Action Research Update

Action Research is going smoothly. We were able to implement our Roo Round Up. This was an introduction to high school for incoming freshmen to get them accustomed to the school, classes, teachers, how the school functions, rules and procedures. The Roo round up was a success we had over 250 incoming freshmen come for the four day event. Each day lasted from 9-12. We were able to retain over 200 students for all four days. The implementation of free food at the end of each day is something help parents and students keep coming. Next year we plan to have over 300 students and retain them all throughout the four days. One thing we have to come up with for next year is to have multiple system calls to let parents know about the Roo round up and not just one call. We also must find a better way to register students for Roo round up it was at least a 30-45 ordeal the first couple of days.  Study hall for freshmen has also been in place during 7^th period,  three days a week to get help with core classes in order to pass their EOC/STAARS exams. Progress report came out this past week I still need to collect data on how they are doing with study hall in place compared to the year before. Still, a lot of data to collect.  Problems with freshmen not complying with rules this year has been better than previous years past. There has been less referrals, ISS, and tardiness this year by freshmen than this time last year.

Final Reflections

This was a great learning process. Thank you for those of you that commented. Some incentives that would get the students up here are free food from local restaurants and a free tee shirt. It doesn't take much to get these kids up to school and donated lunches from these restaurants and a generous donation of printed shirts from a local business is just the thing to get these kids excited to come up during their precious summer. This is just the beginning and I can not wait to get started on this Research.

Moving Along

Today I had a good talk with my site supervisor. We revised and looked at some of the potential problems that could arise. It is hard to believe that this class is almost over along with the school year. Seems like EOC's final projects are all piling up on the kids. You could see the struggle to stay focused is getting a little difficult. Summer is around the corner and we can both smell it. We have to keep pushing forward.

Action Plan

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template
Goal: The goal for the researcher after implementing strategies for helping struggling 9th grade students in core classes will be the reduction of the failure rate in each core content class of English, Biology, World Geography, and Algebra by 10% within a two year period.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Creating study halls designed for freshmen to target their academic needs	Campus administrators, counselors, 9th grade teachers, and tutors	August 2013 – December- 2013	Interview questions for students, parents, and staff Develop consent forms for students Access to the 2012-2013 first semester grades of 9th graders to determine those students who have failed core content classes   Classroom space and tutors for before and after-school tutoring Teacher professional development	Use data-collection methods of survey and interview to determine which Strategies were the most helpful to the 9th graders who became successful Monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives: Use student grade reports, report cards, and progress reports to monitor the students
Providing a transition program in the summer between the 8th and 9th grade in order to introduce 8th grade students to the high school experience	Campus administrators, counselors, 9th grade teachers, and tutors	August 2013 – December 2013	Interview questions for students, parents, and staff Develop consent forms for students Access to the 2012-2013 first semester grades of 9th graders to determine those students who have failed core content classes    Teacher professional development	Use data-collection methods of survey and interview to determine which Strategies were the most helpful to the 9th graders who became successful Monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives: Use student grade reports, report cards, and progress reports to monitor the students

Breaking News and Breaking New Ground

This week is a very busy week for me. We have TAKS test next week so my students are reviewing. This week has been filled with tragedy with the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX. My heart and prayers go out to families and victims affected by these tragedies. In class today we have been reviewing and watching live news coverage of what is going with the Boston Bombings manhunt, they have shot one suspect and found another. Students are very intrigued and find now how history does apply to real life with these situations and the things going on with Korea.  I have spoken to my site supervisor and she thought my Action Research topic was a good one and she approved it. We have came up with a start date and this will take place the next school year in August. The topic that I will research is why incoming ninth grade students fail their core classes, transitioning from middle school to high school.  This will help me with my freshmen football players as to help them get the help they need to pass for their extra curricular activities and to get  a solid footing to get into college.  I am looking forward to the rest of this course.

Blogs for Educational Leaders

There are many ways that educational leaders may use blogs. As educational leaders we could use blogs to come up with different ideas for teaching. We could also use blogs to keep staff updated on new campus information like meetings and district information. We could also use blogs to share our own learning experiences with staff and colleagues. Also use blogs to keep up to date with new teaching styles, new ways kids learn and current research. It also could be a great place to share articles and books about your craft

Reaction to Action Research

I had no idea what action research was before reading about it. I thought traditional and action research was the same thing. I was surprised that there was more than one kind of research. I think that it is a great way to reflect on your current state and asking questions regarding whether you could better yourself as an effective leader and principal. Action research is based on your own inquiry to make the necessary changes to improve upon.

Action research is done by people who are directly involved with their school, staff and students like a principal and teacher. University research, who have no understanding on what goes on in each specific school do traditional research. The people working directly with the subjects at hand had the best hands on advice and greatest chance at improving the work force.

I am planning to do my action research study on why ninth grade students fail their core courses while transitioning from middle school to high school. I also want to figure out what can we do to help them with the transition. We need a way of implementing strategies to help these ninth grade students in core classes.

I am very excited to conduct this action research plan. I hope that that this will only be the first of many action research plans for my future.