Action Research Plan

Goals and objectives of this research project are to find out what makes some alternative schools successful, and some not successful. I want to research what it takes to make an alternative school more successful academically (i.e. TAKS scores, final grades, etc.) than a regular school. To achieve these goals, I will not only research my own school, but others across the state, and across the country. I will also research educational journal articles on alternative schooling as well.

The timeline for the project will be to research and compile data beginning immediately. The data will then be sorted and the rough draft should begin August 16th, and be completed August 20th. The following week we will begin the final draft, and should be completed within the week. Persons responsible for this research project include Dave Daughety, Michael Granado, and Sheila Wyman.Research findings will then be implemented at Genesis High School, and will be assessed throughout the school year.



Setting the Foundation: Interviewing principals of other alternative schools across the state to see what they do at their schools on a day to day basis, and how they compare to other schools in their district. Also researching educational journal articles on alternative schooling.

Analyzing Data: Using a variety of data gathering strategies (Dana, pp. 29-70) including electronic searches, finding will include how alternative education helps students who have fallen through the cracks become successful.

Developing Deeper Understanding: This will include coming together as a staff at Genesis High School and discussing what has and has not worked in the past at Genesis. We will also be speaking with teachers at Bastrop High School and discussing their viewpoint and what has and has not been successful with these students.

Self-Reflection: Do we have the necessary resources in which to finish a successful action research project? Based on our findings, do we have the skills and resources in which to implement new teaching strategies and/or technologies?

Exploring Programmatic Patterns: What are the patterns of successful alternative schools? What are patterns in unsuccessful alternative schools? What skills are necessary to implement the strategies found in the patterns of successful alternative schools?

Determining Direction: Are we clear on what we are trying to determine? Have we addressed all skills and resources needed? Have we established a collaborative approach? Is the timeline realistic? Is our plan to monitor the project reasonable? Is our plan to evaluate implementation reasonable? How can we improve the plan?

Taking Action for School Improvement: A committee of Daughety, Granado, and Wyman will meet to create a plan of action using either an outline or the PIP/SIP method to guide the process.Sustaining Improvement: Sharing the findings with the rest of the staff, other schools who we called for information, and the rest of our district.

How Educational Leaders Can Use Blogs

I believe that educational leaders can get much use out of blogs. Blogs can give another free platform in which to keep parents, stake holders and our community better informed than ever before. I also believe that it can also be useful to keep teachers and students on the same page as well.

What I learned - Week 1

This week I learned a lot about action research. I learned that it is not the same as typical educational research, and it is much more in depth and overall consuming of the school, whereas regular educational research is more specific to a single classroom. I liked how Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, and Julie Combs show how the process is much like a typical visit to the Doctor, and show the 8 steps to action research in this way (Harris, p. 6).

I believe that action research could be used in my school to better how we adminstrate and teach our students and make them become more successful later in life. While it is true that everyone is different, and that every student learns differently, I believe common ground can be found with most, and that we accomodations can be made with the rest to insure that all students are able to learn. This is, I believe, where action research can really play a major role in our schools.