Action Research Plan

Below is my action research plan.

Enjoy!

Action Research Goal: The goal of this research is to determine what ways will implementing the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program create more student learning opportunities, increase student motivation, and affect the learning environment at our school. Action Step(s) Person(s) Responsible Timeline: Start/End Needed Resources Evaluation Implementation of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program at the High School, allowing students to use their personal devices in a classroom setting when connecting with the class curriculum and content. Will Cockerill, Teacher Todd Deaver, High School Principal Collaboration of: High School Faculty and Staff August 2013 – May 2014 The study will start at the beginning of this school year with the implementation of BYOD, and it will end at the conclusion of the academic school year. The resources we will be using include:  The Principal’s analysis from previous research done on BYOD in schools, the use of surveys completed by both teachers and students, and additional findings and studies from the internet. We will evaluate the surveys that are going to be completed by the teachers and students, look at the possible discipline problems associated with BYOD, and compare the pros and cons from our school to that of previous research regarding improved student participation and motivation in the classroom.

Areas for Inquiry and Action Research

Wanting to move forward in administrative inquiry and action research is absolutely fantastic! But what if you are struggling to find ways and areas to implement this practice in your day to day routine?

In Nancy Fichtman Dana's book Leading with Passion and Knowledge, The Principal as Action Researcher she outlines 9 areas that would be great for action research and inquiry. They are listed below:

Areas for Inquiry and Action Research

1. Staff Development

2. Curriculum Development

3. Individual teacher(s)

4. Individual student(s)

5. School Culture/Community

6. Leadership

7. Management

8. School Performance

9. Social Justice/Equity

Your professional inquiries should be a result of real-world observations, dilemmas, felt difficulties, and passions that you develop in your work as an administrator. Dana's text serves as an excellent guide for teachers and administrators wanting to develop their action research skills.

References

Finchman, N. D. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Educational Leaders & Blogs

Blogs provide thoughts and information in a modern and technological setting so that it can be viewed and used as a resource and interactive tool when using the comments also. Educational leaders can use blogs as an example of an electronic way of interacting with their teaching staff, so that the staff can then go and use that example to connect with their students in a modern way incorporating the technology that their students use in their daily lives. You can use blogs to introduce technology, and then build upon the blog by incorporating more and more technology like virtual classrooms and video lessons. You can then bring in the social media aspect to reach and communicate with your students on their technological level.

Action Research

Action research is crucial for providing an educational setting that is learner-centered and designed to maximize student success. As school leaders, it is important to understand the action research process as an effective tool for improving teaching and learning (Ringler, 2007). Action research can also be thought of as a form of the inquiry process, which is based on logical reasoning and requires the collection of information in a systematic way (Harris, 2010). It seems to me that action research and administrative inquiry really boil down to having a mentality of looking for and finding ways to have continual improvement in your school system.

The administrative staff should act as a support system for the teachers, and should be able to provide effective resources to maximize their teachers' ability to teach. In order to provide that, action research is needed. From finding the best ways to implement technology into the classrooms, to looking at case studies on how to reach cross-curricular communication between core and elective classes, action research and active inquiry should be part of a daily routine for the leaders and people in charge of the educational framework in school systems.

References

Finchman, N. D. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ringler, M. C. (2007). Action Research an Effective Instructional Leadership Skill for Future . Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 27-37.

Sandra Harris, S. E. (2010). Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps From Analysis To Action. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education, Inc.