Revised Action Research Plan

Shirin Omidvar’s Action Research Plan

Goal: To determine the relationship between 7^th grade math students who receive tutorials during the school day via a program called SOAR (Students Outstanding Achievements Recognized) because of low performance on in-class benchmarks and their STAAR test scores at the end of 7^th grade. If there is not a strong enough positive relationship, what changes need to be made to the SOAR tutorial program?

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with site mentor (principal) for final tweaks or revisions to the action research plan	Shirin Omidvar	August 2012	Action research plan	Shirin Omidvar, Principal
Conduct a literature review on the benefits of during-school tutorial programs	Shirin Omidvar	Sept 2012 – Oct 2012	Internet resources, Lamar Library, books written tbd	Shirin Omidvar
Collect and separate data from students’ 3-week benchmark tests	Shirin Omidvar	Ongoing every 3 weeks Sept 2012 – April 2013	Access to Aware may need to be provided by principal or department head	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Collect the names of students who are receiving during-school SOAR tutorials due to low benchmark performance	Shirin Omidvar	Ongoing every 3 weeks Sept 2012 – April 2013	SOAR tutorial sign-in logs	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Conduct student surveys about their opinions of the effectiveness of the SOAR tutorial program	Shirin Omidvar	November 2012	Survey Monkey	Shirin Omidvar
Conduct staff surveys about their opinions of the effectiveness of the SOAR tutorial program	Shirin Omidvar	November 2012	Survey Monkey	Shirin Omidvar
Meet with 7th grade SOAR teacher for insight into how the program is running and any suggestions for improvement	Shirin Omidvar	December 2012	Meeting Time	Shirin Omidvar
Reflect on the data results received thus far, including survey results	Shirin Omidvar	December 2012	Tutorial sign-in logs, previous state test scores, benchmark results, survey results	Shirin Omidvar
Obtain 5th grade TAKS and 6th grade STAAR scores for every student who received during-school SOAR tutorials due to low benchmark performance	Shirin Omidvar	April 2013	Access to Aware may need to be provided by principal or department head	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Obtain 7th grade STAAR scores for every student who received during-school SOAR tutorials due to low benchmark performance	Shirin Omidvar	June 2013	Access to Aware may need to be provided by principal or department head	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Build a spreadsheet by student name that includes the number of weeks of SOAR tutorials received, 5th grade TAKS score, 6th grade STAAR score, 7th grade score	Shirin Omidvar	July 2013	Previously obtained and recorded data, Excel software, laptop	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Analyze the results and report findings in a final paper	Shirin Omidvar	July 2013	Excel spreadsheet	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal, School Board, Course professor

Action Research Plan

Shirin Omidvar’s Action Research Plan

Goal: To determine the relationship between 7^th grade math students who receive SOAR tutorials during the school day because of low performance on in-class benchmarks and their STAAR test scores at the end of 7^th grade. If there is not a strong enough positive relationship, what changes need to be made to the SOAR tutorial program?

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with site mentor (principal) for final tweaks or revisions to the action research plan	Shirin Omidvar	August 2012	Action research plan	Shirin Omidvar, Principal
Conduct a literature review on the benefits of during-school tutorial programs	Shirin Omidvar	Sept 2012 – Oct 2012	Internet resources, Lamar Library, books written tbd	Shirin Omidvar
Collect and separate data from students’ 3-week benchmark tests	Shirin Omidvar	Ongoing every 3 weeks Sept 2012 – April 2013	Access to Aware may need to be provided by principal or department head	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Collect the names of students who are receiving during-school SOAR tutorials due to low benchmark performance	Shirin Omidvar	Ongoing every 3 weeks Sept 2012 – April 2013	SOAR tutorial sign-in logs	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Conduct student surveys about their opinions of the effectiveness of the SOAR tutorial program	Shirin Omidvar	November 2012	Survey Monkey	Shirin Omidvar
Conduct staff surveys about their opinions of the effectiveness of the SOAR tutorial program	Shirin Omidvar	November 2012	Survey Monkey	Shirin Omidvar
Reflect on the data results received thus far, including survey results	Shirin Omidvar	December 2012	Tutorial sign-in logs, previous state test scores, benchmark results, survey results	Shirin Omidvar
Obtain 5th grade TAKS and 6th grade STAAR scores for every student who received during-school SOAR tutorials due to low benchmark performance	Shirin Omidvar	April 2013	Access to Aware may need to be provided by principal or department head	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Obtain 7th grade STAAR scores for every student who received during-school SOAR tutorials due to low benchmark performance	Shirin Omidvar	June 2013	Access to Aware may need to be provided by principal or department head	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Build a spreadsheet by student name that includes the number of weeks of SOAR tutorials received, 5th grade TAKS score, 6th grade STAAR score, 7th grade score	Shirin Omidvar	July 2013	Previously obtained and recorded data, Excel software, laptop	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal
Analyze the results and report findings in a final paper	Shirin Omidvar	July 2013	Excel spreadsheet	Shirin Omidvar, Department Head, Principal, School Board, Course professor

Wow, one of my hesitations in selecting an online degree program was that I didn't feel that I would learn as much as I would learn in a traditional classroom setting. So far, I'm finding the readings that have been selected for us to be profoundly insightful. I can't say enough good things about the Leadership/Internship Plan book from course 1, and this Dana book, wow. It really explains action research and gives great examples from different principals on different campuses from elementary to high school. I have really learned what action research is. It's those wonderings I've had over the last 9 years of teaching. But it's not just wondering. It's doing something about your wondering. I really like that the book actually uses the term "wonderings," because that's really what it is. You have something going on and you begin to "wonder". And that wondering becomes action research. I'm excited to take many of my wonderings and put them into action research. But, one at a time of course.

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs

There are numerous ways that educational leaders can use blogs. Since an exceptional educational leader would be one who engages in regular action research, I think that educational leader could utilize blogging by having one location for reflection and for data recording. A blog offers the ability to keep pictures and keeps things in a reverse chronological order, so it's a nice way to journal and reflect along the way. By sharing a blog, the educational leader is expanding the collaboration efforts and is inviting feedback from colleagues, thus furthering the effort to expand important factors such as trust and buy-in.

What I have learned about action research:

Action research is something I think that can easily be pushed aside as an administrator has more than enough on their plate to fill several days without sleep. But, I really think this can be said for a teacher as well. As a teacher, I know that as soon as I feel caught up, I'm drowning again. Between planning, grading, contacting parents, and conferencing students, there's always an abundance to do. People who sit down and analyze their data must have too much time on their hands. Maybe I can give them some papers to grade. Or so I used to think. Action research is extremely important. It's not just one person sitting down and doing some research. It's really a collaboration of colleagues working together on a relevant topic for the ultimate goal of making things better for our students. It's not something you try to find the time to do; it's something that you make the time for. Action research should be something that is built into the work week ahead of time, on a regular basis, so that you're sure that it gets done. I think of it as a really great functioning PLC. The results can be profound because everything is relevant. Instead of researching someone else's data or trying to implement someone else's plan for their issues, you're able to gather your own data, in your own community, on your own campus, and collaborate with colleagues that you see and work with every single day. Action research is a very valuable tool that, if used regularly and treated very seriously, can have profound impact on an individual campus or even a district as a whole.