The Action Research Plan Outline

Setting the Foundation:  A few years ago, my campus experienced an emergency situation which required the evacuation of the school and student’s/staff were bused to other locations.  Since that time due to attrition many of the personnel including the principal are no longer at my campus.  The new administration, based off of campus feedback and need has determined that the current emergency procedures need to be reviewed, updated and new training and follow up need to occur. Analyzing Data:  The use of electronic searches should yield information regarding emergency situations at schools and should provide data that might include how often emergency situations occur.  In addition, local district data can be requested to determine what types of situations the campuses in the district deal with, the outcome and the policies and place. Developing Deeper Understanding:  Conducting interviews with teachers that have been at the campus for longer periods of time.  In addition to meeting with the district personnel, meetings with the fire department and police department will provide insight into what expectations are realistic and what should/should not be included in the plan. Engaging in Self-Reflection:  In the last two weeks several things have come into play in regards to the action research. What key personnel should be involved in the process of updating the emergency plans? What role does the goal team and administration play in ongoing training of the emergency procedures and how often? What emergencies should be included in the flip charts and should they be color and/or picture coded? How often should drills be practiced? Who is responsible ongoing for the maintenance of the emergency plans as things changes? What is the most important task to conquer at this point and what things can be added after the fact?  Meaning tornado, fire drills, lock downs should all be at the forefront of the project while airplanes crashing into the campus could be addressed toward the end.  Basically the need for prioritizing. Exploring Programmatic Patterns:  After several meetings with my principal, the determination was made that we will move forward with updating what is currently on file.  We will have the fire department come out and follow up with the police department for anything additional we need.  We will incorporate all of the district changes into our plan and make sure the “master bag” is completed and up to date.  Training will take place with and without warning.  Feedback from the teachers by anonymous survey will hopefully bring to light and concerns or areas that teachers still feel the goal team needs to address. Determining Direction:  This project is already in progress.  The goal team has been formed, all parties have an active role.  The assessment piece will be updated as we go.  Each time a milestone is met, the goal team will meet to assess feedback and any new data received.  The timeframe is ongoing with the hopes of having the training completed prior to the end of the year.  The mock drills will begin in December as long as the fire department is available. Taking Action for School Improvement:  The action planning template has been completed with all identified steps at this time.  As always it’s a working template and will be updated as necessary if timelines and/or objectives are added or changed. Sustaining Improvement:  The end goal is to improve our campus emergency plan and improve the overall feeling to where teachers/staff feel prepared and well trained.  The goal is to assess, survey and adjust to meet the needs of the campus and to share the feedback with the campus as a whole as well as the district personnel if necessary.

Week 2

This week I learned not to re-create the wheel.  The best thing to do in action research is to see what is already out there and how it applies to you.  The readings offered a lot of great inquiry ideas and suggestions to keep in mind going forward in the process to be an administrator.  Always thinking ahead and incorporating others into the process as you go to get the best results.

Benefits of Blogging

Blogging is a great way for educational leaders to share thougths and ideas as they occur.  Blogging creates a support network with others who can offer insight and suggestions.  It is also a way to get your knowledge and experiences out there to share with others who may benefits from what you have to say.

Action Research

Throughout this week, I have learned that action research is actually a very personal and insightful tool.  It can be used in a variety of ways and makes you an active participant in your own professional growth and development.  Action research can be used on the smallest activities that a teacher might want to self-reflect on in the classroom to very large, campus wide activities that a principal may want to evaluate, change and reflect upon.  Action research is an excellent professional devlelopment tool that allows a teacher or administrator to learn from themselves.  Self-reflection is a key component to change.  I think it provides insight into how a person teaches, learns and provides a more clear picture on how effective change can be implemented.  Action research seems to be more effective than traditional research since the people doing the action research are the ones that are actually impacted by the situation.  In traditional research the people conducting it may or may not be directly impacted and have a full understanding of what is occurring.  In that scenario, the teachers or administrators may or may not be willing to change or implement the suggestions given to them.  I think that if action research is used consistently it is a way to make more effective decisions that will lead to greater long term success.