Developing Consensus and Addressing Challenges in Your Action Research Plan

A comment that affected me in a positive way started out with the thought that perhaps my action project was too large; however, after reading the whole plan, a colleague told me that my action plan was well organized and that the timing is appropriate. “Your plan slowly brings buy-in from each group that makes up the school community." The comments from this colleague gave me confidence that I am on the right track.

Another colleague gave me advice that I should, when finished with my surveys, share the information gleaned with the faculty, the “good, bad, and ugly.” I think this would be beneficial, as all teachers’ perceptions of what is going on, in regards to the school climate, are not always on the same page. If faculty is able to view different perspectives, this may help me achieve my goal of bringing the faculty closer together. So this is one suggestion I will incorporate into my plan.

I met with my site supervisor, Camila Alexander, this past week in order to review my action research plan printed in the Tool 7.1 template. She is impressed with the amount of work involved and said that I am on the right track. The comments she made that were helpful had to do with changing the wording in a few places on my plan in order to clarify what I was attempting to accomplish. For instance, under the category “Action Steps,” in several places I had listed some of the evaluative type tests that students take, such as ThinkLink and end-of-year TCAP. However, I did not describe how this would in any way connect to my action research project. So I’ve added the verbiage that I will evaluate these tests to see if any academic improvements have been made (presumably resulting from the “improved” school climate), because ultimately one of the goals of improving the school climate is to gauge the effect on student morale and academic achievement.

Additionally, Ms. Alexander looked over my first informal survey and made some suggestions. She said that I needed to change the format to have all answers easy to bubble in on a scale because teachers will not like writing answers to questions. I believe she is right, and I will take her advice and change my question and answer format. Additionally, she said I should give the survey to all adult workers in the school, not just the teachers, because everyone should have a say in what they believe the climate is. I will then not only have more input, but I will be able to look at any trends between, say, 8th grade teachers and office personnel, 6th grade teachers and cafeteria workers, etc. She said to also get information on gender and what position they hold at the school. I will take her advice because, as she said, when using a numerical answering system, the data will be easier to compare.

Background -- Developing Your Action Research Plan

This week was a bit nerve-racking for me because I feel like I'm in the dark as to where I'm headed on my action plan journey.  I know where I want to go and what I want to accomplish, but I always make the process of getting from A to B more complicated than it needs to be.  My mind was all over the place trying to put my action research plan together.  I found the Harris, et al. text informative, and it appears to be a simple process when I'm reading the book.  I also found the Dana text helpful when reading about the analogy of building a strong case with evidence when supporting the findings from your action plan.  I do like to write and I like to argue a good case, so hopefully, that part will come easy to me :-)

Action Research Plan

Action Inquiry:  How can our school climate be transformed into one with a cohesive nature or “feel,” where teachers naturally work collaboratively toward a shared vision? 

Goal:  The goal of my action research study will be to transform the “school climate” at Shadowlawn Middle School from a splintered and segregated faculty to a staff whose shared vision is the driving force behind collaboratively working together.  The goal is to create a climate with a cohesive “feel,” where teachers naturally engage in collaboration and model this type of learning for our students; where teachers comprehend and embrace our shared vision; where teachers correspond regularly – all to a common end – as steps are taken toward creation of a school climate in which student achievement is realized and celebrated daily.

Rationale:   Why is school climate important?  “Perceptions about school climate impact teacher morale and student achievement.  A “Positive school climate benefits students, teachers, and staff. Teachers are motivated to teach, students are motivated to learn. School climate characterizes the organization at the school building and classroom level. It refers to the ‘feel’ of a school and can vary from school to school within the same district” (Bulach, 1994).

Though there may be many layers of which a school climate is comprised, the specific area addressed in this action research study will be that which is directly related to creating positive faculty relations and improving staff morale, thus improving the overall school climate.  

A further impact of a school climate is on student achievement.  It is imperative that our school turns around the present state of affairs in regards to student achievement.  To that end, improving relationships among educators is considered a means to an end:  the positive benefit that teachers will receive as they learn to collaboratively work together, as well as the effect on students whose learning is achieved in a climate of belief in their success.

Objectives:

1. Teachers will view the SMS blog as a nonthreatening, informal place to share educational information.

2. Teachers will begin to realize the benefits of working together -- albeit, at an "arm's length" -- and begin to conceptualize a "unified and cohesive" view of our school, as well as a renewed interest in our school vision.

3. Teachers will understand how helping one another strengthens the whole body of teachers and helps prepare us for the transition into the future of teaching, where the "lone ranger" approach to teaching is no longer an option.

4. Teachers will view collaboration as a positive, enabling facet of our school and understand that it is a means to not only undergird our faculty but will also have an effect on the student body, as an atmosphere of discord transforms into a climate where the norm is to welcome and value individual teacher's perspectives and contributions to the body of educators as a whole. 

5. Once collaboration between educators is established, teachers will find new ways to contribute to the team atmosphere, which will exemplify for students the model of collaboration.

6. Ultimately, student achievement will be positively impacted as the school climate changes into one of collaboration and educational leaders renew their trust in our ability to lead.

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Person Timeline:

Action Steps Responsible Start/End Resources Eval.

Conduct an informal teacher survey to assess staff perceptions of: the present school climate, quality of staff relationships, our student population’s ability to achieve academic success; as well as the understanding of our school vision; also, to assess attitudes toward creation of a school blog for the purpose of sharing in a “meeting place” and perceptions about how that would impact school climate and, ultimately, student achievement (i.e. How important is climate to our school?)	Sheryl Dowell John McDonald Camila Alexander SMS Staff	12/1/10- 12/31/10	Survey created through Survey Monkey.	Critically assess the perceptions of staff.  Use data to determine how to effectively begin use of proposed school blog.  Examine other problem areas highlighted by the survey and determine if further analysis is necessary.   Reflect on approaches to involve faculty in a friendly “meeting place” without placing blame, offending, or alienating anyone.
Create school blog. Advertise its existence to all staff and invite and encourage participation by all. Conduct pre-observation conference with my 6th-grade team of four teachers who will give me feedback about their individual experiences with my project.	Sheryl Dowell Kitty Hildebrandt John McDonald Camila Alexander Marshall Lloyd Sherrill Swaim Vickie Beigel	12/15/10- 12/31/10	Online access for all staff to school blog. Journals for my 6th grade team.	Record blog use in on-line journal.  Monitor and assess its use by recording areas of greatest interest to teachers.  Use evaluative information in conjunction with site mentor’s advice to guide further postings.  Team teachers record feelings about the blog and collaborate with one another.
Involve both school counselors as facilitators and coaches in weekly 6th grade PLC meetings.   Use the blog to post links to PLCs, create discussion formats for teachers to post lesson plans, teaching strategies, give and receive advice, post complaints and/or solutions.	Sheryl Dowell John McDonald Camila Alexander Amy Pintchuck Carolyn Moss	1/3/11- 1/31/11	Counselor input. Online access for all teachers.  Applicable PLCs.	Gather feedback from counselors regarding collaborative ideas for our PLC group. Monitor blog and assess by its use what topics, issues, or PLCs are needed.

Post individualized surveys on blog and on school web page for all stakeholders (students, parents, community) to contribute data regarding their perceptions of and attitudes about school climate and of its effect on student performance, community perception, etc.; include: parents, students, educators, administrators, PTSA members, et al.  Post teacher survey as follow-up to the first informal survey to assess and document any changes in perceptions, attitudes, etc.	Sheryl Dowell John McDonald Camila Alexander	2/1/11- 2/28/11	Formal surveys obtained through casel.org (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning).   Survey at annenberginstitute.org, Using Data for School Improvement; revised for middle school students. International Review Board and Shelby County School Board permission. Parental permission to conduct survey and/or publish results.	Critically examine the survey results to ascertain the perception of our school climate to all stakeholders.
Depending upon the results of the previous survey (on a positive or negative scale) and stakeholders’ perceptions of school climate, and with input and advisement from administration, glean appropriate and helpful information gathered from survey to post on the school blog.	Sheryl Dowell John McDonald Camila Alexander	3/1/11- 3/31/11	Input and advice from school administrators.	Keep record of blog use.  Record whether a formal survey and input from the broader school community has any impact on the frequency with which teachers use the blog to share.
Open the blog for students/ parents to post ideas, ask questions and become a part of the “school community.”  Record interviews with individual students/parents about their perceptions, questions, statements, and ideas.	Sheryl Dowell Camila Alexander Students Parents	3/1/11- 3/31/11	Online access. Tape recorder and journal.	Follow and assess student/parent comments, ideas; analyze interviews from students and parents.  Record results in journal.
Create committee of representatives of all stakeholders.  Hold brainstorming meetings on the blog, online, and in person, to glean comments, advice, and ideas regarding ways to change the school climate and change the perception of SMS in the local community.  Seek volunteers from PTSA to help students and teachers prepare for TCAP testing.	Sheryl Dowell Camila Alexander Yolanda Bryson John McDonald PTSA president Parent rep Student rep Volunteers	4-1-11- 6-30-11	Meeting area. Group email addresses. Tape recorder and journal. Volunteers.	Disseminate information gleaned from committee to blog and school website.
Conduct post-observation conference with my 6th-grade team of four teachers who will give me feedback about their individual experiences with my project. End-of-year TCAP tests. Summer PLCs offered through blog.  Summer classes and collaborative projects offered through blog. Post Tool 4.3 (Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools, p. 56)	Sheryl Dowell Vickie Beigel Sherrill Swaim Marshall Lloyd	5/1/11-7/31/11	Meeting area. Journal. TCAP test results. PLCs Online classes. Tool 4.3	Analyze test data and data gathered throughout the previous six months for a comprehensive and critical examination; glean appropriate data and evidence to formulate a strong argument for the effectiveness of the study.  Include comparisons of tests, results of surveys, interviews, discussions, journal writing, communication with all stakeholders.  Continue to monitor blog throughout the summer months.
Survey at the beginning of the new school year to assess learning and collaboration over the summer.  Second survey for all stakeholders to assess attitudes, expectations for student achievement, and perception of school climate for new school year.  Blog update for new school year.	Sheryl Dowell Camila Alexander Stakeholders	8/1/11- 8/31/11	Surveys. Blog posts from summer projects and/or classes.	Critically examine results of survey.  Measure improvement in collaboration and perceptions of school climate as compared to December 2010.  Carefully monitor blog and compare to December 2010.
First and second ThinkLink test of the new year for all grade levels.  Tape interviews students before and after about their level of confidence in their ability to succeed.	Sheryl Dowell Camila Alexander Students	9/1/11- 11/30/11	Review of comparison of ThinkLink scores. Tape recorder/camera. Journal.	Compare results of two tests, specifically looking for growth in achievement.  Examine interviews for relevant information.
Final formal survey of all stakeholders to assess differences in attitudes, perception of school climate and of student population’s ability to succeed academically, and the perceived effect of school climate in regards to student achievement.	Sheryl Dowell Camila Alexander Stakeholders	12/1/11- 12/31/11	Survey results. Journal notes. Recordings. Compilation of pared down and pertinent data.	Dissemination of all information gleaned in written form to be distributed to all stakeholders via blog, email, as well as mailed paper copies. Reflection on project and ideas on where to head with next inquiry.

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)