Examining
the Work: Goals
My action research will take place at
Sharyland High School. There are over 3,000
students currently at the campus, composed of 9th through 12th
graders. This action research focuses on only those students that are required
to take the STAAR EOC tests in order to meet graduation requirements, which
narrows the study to current 9th and 10th graders. The
focus will be on students that took the STAAR EOC tests as 9th
graders, and are either scheduled to retest in May 2013, or have previously met
the state standards and are scheduled to take the 10th grade level
STAAR EOCs. I chose this action research
in order to get a better feel of the school culture, as it pertains to
motivational techniques of administrators and teachers. As a core area World
History teacher myself, the pressures brought by the need to succeed on
multiple standardized tests has affected my teaching and motivation. I have
also witnessed the same pressures from students, as it is common practice for
all faculty and staff to remind students of the number of tests and how
important they are to their ability to graduate from high school. My goals are
to identify specific motivational techniques utilized by administrators and
teachers that have proven to be effective, as evident by student performance on
STAAR EOC test. Secondly, I would like to compile those motivational techniques
in a central database where they will be available to all staff. Thirdly, I would like to provide opportunities for
teachers to lead staff development sessions to pass effective motivational
techniques on to other teachers at the school. I believe a byproduct of this
action research, if done correctly, will be the increased empowerment of
teachers at the school.
Analyzing
Data:
1.
Identify
highest and lowest percentile students through STAAR test results.
2.
STAAR
Test results from ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies will be gathered in
order to compare students in the highest and lowest percentiles.
3.
Compare
students who have successfully met state standards in all core area courses and
scored in the highest percentile.
4.
Check
grades for those students to ensure that class grades reflect success on STAAR
test.
5.
Construct
a survey for administrators/teachers with focus being how they feel about their
teacher motivation abilities leading to growth in student performance.
6.
Construct
a survey for students with focus being on how they feel about their teacher’s
ability to motivate them leading to growth in their performance in school.
7.
Construct
a survey for teachers with focus being on how they feel about their abilities
to motivate students to ensure growth in overall student performance.
Developing
a Deeper Understanding:
Throughout this action research, many
opportunities to “switch gears” and turn towards other areas will present
themselves. It is my hope that this action research will be a journey of growth
for me as a I address wonderings that I have had for years concerning teacher
motivation, administrator motivation, and how they both lead to growth in
student performance. Throughout my 15 years of teaching, I have seen many
programs come and go that were supposed to be the answer to student performance
issues. Through this action research, perhaps a deeper understanding of what is
at the core of teacher/student motivation can be discovered or uncovered.
Furthermore, the understanding that at the core of a successful school are not
successful programs, but instead successful people.
Engaging
in Self Reflection:
Throughout my educational life I have had the
opportunity to study under, and work for, many administrators. As a Head Coach
at Sharyland High School, I have been able to develop deeper relationships with
both head principals and assistant principals, that I feel have played a great
role in my development as an educational leader. As a teacher, my focus has
always been about how to better my own understanding of content and student
expectations, in order to prepare them for the informational side of exams. The
overwhelming need to develop relationships with students in the classroom that
I have now, really did not ever find its
way into any of my curriculum writing preparation, classroom discipline
experiences or attendance committee meetings. I have now come to realize that
it is through the developments of relationships between administration and
teachers, as well as teachers and students that pave the way to growth in
student performance.
Exploring
Programmatic Patterns:
It is vital that the target groups, which
will be analyzed and compared, be identified first. Group A is the group of freshmen students that
scored in the top percentile of their class, and met all state standards in
each of the core area courses. Group B will
be the students that scored in the lowest percentile of their class, and did
not meet any of the state standards in each of the core area courses. Next,
PEIMS data on attendance will need to be collected and analyzed to ensure the
reasons for failure to meet standards is not because of lack of attendance. Finally,
how the data will be analyzed needs to be determined. Through interviews, I
would like to pinpoint student opinion as to what most motivates them to score
high on standardized tests. Being a core area teacher, I am concerned that a
high percentage of students are too concerned with the test and therefore do
not focus on classroom content. Through
this action research, our administration and teachers should be able to learn
new and valuable information in the form of reflective appraisals that help to
improve motivational techniques designed to increase performance in our school.
Determining
Direction:
This action research will take approximately
nine months to complete. During this time I will be able to disseminate
multiple surveys that will steer the research into new directions if needed
during that time. During this same time period, I will also schedule interviews
with teachers who students mention as being motivational teachers. Through
these interviews, I will be able to help adjust the surveys as we proceed
through the action research timeline. In the end, the goal remains the
investigation of effective motivational techniques utilized by teachers at the
high school, and to enable opportunities for teachers to share those techniques
with other teachers to improve student performance.
Assessment:
There will be multiple assessments done
throughout the action research period. Those assessments will be in the form of
review of compiled data and review and editing of survey and interview
questions.
Taking
Action for Improvement:
The goal of any action research is to
improve. Whether that action research deals with scores on tests, attitude,
culture or teaching styles, the goal will always be to try and improve the
subject chose. In researching effective motivational techniques of
administrators and teachers, the goal is improvement and effectiveness through
knowledge. Gathering data from all stakeholders in the education system is
crucial. Interviews and surveys are an efficient and effective way to gather
large amounts of information, with the ability to go as shallow or deep as the
action research calls for. Once ideas are assembled, the opportunity for
effective teachers to be able to share ideas for success with others at the
school should motivate them and empower them as well.
Sustaining
Improvement:
Once the action research is complete, it is
important to maintain professional growth through staff development given by
teachers as it relates to student performance. Teachers should be reminded that
there is an opportunity to share their great ideas with their peers. This
empowerment would improve culture and provide ownership opportunities to many
teachers that may have great ideas to improve student performance. That same
opportunity should be provided to the students and administration as well in
the form of surveys on a consistent basis.
