Progress.....

 I am currently towards the end of my Action Research Project, I have been following my students return to their campuses since Januray of this year.  There has been an interesting variety in how the students have done both with their academic and social adjustments.  I have been able to have regular meetings with the counselors, administrators, and teachers in order to remain up to date on what is going on at the campus.  One of my students, K.G., a kindergartner that was on homebound due to treatment from Leukemia has tranisitioned back to school seamlessly, she has done fabulous both academically and socially.  My second student, G.C., a 6^th grade student with Osteosarcoma, has had a very difficult tranisition back to school.  We have had multiple meetings in order to come up with interventions, counseling sessions, accommodations, and other things in order to help support him as much as possible to ensure his success in school.  My third student, D.D., a sophomore that was diagnosed with severe depression has had somewhat of a bumpy transition but with a lot of work with her counselor and teachers we have been able to make some positive changes to improve her situation at school.  Her grades have drastically improved and her overall demeanor has changed from when I first met her at the beginning of this school year.  I have remained in constant contact not only with the different campuses where my students attend but also with my studnets and their parents.  We have all together been monitoring their progress, noting any difficulties and struggles and trying to make the appropriate adjustments to their plans to help them along.  We are at the point in the year when state testing is coming up quick, once we receive results from the testing I will sit down with the data from the tests, along with all of my other observations, notes, and other documentation to see the kind of progress that my students have made since their transition back to their campuses. 

A few bumps in the road

My action research has been progressing quite a bit since my transition students are now all back in school.  It has been really interesting to see how they have been doing.  One of them is doing phenomenol, one is having a little trouble, but still doing well, and the 3rd is struggling a lot academically and with behavior.  I am learning a lot as I continue to see my research come to fruition and I'm looking forward to continuing to see how this all works out.

8 Steps from Analysis to Action

1.   Examining the work: Setting the Foundation – I had a lot of ideas that I was playing with when thinking about my action research project.  I decided to narrow it down by looking at things that are directly affected by my work with homebound students.  I want to find out how we can better assist them in all areas to ensure their success.  After talking to my supervisor about some of my ideas, she helped me to further develop one and gave me some suggestions on who to talk to and how to go about developing and implementing a plan to put my action research into practice.  The topic that we decided on is to put a plan into place on the campus for homebound students who have been out for an extended period of time in order to ensure their success when they return to their home school.  My site supervisor gave me some ideas about how I could go about implementing this type of plan.  She also gave me a lot of feedback about how this could help so many of our students who struggle making the transition back to school.  I feel confident about my decision and am really looking forward to actually putting my plan to practice with a few of my students who are looking at going back to their campus later on this semester or at the beginning of next semester after being out for an extended period of time.  I hope that my plan will help their transition be smoother and will help keep them on track to continue moving forward with their education.  My plan will include working with the individual campuses, with the counselor, teachers, and administrators to facilitate things with the student and give them suggestions and ideas on how to best help my students get back into the swing of things on their campus.  2.  Analyzing data – Looking at the particular type of action research I will be conducting there isn’t a ton of quantitative data involved, I will however have plenty of data to choose from when I add it to the qualitative data.  I will be looking at test scores, grades, and academic performance as well as conducting an extensive amount of interviews, surveys and evaluations to gather as much data as possible about each of my students that I will be following in order to provide the best support for them.  I expect to get a fair amount of my data from the people that are most involved and have the most contact with my students, their teachers, administrators, counselors and parents as well as the students themselves.  A lot of the data I will be looking at will be subjective and will involve how the student is feeling and how others think they are adapting.  3.  Developing deeper understanding – For my particular action research this will go hand in hand with analyzing data, as a fair amount of my data will be qualitative.  This will include like mentioned previously, interviews, surveys, observations and evaluations.  I also plan to engage in some sessions of sharing my plans and discussing them with my colleagues as well as with some of the professionals involved with my students in order to get feedback and gather input and suggestions they think could be helpful additions to my plan.  4.  Engaging in Self-Reflection – I intend to engage in self-reflection by taking frequent notes during interviews/meetings and then following up on these observations, meetings, or anything else in my plan with journaling.  I plan to put my journaling in my blog in order to have a place to gather my thoughts and be able to look back and see the progress that has been made as well as pick up on possible mistakes or things that need to be adjusted.  Another reason I plan to put my journaling in my blog is in order to get feedback and suggestions from others who are also conducting action research, it is always good to have other’s perspectives and ideas when you are entrenched in a project and may not be as objective as you need to be.  5.  Exploring Programmatic Patterns – One of the first things I am doing before I even begin my action research plan is to meet with my site supervisor so that she can review my plan and give me suggestions and feedback as she has been in homebound for many years and knows a lot about students transitioning back to campus.  She also knows the counselors and administrators I will be working with very well and can give me some tips on how to best work with them.  I will also be spending a generous amount of time identifying data and getting opinions from experts in different subjects/areas as to how/what we can do to improve my plan.  I will determine the appropriate measures that need to be taken to effectively implement my plan and make it as successful as possible.  6.  Determining direction – One of the things that I want to focus on and make sure that I am constantly monitoring is my direction, timeline and progress.  I plan to continually take a step back and make sure that the direction my action research is taking is the direction that I intended.  Am I looking at the right data?  Am I using the data to gather useful information and make appropriate changes?  I will work with the administrators and counselors to make sure that I am using all the tools and resources available to best implement my plan at each different campus.  I will continually and periodically share my findings and progress with my colleagues and site supervisor as a way to check my progress and direction and also get feedback/suggestions as to anything that can be adjusted as I move along in my plan.  I am also planning to keep a close eye on my timeline as I want to make sure that my timeline and goals are realistic and attainable.  7.  Taking action for school improvement – I am using the 7.1 template to help guide my action research, I found the template the most appropriate and all inclusive for the type of research I am conducting.  I plan on sharing my plan with key people that will be assisting me in my action research and asking for feedback/suggestions to see if anything needs to be tweaked or can be improved.  I will follow this plan, using it as guide to help me not lose sight of my goal and not deviate too much from my plan so as not to get side tracked.  I plan to take action by making a difference in the lives of my students hopefully giving them a better shot at continued success as they move through their education.  8.  Sustaining improvement – I plan on learning a lot from this action research project.  I intend to do a good amount of sharing with colleagues and anyone else that is involved with my project so that they can follow along and see what we are doing.  I would like to have the opportunity to share at a principals meeting for the district or some other place where I will have an audience of administrators to allow them the opportunity to implement my plan on their campuses if it turns out that it had a positive outcome with the students I will be following.  I’m hoping that engaging in this action research project will teach me the value and importance of action research as well as to become comfortable enough with it to want to continue using it throughout my professional career.

Homebound Student’s Transition to School
Goal:  To investigate the transition process for homebound students returning to school to lessen the academic and social gaps caused by being homebound.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.  Gather all necessary resources to begin to study and identify current policy on student’s transitioning to their campus from homebound.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself) Ellen Cronin Special Programs Director	Before the end of the Fall 2012 Semester.	Student files Grades Test Scores Chancery Grade Speed Mizuni Exceed	I will ask my mentor and campus supervisor to evaluate my sample gatherings and to give feedback and input as to anything that may be missing.
2.  Conduct interviews with counselors and administrators on campuses to find out how they handle transitions of homebound students when they return to campus.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Before the end of the Fall 2012 Semester.	Student Files Interview question template Timeline	I will interview counselors/administrators and ask them how effective they feel their current plan is and if they have any suggestions ideas to improve the way transitions from homebound back to campus are handled now.
3.  Conduct interviews with parents and students to gather information about their expectations for their transition back to school.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Before the end of the Fall 2012 Semester.	Student Files Interview question template Surveys	I will ask parents and students what their expectations are for their return to campus.  I will ask them for suggestions and input.  I will give them a survey concerning their current and prior experiences with transitioning back to their campus from being homebound.
4.  Talk to parents about proposed plan informing them about what we intend to do and what benefits we expect to see from implementing this plan.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Before the end of the Fall 2012 Semester.	Proposed plan in writing	Parent feedback during conferences.
5.  Talk to other homebound teachers at the department meeting providing background information as well as sharing the plan with them.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Homebound Monthly meeting (December 2012)	Power point presentation Handouts Copies of plan and overall timeline	Homebound staff will be surveyed after the presentation to measure effectiveness of presentation and understanding of the plan.  Homebound staff will be given the opportunity to provide feedback and input.
6.  Give plan to administrators and counselors on the campuses where the plan will be implemented so that they can prepare for the return of their homebound student.  Explain how to use the plan and provide any resources they may need to make the plan work.  Share presentation with counselors and administrators.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Before the end of the Fall 2012 Semester.	Power point presentation Handouts Student files Copies of plan and overall timeline	Counselors and administrators will be surveyed after the presentation to measure effectiveness of presentation and understanding of the plan.  Counselors and administrators will be given the opportunity to provide feedback and input.
7.  Begin using the plan with 3 students as they return to their home campuses after being released from homebound.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Throughout the 2012-2013 school year after the plan has been made effective.	Student files Plan in writing Data collection Note taking guide	I will monitor and evaluate student progress in regards to their transition back to campus.  I will make observations of academic performance noting grades, test scores, and teacher observations as well as the student’s social adjustment.
8.  Continue to follow through with the action plan.  Seek input from parents and classroom teachers.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Throughout the 2012-2013 school year after the plan has been made effective.	Student files Interview question template Note taking guide	I will ask the parents and teacher if they feel that our plan is helping their child/student adjust to being back on campus.  I will ask for feedback and/or input on any adjustments that can be made to our plan to help the students.
9.  Conduct interviews with students.  Ask students about their feelings on their transition back to their home campus.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Spring 2013	Interview question template Note taking guide	I will evaluate the effectiveness of my plan by interviewing students and getting feedback about how they feel both academically and socially once they have been on their campus for at least 30 days.  If students are still struggling at this time I will make changes to the plan to include and provide additional support.
10.  Share continuous findings with the HB staff and supervisor during monthly meetings.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Ongoing, one time a month during scheduled monthly department meeting	Student files Data gathered Handouts	I will have my colleagues fill out evaluations on the effectiveness of my presentation and findings.
11.  Share continuous findings with administrators and counselors.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Ongoing, at least monthly either through a face to face meeting, or an e-mail debriefing.	Student files Data gathered Handouts	I will have the administrators and counselors fill out evaluations on the effectiveness of my presentation and findings.
12.  Conduct formal and informal end of year assessment to see how the students are doing.  Look at test results, surveys and interviews.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Beginning of May 2013, allowing 4 weeks to gather all necessary information before the end of the school year.	Student files Test results Interview question template Note taking guide	The evaluation will be based on observations of students, data collected, and documentation of student performance.
13.  Share conclusions, findings, interesting data and interviews as well as recommendations with teachers, administrators and parents.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Last week in May of 2013, when all data is collected and organized from the end of year results.	Power point presentation Brochures created with information about the plan including data gathered, conclusions and recommendations.  Evaluations	Members present for presentation will fill out evaluations.  Evaluations will include the effectiveness of the plan and the presentation of findings.
14.  Evaluate the effectiveness of the transition plan from the administrator, counselor and teacher perspective.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Upon completion of the study and school year.  End of the 2012-2013 school year.	Evaluations Cumulative data Questionnaire	I will give final evaluations in regards to the entire action research project requesting perspectives and feedback from the administrators, counselors, and teachers.  I will also do a generous amount of self-reflecting on the action research project and request feedback from my mentor/supervisor.
15.  Evaluate the effectiveness of the transition plan from the students and parents perspective.	Ana Aguilar Homebound Teacher (myself)	Upon completion of the study and school year.  End of the 2012-2013 school year.	Evaluations Student surveys Cumulative data	I will give final evaluations in regards to the entire action research project requesting perspectives and feedback from the students and parents.

Deciding on an action research project

This week has been full of ideas and ups and downs, trying to decide what I am going to do my action research project on.  I had to do a lot of thinking outside of the box as many of the examples that were in the text and posted by colleagues do not pertain to my particular situation.  I am somewhat limited to what I can conduct my action research on as I do not work on a campus.  While it is somewhat limiting I am also able to explore other topics that administrators on a campus do not normally able to look into.  I have access to many different campuses throughout the district at different grade levels and different socio-economic status levels.

Tha action research project that I have decided to conduct to inquire what kind of supports are currently in place and how we can improve upon those supports for students who are homebound when they return to campus.  As a homebound teacher, I see how easily some students fall behind while they are on homebound.  We see our students 4 hours a week each week for the duration of their time on homebound.  In 4 hours we are expected to teach the instruction given in an entire week of school.  The students are expected to do a good amount of work on their own besides the 4 hours, but they only actually have teaching and support during that time.  Also, many students who are on homebound are very sick, many times they are undergoing chemotherapy or are recovering from surgery so they also miss class time or are just too sick to work.  All of these things factor into students falling behind on their school work despite both their Teacher of Record and their Homebound teacher's best efforts.  My inquiry would involve trying to find out what the campuses are doing to help support these students once they are well enough to return to school.  What kinds of programs do they have in place?  Is tutoring available?  Is there remediation that can be done?  What else can we do as a team when they are on homebound?

Conducting this type of action research will first and foremost benefit our homebound students.  It will hopefully help them get back on track as quickly and easily as possible once they return to school.  It will be very interesting and beneficial to the campuses as well if I am able to get suggestions and ideas or come up with a plan on how to best help these students and share it with our campuses throughout the district.  Hopefully with my action research I can set up a plan that will make the transition back to school a successful one for all of our homebound students.

Well hello there action research!

As I have been reading and researching information about action research I’ve learned a great deal about how it works and for what it is used.  One of the things that I’ve learned and that has stuck with me is that through the use of action research we have the opportunity to grow as professionals and also to take ownership and have a hands on approach to our learning and growing.  Action research involves collecting data, analyzing data, studying relevant literature, questioning, and using all of the information we gather and come up with to help us make changes and better decisions for ourselves and our campuses.  Action research requires that the individual not only acquire information from other sources but also to do a fair amount of self-reflection to make the best improvements to his/her plans.  It allows the opportunity to make changes and improvements based on actual situations happening on their campus.  It is first-hand knowledge and experience that is tailor made for the situation that the administrator is trying to solve. 

One of the ways I think action research could be used on a campus is through PLCs.  As a classroom teacher in previous years that has participated in many PLCs I feel that this is a perfect opportunity to use action research.  Since the PLCs are ongoing throughout the school year and they often involve the same members, it is easy to fall into a rut and for the PLCs to not be as useful as they can be.  It would be a good opportunity to have constant self-reflection and analysis as to what can be done to make the time spent in PLCs more effective, how we can learn more and share more in the time allowed.  It would be really nice to see growth in how the PLCs are handled throughout the year hopefully see improvements and more success from all of the teachers due to what is being shared and learned during PLCs. 

Education leaders can use blogs in so many different ways.  For me one of the biggest perks about a blog is simply the idea of journaling.  I journal often to keep my thoughts in order and to help me do some self-reflection on my personal life and professional life.  I think journaling is so good for individuals to put there thoughts into words and on paper, it helps to see the ideas, and re-read them.  It would be a great place for educational leader to journal in order to keep track of the action research.  They could post ideas in certain areas, to always have a running list of thoughts and ideas that they would like to change or improve.  Then as action research is used for some of these ideas they can journal and take notes on their findings and data collection.  It would also be an excellent place to document their successes or any problems they run into along the way.  How great would it be to later be able to go back and see how far you've come and how much you've accomplished?  Not to mention that it would also be a place to be able to get feedback from others and get ideas that you may not have thought about before.  Like they say two heads is better than one, well how about an infinite amount of people that could possibly read your blog and give you ideas and suggestions, you can't find that anywhere else.