Action Research posing problems

I just got off the phone with one of the administrators who expressed an interest in my action research project. I only had three express any interest at all, and of those three, only this one actually put me with a person who could research the data I need to get started. He was calling to tell me that they have encountered a problem generating the research.


My plan is about the impact of substitute teachers on student learning. I could not think of any way to research the impact a particular substitute made on learning. I had thought to compare TAKS scores with teacher absenteeism to determine if frequent teacher absenteeism affected student performance on standardized test scores. In trying to obtain this information the administrator has run into a problem. TAKS scores for last year are very easy to pull, and so are the rates of teacher absenteeism. However, the computer system has purged the records showing which students were assigned to which teachers last year. Because this information is unavailable, it would be impossible to determine whether the teachers with the highest rate of absenteeism also had students who performed statistically lower on the TAKS test.

I can't think of any other way to do this. Is there someone out there who can help me determine a better way to obtain this research, or am I doomed to scrap this project and come up with another?

Please comment.

EDLD 5301 End of Course Reflections

I felt like there were many great moments of discovery throughout this course. I had several “aha” moments occur during my reading. I got a different perspective on the point of action research when I read “Essentially research is nothing but a state of mind, … a friendly, welcoming attitude toward change, … going out to look for change instead of waiting for it to come” (Kettering (in Boyd), cited in Dana, 2009, p. 30). Another such moment for me occurred when Dana explained that qualitative data was equally as informative as quantitative data for the purpose of action research (Dana, 2009, p. 71). I was at the time beginning to wonder what kind of data I could use to do my project, and was enlightened by the prospect of using surveys, interviews, and my own reflections in a journal or weblog as a method of obtaining data.
When I first considered the action research project I am conducting, I was unsure what kind of literature might exist on the subject. To me, the idea of a correlation between substitutes in the classroom and reduced student achievement seemed like a given, but I had no idea how one would actually determine if that were the case. And while I knew something should be done to make better use of substitute teachers in the absence of the teacher, I did not know if anyone had thought about it and proposed any suggestions. My literature study was very helpful in this area. Even in the few documents I came across in the matter of a few hours’ of time, I found numerous studies others had done which linked teacher absence to student performance. That helped me determine that the way to study the impact of the substitute is to compare teacher absentee rates to TAKs data for each teacher. If those with higher absentee rates have lower TAKs scores, it would indicate that the substitute teachers have had a negative impact on student achievement. I also discovered through my literature review that several states are trying various methods to improve the quality of learning that takes place in the teachers’ absence.
The comments from other students through the discussion boards, on my blog, and especially during the weekly conferences were very helpful to me both as I learned more about action research and as I began developing my own plan. I received a lot of encouragement about the importance and viability of my topic, which I really needed given the feelings of inadequacy I was dealing with. Added to that were many helpful suggestions relating to ways to approach my topic, obtain the data I needed, and determine the actions that might need to be taken. Although I did not incorporate every suggestion I received into my plan, each one was beneficial because it opened me up to new ways of thinking and looking at my topic.
I feel I have grown quite a bit during this course and I am confident that action research will be a regular part of my career as a teacher now that I have gotten my feet wet and experienced the process first-hand. I am eager to see the progress of my fellow students as they move forward on this journey with me, and I am equally eager to share my own progress.

References

Dana, Nancy Fitchman (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge.

My project has generated some interest!

I am very happy to announce that today when I finally got an opportunity to contact school principals and district superintendents about my action research project, the initial response has been very positive and I will be meeting with at least one principal one district and the superintendent of another. I am feeling much more confident now as a result of these initial responses.

Week 4 Reflections for Action Research Course

I have sort of completed Week 4 of my course. I have been unable to meet with my site mentor this week; in fact the week was over before he even responded to my email requesting that we meet. He is attending TCEA (lucky!) and is out of touch right now, so my internship plan is going to have to be reviewed via email. Sigh.

I am not concerned that my mentor will not like my plan. I expect he will have some helpful criticism for me, but my concern still lies in getting some principals to agree, and thanks to all these stupid snow days every time I have a day off when I could make some phone calls and set up appointments to meet with the principals, there is no school. Maybe this week, I hope. At least the forecast looks clear!

I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have learned about action research up to this point. I know a lot more about data gathering and self-reflection and sharing my research and developing ideas to take action upon than I did a few weeks ago. I am feeling more confident in my own ability to perform action research. I guess it is one more thing that frustrates me while waiting for my full-time teaching job. I would love to begin doing this sort of thing as a part of my job, and I can't wait for someone to hire me and give me that opportunity. If anyone out there knows about a job opening in the Texarkana area, please let me know!

This last week should be fun as we wrap everything up and look toward methods of sustaining improvement. I am a little unclear as to the new paperwork requirements at the tail end of the class, since they appear to be focused on Administration majors rather than Technology majors, but I've got a message into the IA and I'm sure it will all be sorted out and make sense in the end.

New Online Resource for Teachers and Administrators

I have just signed up for a new web service: eBackpack.com. This great resource provides teachers and administrators with secure cloud storage and file sharing in an environment especially designed for them. The website allows you to create sub-accounts under your own for your students, add classes and assign students to classes, upload files (handouts, notes, assignments) to share with students, provide a drop-box for students to submit work online, return graded submissions to students, create an online ePortfolio of student work, and more. This looks like it is going to be a great site with many possible uses. Be sure and check out the site and sign up for your free account today, and let me know what you think!

Week 3 Reflections

I have just completed my 3rd week in my Action Research course, and I am afraid, like many of my fellow students, that I am floundering. I have produced my plan using the template and the examples provided and it sounds OK. My biggest concern is whether any of the principals I know will have any interest at all in looking at my study and determining whether there is a problem and how to go about fixing it. In the initial stages of this when I have spoken with other substitutes and classroom teachers about my plan to study this, the initial reactions have not been positive. The substitutes are concerned for their jobs. If the schools realize the impact that unqualified substitutes have on learning, the substitutes are concerned they will be replaced by better qualified subs. Teachers on the other hand have expressed a desire to retain control. If they get a substitute in the classroom that actually teaches the lesson, they are concerned that the substitute will mess up the dynamics of the classroom. That the students will not be able to learn if the lesson is not presented in the manner the teacher has determined is best for that particular class.

I can see both perspectives, so I am concerned with how to present this so that schools, teachers, and substitutes see it in a positive light. I am concerned that schools will prefer not knowing they have a problem to knowing it and having to spend time and money to do something about it. If I point out a problem which is affecting student performance, I have obligated the schools to do something about it. As long as there is no study, there is no problem.

My other concern is that I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I am following the examples and the instruction provided in the text but I feel very inadequate to the task and I'm not sure I even know what kinds of questions to ask or how to word them to get the data I need.

I wish I had a better equipped mentor to guide me through this process. I wish I had known before selecting my mentor what kinds of projects I would be doing and how much power the mentor would need to have to help me accomplish them. Now that I have this plan, I wish I knew for sure who to speak with about it, because my current mentor is not going to be able to help.

Action Research Draft Implementation Plan

To see a PDF of my Action Research Draft Implementation plan, click here.

Action Research Plan - Description of the Problem

What effect do substitute teachers have on student achievement and what are the ways schools can better utilize substitutes to minimize student impact?

I will start by examining quantitative data by comparing TAKs data with teacher absences by teacher at one of the local ISD's to determine if students performed better in classes where teachers had fewer absences.

I also plan to use focus groups and Survey Monkey to discuss with teachers and substitutes the ways substitutes are currently trained and utilized and what changes could be made to better prepare substitutes or plan better for teacher absences to ensure students are still learning when the substitutes are in charge.

The motivation for this study comes from my own work and personal experiences as a substitute. I often find that teachers have left no lesson plan or have planned for students to complete "busy work" while they are absent. I define "busy work" as work which will likely not be graded and which has little to do with the subject matter students are currently learning. This could include "fun" movies, repetitious writing, word searches, crossword puzzles, mazes, or coloring sheets. I have often felt I was being utilized more as a babysitter or a police warden than as a teacher. 

My concerns have been increased by the initial research I have conducted, which indicates that students spend on average the equivalent of a complete school year studying with a substitute during their K-12 education. These studies indicate that a direct correlation exists between lower student achievement and teacher absence (Elizabeth, 2007; Glatfelter, 2006; Damle, 2009; Granowicz, 2010).

I realize that many substitutes do not have the teacher training which I have. However, I feel confident that with some basic training on the part of the substitute and some better planning on the part of the teacher, substitutes can better carry out their assigned tasks.  This should ensure that the impact on learning is minimized under their care. My literature research also demonstrated that in school districts where substitutes are trained and teachers are taught how to prepare for them, the impact is minimized (O’Connor, 2009, Deay & Bontempo, 1986; Cardon, Tippetts, & Smith, 2003; Elizabeth, 2007).

References:

Cardon, Peter W.; Tippetts, Zachary; Smith, Geoffrey G. (2003). “The Effectiveness of Substitute Teacher Training: The Results of a Utah Study.”

Damle, Ranjana (2009). “Investigating The Impact Of Substitute Teachers On Student Achievement: A Review Of Literature.”

Deay, Ardeth & Bontempo, Barbara (1986). “Helping Substitute Teachers Contribute to School Effectiveness,” The Clearing House.

Elizabeth, Jane (2001). “A Substitute for Education: Classroom-crippling shortage leads to unusual solutions,” Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Elizabeth, Jane (2001). “Institute helps teacher replacements learn to teach,” Pittsburg Post-Gazette.

Glatfelter, Andrew Gary (2006). “Substitute Teachers as Effective Classroom Instructors,” A Doctoral Dissertation, UCLA.

Granowicz , Stephanie (2010). “Impact of Substitute Teachers on Student Achievement,” Knight Life.

O’Connor, Kevin (2009). “No Substitute Left Behind,” Principal.

Reflections on choosing an Action Research Topic

I was very interested in the subject of Chapter 2 in Leading With Passion and Knowledge. Chapter 2 covered "Passions That Drive Your Journey," and discussed how you could find topics with which you could begin your action research. I found that all nine of the suggested areas could as easily apply to a teacher's research as they could to an administrator's, although the examples given were largely more applicable to administration (Dana, 2009, pp. 65-66).

Dana's caution about making sure that my wonderings did not focus on changing other people was good advice (p. 64). The only person I can change is me. I may wonder about what I can do to make homework more relevant for my students, but I cannot wonder how I can make my students do their homework and turn it in.

I also appreciated the advice concerning choosing a question which was open-ended. I found myself drafting my original wonderings in the form of yes/no questions (p. 67). That sort of question cannot lead to a great research project because there is only one right answer to a question like that.

The third piece of advice Dana gives that hit home with me was the advice to be sure that my topic would have an impact on learning activities (p. 67). Since this is the most important issue faced by schools today, projects centered around student achievement are going to get the most attention and the most support. Projects which focus on teacher learning are the second most important issue since teachers need to constantly learn and improve to be effective in educating students.

I really felt like I learned a lot from this week's activities. I feel better prepared to choose and begin my research project after the activities this week, and more confident that my topic will gain the interest and support of the districts where I work.

Blogging for Educational Leaders

Blogging is a powerful tool which educational leaders should incorporate into their regular practice. Blogging gives administrators an opportunity to reflect on their practice in ways similar to keeping a journal. It also provides the educational leader a place where he or she can publish their ideas for colleagues to read. This allows the administrator to realize the importance of their own thoughts and gives others a chance to read and comment on those thoughts.

Action Research as a Tool for Educators

I have been studying action research in my Masters of Educational Technology Leadership program. I am very excited about this useful tool and how I can implement it as an educator. Action research allows the educator to explore questions that the educator has about their own practice and how learning in their classroom could be improved, and provides the educator with the means to make changes based on what he or she learns. The educator starts by phrasing their question or wondering. He or she then collects data about their question and does a literature review of their topic. The data is analyzed, and based on the findings, the educator develops and implements a plan of action. The results of their research and action are shared with others and also studied for continuous improvement (Leading With Passion and Knowledge, Nancy Fichtman Dana, pp. 2-3).

Action research therefore becomes an essential tool for educators as a means for professional growth and development. It allows the educator to take ownership for improvement of their own best practices and provides a means by which the educator can share his or her success with cohorts. I am very excited about using this method in my own practice. I can see numerous benefits to the children under my care and to my school and district. If I am constantly reflecting on what is working and what is not; on how to increase learning and student performance on high stake testing, on how to reach students of all skill levels and interests and how to engage even the most uninvolved, my classroom will be a place where the students thrive.

TCEA Digital Media Expo

I had an opportunity to attend Region 8's Digital Media Expo on November 16, 2010. I attended the keynote address by Kevin Honeycutt as well as his presentation on Teaching "Wired" Learners. I also attended an extended session on Broadcasting in the Classroom. I have included a summary of what I learned.

Kevin Honeycutt expanded on his keynote address from the day before, as well as going into greater depth. Some of the topics covered included the use of Google Sketchup, a free program created by Google, which introduces students to CAD in a simple format that anyone can use. Along with Sketchup, he demonstrated the use of AR Media, a free plug-in for Sketchup and allows you to place a 3D version of a Sketchup model virtually into the hands of a presenter using a webcam and a printed marker. This awesome tool is demonstrated on Kevin's website under AR Media. He also demonstrated how he could take students on a virtual field trip using technology such as a webcam and Skype.

The Broadcasting in the Classroom discussion demonstrated setting up a free streaming channel on UStream.tv and using webcams to create live streaming broadcasts of the classroom. The presenter demonstrated this technology by creating a broadcast of his presentation, and showed how an instructor could switch between different views, such as viewing the projector image or smartboard screen, the presenter, and the classroom. He discussed practical uses for a classroom broadcast such as keeping absent students current with classroom lectures and allowing parents to "visit" the classroom virtually to see special class projects.

The uses for technology in education are vast and impressive. We need to look into these resources and explore ways to implement them in the classroom.

Technology Vision Conference November 15th Region 8 ESC

I had the priviledge of attending the 21st Century Technology Vision Conference for District Leaders at Region 8 ESC. I attended the keynote address presented by Kevin Honeycutt on "Trends, Tactics, and Tools for 21st Century Learning" and a two part session on iPads in Education. I have summarized what I learned for my readers.

Kevin Honeycutt provided many resources for educators during his address. He lists these resources on his website, http://www.kevinhoneycutt.org/ in his Learning Toolbox. Among the most interesting resources he listed, I want to point out Classroom20.com, which is a social networking site for educators similar to Facebook. The site is open only to those in education, and provides network opportunities, online events, media, discussion groups, and links to other resources. This is a great place for educators to practice using this Web 2.0 tool which can so enrich the lives of our students as well a for those experienced in social networking to develop a social network built entirely of educators.

Another resource pointed out by Kevin Honeycutt is http://www.lulu.com/, a self-publishing website which Kevin touts as a powerful resource to get students to write. Using this site, you can publish student writing or artwork into a book and sell individual copies without a large investment. Kevin suggests using the site to publish individual students who write their own poetry or stories and purchase an individual copy of the book for the student to encourage them. He also suggests using it to create a classroom or school anthology of student work where students compete for a spot in the book and the collection is offered to students, parents, and extended family of the participants. He also suggests using the site for the school to self-publish their own yearbook. Rather than purchasing yearbooks from a publishing house in advance of sales and risking profits on too many copies, http://www.lulu.com/ will allow the school to set the price of the yearbook and make all the profits, while parents and students place orders themselves from the website and only the books that are sold are printed. The website demonstrates many other uses which are great for education.

The iPads in Education seminar was eye-opening. These fantastic tools should be provided on a one-to-one ratio for every learner in the US. The number of practical uses for the device in education are astounding. There are literally hundreds of educational applications available, many of them free.

One particularly useful application would almost offset the cost of supplying the units to students by itself. This application, called eclicker, would replace expensive clicker systems which the school would have to purchase separately. While clickers are useful in the classroom, they can be used for only one purpose. With the free eclicker student application installed on student iPads and the $10 eclicker host application loaded on the teacher's iPad, the units work exactly like the expensive clicker systems, but provide both student and teacher with all the additional applications which they can benefit from on the iPad. Considering the expense of an independent clicker system, this nearly free application can help your school offset the cost of individual student iPad or iTouch devices.

More iPad resources are listed at the presenters' website at http://reimersresources.wikispaces.com/. Be sure to check them out along with Powerpoint slides of the presentation by clicking the link on the left entitled The iPad for Education.