Topic:
Integrating College and Career Readiness into our middle school curriculum to prepare our students for their future.

Action Research Question:
How can I develop a curriculum for college and career readiness to integrate into our existing middle school curriculum that will satisfy our state requirements and also prepare our students for college and career readiness? How can I facilitate a staff development that will put teachers into learning communities in order to make this addition possible?

Goal:
To prepare our students for College and Career Readiness at an early age in order for them to be well informed and successful as they make choices for their future.

Activities
Resources
Responsibilities
Time line
Assessments/
Evaluations
Revisions to SIP based on monitoring and evaluation of goals and objectives
Staff Meeting for all academic teams that are chosen for research.
College Readiness TEKS
Principal
Before school starts
Lesson Plan Reviews and Walkthroughs
Set a clear understanding of what is expected.
Lesson Plan Review to identify College Readiness TEKS
College Readiness TEKS
Principals, Assistant Principals, Counselors, Lead Teachers
Aug. 2010-May 2011
Lesson Plan Review Form-providing feed back
Provide suggestions and resources that may be useful.
Student surveys on College/Career Readiness
Survey Monkey
Homeroom teachers
First week of school
Data from the surveys
Surveys need to be given periodically throughout the school year to track
progress
Parent surveys on College/Career Readiness
Survey Monkey
Parent Involvement Assistants
First week of school
Data from the surveys
Surveys need to be given periodically throughout the school year to track
progress
Community Study on “Why students aren’t successful after high school?”
Community members, community residents, local college and university staff and students, university data-testing data and success rates
Principal
Aug-Oct. 2010
Disaggregation of data that is collected.
Creating a plan of action based on the information collected.
Classroom Walkthroughs
College Readiness TEKS/21st Century Skills Checklist
Principals, Assistant Principals, Counselors, Lead Teachers
Aug. 2010-May 2011
College Readiness TEKS/21st Century Skills Checklist
Provide feedback that will guide teachers to this type of quality instruction.
Parent/Student Surveys
Survey Monkey
Homeroom Teachers/Parental Involvement Assistants
-Oct. 2010
-Dec. 2010
-Feb. 2011
-April 2011
-May 2011
Data from surveys
Based on information collected from the surveys an action plan will be created in order to best prepare our students.
Staff Meeting for all academic teams that are chosen for research.
College Readiness TEKS, 21st Century Skills, Survey Monkey Data, Data from walkthrough and lesson plan reviews, Data from community study
Principal
Monthly meetings from August-May
Teacher survey on Survey Monkey
Staff will meet periodically to disaggregate data, give feedback and provide suggestions towards an action plan that will be in place for the following year.

week 2 Action Research

This week we listened to and watched three interviews by different scholars on action research. The scholars gave us a more indepth perspective on action research and how they use in real situations in their school districts. We also learned about nine common action research topics in schools. After this we narrowed our list to three topics that were particular to our campus and we discussed these topics with our site supervisors. After our discussion with our site supervisors we decided on one main topic to inquire about on our action research. I decided on the following topic: How can I develop a curriculum for college and career readiness to integrate into our existing middle school curriculum that will satisfy our state requirements and also prepare our students for college and career readiness? How can I facilitate a staff development that will put teachers into learning communities in order to make this addition possible?

Eva's Action Research Blog

Administrative Inquiry or Action Research is a systematic way of diagnosing a question/issue as an administrator in our school and investigating and examining this issue to develop a deeper understanding and come up with a plan of action in order to better improve our campus. Through administrative inquiry administrators do not stay stagnant and overwhelmed in the day to day unending events of an administrator but rather are continuous learners and are productive by taking action as administrators. Administrator Inquiry or Action research requires many steps: setting a foundation (question/issue), analyzing the data, developing a deeper understanding (research), exploring different patterns, determining a direction, designing a plan of action (including monitoring and evaluating), taking action for improvement and sustaining the improvement. Action research is taking action based on data, investigation, and many questions. It is actually really digging into an issue in order to create change in a positive direction. Action research is a tool for achieving professional growth and educational reform. Principals as well as their staff are able to continue growing as professionals through the use of action research. Action research is also beneficial to students because the outcomes are carefully thoughtout and have direction. Action research is a carefully sought out road map for issues that arise.


How do educational leaders use blogs?
Educational leaders are able to use blogs as a data collection tool where they are able to compile their own reflections and share with others as well as, to capture their thoughts for the inquiry process.