Update on my ARP and field-based activities

At the moment, I am about to finish up on the 3^rd course in this program. I feels like I just started in the program so being 25% of the way done is an awesome feeling. With that being said, it has been a challenge to balance work and school. Just like everyone else who is currently teaching, I have been extremely busy. With the everyday struggle of teaching and planning my math lessons, coaching duties, UIL Calculators practice, and being included in our Technology, SBDM, and School Improvement committees, it has been hard to dedicate as much time as I would like to my studies.

My ARP is going to focus on the effects our STEM and project based learning activities have on our 6^th grade STAAR results. The STEM program has started off well. We have a great group of 6^th grade teachers, many of them new teachers, who are excited to be a part of the STEM program. Our new 6^th grade students have really bought into the project based learning lessons we created over the summer for them. They know they are part of a special program and have shown pride in that. I have already created a data matrix that I will be using to track student achievement on our local and district level assessments. The goal is to look for a correlation between our project based learning lessons and student achievement on those assessments. Once the STAAR exam results are in, I will have a better understanding on the success of the program.

As part of my field based activities, I have become involved in a lot of activities at our campus. I normally coach our UIL calculator applications team and our TMSCA team but this year I was selected to be one of the UIL coordinators for our campus. It has given me the opportunity to learn about the financial aspects of the program. I have learned to create purchase orders and plan our budget. I also get to join our head principal, athletic coordinators, and the other UIL coordinator in our monthly UIL coordinators meeting. It has been an eye opening experience for me. I had no idea of all the events that have to get voted on and approved. I was also chosen to be part of our Site Based Decision Making committee. We have only had one meeting so far but I am excited to take part in a committee that I know can have a major impact on the education of our students. I was also placed on our campus Technology Committee. In this committee I will be given the opportunity to evaluate and consider technological applications that are currently in place at our campus and also look for new resources to possibly bring in. Part of my field-based activities plan was to help out with the technology at our campus. I was able to do so as soon as the school year started. Our math department received Smart Boards so I was able to train our math teachers on how to use the smart board. I even went as far as to set up their Smart Boards and computers for some of the teachers who aren’t tech savvy. We also replaced all of our document cameras with new “Lady Bug” wireless document cameras. Some teachers were able to get theirs working but I set up about 50% of the document cameras for the 6^th grade teachers. I have also been able to be involved in several interview committees and was able to supervise our registration days during the summer.

I know there is still a long road ahead of me, but I feel confident that I will be able to complete all of my field-based activities and my ARP.

Action Research Planning Template

Action Planning Template

Goal: How does the implementation of project based learning affect test scores on the STAAR exams?

        Action Step(s)              Person(s)              Timeline:

                                          Responsible            Start/End           Needed Resources          Evaluation

1. Create a matrix that will have all of the test data for our incoming 6th grade students as well as the 6th grade students from the previous school year.	Adrian Chapa	Start: 8/26/2013 End: 5/31/2014	I will need a list of all of the 6th grade and 7th grade students for the 2013-2014 school year. I will also need access to School City which I will use to collect the test scores for previous years.	Campus Principal
2. I will conduct interviews with both teachers, students, and administrators to gauge how they feel project based learning has impacted student learning.	Adrian Chapa	Start: 10/07/2013 End: 5/31/2014	I will need to request for classroom coverage once a month to conduct the interviews with the teachers, students, and administrators.	Campus Principal
3. After collecting all of the necessary data, I will begin to analyze it and make my conclusions as well as provide possible methods for improvement in a final report.	Adrian Chapa	Start: 5/31/2014 End: 6/30/2014	I will need access to the STAAR results for the 2013-2014 school year for K. White Jr. High.	Campus Principal

Week 2 Interviews....SO WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES!!

Our week 2 assignment in the 5301 Research course had us listen to 3 interviews and answer a couple of questions from 2 of the interviews. I chose to use the interviews of Mr. Briseno and Dr. Chargois. The following is what I took from the 2 interviews I chose.


I found this to be a very eye opening experience for me. During my first year of teaching, we had a new principal take over our campus and he was extremely data driven. He made sure that we knew everything about all of our students, especially our sub-populations. When I would speak to other teachers in my district, they always said that they did not have to do any of the things our principal was having us do. In less than two years, our campus went from being the lowest scoring middle school in the district on all of our district assessments to consistently finishing in first or second on every assessment. It was great to hear these gentlemen speak about action research because it helped me understand that this is growing trend in education. We weren't the only ones working this hard on data collection!

Mr. Briseno seemed to be very focused on quantitative data. He wants to know the numbers and look for patterns or areas for improvement. Dr. Chargois seems very strategic in his research methods. He plans things out and makes sure that any research being done in his district is being done to help increase student performance.


Data is our future. Businesses have been data mining for years now to predict what customers want and are likely to purchase based on their searches and demographics. I feel like education is starting to follow that trend now. We have so much student data available to us these days. Learning how to analyze and breakdown this data through action research inquiries is going to be key as we work towards making sure we meet the educational needs of ALL OF OUR STUDENTS. 

Blogs for Educational Leaders

Educational leaders can use blogs as a way to organize their thoughts and research. A blog can provide an educational leader a tool that they can use to reflect on the research they have done and track their own personal growth through their posts. Blogs also allow for educational leaders to get input from their followers. It's basically a modern day journal that we can share with a huge population of readers. 

Action Research

This week, one of the main concepts that I learned about was action research. So far I have learned that action research differs from traditional educational research methods in that it is led by the principal or educator that is looking for improvement. Instead of learning about research and findings made by someone else, action research allows an educational leader the opportunity to lead their own research and discovery. The educational leader decides what they will inquire about. This allows them the opportunity for self-reflection while at the same time, being able to conduct research on issues they are facing at their campus. Every leader will have their own unique challenges at their campus. Assuming that research done by someone at the university level will address everyone’s situation is unrealistic. This is where action research becomes the best option because it allows for educational leaders to address issues that may be unique to their situation. I see myself utilizing action research to address a variety of unique issues that my campus may face. Action research provides education leaders with the flexibility to research a large range of issues. I plan on using this to answers questions I might have about all of our student populations. By doing the inquiry and research, I will grow professionally while simultaneously working towards improving the campus as a whole. 

HELLO!

Hello everyone!

My name is Adrian Chapa and I will be using this blog to keep up with the research that I will be doing as I complete my Master's in Education Leadership program. 

Please follow my blog and I will do the same and try my best to provide as much feedback as possible.