Description of what I've learned about action research and how I may be able to use it:
I’ve always thought about the term “research” as
boring. In my head, I picture those new “war
rooms” that you see schools having on TV.
You know, the ones that have the walls papered with posters, filled with
graphs of TAKS information, charts everywhere – here are the “at-risk”
students, here’s the demographic data, etc.?
Yuck. I had never really thought
about the research, because as a teacher, I was always told this is our
findings, and this is what you should do with them. It’s been interesting learning about this
subject and thinking about how I can and will apply it in my own classroom and
school. From our last course, I found my
principal to be a true transformational leader.
Because of this, I’m sure action research is always taking place in some
way at my school. There are some ways I
see that I’ve already used action research in my classroom, but I’ve never
taken the time to follow through in my findings. When my classes placed 5th in our
SFA data, I immediately contacted the other top schools to find out what they
were doing differently that helped them score so high. I implemented these findings into my
teachings. I see now, that the many end
of year surveys my administration has conducted have been part of action
research. I can even see this in the end
of the year department chair question “what would you like to teach next year?” When I met with my principal (site
supervisor) his suggestion was that I conduct a study on the “Recovery School”
we are currently implementing. I believe
I will be able to help my school and district through things I am able to
investigate.
Analysis of how educational leaders might use blogs.
I LOVE the timing of this question!
We just received the following e-mail from our superintendent:
"Dear Friends:
During the April, 12, 2012, Board meeting, the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
Board of Trustees passed a resolution calling for a reexamination of the public
school accountability system by the Texas Legislature. The resolution states
that standardized, high-stakes testing is undermining our mission to prepare
students for competitive careers in the global
arena.
The fact is that our educational system in Texas is totally test-driven.
Educators do support accountability, but instead, oppose the current system that
does not support preparing all of our students to be productive citizens and
leaders in a rapidly changing world. Standardized testing, as currently
implemented, hinders progress toward a world-class educational system by driving
instructional time.
What we have in Texas is a “one size fits all” public school system. It
is our responsibility to produce graduates who are college ready, but we also
need the flexibility to include quality career and technology education programs
for those students who are not college bound. Unfortunately, with the demands of
the current state system, students have very little room in their graduation
plans to explore vocational opportunities.
In my opinion, those promoting high-stakes testing do so with the good
intention of wanting our students to perform at a high level. However, our state
government seems to have adopted the attitude that if a little testing is good,
then a lot of testing must be even better. The lack of graduation plan
flexibility and the over-emphasis on high-stakes tests restricts student career
options, which in turn negatively affects our state’s economy. Local school
districts must have flexibility to prepare students for a variety of post-high school pursuits,
including technical and vocational careers.
If you agree that our state’s educational system needs change, I
encourage you to voice your opinion. As educators and primary stakeholders you
can facilitate a change in the educational culture of this
state.
Sincerely,
Mark "
Isn't he awesome! Many of the teachers and district administrators are on fire about this e-mail. We receive e-mails from him each week. I see many ways (now) that he could incorporate a blog to hear our thoughts/support/comments. (Although there are many of us, my district has around 90,000 students.) By incorporating a blog into what he is currently doing he would have an even bigger impact because we would be able to "follow him" on facebook/twitter, etc. Possibly helping to make the change he is encouraging us to make at the end of his e-mail.
