Action Research Plan

Action Research Project/Goal: Students will become knowledgeable on the topic of college readiness and exceed state and federal student performance standards at the middle school and high school. Give students the greatest opportunities to earn high school credit in middle school and earn college credit at high school. Outcomes:  Increase STAAR passing rates and performance standards and monitor special programs in order to help special education, ESL students, and at-risk students. Increase understanding of the meaning of college readiness among students, and increase opportunities for middle school students to receive high school credit, and high school students to receive college credit. Activities: 1. Utilize data from six weeks TEKScore reports to target remedial instruction and for after school tutorials. 2. Coordinate instruction at DAEP and ISS programs to ensure mastery of TEKS objectives. 3. Provide summer school, and acceleration programs to address the needs of high-risk students. 4. Utilize Accelerated Reader Enterprise, Literacy programs and accelerated math programs to increase skills 5. Keep attendance rates in check 6. Research STAAR test scores and implement remedial programs at the early stages so it is not needed in college. 7. Utilize resources from food manager in order to provide nutrition necessary during school for students especially on test day. 8. Implement more rigorous and challenging activities for the more advanced students to keep them engaged such as providing college courses in high school to facilitate the college transition. Resources/Tools Needed:  DMAC TEKScore Reg. VII program (SFSF) and Funding, Grades Timeline: Benchmark and STAAR results dates Oct. 2013 Nov. 2013 Feb. 2013 April 2013 Jan. 2014 May 2014 Each 6 weeks Responsible Parties: Asst. Superintendent, Principals, Counselors, Teachers, DAEP Teacher and Aides, ISS Aides, ESL teachers, classroom teachers Assessment and Evaluation: STAAR Percentage of students achieving Satisfactory Performance Levels on required assessments, At least 90% passing rate each 6 weeks for all student groups, grades on summative and formative assessments.

Different Areas of Action Research

There are several different areas of action research:

1. Staff development

2. Curriculum development

3. Individual teacher(s)

4. Individual student(s)

5. School culture/community

6. Leadership

7. Management

8. School performance

9. Social justice or equity issues

The action research project that I will pursue will be college readiness under the category of School

Performance. College readiness is preparing students well enough so they don't have to take

remedial classes in college. It is best if students may transition straight to college without having to

take extra classes. This was also an area of interest because I was a straight "A" student coming out

of high school, and I failed my first college exam. I realized then that I didn't know how to study. I

would like to be able to help students at every level feel that they may succeed in college. I'd also like 

to incorporate athletic performance and if it enhances college readiness.

Action Inquiry

  Action inquiry or action research is an interactive way to create change. Since there are several issues in a school that arise on a day-to-day basis, there is a need for reflection and change. Principals may collaborate with faculty and staff in order to get ideas that may bring about change in a positive manner. This type of reflection is basically taking others' research and ideas. There is no reinventing the wheel, but making it better and using the information you need to fix "your" problem. Action research allows you to be a lifelong learner, always looking for a better way to do things and encourages you to share your findings with others. As principal, action research puts you in the position as “head learner” at your school (Dana, p. 4). The goal is to transform the profession (Dana, p. 2). Principals become stagnant if they do not continue to reflect on issues that their school undergoes. In my school, I feel that college readiness is a potential problem because it has been in recent years. Students' test scores and the 'college ready' data collected did not meet standards. This is a real issue because students are not being set up for success. I will also look in to students' success of their first year of college to see if the success may continue. I will reflect on others' findings in order to help  our students become more college ready.

I believe that this blog will enable me to communicate with others as well as get feedback. Other educators and administrators may follow my blog and comment on posts in order to give new ideas that I may be able to implement or use within my action research.