Action Research plan

Action Planning Template
Goal:
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Look at STAAR math Scores to see how Students did on Problem solving TEKS	Eckerman (myself)	May 2013	STAAR math Results	Determine specific TEKS and areas in problem solving that my student sample did poorly on.
Prepare math Journals “Problem Solvers” for my sample	Eckerman (myself)	August 2013	Journal Notebooks	These are where my sample will work their warm-ups each morning.
Collect problem-solving math warm-ups to use	Eckerman (myself)	August 2013	Math Essentials Envision Lonestar Rigorous Problem Solving	I will use these resources to pull my warm-ups from to use in their journals daily.
Set the foundation for  my class - expectations and purpose	Eckerman (myself)	August 2013	Myself- peptalks	I want to set the foundation for the study to my students.  I want them to be motivated and excited to partake in this research.  I  will set the  purpose and procedures so that students know what is expected of them during this time.
Daily Warm-ups in Action	Eckerman (myself)	August 2013-March 2014	Journals Math Essentails Envision Lonestar Rigorous Problem Solving	I will begin our 7 month project of daily math warm-ups and reflect on the progress and results.  I will look at journal problems weekly to assess how students are doing and any changes that may need to be made.
Collecting Data	Eckerman (myself)	August 2013- March 2014	Journal Samples CBA and Benchmark scores Student interviews and surveys STAAR Math results 2013-2014	I will collect the following forms of data and reflect on them as my project continues.  I will use the data to analyze if the warm-ups have been successful and in which ways. The student Surveys will be Conducted to Report if student Readiness for Math has improved.
Comparing data	Eckerman (myself)	May 2014	STAAR results  From 2013- 2014	I will look at The new STAAR math Results after The study to see If there is any Difference in Student Performance
Reflection	Eckerman (myself)	August 2013-May 2014	Data collected	I will reflect on my findings and what I found to be successful and worth continuing and what I found to not work or ideas that need to be adjusted and changed.

Action Research Project

Process Overview

1.    SETTING THE FOUNDATION- Through collaboration during staff meetings with teachers on my campus, the issue of student performance in math in regards to problem solving has been identified as an issue.

2.    ANALYZING DATA- I will use a variety of data gathering, including student surveys and interviews, previous and current Math STAAR results, student math cba’s and benchmarks, and daily journals. 

3.    DEVELOPING DEEPER UNDERSTANDING- Initial data gathering will lead to additional questions that will cause me to dig deeper into analyzing if my daily math warm ups are showing improvements.  Interviews of students will lead to further questions of whether students are developing a readiness to learn new math concepts through their daily warm-ups.

4.    ENGAGE IN SELF-REFLECTION- I will ask my self some reflective questions including:

-Will I be able to implement consistency with my daily warm-ups, making sure to use them every morning in order to collect adequate data.

-Are my students’ attitudes toward math, specifically problem solving, positive or negative.

-Is this warm-up time helping to utilize every minute of the day (no down time).

5.    EXPLORING PROGAMMATICAL PATTERNS- After talking with my site supervisor and listening to the opinion of other math teachers, I will begin to formulate a more definite solution.

6.    DETERMING DIRECTION- I am clear on what I am attempting to solve during my action research project.  I will collaborate with my 4^th grade team members to assist me in approaching this issue.  My time line is very realistic, it will take approximately 7 plus months.  My plan to monitor direction has been established.  As the project gets on its way I will revise and improve the plan as needed.  If warm-up problems are too difficult easy we will adjust.  If students are showing improvement in problem solving by their first benchmark we will also have to make adjustments. 

7.    TAKING ACTION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT- I will develop a written plan of my action and have used the Tool 7.1 template to assist me. 

8.    SUSTAIN IMPROVEMENT- If my results show success and benefits for my students I will share my findings with those that will also benefit from knowing the results.  I will also apply this process to other areas of my personal professional development. 

Change of Heart...

After my conference with my site supervisor over which topic to use for my action research project, I had a change of heart.  I originally emailed her the 3 different topics so she could look ahead and determine key points for each research or add some topics that we could discuss.  Our school is currently taking on a huge project called the curriculum project.  This is helping our campus get aligned instructionally, so she wanted me to do my action research on one of the components within this project.  She decided that the explicit vocabulary instruction research was not as practical for our campus, but the other two were great choices.  She wanted me to make the final decision because she believed it should be the topic I am most interested in.  I am going with the topic on the use of effective warm- ups.  This is part of our school project and teachers on our campus are slowly starting to implement them, but we still have some that are skeptical about making the change to their lesson plans and adding warm-ups.  Together, my principal and I agreed that this would be a perfect research project that will benefit myself, our teachers, and our students.