old, to be taught how to collect data and how to be data drive. At the end of his interview, Dr. Chargois’ advice to us was to never stop learning. In other words, just like Dr. Briseno, Dr. Chargois wants us to take part in local research and collect and use a lot of data. Dr. Chargois believes that every teacher should “have a concept of what research is.” I believe, after this class in my graduate school program, I will have a clear concept of what research truly is.

How Education Leaders Might Use Blogs

One way education leaders can use blogs is as a communication tool with parents and students. The education leader can post on his/her blog news, upcoming dates, important information, deadlines, etc. By creating a blog with parents and students, the education leader is developing an easier way to communicate with parents and students. Instead of having to call or send out school wide messages, the education leader can simply post the message to his/her blog and respond to any posts from parents on it as well. By developing a parent/student blog, the education leader is still getting the job of communicating accomplished but in a simpler, quicker, new age way.

Another way education leaders can use blogs is to communicate with staff. Like the parent/student blog, the education leader can have another blog for staff members only. The education leader can post the same things here as he/she did in the parent/student blog as well as staff meeting agendas, personnel news, test data, etc. Again, like the parent/student blog, the staff blog will allow staff members to communicate with the education leader in a more effective and easier way. Another positive to creating a staff blog is that is promotes collaboration among ALL of the staff. The education leader can post something he/she wants input on and from there, each staff member who has an opinion may reply. For example, our campus is going through some renovations next year and a lot of my colleagues are asking questions like are they doing this and are they doing that. If my education leader had a blog developed, she could post about the new renovations and allow the staff to respond and ask the questions they have. By doing so, every staff member receives the same information at the same time.

Action Research To Me

Before this week, I had no idea what action research was. I knew in most graduate programs, a graduate student must take part in a research project and write a thesis based on his/her research before graduating from the program. However, this is not the case for Lamar University. Lamar University has their graduates take part in action research.

From what I have learned this week, action research is the process in which one takes to improve or change an issue or curiosity on their home campus. There are many steps in order to complete action research. The first step to completing action research is one must find an issue or curiosity that interests them on their campus. For me, my curiosity was AM tutoring and the effectiveness of it. From there, one must read articles and do research on their topic. They must also collect a lot of data on their issue. Again, in my case, I will be collecting data from the beginning, middle, and end of the year on students in Kindergarten who attended and are attending AM tutoring. I will see if the students' benchmark scores and report card grades increased due to the extra learning from AM tutoring. I will also see how many students "test out" of AM tutoring. (In order to "test out" of AM tutoring, a student must be meeting all grade level requirements on the benchmark and report card.) After completing the research and collecting the data, one must share his/her findings with others at his/her school. In my case, I will be sharing my findings with my principal, assistant principals, and grade level team. From there, individually or as a group, a change must be developed if needed and shared with the entire campus. If a change is not needed, one may develop recommendations to share with the entire campus. In other words, if I find that AM tutoring is ineffective during my action research, my administrative team and I will sit down and brainstorms new ideas that may get us the results we want. We will develop a change together. Or, if we find that AM tutoring is effective, I will need to develop some recommendations to improve AM tutoring so we can impact more students in a stronger way. Throughout the entire process of action research, one MUST be self-reflecting the entire time.

In the end, I have learned that action research is a very positive tool to use. The goal for every educator is to do what is best for every student and to help every child achieve all they can in life. Action research is a large step that will help educators reach this goal. Action research helps improve the school setting and the learning of students. Action research is doing what is best for students.