Getting the plan rolling......

During this last week I made final confirmations of teachers that were going to take part in my action research and we met and discussed what the students' electronic portfolios would include.  We talked about how many students should participate per class and its okay if teachers have different numbers.  Our goal is that next school year this becomes a campus wide procedure. 

I am excited to have the students start creating their portfolios and to see what else we can discover during this project.  I think it will be interesting to see what different grade levels of students will create and discuss with their parents during the conference.  I am hoping for high participation from my students and parents. 

Plan of action for Research Action Plan

I have created an outline of how to conduct my Action Research Plan of Student Led Conferences
Here is what I have come up with....

OUTCOMES	ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/RESEARCH AND TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS THE ACTIVITIES	TIMELINE	BENCHMARKS/ ASSESSMENT	REVISION TO THE SIP/PIP BASED ON MONITORING AND ASSESSMENTS
Present of concept to site supervisor	Meet with supervisor and develop beginning steps to plan	Use the internet to search student-led conferences	L. Thomas, Principal (site supervisor)	February, 2012	Approved by site supervisor	Adjustment of goals may occur
Find teachers (grades 2-5) to participate in student-led conferences	Meet with different teachers and ask for participation	Have list of resources used to research student-led conferences Have brief timeline ready to show teachers	2-5 grade level teachers	February, 2012	Have participation from one teacher per grade level	More teachers could be interested in participating
Create reflection form for student’s electronic portfolios	Create a template to be used in a PowerPoint presentation, make a paper copy available if needed	Create the form to reflect  various activities students may choose to use in their electronic portfolio	L. Thomas, Principal Participating grade level teachers	February, 2012	Ask for input from participating grade level teachers and administrators	Make reflection form easy to modify based on age/grade of student
Create a graph to plot students’ assessment scores and add to their electronic portfolio	Create a template to be used in a PowerPoint presentation, make a paper copy available if needed	Graphs will be created and used in marking assessment in core subject areas	L. Thomas, Principal Participating grade level teachers	February, 2012	Ask for input from participating grade level teachers and administrators	Make graph easy to modify based on age/grade of student and subject
Create a plan to prepare for the conference day	Meet with participating teachers and help guide them to create electronic portfolios with students to present on conference day	Collaborate with participating teachers and examine how students are creating their portfolios Share ideas with each other about how to present to parents	L. Thomas, Principal Participating grade level teachers	March-May, 2012	Listen to feedback from teachers and students about project thus far	Make adjustments as needed to fit the needs of students to be able to confidently present to parents
Have all electronic portfolios completed before conference day	Have surveys for teachers, students, and parents ready to take with them at the end of the conference	Create surveys for the following parties: Teachers Students Parents Administrators	Participating grade level teachers, students, parents, and administrators	May, 2012	Completion of conferences and surveys returns after conferences	Analyze data from surveys
Students are able to present their academic progress and accomplishments to their parents	Students lead conference by presenting their electronic portfolio	Conduct end of the year conferences	L. Thomas, Principal Participating grade level teachers, students, and parents	May, 2012	Students have the confidence to communicate their academic progress throughout the year to their parents	Present teachers, students, and parents with surveys at the end of the conference
Write and reflect about surveys from all involved parties	Analyze results and comments from surveys	Completed surveys Word document for gathered information	L. Thomas, Principal Participating grade level teachers, students, and parents	May, 2012	Finalize word document and presentation to administrators and staff	Consider what can be improved for future conferences
Get video testimonials from parties involved	Ask volunteers if they are willing to have their opinion of the process be recorded on video	Video testimonials	L. Thomas, Principal Participating volunteers	May, 2012	Volunteers consent to be in video documentation	Be ready for not having any video volunteers, instead have survey completed on paper
Present results to staff	Create a PowerPoint to show results of findings from surveys	Research results Video testimonials PowerPoint presentation	L. Thomas, Principal Participating grade level teachers	May-June, 2012 August, 2012	Administrative teams approval to continue the use of student-led conferences	Create a committee of teachers who participated that will guide new teachers into conducting student-led conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences with a Twist

I have decided to conduct an action research project on Parent-Teacher Conferences Led By Students.  I think this will be a fun and beneficial way to have students become more involved in their progress of academic success for the rest of the school year.  I am excited to develop a plan where students will set goals and be able to track their progress for the remainder of the year.  I hope to continue my research into next year and be able to start in the beginning of the year and include a beginning, middle, and end of the year conference. 

Conducting action research is done by educational professionals and what I have learned is that everyone's main goal is student success.  But finding many ways to achieve that success is what action research is all about.  I have also learned that no one is expecting you to start from scratch.  Use resources all around you and apply them to  your situation.  It is also acceptable to compare your campus to a campus with similar needs and demographics.

How Educational Leaders Use Blogs

           Using blogs is an easy way to have information reach many people short amount of time.  Blogs are easy to read and locate online.  They are a great way to start an interactive discussion with many other bloggers.  Using a blog allows you to receive opinions from other bloggers anywhere in the world and at any time during the day. 

            A couple ideas for educational leaders to use blogs for are; online book study discussions, reflections from colleagues on recent educational laws passed, and ideas for staff developments that have worked for other districts/campuses.

What I Have Learned About Action Research.....

Action Research is the new and improved way of conducting traditional research.  Although action research may be time consuming it has proved to be more beneficial for students.  Professionals work collaboratively and develop a plan to improve student learning and success.  As this plan is implemented there is constant reflection about if professionals are seeing growth among the students or if the plan needs to be modified to meet students’ needs.  When conducting action research there are four main steps to guide you.  First, define an issue to study; second, review professional literature; third, take action; and fourth, use and share results (Ringler, M. 2007. p 30).  When conducting action research you find an issue with students and many professionals work as a team to help improve student learning.  With action research you are involved with the whole process and continually learning and adapting to what works best for the students.  Working collaboratively helps all angles of the issue to be seen and lets discussion occur and lead to new solutions that would not normally happen if the research was done individually.  I believe action research is a positive direction for professionals to take when looking at issue that their campus is focusing on.  It will help bring professionals together instead of feeling alone and overwhelmed.  Action research is time consuming but the end result of success outweighs the planning time.