Action Research Plan and Week 3 Reflection

The Research Action Plan has taken over my life. When my mind gets a second to wander there it is: action research plan. Last week I had to determine what my action research plan was with my site supervisor.  This week I was trying to clarify how I wanted to start my project. The action plan template gave me the outline that I needed to get started. The main result of using the action plan template was organizing by whom and when my data collection would need to be done. I want to survey individuals before implementation, right after implementation and six months after the initial implementation of our new School Information System. I feel that this project could be a tiring process since it is spread out so far in the year. But I think the results could be eye-opening for the division.

I made one change to my Action Plan after reviewing with a colleague. I had planned to survey parents, administrators,guidance,teachers and students as my first step. After talking to her it was decided that I should first do my literature review and interview current users of the SIS to help me develop questions for my survey.

Action Planning Template
Goal: To provide evidence that Infinite Campus has improved daily operations in Campbell County Schools.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Literature Review	James Coates	April 2013	Literature from Lamar Library	Review and compile  university literature research
Interview two current users of Infinite Campus from another district	James Coates,	April  2013	Google Forms, Telephone Interviews	Compare and contrast the use of Infinite Campus between two different districts.
Survey Students, Parents, Administrator, Guidance Counselors, Teachers about the current School Information System.	James Coates, Jon Hardie (Site Supervisor)	April to May 2013	Google Forms to make a survey for stakeholders to use	The target group is 150 people from all over the county. I hope to realistically receive 75-100 responses.
Analyze results from all participants in survey about current system.	James Coates, Jon Hardie,	June 2013	Data collected in Google forms	Separate responses into different categories. Categories are as follows: Students, Parents, Administrator, Guidance Counselors, Teachers
Interview at least one participant from each category about the current system.	James Coates,	May 2013	Field Notes	Analysis responses of different groups and ask follow up questions.
After implementation is complete, resurvey participants to gather data about the initial impression of Infinite Campus.	James Coates, Jon Hardie	June 2013-September 2013	Data collected in Google forms	Compare responses from first survey with second survey
After at least 6 months of using the new system, resurvey the same group to see if the initial impression of Infinite Campus has changed.	James Coates, Jon Hardie,	April 2014	Data collected in Google forms	Compare responses from first survey and second survey with last survey
Interview at least one participant from each category about the current system.	James Coates, Jon Hardie,	May 2014	Field Notes	Analyze responses of different groups and ask follow up questions comparing initial interview and last interview
Compile data into one report and determine direction that the project has taken	James Coates	May 2014	Field Notes, Surveys	Analyze quantitative data and qualitative data.
Share information learned with administrators within the division.	James Coates, Jon Hardie	May 2014	Report of Findings	Demonstrate how Infinite Campus affected  Campbell County’s daily operations.
Provide similar surveys about improvements made to Inifinite Campus during the year.	James Coates, Director of Technology	May 2014	Google Docs forms	Google forms will provide instant feedback about changes that occur in Infinite Campus.

(Week 2) In the mind of James Coates

I was excited to finally narrow my topics down to one.  I even asked Dr. Abshire what she thought of my action research topic on Thursday during the chat. The answer that she gave back was a mixed bag. She said that it would be a good action research topic but she worried how I would collect my data. Well that made my head spin. I thought I would simply survey stakeholders at the beginning of the installation of the software and again at the end of the installation. It seems that this may not be enough. I love the project but I feel that I may have picked a topic that could be very time consuming. I worry about the time it will take to do my internship and complete my action research project at the same time. That does not include other classes in the program and working in the summer. I am still going to do the project because it is very interesting to me. I just worry about the time commitment.

Action Research

I learned the differences between traditional research and active research.  I feel that the following quote sums up the main differences between these two types of research.

Dana (2009) wrote the following:

“Rather than someone else telling me what I should be doing to my teachers and to my students, through engagement in inquiry I’m learning with my teachers and with the students in my building by closely taking a really hard look at what I’m already doing what I need to do to change it.” (p. 8)

This quote mentions how traditional research is more passive in nature compared to active research. Active research is more hands on compared to traditional research.  Active research does not take someone’s word about a situation others have experienced in the past, but tries to understand their situation to draw a conclusion about a problem.  An administrator uses active research to look deeper at the situation to consider all the factors that may affect a problem.  The administrator collects data to support or disprove a theory.  Then after analyzing the data a true solution will hopefully present itself. Traditional research is great some of the time, but is not a perfect match for every situation.  Active research relates to current situations that are ever changing.  Action research solves a problem, but traditional research only points out that there may be a problem.  Another point that I learned about research is how administrative inquiries help produce professional growth.  In technology, systems are constantly repaired or upgraded.  Likewise the administrative inquiry helps ask questions about how the school or personnel can be improved continuously.

How leaders can use blogs

Blogs are great ways to disseminate information from the top of an organization to the bottom. Superintendents could use this to spread information quickly and easily to faculty and other personnel. It is easy to use, efficient, and could help save time answering questions later. An example  could be posting about a new medical reimbursement plan.  The Superintendent could say "Next week there will be an email detailing new procedures about medical reimbursements.  Please read and turn it in to Payroll." A blog could also be the first step in developing a problem by communicating with trusted friends about the topic.  I feel principal and administrative positions need to use blogs to keep the channels of communication open. One thing that I learned from my leadership class was that communication was key and blogs will help with that.

Blogs could be used for keeping members of a PLC group connected on days that they do not see each other. Our division has four schools, and each PLC group has members from each school. It is sometimes hard to meet with the amount of travel time required. But with a blog, information can be passed quickly. It is also good for teachers to express their frustrations with other teachers who have the same problems that they have.