Detailed Plan

Goal: Determine the relationship between the instructional model used in middle school (separate reading and English or integrated language arts block) and the overall success/preparedness for high school reading and writing skills. Determine how teacher collaboration skills/habits on middle school campuses affects student success.

Action Step(s)    Person(s) Responsible    Time Line: Start/End    Needed Resources    Evaluation
1. Conduct brief review of available literature.    Myself, Kristin Hebert (secondary ELA/R coordinator)    March 2011-April 2011    EBSCO, professional journals, NCTE resources    Is literature on the subject available? What has worked/not worked in other districts? What structure do the majority of Texas middle schools use?

2. Conduct review of TAKS data for feeder cohorts between years 2006-2011, 2005-2010, 2004-2009, and 2003-2008 from CHS and WHS feeder middle schools    Myself, site supervisor, Dr. Mike Waldrip (asst superintendent for data analysis), and Cindy Parry (technology/Aware resource)    March 2011-May 2011    Aware, data resources from both high schools, technological know-how from Dr. Waldrip and Ms. Parry    What patterns emerge, especially in written portions of tests? Do subpops perform at different levels based on schedule? What other factors are at play?

3. Design and administer freshmen student surveys. Interview high school English I teachers. (Can I ask HS teachers to give overall picture of grades earned by these students?)    Myself, English I teachers, permission of HS principals    April 2011-May 2011    Surveys to examine for possible questions, time to collaborate with HS teachers, 10-15 minutes of classtime to administer survey, several hours of intern time to disaggregate and compile survey results.    Create excel spreadsheet that groups survey results and teacher-provided info by feeder. Analyze results – do patterns appear? What other factors may be at play? Compile list of overall reactions and emerging thoughts.

4. Interview MS teachers to ascertain collaborative structures and habits between Reading and English teachers on separate schedules.    Myself, MS teachers (volunteers), K. Hebert, Michele Risoli, permission of MS principals    August 2012-October 2012    30-minute block of time during collaborative planning period of separate teams.    How do teachers feel about overall effectiveness of their schedule? Have any taught on an ILA block? How would they compare effectiveness? What collaborative structures seem to produce results – in teacher perspective? In student achievement data?

5. Implement collaborative planning structures (possibly online) where none exist    MS teachers (volunteers), K. Hebert, Michele Risoli, permission of MS principals    November 2012    Time for planning to occur; possibly Moodle or other online source    What collaborative structures seem to produce results – in teacher perspective? In student achievement data?

6. Collect writing samples from beginning and mid-year students, graded on the 6-traits rubric by English I teachers.    Volunteer English I teachers, myself, HS principal permission    August 2011 and January 2012.    Similar writing assignments for English I classes at both HSs. Cooperation of English I teachers. Time to photocopy or collect written responses.    Does writing improve more in the freshman year for one group over the other? Is writing stronger at the start of the year for one group over the other?

Getting Excited...

This week, I've been working to plan my research process. Reading chapter 3 of Leading with Passion and Knowledge (Dana, 2009) was really instrumental in getting me thinking about new ways to gather data. I added group interviews, student surveys and gathering writing samples to my plan as a result of that reading.

In Frisco, we have developed what our ELA/R coordinator calls a “boutique” approach to language arts instruction in middle school. That is to say, each school leader decides how he or she will schedule English and reading courses. All 6th, 7th and 8th grade students are required to take both courses in the district (though reading is not required by the state over grade 6), but some students are given the opportunity to have the same teacher for a 90-minute block in an “Integrated Language Arts” course. This is similar to the high school structure. The majority of campuses have chose a separate reading and English course approach. This approach makes scheduling and organizing teacher certifications easier, but can create for students, the idea that reading and writing are not really connected. It is difficult for these teachers to collaborate across subject lines because teachers are only provided collaborative planning time with teachers who handle the same subject as they do. Sometimes students are even being asked to read two different novels at the same time – one in “reading” and one in “English.” Having two separate structures also complicates curriculum writing efforts, professional development, textbook adoptions and many things that occur at the district level. Study is needed to inform a decision about which format is most beneficial to students and teachers.

So here's the plan:

1. Conduct brief review of available literature.
2. Conduct review of TAKS data for feeder cohorts between years 2006-2011, 2005-2010, 2004-2009, and 2003-2008 from CHS and WHS feeder middle schools
3. Design and administer freshmen student surveys. Interview high school English I teachers. (Can I ask HS teachers to give overall picture of grades earned by these students?)
4. Interview MS teachers to ascertain collaborative structures and habits between Reading and English teachers on separate schedules.
5. Implement collaborative planning structures (possibly online) where none exist
6. Collect writing samples from beginning and mid-year students, graded on the 6-traits rubric by English I teachers.

My final step, of course, is analyzing all of this learning as a whole and considering possible next steps. It will be critical that I involve the decision-makers all along the way.

Input and suggestions welcome!

Evolution

I am evolving in my understanding of action research. And I think that the word "evolution" is a good choice to characterize the process itself. 

As I read the example inquiries in our text, Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana, I found that none were a "check-offable" task. It seemed that each topic continued to evolve - bringing up more questions and more explorations, rather than pat answers. It seemed, actually, that the work was unending. 

And in many ways, the work of improvement is endless. But this brought one foundational understanding home. With all of the tremendous pressures facing our schools and administrators, a clear focus is key. We read about nine rich areas ripe for research, each with the potential of dozens of inquiry questions for schools. But an administrator could never hope to be successful in researching all of them, and her faculty would be hopelessly lost and frustrated. The administrator has to have to foresight and insight to determine what the key issues are, the issues that may lead to open doors for change in other arenas as well. 

Along those same lines, the other thing I've realized is the value in each member of the faculty asking inquiry questions and making explorations into his/her own practices and students. Collaborative grade-level or content teams could accomplish this together as well. The teacher-research topic is a new one for me, but one I think I would have been very open to as a teacher. When I was in the classroom, I continually "wondered," but I had no defined process or really any encouragement to find answers to my wonderings. This would have been a powerful tool in my growth, and I'm sure in the growth of my students as well.

Ways that educational leaders might use blogs

Blogs can be valuable tools for educational leaders. For one, a blog provides a way to track your own thinking as an inquiry progresses. This can be a valuable piece of data in itself, because the leader can identify patterns, rethink situations, or just reflect on progress. In addition, the blog can serve as a collaborative tool. Since principals are so often isolated from peers, blogs might provide a way for colleagues to connect, comment, and brainstorm solutions around their inquiries. Leaders could even link their blogs together and form a community of inquiring minds.

First Steps

The first thing I learned about Action Research is that I have actually been interested in it for a long time, without knowing what to call my yearning. It seems a natural next step on my own personal journey to be creating this new understanding of inquiry.

Nancy Fichtman Dana, in Leading with Passion and Knowledge, defines inquiring professionals as those who seek to change their own practice through exploring a series of “wonderings.” The administrator involved in action research becomes a “knowledge generator” as s/he reaches into a concern based on his or her own actual school experience. Thus, the research conducted is grounded in the realities of modern education, not removed to an outside entity who is neither personally invested nor fully aware of the complexities that surround student learning on a day-to-day basis.

This seems to me the only natural way for a practitioner – and thus, a school – to grow. The “outsider” research I’ve been exposed to in my 10-year educational career has generally been viewed as “one more thing” by my colleagues, and has been shelved rather than been made a part of a process that brought about change. In the past two years, however, I have transitioned from the classroom to a district curriculum position, and my perspective has transformed. Reflection has become one of my favorite words, and data is my newest (and least-expected) obsession. My mind circles the systems in place and sees many areas that don’t seem to make sense, but that our institutions seem powerless to change. The inquiry/action research process promises to provide a clear pathway to relevant use of data, pertinent and effective reflection, and perhaps solutions to problems that plague our schools. I can’t wait to get started!