Progress

My action research project has produced some very interesting data. This year our school district moved to a new schedule making program. The program had a lot of trouble balancing classes. For example if a class needed to be balanced it would remove students from the class. Instead of placing them into a new class it would move them into a free period. This created hundreds of schedule changes for students. It also created teacher schedule changes. A few students I spoke with were subjected to five days worth of schedule changes. Some teachers were subjected to the same amount of schedule changes as well. This created many problems for both the students and teachers. The student’s problems came from never knowing if they were following the correct schedule. Also they would get settled into a class then they would be moved to a different period or even a different teacher. This upset not only the students, but also the parents. The problems came for the teachers when schedule changes were made the students grades were erased. In result many students lost grades and they had to be found. This caused many problems for all stakeholders involved. The process has still not been resolved totally and some schedule changes are still being processed. In my classroom I have a state cap of twenty-four students. For weeks I was not able to work in certain parts of my shop because I had too many students. This caused delays that I still am having trouble making up for. Hopefully by next year we can figure out how to work the system and it will make a difference in next year’s schedule.

Goal:	Reduce the amount of schedule changes during any given year, and study the effects of schedule changes on students.
Action Step(s)	Person(s) responsible	Timeline: Start / end	Needed       Resources			Evaluation
1. Each time a student in my class has a schedule change I will discuss with them their feelings about the changes, before, during and after.	This will be my responsibility to identify the students and follow through with a meeting.	I will follow this procedure when changes are made for the current semester of the  school year.		I will need note paper to document the student’s feelings before, during and after the change.			At the end of the semester I will interview the students again and see how the change affected them.
2. I will discuss with teachers affected by the schedule changes to discuss their feelings before, during and after the changes.	This will be my responsibility to identify the teachers and follow through with a meeting.	I will follow this procedure when changes are made for the current semester of the school year.		I will need note paper to document the teachers feelings before, during and after the change.			At the end of the semester I will interview the teachers again and see how the change affected them.
3. I will discuss with counselors who make the changes about what they see to be the biggest challenge with schedule changes.	This will be my responsibility to identify the counselors and follow through with a meeting.	I will follow this procedure when changes are made for the current semester of the school year.		I will need note paper to document the counselor’s feelings before, during and after the change.			At the end of the semester I will interview the counselors again and see how the change affected them.
4. I will discuss with the Principals to find out if schedule changes correlate with behavior problems or class dynamic changes.	This will be my responsibility to identify the schedule and meet with the principals	I will follow this procedure when changes are made for the current semester of the school year.		I will need note paper to document the counselor’s feelings before, during and after the change.			At the end of the semester I will interview the principals again and see how the change affected them.

Week One Reflection

This week I really started to understand what action research really was. Listening to the different school leaders really gave me incite into what a school administrator really does. I am exited to start my research and share my results with the group.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

Educational leaders could use blogs to help solve problems they may be having at their school. They could get input from leaders around the country that would help them solve their problems. However I believe that the user’s names would need to be kept confidential. This would be to keep the integrity of the school intact. I also believe that the blogs could be used as a form of communication to parents. It would allow for announcements to get out to a broader group of people at once.

Action Research

Action research is a very unique way to study a subject. It has many benefits that other types of research do not. For example while doing action research your reference material for the research are others who are doing the same or similar research. This is a huge benefit because it allows you to learn from them, and them to learn from you. It also allows you to reflect in a more through manner, because you can look at what others have found and compare it to your research. This comparison will show you the strengths and weaknesses of your research. I have also learned that action research is a cyclical process that is ever evolving. There is always room for improving on your research because you constantly evaluate what you have done. The only down side to this type of research is that you will need participation from a group or it will not work. This is because for action research to work, their needs to be a set group of people who are also compiling data for the research. I believe that this type of research would be a lot more productive than traditional research because of the different inputs and perspectives.  I look forward to participating in action research in the future.