Week 3 EDLD 5301

In what ways do successful leadership styles and professional growth opportunities, i.e., action research plans, blogging, etc., impact test scores of the economically disadvantaged populations on high school campuses? With change in recent state testing, I wanted to see how my district handled the transition from one test to the other. I also wanted to take a look at the highest-performing campuses and see what those “head learners” were doing to service the needs of economically disadvantaged populations. Those examples of inspiration could then be taken to lower-performing campuses as part of the approach to re-evaluation of current practices. The district would then benefit from best-practices modeling and possibly save time and money of resources in critical problem solving. A recent newspaper article and my personal viewpoint of having a first-time STAAR tester in my home made me curious to see how our success data may have changed during a state transition in testing.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Upon reflection, there are some areas for improvement to the initial action research plan. Areas to be amended are possible adjusting of time for implementation of steps in my data gathering; Creating time lines for construction of research templates while working with the technology of that system; Consulting with my principal and site supervisor when approaching district administrators in their work cycles; Recalibrating and focusing on the action research plan I initially set forth: monitoring my own progress and focus; Collaborating with my campus CIDC committee regarding school goals and data. Bottom line, my focus should remain, are we equitably and successfully leading people to prepare all learning communities on our campus?

 

The four critical tasks of my action research plan are definitely a consideration of significance for my plan in the first place. What immediately comes to mind is as follows: 1.      Why is it important to share my work with others? First, it holds me accountable in the process of my study, it might be an overlooked area for development on my campus, it might develop focus groups in our district,  and  the research will model successful examples for myself and others,  As a parent, I am curious how my own child’s campus rates with other campuses in a transitional testing year. 2.      With whom do I share my work? My classmates, my principal and site supervisor, survey subjects, interested colleagues, and upper-level administration throughout my district. 3.      How do I share my work? I will be able to share my work through email, face-to-face communication with individuals/groups; blogging; wiki page; analysis in write ups of action research plans 4.      What’s Important to share? Data which has a direct impact on our students; Are we as a district promoting and modeling active self-growth? Are we adjusting to changing school populations, and are we bettering our testing data from the past? Sharing my inquiry plan will yield more questions, and will likely help students on more than just my campus. I plan on disseminating my action research plan with metered steps relating to each outcome objective. At the inception of the process is continued research related to the action research itself. Are there other school districts with similar stories or wonderings? Do they have ready data? Will findings in research of other districts elicit further questions on my part? A current newspaper article and internet article have inspired my action research plan. My site supervisor will be kept abreast of all steps, and I will make sure she is in agreement with my methodology, tools, and dissemination efforts through face-to-face communication, email, and copied reports of what information I have gathered. Leadership style surveys will be administered to high school principals in my district. In interview or email, I will have these principals offer a list of their own action research or professional growth opportunities. Sharing my efforts with former district educators may allow them the impetus to want to return to tutor on our campuses for better outcomes within certain struggling populations. At certain stages and with the guidance of my principal and site supervisor, I will have opportunity to give informal, oral presentations to make fellow administrators on my campus aware of my efforts and data findings which will consist of surveys and state testing data and ratings. While working with practitioners at central office, my hope is that other efforts in action research start making their way into new administrator workshops and campus team meetings. More formalized writing of my action research plan should also make its way to my educational blog. Some junctures in my writing may call for peer feedback and some of my writing may become a forum when I have more formally synthesized data for review. My hope is that this data promotes the want of best practices for our students. I

I have come to realize that those administrators who have come before us are eager to help those of us who are new to the field. Rewarding work is ahead. One day at a time will yield much wisdom in the field!