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Action Research Plan

Area of Focus: Sustaining and/or Enhancing Data Use in Your Context

Analyze

Pattern of Need:

What is the pattern of need you want your action research project to address?

  • Based on NECAP average writing score of 1.5 for 3rd grade and    for 5th grade, students are struggling with writing.

 

What data sources did you use to find your pattern of need?

  • NECAP Writing data

  • Implementation data

 

 

 

Research Question:

What is your action research question?

  • What happens to writing proficiency when the Cycle of Inquiry is implemented regularly by all staff?

 

 

Information Sources:

What books, authors, articles, or sources of information (e.g. ERIC, internet websites, workshops) will you consult to find out more about the topic you are researching?

  • FACES writing process

 

 

 

 

Alignment:

How does your Action Research Question align with other related initiatives (e.g. your personal goal from Day 1, School Level Objectives, School Improvement Plan, other RTTT initiatives or other school/district wide initiatives, etc.)?

 

  • School Improvement Plan

  • Professional Growth Goals

  • Rollout of Common Core

 

 

 

Strategize

Data Collection:

What data do you need to answer this question?

  • What data do you have access to already that may help you answer this question?

    • NECAP

    • NECAP Release Questions

    • Classroom data—constructed responses

    • Student writing

 

 

  • What other sources of data will you use in your data collection (e.g. surveys, focus groups, interviews, student work, etc.)? Remember, you may utilize both qualitative and qualitative data.

    • Common writing rubrics—need to make sure they are uniform

 

 

 

 

How will you choose to display your data?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Implementation Steps and Timeline:

What are the steps you need to take to implement your action research project, and when will you complete those steps?

 

Action

Date

Create simplified Instructional Action Plan template

October 2013

Create common, school-wide writing rubric—utilize samples from other schools in district

November 2013

All staff trained in the Cycle of Inquiry

December 2013

Collect student sample work from released NECAP test items—baseline

January 2014

Teachers meet to analyze writing assessments utilizing Instructional Action Plan template

January 2014

Calibrate scoring of rubrics

February 2014

Collect student sample work from released NECAP test items—mid-year

March 2014

Teachers meet to analyze writing assessments utilizing Instructional Action Plan template

March 2014

Collect student sample work from released NECAP test items—end of year

May 2014

Teachers meet to analyze writing assessments utilizing Instructional Action Plan template

May 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources:

Who will be involved?

  • SDLT

  • Faculty

 

 

What materials will you need to access or create?

  • Common rubrics

  • PARCC Release Questions

  • NECAP Release Questions

 

 

 

 

Documentation:

How will you document your progress?

  • NECAP scores

  • 3 writing assessments

  • Data conversation sheets, sign-in sheets

 

What visual data display will you utilize?

  • Data wall—show growth over time

  • Student data displays

 

 

Analyzing Data:

How are you going to analyze your data from your data collection?

  • Common rubrics across grade levels

  • Calibrating rubrics

  • After each writing assessment, collect data, identify pattern of need, move through cycle of inquiry

 

When are you going to analyze your data? At particular intervals?

  • January, March, May 2014

 

 

 

 

Act

Assess:

How will you know if it is working?

 

  • Increase in student achievement on writing assessments and NECAP scores.

  • Staff participation as evidenced by implementation data and data conversations.

 

 

 

 

Reflect and Share Results:

  • What stakeholders would be interested in your research?

    • All stakeholders—parents, students, teachers, district

 

 

 

 

  • Where could you share your results? (e.g. staff meetings, PTA meetings, etc.)

    • Data wall, school report night, faculty meetings, school website

 

 

  • What visual data display will you choose to share with stakeholders?

 

 

 

Plans for Next Steps:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainability Implementation Plan

 

Analyze

Strategize

Act

 

  • What need do you see for next year?

  • What are the contributing factors?

  • What strategies could be used to address these needs?

  • What is the high-impact strategy you will use?

  • What will you do?

  • How will you know if it worked?

 

Collaborative Structures

  • All teachers comfortable with Cycle of Inquiry and utilized consistently and with ease.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Training—turnkey exercises

  • Practice

  • Administrative oversight

 

  • Data conversation occurring consistently

  • Increased consistency in instructional practices in regard to student writing

Leadership

  • Continued commitment and enthusiasm

  • Availability

  • Appropriate provision of tangible resources—released items, time and space for meetings, etc.

  • Feedback to grade level teams

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Regular feedback (note, stopping by meetings, etc.)

  • School-wide celebration

  • Training days, after school conversations—in-house experts

  • Evidence of feedback

  • Tangible resources—work is completed

  • Teachers feel supported (survey)

Extending the Reach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • All teachers and support personnel (itinerant teachers, etc.) are using the Cycle of Inquiry

  • Parent involvement

 

  • Part of training—learn Cycle of Inquiry

  • Itinerants sit in on grade level meetings periodically

  • Data wall

  • Parents understand the Cycle of Inquiry—how teachers utilize data

  • All teachers are trained and become part of grade level teams

  • Itinerant teachers are using Cycle of Inquiry in their own practice

  • Community email list serve to parents

  • Data wall

Initiative Integration

  • Some will include Cycle of Inquiry into PGGs

  • Continued integration of Common Core standards

  • School Improvement Plan

 

 

 

 

 

  • Trainings

  • Make sure the rigor of instruction is aligned to the Common Core

  • Action Research Question will be included in SIP

  • Timeline of the process and how they implemented it into practice; data conversations

  • Lesson plans, assessments (NECAP, formative, etc)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources and Supports

What additional resources and supports are necessary to carry out this plan/s?

Who do you need help/support from?

What are the implications if this resource and/or support are not available?

Time allotment to analyze data—worked into schedule

Principal or District

Difficulty and delay with successful implementation

 

 

 

 

Participation from all school staff.

All faculty

Will not fully achieve our goal

 

 

 

Substitutes (3 subs, 5 times throughout year)

District

Push back timeline—won’t accomplish as much in the year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

District-Wide Sustainability Plan

How does your plan relate to the other schools in your district?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 10

Principal Meetings

Combined common planning time

FACES rubrics

 

Where might there be opportunities for collaboration within your district?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Substitutes for training in Cycle of Inquiry—eventually move to CPT for data analysis

 

What resources and/or supports from the district office might help support this collaboration?

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