Week 2 Blog Post

I have learned quite a bit this week in Action Research 5301. I had the opportunity to listen to 2 people discuss action research in the educational setting. Action research is a great tool that can be implemented in many ways. I think it is imperative for people who actually work in the schools and see the students everyday, make the changes in the school district. I learned that when you notice a problem, you need to be proactive, and you don't have to reinvent the wheel. We can look for other people who have experienced similar experiences with success and use some of the same techniques. I also learned that you should always be practical and have a purpose when approaching an action research. 

We also looked at the nine areas that are frequently identified as needing further research in the school systems. They include: staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, individual students, school community/culture, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice. 

After reviewing the nine areas and sitting with my site supervisor, I have figured out what I am going to do my action research project on.  
            **Creativity and rigor are major components in college readiness. Due to mandated tests, some teachers have gone to a test preparation, teaching “the” test, and more test procedures kind of classroom. We are told that we need to have student-centered classrooms with creativity, critical thinking, and technology. We have tests (STAAR) that are meant as a means to see if children will be prepared for college, yet college is not all about exams. Students in college have to know how to study, to take notes, to answer open ended questions, think critically (not just eliminate answer choices), they need to be able to research, and they need to be responsible for their actions. I understand that we have a lot of pressure on us as teachers to have outstanding passing rates on those exams, but we also have a responsibility to prepare our students for the next level. Although Texas has one of the highest high school graduation rates in the U.S., according to the Texas Association of Community Schools, only 21.9% of Texas students complete a post secondary degree or certificate. Somewhere along the way we are not reaching our students like we should. I would like to do my action research determining if we are doing a good job of preparing our students for college, and also the real world (for those choosing not to do the college route). I would like to research what some of the necessary skills are for college students, survey college kids and see how they feel they were prepared for college. What helped? What could have been improved, etc? I would then like to bring it back to my campus and see if we are implementing these necessary skills. I would also like to bring this across the content areas and I will research lessons that can fit in each content areas and inspire teachers to modify their lesson plans to incorporate some of the ideas that I find helpful. I think that sometimes when teachers listen to professional development, it is too general and it doesn’t give ideas for each subject. I hope that I can be knowledgeable enough to encourage each grade and subject to implement changes.