Harmony Elementary Action Research Plan

Harmony Elementary Plan of Action

By: Marguerite Lowak ET 8015

Harmony Mission/Vision Statement:

Our belief is that all children can learn in the learning environment established for them by all our staff and they will be successful, responsible, and productive citizens. In the learning environment at Harmony each child has the opportunity to achieve at his/her true academic potential by participating in a well rounded curriculum. The curriculum and programs not only address academic needs, but social awareness, positive self worth, and leadership skills that will be with them throughout their formative years.

Action Research Statement and Goals:

All classroom teachers will work on the creation of a classroom web page. Teachers will have their web pages live by the end of the school year. Classroom pages will enhance parent/teacher/student communication as well as improve academic achievement in the area of Mathematics. Through surveys, parent conferences, and test data, parent communication and math scores are the two areas in need of improvement. Campus and teacher websites can help target both of these areas. Administrative and teachers sites will prove a more transparent look into school happenings. Websites that have links to math sites, podcasts, vodcasts will allow parent to help their students at home.

The following questions will be investigated:

What part does a classroom website play in regards to communication with parents?

How are parents using the campus website, and how is it affecting communication.

What are students mainly using the campus or teacher website for, and has it improved communication with campus staff?

How is the classroom website helping improve academic achievement.

Narrative:

For the past three years Harmony Elementary has found itself near to low performing in the area of mathematics. The administrative team worked together with teachers to devise a plan of action. Unfortunately this year they found themselves in the same situation, but their scores came in even lower than last year’s scores. After reviewing the scores, teachers will work with campus administration as well as district technology specialist to approach improving scores from many different avenues. The ultimate goal is to move the campus toward an exemplary status.

ISTE Standards: TF-I.A, TF‐I.2, TF‐I.B, TF‐II.A, TF‐II.F, TF‐III.A, TF‐IV.B, TF‐V.C, TF‐V.D, TF‐VII.A, TF‐VIII.C,

Activities/Action Steps Designed to Achieve the Objectives	Resources/ Research Tools needed for Gathering Data	Timeline for Completion	Person(s) Responsible	Assessment/Evaluation Instrument
1. Meet with Site Based Decision Making Committee to help set goals for teacher/campus/ administrative websites Examining the work	Information on current websites/wiki’s, Research on how websites improve classroom communication and student achievement	August 19, 2010	Site Based Decision Making Committee	Vote taken during meeting as well as collaborative information on Google Doc.
2. Initial set up of new classroom website where teachers are expected to enter their personal information and complete the class description. Analyzing data	School Fusion teacher set up documents, laptops,	First Thursday of each month	Marguerite Lowak	Teachers will complete a Google survey based on wants and needs for classroom website content and training
3. Acceptable Use and Web Publishing Policy training for teachers and staff.	East Central ISD Acceptable Use Policy and Web Publishing Policy, Power point presentation	Thursday August 19, 20010	Marguerite Lowak	Grade level T chart quiz, Teacher Handbook signature page
4. Meet with parents, students, teachers, administrators at the PTA meeting to discuss Acceptable Use Policy, and website wants and needs in regards to teacher/campus websites. (Math Links to help improve student achievement) Develop a deeper understanding	Hard copies of the Acceptable Use Policy and Web Publishing Policy, links to the information on district website, 2009 TAKS Math data, list of campus initiatives for math	First campus PTA meeting.	Marguerite Lowak, Debbie Grams, Lalli Carr	Parent/student Google survey, website hit counter
5. Monthly meetings to continue development of teacher and administrative sites. Reflect on successes/failures and improvements that need to be made. Engaging in Self-Reflection, Exploring Programmatic Patterns, Determining direction	School Fusion links for teachers. Training laptops. Testing results for the 6 weeks	First Thursday of each month	Marguerite Lowak, Debbie Grams, Lalli Carr, teachers, staff	Teachers will complete a Google survey based on wants and needs for classroom website content and training. Parent/student Google survey, website hit counter
6. Reconvene with Site Based Committee Take action for school improvement, Determine direction, Sustaining improvement	Notes from teacher monthly meetings, review of teacher/admin. Web sites, testing results, teacher and parent survey results	Date to be determined	Marguerite Lowak, Debbie Grams, Lalli Carr	Teachers will complete a Google survey based on wants and needs for classroom website content and training. Parent/student Google survey, website hit counter, Test results