Quality Indicator 1 .... (thoughts)

The first quality indicator is context of study, it provides information for the reader regarding the environment in which the research was conducted.  It may include information regarding the school, teachers, and students that were involved in the research.  This is critical because some programs may be more or less successful depending upon the demographics of a particular area/school.  This made me think of my own action research regarding extra-curricular programs. Although all schools may be interested in improving their extra-curricular participation my campus has a supportive administration and budget to support numerous organizations including the addition of new programs.  I believe this is imperative to its success and should constantly evaluate that in interpreting my data and presenting in to others.  I am hoping that my action research can be helpful to other campuses.  In order to do this I need to make sure others can understand the administrative support that was in place.  In addition, I need to ensure the data regarding the student and teacher population is clearly defined and explained so that others can determine its transferability.  Based on this I need to add demographic research to my action research plan.  By doing this I can evaluate how my research compares to past research as well as determining how effective it may or may not be for others.

Action Research Plan

Goal:

            

            Person (s)     Timeline:     Needed        

Action Step(s) Responsible     Start / End     Resources        Evaluation    

1.Survey Faculty sponsors of current extra-curricular programs regarding current participation	Chris Granger	March 21, 2011- March 31, 2011	1.List of sponsors   2.Create a survey   3.Email addresses	I will compile a list of results regarding the sponsor's responses to the survey.
2.Survey students regarding reasons why they do/do not participate in extra-curricular programs. What programs interest them	Chris Granger	March 31, 2011	1. Approval from administration to distribute the survey during lunch.   2.Create a survey	1.I will compile the list of results from the student's responses.   2.What percentage of our students currently participate.
3.Review the survey results and discuss what steps can be taken to improve the extra-curricular programs.	Chris Granger Administrative Team	April 30, 2011	1.Survey Results	1.Can we as a school support the changes and new programs.

 

Goal:

            

            Person (s)     Timeline:     Needed        

Action Step(s) Responsible     Start / End     Resources        Evaluation    

4.Find teachers whose interests and willingness that may make them prime candidates to sponsor an extra-curricular program.	Chris Granger	June 1, 2011	1.E-mail addresses   2.Teacher sponsorship Assignments	1.Can we find a sponsor for all extra-curricular programs we would like to offer.
5.Create additional student organizations / clubs based on the results of the student survey	Leadership Team	August 2011	1.Approval of administration   2.Faculty Sponsor	1.Compute how many programs we offer on campus for student participation.
6. Survey sponsors of current extra-curricular programs regarding current participation	Chris Granger	March 15, 2012	1.List of sponsors   2.Original surveys used to begin the research   3.Email addresses	1.I will compile the results and compare them to those from the previous year.   2.Have we improved student participation in extra-curricular programs?

Revise and Edit

This week I was able to meet with my site supervisor as well as my vice principal regarding my action research plan. It came at a good time as this course was winding down and they had some addtionaal time to sit and talk since it was spring break.  We discussed a slight change in the goal to read, "Improve students active particpation in extra-curricular programs."  Previously the work actively was not included.  I felt this was significant as we do not want students just to "be there" we want them to gain something from their involvement.  Although I had envisioned active participation it was critical to include that word in the goal as I feel it will help get the true message our our vision out there.  I hope it will also encourage other teachers to become involved in extra-curricular programs as well as action research once they see the positive effect it has on our campus.

Action Research Draft Plan

1.       Examining the Work: Setting the Foundation-

Since we have established a goal as a faculty to encourage participation in extra-curricular activities, we need to evaluate how we are doing at achieving this goal.  It is important to the administration that we a giving our students opportunities to be active within the school.  This is why my site supervisor and I settled on this topic.

2.       Analyzing Data –

I have learned from the articles that I have found that those students that participate in extra-curricular activities have a higher attendance rate.  In addition, one study found that they also performed better academically.  Thus there is motivation for us to increase quality participation in extra-curricular programs.  I will use the information gathered from the student surveys to determine what interest there is for additional programs we may not be currently offering. 

3. Developing Deeper Understanding –

 This leads me to a second question, “What can we do to encourage student participation in extra-curricular programs.”  This may warrant additional information from faculty sponsors regarding what we can do as a school to better support and advertise the opportunities available to students.  An example that comes to mind may be hosting a community night in which extra-curricular programs can have information available to parents and students regarding their programs.

4. Engage in Self-Reflection-

After reviewing the information from the surveys I will need to determine if the opportunities we offer are servicing the needs of the students.  There may be things we could do to improve the programs we have as opposed to beginning new programs.  In addition, if we have new ideas from students I will need to determine if they are extra-curricular programs that the school district would allow us to sponsor at the campus level.  I believe I can accomplish this through meeting with the administrative team on my campus.

5. Exploring Programmatic Patterns –

With the current budget restraints in the state I feel this is going to be critical.  I would meet with my site supervisor to research what it costs the school to have extra-curricular programs.  In addition, once I determine student interest in a program we may not be offering I am going to need to meet with administration to make sure we have their support in creating a new program.  Also, I will need to find a faculty sponsor for any new programs that are created.

6. Determining Direction-

I believe it is clear that in evaluating our current extra-curricular program I am trying to determine what can be done to improve student participation in extra-curricular programs.  In addition, I am asking what can be done to encourage students to participate in these programs.  Based on my additional question, I have adjusted my surveys.  Also, by acquiring information from the faculty sponsors I have included them in the improvement of our programs.  I believe this in conjunction with my sharing of the information with the administration to help improve the campus has established a collaborative approach on this project.  My goal is to do the survey work and gathering of information in this school year.  Therefore, I feel I can present the information to the administration in a timely manner to establish any new programs for the beginning of next school year.  This timeline I believe best evaluates what we have done this year while clearly establishing a goal of implementing new programs in the near future.  Therefore, we can re-evaluate the success of any improved our added programs prior to the conclusion of next school year.  This will provide a tangible result as to whether improved student participation in extra-curricular activities has been achieved.

7. Taking Action for School Improvement –

I have completed my action research template, as well as made improvements based on this deeper investigation.  I do believe based on the previous research linking participation in extra-curricular activities with better attendance and academic performance will provide merit to this project.  If the end goal of increased student participation is achieved I believe we will also see some of the other improvements notated in previous research.

8. Sustain Improvement –

I believe that the success of this research could be shared with others.  In addition, I believe a project like this could be completed on a regular basis as a way to evaluate the extra-curricular programs on campus.  This will contribute to life-long learning and more action research as we constantly review what we are doing and looking for ways to improve.

Conclusion

                Based on the things I have notated above I made changes and improvements to my action research plan.  For example, I have added additional questions to the survey of teachers and students to gather more in depth information.  Secondly, I plan on including a meeting with the administrative team after reviewing the survey data as a collaboration to get their input and support on the improvement and implementation of programs.  I believe these changes will make the action research project a quality collaboration of teachers, students, and administration.  This will lead to a successful evaluation of where we are right now in our extra-curricular program as well as areas we can improve on.

Pupose & Significance

After completing this week's coursework I became familiar with the importance of having a clear focus and significance in my action research.  This caused me to slightly alter my research and consider an additional question.  I am still staying on topic of wondering what we can do as a campus to increase our student involvement in extra-curricular activities.  One of the things I began wondering was what one classmate mentioned in their research which was whether those involved in extra-curricular programs perform better academically.  This caused me to wonder, "If students involved in extra-curricular activities perform better, what can we do to improve participation in extracurricular programs?"  This is significant on our  campus as it is one of our missions as a faculty.