Reflection on EDLD 5301

I truly enjoyed reading the many action inquiries that Dana shared in the Nine Passion areas. There are so many ways for an effective educational leader to make a true impact on the campus and encourage success and growth. I loved Todd Whitaker’s statements “programs are never the solution and they are never the problem” and “It is the people, not programs, that determine the quality of the school”. (What Great Principals Do Differently: Fifteen Things That Matter Most, p.80) I feel this statement speaks volumes to me. Every year there is a new program introduced or strongly encouraged as a fix. Until we come to a meeting of the minds and hearts growth cannot be nurtured.

Revised Action Plan

Jamie’s Action Plan : Read, Lead, Succeed
Goal: Determine if the current Tier II intervention of LLI is effective in remediating struggling 1St grade readers.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Gather End of Year  TPRI data from K	Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2013	TPRI Data	Data scores
Collect data on students  attending ARI services  in 1st -3rd  grade	Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2013-March 2014	TPRI LLI DRA STAAR	Data scores
Students to be identified by DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) for ARI	Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw 1st grade teachers	August-September 2013	DRA kits	BOY (beginning of year) Data
Students identified by DRA will be placed in ARI to receive LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention by Fountas and Pinnell) Students are to attend 30 minutes lessons 5 days a week.	1st grade ARI teachers	September 2013 - April 2014	LLI (Leveled Literacy Interventions by Fountas and Pinnell) Kits Benchmarks	Running Records Attendance Student Progress MOY (middle of year) data EOY(end of year) data Monthly LLI level log
Attend First grade PLC’s	CIS Robin Lawrence Mr. House First grade teachers Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw	August 2013-May 2014	LLI logs Benchmarks DRA Data TPRI data CSCOPE curriculum	Track progress and concerns
Collect EOY data	Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw	April-May 2014	DRA LLI final levels achieved TPRI	Data scores
Analyze data collected	Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2014	DRA LLI TPRI	Attendance Student Progress BOY )Beginning of year)data MOY (middle of year) data EOY(end of year) data
Prepare summary of Action Research Plan and present data to campus	Intern Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2014	Data collected	Present findings

My Action Plan

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Jamie’s Action Plan : Read, Lead, Succeed
Goal: Determine if the current Tier II intervention of LLI is effective in remediating struggling 1St grade readers.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Gather End of Year  TPRI data from K	Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2013	TPRI Data
Collect data on students  attending ARI services  in 1st -3rd  grade	Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2013-March 2014	TPRI LLI DRA STAAR
Students to be identified by DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) for ARI	Jamie Anderson Hushaw 1st grade teachers	September 2013	DRA kits	BOY (beginning of year) Data
Students identified by DRA will be placed in ARI to receive LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention by Fountas and Pinnell) Students are to attend 30 minutes lessons 5 days a week.	1st grade ARI teachers	September 2013 - April 2014	LLI (Leveled Literacy Interventions by Fountas and Pinnell) Kits	Running Records Attendance Student Progress MOY (middle of year) data EOY(end of year) data
Collect EOY data	Jamie Anderson Hushaw	April 2014	DRA LLI final levels achieved TPRI
Analyze data collected	Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2014	DRA LLI TPRI	Attendance Student Progress BOY )Beginning of year)data MOY (middle of year) data EOY(end of year) data
Prepare summary of Action Research Plan and present data to campus	Jamie Anderson Hushaw	May 2014

My Passion in Action Research

As I pursue my masters, I would like to conduction action research on a passion close to my heart.  I am interested in finding out how effective is the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) Green System at remediating our first grade struggling readers.  I want to know what improvements the students have made in reaching the grade level criteria for promotion.  Is the program being used with fidelity in the real world setting? Is their any correlation to students qualifying for ARI in first grade to the current struggling readers we have in 3^rd ,4^th , and 5^th grade?  What improvements have the students made once they are no longer receiving ARI services?  What actions could be taken to improve their reading achievement? This project will require me to evaluate the data from current students as well as previous students that have received services.  I will also need to investigate the inner workings of the program to understand how it is being utilized in the classroom. 

Passions that Drive Us

An effective leader uses inquiry to grow and nurture their campus.  There are nine areas that an effective leader may develop as an action research passion.  The first area is Staff development and its inquiries encourage the proper alignment and practices to meet state standards. Another passion is in the area of curriculum development.  Action research in curriculum development allows the leader to evaluate the delivery of the curriculum in comparison to best practices. The third passion a leader may wish to investigate it the development of individual teachers. This passion acknowledges that a program does not ensure success of a student but rather the importance of   teachers in providing quality instruction and how the leader can better support the teachers.  The fourth passion focuses on the individual students. Action research on individual student populations enables the leader to determine the effectiveness of the school programs in impacting success of specific student populations.  An experienced leader also values the importance in developing the passion of creating a positive school community and culture. Action research in this area enables the leader to shape the schools ability to improve student behavior and accomplishments in a trusting and truthful atmosphere.  The sixth passion an effective leader needs to cultivate is in the area of actual leadership.  As a leader it is crucial to take the time to evaluate how he/she models the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart according to Kouzes and Posner.  This passion requires the leader to reflect on themselves and how they impact others and help others. The seventh passion a leader may decide to investigate is the actual management.  A principal has to manage many areas on a day-to-day basis. Analyzing how the day is managed to gain more effective use of time is crucial to encouraging success.  A critical passion for action research is school performance.  Every year schools are help to a more strenuous accountability system.  A leader may conduct research to determine what actions need to be taken to improve their students’ success.  The final passion area a leader may wish to conduct research on is social justice. An action research in social justice investigates how to meet the needs of a ”culturally diverse groups of students, teachers, and administrators” (Smith & Lytle, 1993, p. 80).  Such research allows the leader and campus to better understand the students they work with.  Each of these passions can have a great impact on improving the success of your schools performance and climate that encourages growth.

Blogs

     Blogs are an excellent opportunity for educational leaders to pose their questions and explore their thoughts in an online diary format .  Blogs are a wonderful place for reflection on day to day interactions or Ah moments. It allows others to reflect or provide insight on a topic of concern or question posed . Blogs enable educators to develop a professional learning community and support system outside of the campus and encourages questioning that will enhance and shape research . It also allows for the positive interaction and sharing of information with parents and the community that a campus serves .

Action Research

     Action research is the intentional and systematic study of a concern or wondering . As an educational leader it is important to analyze the data and pose questions as to why your students or campus maybe struggling in a particular area .  These questions lead to creating actions that need to be taken, based on careful research (educational literature), to address the concern . Once the actions are in place and have been given adequate time to be used, the area of need should be reevaluated . If the action was successful the team can focus their attention on another area of concern and begin the process over again to continue to improve student, faculty and campus success . If the action was not successful, it is important for the team to generate more questions and conduct further research to address the dilemma .
     As an educator, I feel action research can be an extremely valuable tool in improving student, faculty and campus success . Data should drive actions to be taken . Every assessment given has a purpose; it is not simply to provide a grade in the grade book . It is crucial for me to evaluate and question why they were not successful then develop a plan of action to better meet their needs.  As a classroom teacher, I have often used data analysis to structure tutoring based on my students needs. In my current position I weekly use charting to decide on whether my groups are ready to progress to the next step in the Wilson program.  Luckily, the program is scientifically structured to focus on the skills needed for my students to become more successful in their reading. Unfortunately real world implementation prevents us from moving in a quicker fashion. The program asks for an hour of intervention time a day and our intervention schedule only allows for us to meet for 30-45 minutes four days a week. Of course intervention times are also hindered by grade level curriculum benchmarks/assessments, field trips and campus programs.  I hope that during my internship I can have a little more input in creating more time for intervention to better meet my students needs.