Action Research Plan

Goals and objectives/outcomes of the research investigation
Goal 1 – Decrease the Amount of Time At Risk and Low Income Students are removed from class for disciplinary action, including In School Suspension and Alternative Education Placement.
Goal 2 – Find Alternative Disciplinary Consequences to maximize time spent in the classroom by students in Target Population.
Goal 3 – Improve student success in classroom work and on benchmark exams by students in Target Population
Goal 4 – Create a program that encourages Teacher Buy in/Support from 85% of the staff on our campus.

Activities designed to achieve the objectives

v  Survey Staff on ideas for need and types of alternative discipline ideas

v  Start of committee to come up with solutions to keeping Target Population kids in the classroom maximum amount of time.

v  Disaggregate Data to share with committee to show need for Action Research Plan in this Area

v  Self Reflection to identify Biases that may affect the outcomes of our research

Resources and research tools needed for data gathering

v  List of At Risk and Economically Disadvantaged Students in 7^th through 10^th Grade

v  Quantitative Measures: 6 week Report Cards, Benchmark Scores, and TAKS Scores

v  Interview Students in Target Populations

v  Interview Focus Group of Students not in Target Populations to see how negative student behavior affects their learning in the classroom

v  Survey Staff and Parents regarding beliefs about school cultures/climate with focus on student behavior and discipline

Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities

v  February 2012 – Select Sample Size of Target Population by disaggregating data of ECD/At Risk Students with multiple Discipline referrals resulting in time spent in ISS or AEP.

v  March-May 2012 – Look at data to chart grades throughout year in regards to time spent out of classroom serving disciplinary action in ISS or AEP.

v  March-Math 2012 – Interview students, Survey staff and parents and form Action Committee to address needs.

v  August-December 2012 – Implement Alternative Forms of Discipline with ISS being reserved for severe behavior, as agreed upon by the staff.

v  January – February 2013 – Benchmark Data obtained

v  February 2013 – Review Data to see if interventions have been successful. Revise Action Plan as necessary or continue if results show progress.

Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan

v  Assigning Discipline – Assistant Principal

v  Brainstorming Alternative Discipline – Shawn Adkins, Marquelle Adkins and the Action Committee

v  Data Disaggregation – Shawn Adkins and Marquelle Adkins

Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives

v  Compare report card grades from previous year

v  Compare benchmark scores from previous year.

v  Compare number of referrals written to previous year.

v  Compare time spent out of classroom to previous year.

Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study

v  Qualitative – Benchmarks, Report Card Grades, Time Spent in ISS/AEP, and Number of Discipline Referrals

v  Quantitative – Teacher survey, Parent Survey, and Student Interviews.

References

Dana, N. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher.

             California: Corwin