My Action Research - In Depth

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 9^th through 12^th 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 9^th and 10^th graders. The focus will be on students that took the STAAR EOC tests as 9^th graders, and are either scheduled to retest in May 2013, or have previously met the state standards and are scheduled to take the 10^th 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.