Passions

In Chapter Two, Dana (2009) discusses nine areas of passion where school leaders may focus when conducting action research. I have always been passionate about two of them, staff development and curriculum development. I find it interesting that after only seven weeks of graduate study, my interests are rapidly expanding. In meeting with my site supervisor and other district leaders, I am gaining a better perspective on why district leaders make certain decisions. In the action and communication of leaders, I now see purposeful strategy. I am seeing in myself leadership qualities that I had always doubted before.

As a former science teacher, action research seems to me to be a very natural process, but one I have never used. I am excited by the idea of implementing my action research plan, studying the data and research, developing a plan, implementing the plan and then reflecting on the outcomes.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks,       CA: Corwin Press.

Proposed Action Research Study

How can Instructional Technology Specialists deliver staff development to best serve the highest number of teachers? I would like to explore different aspects of ITS course offerings, including time, format, instructor, location, and subject, to discover ways to increase attendance by teachers.

This research study will benefit students, teachers, and ITSs. Instructional Technology Specialists will be able to concentrate their efforts in offering staff development that will reach the greatest number of teachers. Teachers will be able to benefit from more and varied staff development opportunities that work best for their learning styles and schedules. Students will benefit from teachers who have more training in using technology to improve instruction.

Using Blogs in a PLC

An educational leader could use a blog to lead a professional learning community with her staff. She could post her thoughts and interesting articles. She could invite her staff to discuss the posts, implement ideas from the blog in the classroom, and post the results in the comments.

Action Research

Action research gives educators a well-defined method to evaluate their own performance, investigate problems in the school, and make positive changes. I would like to try using action research to improve my effectiveness as an Instructional Technology Specialist.

The process starts with an inquiry – I might wonder how ITS’s can deliver staff development to a larger group of teachers.

The next step is to look at available data. I could look at surveys conducted by the district staff development department which allowed teachers to choose the topics, instructors, locations, times, and format of sessions that work best for them. I could also look at recent attendance statistics to determine which sessions were most attended.

Next, the educator reads existing papers and research that pertain to the topic. This helps the educator gather information and ideas relating to the problem. I could look at papers regarding staff development opportunities and motivating teachers.

After looking at data and research, the educator will develop an action plan. If possible, it is beneficial to collaborate with others in this process. I could collaborate with the ITS Staff Development committee to create a plan to increase attendance and improve staff development.

After the plan is implemented, the results are evaluated to see if the plan was successful or needs to be modified.