Progress on the Action Research Project...

April 1, 2013

In developing the PALS Program, my goal was to assist with the at-risk children at the elementary school.  I have been amazed at the things I have witnessed the last several months. 

In the beginning, I saw a need to assist with behavior problems and academic needs at the elementary level, and I felt it could be achieved possibly through a PALS program with my high school honors class.  My goal was to give the students assignments with the younger peers, watch them carry out their assignments, mentor them as they tutored and mentored  their elementary students.  As they tutored them, my hopes were that they would build positive relationships with the younger students.  The goal was for the high school students to become role models for the the younger students.  Each student was successful in this and did accomplish this goal. Each elementary student had a PAL by the end of the semester.      The end result was to share their accomplishments with the class.  

In developing this PAL program I was honored to see as many positive changes in the high school students as in the elementary students.  The teenagers were amazed with the needs and problems of the younger students.  Many of the high school students raised from the same families as the elementary students and took on the responsibility of assisting with the needs of the younger students because they understood them as they had lived the same life, they knew what they were going through at home each evening and didn't have help in their neighborhoods, many were in the same families and same economic backgrounds.  

The high school students were changed and touched by these younger children as I knew they would be; however, the high school students were somewhat taken back by the things they learned from the elementary students.  They were also forever touched by the experiences they had during this semester. This program has not only changed the lives of the elementary students, but it has also made a dramatic difference in the lives of the older students as well.  I have had two students tell me since this program started that they have decided they want to be teachers now just because of the PALS Program and being able to reach out and make a difference in a kid’s life.  

The PALS Program has helped improve the academics and behavior for the elementary students throughout the semester, decreasing the discipline referrals by 23% starting in January until at the end of the semester in May.  The reward for the students is to behave for the week, they get to attend PALS on Friday with their PALS HS Buddy and get a prize.  

Academically, students grades K-6th grade have increased by 14% since PALS started January until now in May. 

It is also important to note that all HS honor students grades have remained as A's and behavior has only gotten better as they have worked in the PALS program. 

The PALS program started out with twenty three students, and after twelve weeks the program is now taking thirty two students.  I have twenty one students in my honors class that takes care of all thirty two students, and handles that load well, so they are doubling up on students when they tutor students

Assessments have taken place at the end of each six weeks period by checking grades to see if progress is being made academically.  Also, I have checked discipline referrals for each child in the program.  I also sent out surveys at the end of each six weeks to each teacher that checked for progress academically and for progress on behavior in the classroom.    

The high school students write reflections each week of what they have experienced during the week with their student(s).  It has been an overwhelming experience for everyone.  The PALS program has been a great success for the HS, the elementary and school as a district. 

As a teacher, I hope that this program will continue as a full time program next year and the years to follow.  It is a little time consuming for a teacher, but very rewarding and worthwhile for every student involved. It would be detrimental to see a program like this end due to lack of motivation of a teacher. 

Kuddos to the motivation and love of the students,

Karena Prew   

Where is Action Research Taking Us in the Education World Today...

Action research is hands on research and the researcher must compile data in order to get a better understanding of the subject matter that they are researching in order to assess information that is needed.  This must be studied through a period of time and it must be measurable.  Assessments and experiments must be complete in order for the research to accumulate the necessary information to prove the research to be true and accurate.  This type of research enables professionals to carry out inquiries they might have regarding a subject matter.  This is a tool that is given to Educational Leaders that makes our educational world more advanced with immediate data available to us as leaders of our school.  Educational leaders can be a part of collecting their own data and implementing a program as needed. 

Through this research class, I have learned how to carry out action research.  Writing a good action research plan and implement a successful action research project takes time and great effort.  This class has assisted me in learning each step to do this.  In establishing an action research topic a researcher usually has a wondering or subject matter he/she wants to research.  My peers and I have assisted one another in establishing good topics for action research plans as opposed to bad topics that cannot be measured or maybe that are too broad to be proven with data.  This proved to be a great experience to work through with my peers each week as we learned to put the action research projects together week by week. One of most important things, I believe, is that the subject one is researching must be carefully evaluated.  It must be something the researcher is needing to gain information on, and the topic must be one that can be researched.  If one chooses a topic that is too broad or can’t be assessed or measured, you are spinning your wheels and wasting your time.  There is nothing to gain. In Week One and Week Two web conference there was a great deal of discussion about topics and many students were confused, and they still did not understand how the assessments affected the topics.  Dr. Abshire discussed the importance of thoroughly examining the action research project all the way through to the assessment stage before choosing a topic because one must be able to assess a topic in order to research it and get the data. Everyone has thoughts and curiosities of things they want to research, but it is different to actually put it on paper and figure out if one can assess it and get data from the research and then make progress and gain information from that data.  Once the person doing the research finds the data that’s needed and it is put into a template in an outline form; then, each step of the action research project can be planned out and organized in detail.   

In this research class, it was very difficult for me at first when I went to put the action research project into a working outline.  I understood in my mind what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure about putting it into a template.  Once I started putting it into writing, and organized the information there were so many things that I had left out or had not thought about before putting it into writing. Putting it down on paper and finalizing it made much more sense to me.  The template really helped put things into perspective for me.  My peers assisted me in allowing me by reviewing my final draft before I submitted my assignment.  It really helps to have peer assisted editing in the form of blogs and discussion boards to assist one another each week.  I believe, we all took advantage of this.   Our discussion boards were awesome and we helped one another a great deal.  The blogs helped in seeing one another’s work so that we could view someone else’s and make comparisons to our own.  We were able to compare notes in what our topics were and share our ideas and thoughts, and this really helped me.  

This week, I was relieved in studying the Quality Indicators 1-5 in the Dana text.  I could relate to the study as I read how the indicators broke down action research into specific steps. The Quality Indicator Two and Three go along with what we have been doing in this course with the last few weeks assignments.  These two steps  go over how to develop our research topics and  the appropriate questions and how important it is to organize the information in order to put the action research project into place so that data can be collected.   I feel like I have chosen a good strong topic, and it is well planned and organized, but after going over these indicators it gave me a better understanding of the proper way to take the steps to assess this information.  I know that my action research plan will need some corrections along the way, but I feel like there is a great deal to gain from my PALS Program and that the students will achieve success from implementing the action research project.   

Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher. (pp.179-184) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.  


In the discussion boards, there were many peers that focused on projects for discipline issues to assist with academic needs and my peers and I agree that this is interfering with academic growth. There are many action research plans that were developed only on different angles to research data on this very issue.  Educators are aware of what society has done to our young children and how it has affected their learning abilities.  The state of Texas expects the children of today to continue to learn at the rigorous pace they have set for them, yet the violence at home where these children live have increasingly gotten worse.  The drugs, alcohol and abuse affect the behavior of these students’ behavior and their academics on a daily basis.  These are the students we see in the DAEP units and with discipline problems.  These are the same students we see with great academic needs because they are raising themselves at home with no parental support, no groceries, no housing and no guidance of right from wrong.  Many of my peers are researching to find answers to the questions of how discipline affects the academics in the classroom, yet the underlying problems are yet to be seen.  I believe we will find the data to support their questions; however, I believe that the problem goes way beyond the behavior problems we see in school.   Once that data is collected for their projects, there will be more to be researched.  We discussed this in our blogs and our discussion boards and agree that discipline of our youth is coming from the lack of parenting, drugs, alcohol and abuse.  This in turn is causing our youth to stay in DAEP units and cause discipline problems because that’s all they know at home.  Academics are not their top priority because they have not been raised to put academics first.  

The many sources of information that I was given including the web conferences with Dr. Abshire and the many videos along with the books, the discussion boards and the blogs all played a crucial role in assisting me with the action research project.  It is a slow process of learning and understanding how to develop an effective action research project.  I understand the importance of action research and how it affects the education world today, but without this course, I would not have learned what I know now.  Action research is a vital tool for all educational leaders to understand and use, but the most important thing to remember is the importance of the action research is to gain knowledge in something that is important to the one researching it and to make sure that it can be assessed.  Before attempting to implement any action research project, an educational leader must assess the project from the beginning to the end and organize it to make sure it will be successful before even starting the project.  A good leader needs to realize that often it takes collaborative effort of the districts staff to make an action research project successful and to gain the data needed.  An educational leader can lose respect of his staff if attempting to put research into place that cannot be followed through.  The staff will see it as a waste of their time and being senseless if the plan is not well organized and thought through.  This course has prepared me in knowing how to develop an action research plan and implement it as a future educational leader. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   PEER ASSISTED LEADERSHIP SERVICES PROGRAM

                                        ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT 

Goals	Activities	Resources          Needed	Persons To Address Activities	Time Line	Benchmarks Assessments	Monitoring  Achievement
1.The elementary at-risk students will improve academically at the end of each six weeks after being mentored by high school students in the Peer Assisted Leadership Program.	30 minutes-tutoring subjects or skills as  needed for each student as requested by teacher 10 minutes closure with students Review goals for the next week in class	Academic materials that correlate with the subjects the students are struggling in.	Self High school students in  English II Honors class Sammy Edwards, Elementary Principal Elementary Counselor Classroom teachers	Every three weeks  progress reports will be checked Every six weeks: Report cards, and surveys from teachers   Cumulative data will be assessed at the end of the semester in May 2013 to assess individual student’s growth Cumulative data will be assessed May 2013 to assess  overall academic achievement for all at-risk students	Three week progress reports and Six weeks report cards	Keep records of students individually for three week progress reports and  six weeks report cards Keep records of teacher surveys at six weeks At the end of May 2013, check the academic data for each at-risk student for the semester and evaluate the success of the PALS Program Gather the cumulative data, using six week reports, for the total group of at-risk students to check for progress of all students and success of PALS Program at end of the semester in May 2013.
2.There will be fewer discipline referrals for at-risk elementary students after being mentored by the high school students in the Peer Assisted Leadership Services Program.	30 minutes-tutoring each at-risk student as requested by teacher with an additional 10 minutes closure with students each week building relationships Review goals for next week	Games, character building tools High school student will send positive notes to their assigned elementary student each week	Self High school students in  English II Honors class Sammy Edwards, Elementary Principal Elementary Counselor Classroom teachers	Every six weeks: report cards, discipline referrals  and surveys from teachers Cumulative data will be compiled for each at-risk  student  in May 2013 to assess the progress with the student’s behavior Cumulative data will be compiled for the group of at-risk students to measure the progress for  behavior in May 2013 to evaluate the success of the PALS Program	Report cards Discipline referrals Surveys to teachers	Keep records of students individually for discipline referrals and teachers surveys at each six weeks period At the end of May 2013, check the data for each at-risk student concerning their behavior for the semester and evaluate the success of the PALS Program Gather the cumulative data for the total group of at-risk students for discipline, using referrals and teacher surveys, to check for progress of all students and success of PALS Program at end of the semester in May 2013.