EDLD 5352 Week 5

 Week 5.1:  Post your ONE web conference reflection of the web conference sessions you attended to your  blog link or your Google Site and submit to your IA in course ware.

While reflecting over the web conference sessions, I realize that each year in education sees a tremendous amount of advancement and curiosity when it comes to technological advancements and applications. The use of tools such as Google Docs, Live Binders, and the Flipped Classrooms all stem from a need to further reach varied learning styles through differentiation. Immediacy and 24/7 access is an integral tool of collaborative learners which allows for individual pacing and reflective awareness of educational learning. I would say that the conferences allowed for discussion of the usefulness and necessity for why a collaborative catalog of this type of teacher tool kit would necessitate a variety of approaches. Technology and Fair Use policies per school district, Technology Budget Items, Connectivity to real-world application and usability is all very helpful in the areas of adult and student learning. Making sure that accountability partners are engaged is a helpful way to keep certain learners on task-- who may stray or get left behind if they are left to their own individual organization and time-management efficiency or lack thereof. Relevancy of tool connectivity to promote the “Why” of using the technology application prevents resistance with some new users. If you can change their thinking of why it is important, you will be able to change their behavior. These technology tools aren’t meant to replace teachers, but to better enhance delivery, engagement, productivity, and student success at faster rates. How the “curator” uses the tools will be greatly dependent on how well a school program of technology curriculum is implemented. My classmates had enthusiasm in trying to offer ideas and advice in how they have seen technology working in and around their schools. When some learners are more advanced with technology, it is very important for those who aren’t as comfortable to be supported.

 Week 5.2: Write brief Reflections and Status Report of your technology skills and knowledge gained in this course, your progress with your Campus-Supervised Internship Activities, and your progress with your Action Research Project. Submit to your Google Site, Wikispaces, or Blog and to your IA in your course ware.

Technology Skills Status Report: I would say that I am definitely emergent and moving in the correct direction! It is something I don’t naturally gravitate towards, but I feel that by working with those who are stronger with a particular skill set, i.e., technology, I better my understanding and confidence in leading others to explore and challenge themselves and their students with new applications that may allow for best practices and products that they hadn’t dreamed of before. The foray into Live Binders, Flipped Classrooms, and various Google doc applications make for more informative decisions when trying to teach a large number of varied learners. Blackboard learning through this course has also allowed me to be several steps ahead of our campus transition to the one-to-one technology initiative at the onset of this coming school year and for that, I am grateful.

Campus-Supervised Internship Activities: I find myself just finishing up documentation and needing only a few small bits of closure with the activities at large. It has greatly added to my confidence, respect, and gratefulness for those who work in various positions in public education administration. Until you are in the midst of investigation, you may not have seen the need for why particular events or departments are run the way they are. My patience in working with others from various departments has increased. I realize that not everyone is working with the same information all of the time and at the same pace. An entire school year does allow for a variety of experiences especially when the campus building project allows for our campus to move in the middle of the school year, so the aspects of building facilities and budgets were seen maybe more frequently than if my campus hadn’t been moving.

Action Research Project: Knowing that I am nearing the finish line with my Masters Program has me trying to finish up details and information gathering before my final product is due. I have found that we in education are constantly researching, whether it be formally or informally. With our quick paced society and need for immediate information and communication, it can sometimes be overwhelming. Action Research is a forward thinking way of having multiple conversations and brain trusts going on at the same time. Oftentimes, these researching individuals or teams may cross pollinate and offer data that the others find helpful. Most of those educators that I have worked with are more than eager to assist with any information they may have regarding enlightenment in particular areas. Differentiation in leadership styles does allow for a variety of successes in public education.

 

Week 3 Assignment, Part 3

Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

In respect to the process of research wanderings and inquiry, I find that I am curious as to how my own campus and immediate district take to heart the process of action research in our campuses which are full laboratories of learning. Providing background information is an essential part of the process to try and share the focus, goals (short term and long term), and direction of any data driven program. The title of my project is “Which leadership styles are best represented in high performing schools, and how do these practitioners use action research methodologies for effective communication and success?” My need for this wandering stems from my curiosity during my internship of what is happening on my school campus. Objectives and vision of the action research plan comes from AYP reports showing differences of 10 points between  particular sub pops. Have my campus administrators used this as a portal for action research? Also, review of my campus AEIS reports yield inadequacies among different learning populations following release of recent state EOC testing. The objectives and vision related to this project stem from a need to never be stagnant and to keep promoting new ways of problem solving in an ever-changing educational environment. “Look for new ways to become a child advocate”.  Immediate campus, district at large, regional community, and then state needs for children should be the concentric rings which are breeding grounds for inquiry and needs assessment. Recent literature promotes reflective thinking and action on behalf of children. Continued practice in bettering our own educational environment through vision, data findings, and passion are ways we better what we are constantly striving for in education. Biancarosa, G., & Snow, C. (2004). Reading Next—A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy: A Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved from www.all4ed.org/files.ReadingNext.pdf. The research strongly promotes 15 components of highly effective adolescent literacy programs. Intervention in these areas prevent gaps in different populations from forming and also promote success in all groups which are helpful across content areas. ELA scores would be the first place to begin on my campus since there is a 10 point disparity in success rate of varying sub populations. The articulated vision for dissemination begins with the end of school meeting of the CIDC committee once all findings have been accounted for in the process. The district could also disseminate findings in the community outreach section of the district website. While managing the project orbanization, I would be deemed the “head learner” in charge of the inquiry. With my mentor, and upon survey findings/interview questions of local administrators, I will collaboratively release data in stages to share what is happening on each campus. What they are researching, or what needs should be inquired about on their campuses.Small group, and face-to-face meetings will uncover additional findings. The information will also be shared with the superintendent. If I can’t take the time to investigate best practices for student achievement or safety, then who will? I am hoping that the district yields a culture of initiation and problem solving. With each content area benchmark, every campus should have valuable data to begin some sort of betterment in reaching achievement. Monies will be looked into if needed due to inquiry yield. Plans are flexible at this time. General campus funds, state funds, and federal funds will be considered ahead of time when and if cost comes into play. Operations management is worked from the top down with room for flexibility. I have offered those working with me a full voice and I realize that they have great experience in guiding collaboration when necessary. Briefings will be emailed out to all involved whenever a watermark in the process has been reached. Dissemination of team contact information will also keep everyone feeling like they have an equal voice. I will also remind those I am working with to question or bring up any points or areas of concern throughout  the process. As I am not at a point of completion in my project, I will continue to gather data. In considering all learners, community interests and needs, my constant input from regular and special education counselors will help ensure that all FERPA regulations and civil liberties are being protected for all student and employee data. Should leadership styles be utilized in bettering the special education community, these findings may be integrated into inservice materials. If the population isn’t considered, I will need to question why they haven’t been considered and bring it up with committee members. IEPs, BIPs, and 504s should be included in data consideration. Regular education learners are not the only learners on campus, so all student learners should be considered.

My action research plan has seen a slight slow down with the first six weeks of school underway, three preps, and current coursework. When I have a spare moment, I have been searching for articles relevant to my topic and have been trying to watch my campus administrators tackling these issues first hand by looking for campus needs, collecting data, and trying to implement new initiatives for our campus. Perceived leadership of each campus differs from location to location, and based on recent coursework, it is now becoming a job that is done collaboratively through many persons working for the benefit of adult and student learners. Crafting questions related to leadership styles has been the biggest challenge. I am worrying more about what administrators are not going to say versus what they have to say. I hope the daily grind of campus administration yields some positive finds in the ways of action research. By studying these and disseminating my findings, I hope that I am able to contribute to district initiatives or awareness of working styles and the find leadership of who is sending out young learners into the world. Setting examples for our learners and sending the message that learning and education is a life-long standard will hopefully inspire and challenge the students to reach higher in their own educational dreams. We have a campus influx of several hundred more students which changes the economically disadvantaged population numbers, so my next quest is to sit down with administration and counseling staff based on our new numbers. Testing data of new students will be coming in from multiple districts and campuses, so I will look at adjustments in our AEIS report and possibly have to adjust campus population numbers. It shouldn’t hinder the questioning of campus administrators, but it may offer new advantages for their own campus-based action research which may reveal some interesting finds.

With the conclusion of this research class, I now see the extreme necessity for administrative inquiry. Topics are limitless, but the best place to start is on your own campus. Use the collaborative support of colleagues and fellow administrators to seek the best learning environment for the students. With each month that passes, multiple inquiries could be shared per campus. Reminders could be placed in our school calendars for sharing of wonderings and looking into viability and potential of how this idea could help said campus. Organization, timelines, multiple data sources, proper communication and connection to bettering the academic environment for your educational stakeholders is key. Plan, plan, and plan again if necessary. Don't shy away from unexpected information. Documentation is also critical in the action research plan. Those you work with will also benefit from shared and documented materials. Professional accountability will definitely become a by-product of working with action research.

EDLD 5301 Week 4

Viewing new blog sites and following other classmates has given me further confidence to continue on this new learning path. The blog is an amazing way to stay connected and collaborate with others in the educational arena. My next focus will be to jazz up the looks of my site. I have augmented my action research plan in the area of persons responsible for implementation of the action research follows. Using the same template, the changes in personnel responsibility will look different.

In order to equitably serve all populations on campus effectively, following transition in state testing, action research looking from campus success based on initiative, communication, and action research of the head learner on campus will be researched. Effectiveness of leadership styles will be gauged based on performance areas of the economically disadvantaged populations on local high school campuses. The following information is based on the SIP or PIP Plan of Action Template.

Outcome 1:

Identify Leadership Styles of Principals

Activity:

Create personality test survey

Resources/Research Tools Needed:

Survey Monkey.com/Assistance of Tia Simmons, Associate Principal. Ms. Simmons will help to oversee and critique my leadership evaluation questions for dissemination to our district high school principals. She will also be a continued source of leadership and guidance throughout each step of the research process.

Responsibility to Address Activities:

Learn from successful leadership styles

Time Line for Activity 1:

1 month

Benchmarks/Assessment:

Collect and analyze survey data for all principals as a starting point for investigation

Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments:

Possibly expand question bank if there is little differentiation in results

Outcome 2:

Identify high-performing schools

Activity:

Gather and analyze data

Resources/Research Tools Needed:

AEIS reports, AYP data of school/Assistance of Head Counselor-Kelly Bonin. With administrative clearance and approval, Mrs. Bonin will help oversee and share campus report data and assist in my understanding of AYP data and the breakdown of particular testing categories. With her assistance, I will confirm areas for growth.

Responsibility to address activities:

Reality check for schools; Where do we really stand?

Time Line:

1-3 months

Benchmarks/Assessment:

Rank each school based on State-Tiered Status

Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments:

Addendums when necessary

Outcome 3:

Identify Action Research Plans of Principals

Activities:

Interviews

Resources/Research Tools Needed:

Literature Reviews/Assistance of Dr. Stacey Daugherty, responsible for district data analysis. Dr. Daugherty will oversee creation and structure of my administrator survey and suggest ways I can make it usable for research inquiry. I may also have her suggest ways to create a database for administrators to house their own action research plans.

Responsibility to Address Activities:

Witness what “Head Learners” are up to as campus leaders

Time Line:

Months 3-6 in process; after first two outcomes studies have taken place

Benchmarks/Assessments:

Present articles or data collection to principals

Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments:

To be reviewed

Outcome 4:

Identify Communication Dissemination of how principals share their work

Activities:

Research and offer small group discussion

Resources/Research Tools Needed:

Scan Networks or Professional Organization Websites/Dr. Stan Hall, in charge of survey data. I will work under the guidelines of Dr. Hall regarding dissemination and retrieval of survey data. He should have the best ideas for function and generation of data. I will gain his blessing for official launch of my survey.

Time Line:

Also complete during months 3 to 6 of process

Benchmarks/Assessment:

Created list by principals of professional growth database

Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments:

Dependent upon initial feedback

Outcome 5:

Identify if there is a correlation between school performance and leadership style

Activities:

Gather continued data

Resources/Research Tools Needed:

State Reports-STAAR/TAKS, Tiered Status, AYP, AEIS reports/Assistance of KHS Principal. Using Mr. Whitehead's expertise as a former superintendent of schools, I will collaborate with him on what the data looks like for our campus and how we stack up regarding other district campuses. AYP data and district benchmarks will be main areas of focus. Leadership survey data will also be included to begin to connect high levels of success, action research, and best showing of all sub populations toward the road to exemplary campuses.

Time Line:

Months 6 to 9 in the process

Benchmarks/Assessment:

Create charts and Graphs on existing data

Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments:

Dependent on feedback from administration teams