ARP Update

I have begun working on my Action Research project. There are some adjustments that I think need to be made since we have had a tremendous change in our administration over the last couple of months. I have been working with my Fast Forward action research project, but I think it might be beginning to evolve into something else. I will continue to work very closely with the staff and the counselors to make sure that my project stays on track. The academic teams on campus have begun to gather data from last years standardized testing and have begun to decide which students are in need of additional help from this program. There is one major issue that I forsee happening with my ARP. I am no longer a facilitator of the Fast Forward program. This will make it difficult to gather data. I have not gotten final approval from the new administration on this project as well. I have become a co-coordinator of the AVID program on our campus with the focus on Algebra tutorials. I was also involved with this program last year. The goal of this program is to get higher student algebra scores by the end of the school year.  If I do make this switch, it will require the exact same plan I have set in place, with very similar data. I will just be focusing on a different program, and different students.  Hopefully, as things settle down on campus, I will be able to finalize the project and update my ARP. There are many things that can be learned that will be beneficial  for both the campus and the district. 

Week 5 Reflection

This class focused on the Action Research Plan or ARP. This plan is something that I am going to enjoy sharing with my colleagues. We learned how to put this plan together in the class. Action research was never something that I had heard about, I knew about research for research papers and that sort of thing, but never action taken. I chose to do my action research project on a reading intervention program used in my district called Fast Forward. This program is used for our special education students as well as our ESL/LEP students. I am looking to compare the student’s scores before they have used the program and look at where they are at the end of the year after having used it all year long.  The staff on my campus is looking forward to my findings. If the program is not working we need to find something that will help our students reach their goals.

One aspect of the class that I found interesting was the use of our blogs. I had never really created a blog. I have read them and researched them, but never had one of my own. I will be having some of my classes create these and use them in class. It will be a good experience for them and will improve their writing skills. I enjoyed getting feedback from my classmates on the blog.

Discussion boards were useful in the class as well. I really enjoyed connecting with my classmates. Reading their thoughts every week really helped clarify things that I was confused about. Our outside discussion board on facebook was a fantastic support system! I really loved connecting that way with my classmates. It wasn’t a required part of the class, but it should be! This was a way to connect and ask and answer questions in a very timely manner.

The lectures were short and concise, which helped. It can be difficult to find time to sit and watch a video. I appreciated that they only had vital information and they were quick. 

The assignments felt a little like busy work some of the time. I enjoyed reflecting in the blog and planning the ARP. However, some of the other assignments didn’t feel like they added to the ARP.  I would really like to see more expansion of the ARP in the class. I think that would definitely help in moving our projects forward. 

Week 4 Reflection

Week 4! Whew! We're almost done! So far no big changes were suggested to my ARP. I'm sure as I move forward with this study I will have to make a few changes to the timeframe I have planned. If you have any further suggestions just let me know! Thanks!

Action Research Plan Rough Draft.

This is my action research plan so far. It is still fairly rough, let me know if there's anything else you think I might be able to add to make it better! Action Research Plan
Goal:  Determine the effectiveness of the “Fast Forward” reading program within the school’s special populations (Special Ed. and ESL/LEP).
Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Choose a group of students from our ESL/Special Ed. Populations.	Liana Hinojosa, ESL/Special Ed. Coordinator	September 2013	List of students using this program	Finalized list of student participants
2. Observe the students using the program	Liana Hinojosa	October 2013	Visit to the labs where this program is being utilized.	Notes from observations.
3.Meet with ELAR teachers that currently have these students in their classroom.	Liana Hinojosa	December 2013	Make appointments with teachers to discuss student progress.	Notes from teacher meetings.
4. Review and compare previous years STAAR scores with current benchmark scores.	Liana Hinojosa, School Counselors, ESL/Special Ed. Coordinator	January 2014	Review data and make comparisons	Make a chart of student progress.
5. Meet with students to see what they think of the program mid-year.	Liana Hinojosa, Selected students	January 2014	Schedule a time to meet with students involved	Notes from student meetings
6. STAAR Assessments	Liana Hinojosa, School Counselors, ESL/Special Ed. Coordinator	March-April 2014	Review STAAR data	Chart STAAR data
7. Meet with ELAR teachers to discuss progress and techniques used in classroom	Liana Hinojosa	May 2014	Make appointments with teachers for meetings.	Notes from teacher meetings.
8. Meet with administration and provide findings about the program	Liana Hinojosa, Campus Administration	May 2014	Data and Notes collected from the year	Data and charts and findings collected.

Week 2 Reflection

During Week 2 there was so much information to absorb! Action research is so important, and I got a much clearer idea of the topics that I would like to focus on for my action research project. There are so many different paths that action research can take. I look forward to seeing where this takes me!

Using Blogging

Blogs are a phenomenal tool for educators. We can use them to keep parents and students up to date on the happenings of our classroom. Parents and students can also leave feedback and ask questions. Through a blog an educator can share ideas with colleagues and gain wonderful new information that can be shared in the classroom with our students. An educational leader can also do these things with a blog. Additionally, they can give an overview of the entire school. They can highlight school achievements both academically, and in extra curricular events. Comparing ideas with other leaders can lead to some great ideas for school-wide programs and events. I have colleagues that write blogs about their experiences in the classroom and I have gotten some great activity ideas that I have put to use in my own classroom. 

Discovering Action Research

Action research is a really great tool for an educator. With action research you can really get into the root of a problem. For me, I really see action research benefitting me as an administrator because it will allow me to look at scenarios from all different angles. This is very important because from one problem sometimes more can arise if all possible issues are not addressed. Using action research would also be beneficial to those administrators and school districts that are looking to analyze data. The effectiveness of programs that are being implemented can be critiqued.

            As teachers, we use action research in our classrooms. We give our students an exam or a quiz and we look at the scores. From these scores we can see what information needs to be re-taught and what concepts our students have really grasped. As an administrator, action research is used when state assessment scores are received. They see the areas that need to be stronger; they can begin to intervene to get to the heart of what isn’t working, and they can make changes to ensure student success.

Overall, action research is a phenomenal tool. You really look at the situation under a microscope and you can come up with a whole collection of solutions to your problems.