Action Research Plan

Goals:
The overall goal of this action research plan is to develop a series of lessons which will inform the students of the characteristics, dangers, potential consequences, and ways to prevent cyber bullying.  The goal of action portion of the research project will be to gain insight into how others view the subject of cyber bullying.  The actual action portion of the action research will center on conducting interviews and surveys among the students and administrators at each level, focusing on views on, opinions of, and information regarding cyber bullying.  There will also be a reflection period as I put together the lessons/presentations

Activities:
The activities that will be involved in this project will be done with the students and teachers/administrators in their advisory classes.  Students and administrators will answer surveys focused on cyber bullying characteristics, consequences, and the like. In addition to the surveys, the action researcher will use cyber bullying web sites, recent newspaper articles, and information on cyber bullying from other districts to compile references.  These student surveys and references gathered in passive research will, ostensibly, be used to complete this project.

 
Resources and research tools needed for data gathering:
During the time period of this research, students will be surveyed, and the data gathered will be used in conjunction with information gathered from cyber-bullying awareness web sites, newspaper articles from over the last year regarding cyber bullying incidents and consequences, focusing on the state of Texas. Reflection on answers given by the students and found on the web sites will be a major part of the research for this project, as directed by the various articles assigned by the instructors for the action research class.

Timeline for completion or implementation of activities:
This research project will be conducted over a period one calendar year.
Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan:
Colin Shannon is the one responsible for the implementation of the action research plan.
Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives:
The process for monitoring achievement of goals and objectives will involve receiving a final result which meets the criteria for EDLD 5301.

Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study:
Assessment instruments will include a survey to be taken be the selected classes who view the finished lesson, with questions aimed at finding out what percentage of students felt the presentation was relevant to them, affected them, and what could be done to improve the lesson.  If a student focused lesson has no input from the students before or after viewing a lesson created specifically for them, one of the most significant aspects of action research has not been fulfilled: that of constructing research with opinions from the people “in the trenches.”

Reflections on administrative blogging

Blogs have a number of educational advantages which I could use as an administrator.  First, and perhaps most important of all, blog entries allow for educated discussions and debates to take place online.  Every blog has an area for comments, and in that area, responses to what has been posted more often than not quickly turn into debates on a subject.  Debates are an important part of education, as learners get to express their opinions on a given subject, and have the opportunity to learn a great deal about the subject which is being discussed.  These discussions can take place online in a respectful manner and serve to educate a wide range of people.  Students, teachers, and concerned citizens can comment on issues without fear of any backlash. 

Blogs also allow for information to be posted and shared.  If someone finds a piece of information especially interesting, or has an opinion on a subject (such as the change in the Social Studies TEKS), they can post a link to the article online and then share their opinion on it, allowing others to see it and respond to their opinion.  Not everyone who visits a blog is a member of that blog and can respond to the comments, but they can visit and read the entry and the comments, and they will learn something about a subject they had little or no idea about.  Blogging allows for information to be spread to a larger number of people and, in turn, educate more people.  Blogging in education has major advantages.  As an administrator, I would use them to keep the students, teachers, parents and other citizens informed not only of school business, but also of developments in education which may or may not affect the school. 

Reflections on active research

During my short time in this course, I have learned much about conducting research and asking questions as an administrator rather than as an academic.  As an action researcher, I would be basically studying myself and my own practices.  Action research is very involved and very important, because it is based on posing questions to the people around you, gathering their responses, gathering data to further understand those answers and then reflecting on those findings and making changes if necessary.  Basically, action research allows for administrators to gain insight into what is going on and allows for personal reflection.

Action research is also important for improvement due to the unique challenges faced every year, every semester, even every day, by administrators.  These challenges are faced every day not just by the administrators, but by classroom educators, who seem to see them much more often than do the administrators.  By involving those who work most closely with the students in research, not only is unit cohesion built throughout the staff, but the administrator can gain new insight into educational theories and their own issues, which is a critical part of action research. 

I feel that I could use action research in a number of ways.  The most significant way, which popped into my mind almost as soon as I saw the question, is using this type of research to get to know a new school that I have just taken over as head principal.  I would ask the entire staff to answer five questions anonymously: What is our job, how well are we doing it, what practices should we stop, what should we start doing, and what should we continue to do?  Upon receiving their responses, I would categorize them, read some recent articles which fit closely to the majority of their answers, and then reflect on my own practice.  This research and process would allow me not only to gain an understanding of how my new school functions, it would also allow me to become a part of the process to make the school and, to a lesser extent my own practices, as strong as possible.  This action research process is important on so many levels, not the least of which is the allowance for constant professional self-improvement based on the opinions and needs of the people in the trenches: the teachers.