Go Longhorns

Go Longhorns

Friday, July 30, 2010

PBIS Action Research

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Action Research Project Process Overview

District Vision: The district's schools will maintain an engaging environment conducive to student learning and employee effectiveness.
School Vision: Smith Middle School staff will implement behavioral strategies to reduce the number of discipline incidents related to inappropriate physical contact in the 2009-10 school year.
Research Goal: Will the implementation of a proactive and positive school-wide behavior management program have an impact on the number of student discipline referrals?

1. SETTING THE FOUNDATION –
Through collaboration with the principal, administrative team, and key stakeholders, the site-based decision making committee, decided that we have a behavior problem on our campus and the number of referrals written each year is a concern. The district was starting schools as PBIS sites for the following year if they had the student and teacher buy in using results from a survey. The action research is to determine if the implementation of the PBIS program in the school will decrease the number of discipline referral written.
I will be developing, reviewing, revising, and completing my draft action research plan in the week four assignments.
All of the hours I am spending working on my action research project are hours I may record as campus supervised internship hours.

2. ANALYZING DAT
A –
We will use discipline referral reports from the previous year and current school year to identify problem areas. We will appoint a data analysis person for our PBIS team. We will also use district data and trainings for developing the PBIS program on our campus. We will use the data to determine the six areas of concern (where the discipline is happening).
I will find it helpful to revisit this step throughout my action research project.

3. DEVELOPING DEEPER UNDERSTANDING –
The initial data gathering is likely to lead to additional questions and concerns and in effect cause the staff and committee to dig deeper into the understanding of the pros and cons of the PBIS program and selecting the six areas of concerns to create the matrix. Once the areas of concern are determined, staff will determine a school-wide positive reward system. All parts of the PBIS program. The data collection for referral information is very simple in our district. We have a program called cognos, which can run a report on almost any type of information. The referral data is entered into a program and a report is then sent to the PBIS campus coordinator (chair).
It will be substantially complete in week four assignment and I will find it helpful to revisit this step throughout my action research project.

4. ENGAGE IN SELF-REFLECTION –
You begin to ask some reflective questions regarding choices and consequences of particular data. Every month the committee will meet for 1 hour to review the data for the previous month and determine the three most areas referral are written and the least. Once the areas with the most referrals are determined, we will reflect on data and ask the questions: What could be the reason for the referral numbers being so high?
What steps do we already have in the matrix?
What ideas we could see to help decrease the number of referrals?
Will our initiative cost money and/or do we have the money in the budget to support the initiative?
Do the student/teachers need additional training on matrix?
Do we have the resources needed to train the teachers and students?
Step four continues throughout my action research project.

5. EXPLORING PROGRAMMATIC PATTERNS –
After digging deeper and posing the reflective questions, I will begin to formulate a more definite solution, and begin to consider the programmatic impact of the solutions. I will gain others opinions of the pros and cons of the program with the survey in December. I will use the survey half way through the year to be able to state the skills and resources that I think are essential to the success of the project implementation. The more pitfalls I can identify before implementing the solution, the better the project.
Step five continues throughout my action research project.

6. DETERMINING DIRECTION –
I am ready to launch my action research project but I must be able to answer the following questions:
A. Am I clear on what I am attempting to solve (your research questions)?
B. Have I adequately addressed the skills and resources questions?
C. Have I established a collaborative approach to the issue?
D. Are my timelines realistic?
E. Do I have a reasonable plan to monitor the project?
F. Do I have a reasonable plan for determining the level of success – how will I evaluate if the plan is effective?
G. How will I revise and improve the plan based on monitoring and evaluation?
It will be emphasized in week four and five assignments. It will be re-evaluated throughout my action research project.

7. TAKING ACTION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT –I will use the committees to assist me with my action research project. I will develop a written plan of action.I will use Template 7.1 to create my action plan. I will monitor the project (formative evaluation) monthly and prepare a summary report (summative evaluation) of the results of your action research project addressing the implementation of positive behavior school-wide program on the campus.
Step seven will be reviewed in week four and five assignments. It will be implemented along with my internship program after I have completed the course.

8. SUSTAIN IMPROVEMENT-
Learn to maintain the positive aspects of the action research project. The things that improved the learning, cultural, and climate should be appreciated and maintained over time. For example, if my research revealed the implementation of a positive behavior program to lower the number of discipline referral, I would want to share the results with others on my campus and in my school district. I would also want to share the results with my online colleagues. The campus should try to apply the same skills and knowledge used to gain the improvement in discipline referral with positive behavior management to other areas of the school, classroom management and participate in professional development.
Step eight will be reviewed during week four and five assignments. I will address it in depth during the months following the completion of my action research project.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Week 2 Reflection

After reading this week’s reading, chapter two, from Dana's Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The principal as action researcher, the nine areas of concerns started to make more sense to me. While I was identifying the nine areas of concerns and giving examples of an inquiry question, I was able come up with a solid topic for my action research project. The chapter made identifying an area of concern for the project easier, by categorizing the nine different ideas for areas of research. After reading these and looking back over my internship proposal and meeting with my supervisor, we easily came up with the inquiry question required for this week’s assignment. As for the lecture videos, I did not find the first lecture to be helpful, I felt Dr. Johnny Briseno, was vague, and I could not really follow what his lecture was over. I was glad I was able to read his dissertation to help me understand his suggestions. The past two days I have spent in our district ILD training and have met many people that have finished their masters through Lamar and others that are currently in this Research class. Being able to talk to others in person was nice; I enjoyed finally putting a face with several names that I have seen over the past year. It was a real relief to find out that we do not have to reinvent the research wheel, but use ideas that reinforce what we already use in education.

Inquiry action research question
Will the implementation of a proactive and positive school-wide behavior management program have an impact on the number of student discipline referral?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

How Educational Leaders might use blogs.

Educational leaders can use blogs for a variety of purposes. Blogs can break the barriers of distance, making collaboration with other leaders possible by updating information and posting opinions. Blogs can also be a way to reflect on a question or inquiry. We can use Blogs as a teaching tool if implemented in an educational manner.

Action Research

Action Research is a process in which administrators examine their education practice in a systematic way using an inquiry question and research techniques in a structured way and taking action for change in their practices in the future. Action research specifically refers to a disciplined inquiry done by an administrator with the intent that the research will inform and change his or her practices in the future. There are a few assumptions about action research. The first assumption is that administrators work best on problems they have identified for themselves. The second is that administrators are more effective when encouraged to examine and assess their own work and then consider ways of working differently. The third assumption is that administrators help each other by working collaboratively (Watts, H. 1985, When teachers are researchers, teaching improves. Journal of Staff Development, 6 (2), 118-127). The book, Leading With Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researchers, tells us that when and administrator practices Action Research, they are constantly thinking about how to go about improving their schools for the benefit of all involved. They are also ensuring that they are lifelong learners. The two books Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps From Analysis To Action and Leading With Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researchers have helped me understand what it means to be an Action Researcher. Action researchers pose questions, collect data to gain insights into their questions, analyze the data along with reading relevant literature, make changes in practice, and share their findings with others. We conduct action research for the purpose of looking and reflecting on their current practices. It allows administrators to look closely at their leadership role and their school improvement efforts.
Action Research can be used in several ways. An administrator can use action research as a professional development tool that provides effective staff development focusing on student achievement and supports reflective practices. Action research is a great tool for teachers' who are needing to reflect on why a student or class is having a learning problem. This type of research encourages the disaggregation of data from various sources, literature reviews, and dialogue with other professionals and students, formulating plans, and making changes in instruction. We can use inquiry questions to further dive into the problems that are facing our school and how to solve them. The use of Action Research will help me become a better principal because it will keep me thinking and reflecting on the practices on my campus. Action Research can be used to develop Leadership Teams who share problems and decision making, which in turn starts to create a culture of collaboration within the school. You can also use Action Research to create Professional Learning Communities with your faculty The Professional Learning Community or the staff can use action research to better their teaching techniques by engaging in studying, learning, and reflecting on effective teaching strategies that work with students. Action research can be used in many different ways. What is important is we not only conduct the research, but also implement it and make any necessary changes. Action research is the idea that administrators will begin a cycle of posing question, gathering data, reflection, and deciding on a course of action. When these changes start to change the school climate, a different inquiry question appears with different problems that need to solving and the start of the action research spiral. Many Action Research inquiries solve one problem but the solutions may lead to other areas on concern. In the end everyone in the school should work together to achieve results that will show school improvement.

What I learned about Action Research

What I learned about Action Research is that gives administrators the skills needed to work on problems specific to their campus. By using an action research, administrators can resolve their own problems on their campus. Administrators learn how to ask an inquiring question, collect data, and includes methods that yield validity to their campus, reflection and deciding a course of action.