Update on Action Research Plan -EDLD 5326

The original action research project was not working out as I had planned.  The original project was considering how developing number sense in students would benefit the learning of multiplication facts.  As a district we have been through extensive numeracy training, and several math recovery teachers have been developed throughout the district to start bridging the gaps for many of our low students.  The problem was that most of the training was geared to help students in Kindergarten through second grade.  This plan originally included meeting with lower grade levels to help develop the curriculum that would benefit 4^th grade students.  We had several changes in our faculty which made it more difficult to get together.  The plan was difficult to put together effectively and seemed too vague.

I believe it could still be proven to be a valid study, however, for where we are as a school, I found that the Action Research Plan developed during this particular course could benefit our school even better.  After discussing the change with my administrator, we both agreed this would service our school more effectively.  The plan started 2 weeks ago, and so far, I have found it exhilarating and insightful.  The plan is involving parents and the community in student academics to gain success, especially among our low SES students.  The proof will be in their summative assessments, including STAAR.  I went in and completely rewrote the Action Research Plan and submitted it to TK20.  We started the plan a creating a two communication with parents/teacher by sending home a student planner on Wednesday of each week.  The planner contains information for parents explaining what we have been learning and then offers a “user friendly” activity for them to do with their child that can be as quick as 5-10 minutes.  The parents are then offered a  place where they can communicate with the teacher on how their child did with the activity and if they have any concerns.  It was explained that the parent would be partnering with the teacher to use this activity to help assess how their child is doing.  I met with my fourth grade team to present the idea and all 5 teachers were on board. 

This week was the first week the planners went home.  The responses were overwhelmingly positive and many parents appreciated the communication. There were only 1-2 parents who had somewhat negative comments, but those comments are being used as constructive criticism, and they help us analyze our teaching and to view the perspective of all parents. 

As of right now, I have to meet with a parent/teacher/administration committee to formulate a plan to involve community businesses in student academics.  That meeting is scheduled for October, with the initial meeting with community leaders being the first of November.  There are four activity dates tentatively scheduled depending on business involvement and activities planned.  The final plan is to present all data to SBDM committee the end of May to present the action research plan

Through this week I met with my team to discuss the research I found to support creating two way communication between parents and teacher in order to benefit student's academic acheivements.  I discussed the action plan project and how we could use student planners to open communication.  All 4 teachers were willing to give it a try.  I typed up the letter to explain to parents what we were creating and included an activity for the parents to do with their children.  The planners went home wednesday and most came back on Friday.  The comments from parents, overall, were positive!  They appreciated the insight to what their students were learning and having the opportunity to work with their children.  The planners that came back with no comment we will use as indicators of parents we could contact.  We will take a look at this students and their academic progress.

As a team we discussed the possibility of those parents who would consider this a tool to try to dictate exactly what should be taught.  I only had one parent who wrote a lengthy comment to inform me the activity was too easy and her child was bored.  She questioned if differientiation was happening in the classroom and if the high students were being challenged.  I took this as good constructive criticism and evaluated my classroom, and her child's scores.  Her student is high, but struggles to put into context how to use the computations she learns in class.  I will be contacting this parent for a conference to welcome her input, and give her evidence of her student's learning.

Overall, this first week has been a great eye opener of parents and teachers.  We were made aware of a few students who, when given the activity to do at home, did not do as well as they do in the classroom, and on the flip side, we had other students shine.  The bottom line is we had parents actively involved with helping the students with specific learning outside of a simple homework worksheet.

In the next few weeks I will be meeting with Administration, my team and selected parents to discuss and plan activities outside of the classroom that will involve local business in the academics of our students.

I am almost 5 weeks into the new school year.  I spent the summer trying to get the original action plan put together, but found that it was not going to be as easy to nail down and work out as I thought it would be.  It was difficult getting a specific lesson plan down that would work for the schedule for fourth grade.  In the process of developing other Action research plans for summer classes, I came across one that I believe will prove to be successful in our school and lend itself to the academic improvement of our students. 

The plan is to create two way communication with parents to increase involvement in student's academics and to involve all Stakeholders in activities that will allow students to use what they are learning in the classroom and apply it to real world activities.  Studies have been done and proven to show that as parents and the community get involved in student's learning, their academic scores are improved. 

I have met with my team and administration to propose this project.  Tomorrow, we start by sending a letter home with parents that will be attached in the Student Planner.  It explains the desire to create a two way communication between parents and teachers regarding student's academics.  These planners will go home on Wednesdays and will come back to school by Friday.  Parents are given an idea of what is being taught in the classroom.  Then parents are encouraged to engage in a quick activity with their child to "assess" if their child is understanding what is going on in the classroom.  The parents are then asked to respond, whether it is a brief note, or a written concern of what their child was able to show them. 

The idea is to keep parents informed and engaged in their child's learning.  Even with parents who don't have a lot of time, or perhaps don't usually take time to work with their students, this is a "user friendly" way for parents to get involved with the classroom. 

From here, we will go into the community to develop activities that parents can take their child to that will reinforce what is being taught at school, but is used in a real world activity.  For example, if we could find a landscaping company that is willing to take 2-4 hours on a saturday or sunday to provide an activity that will show students how multiplications and arrays can be used to arrange a flower beds or gardens.  The students and parents will work to make the plans using multiplication and then plant the flower bed.  In order to encourage the participation of parents, the business will offer parents who participate a discount for services. 

The next step is to take the list of businesses and present the idea to administration, teams members and homeroom parents to qualify those business, or come up with other business that already have a vested interest in the school and students.  Once we have come up with the names, we decide how to contact and present the idea to all stakeholders.  I have a proposed presentation outline already made to present for approval from the team. 

By the end of the week, we will see how parents respond to the journal.