Action research enables practitioners to work
through problems in real-time using the process of reflection, action, and
evaluation. It gives educators a voice, encourages them to work with
colleagues, professionalizes their career, and provides them with a multitude
of data to inform practice (Hendricks, 2013). Educators are a reflective
group who consistently adjust instruction to meet the needs of learners,
so action research is a valid platform for finding and
implementing research-based strategies that can be used in the classroom
or in a large school setting.
I hope fostering parent, teacher, and community partnerships at
Swansboro Middle School will have many benefits: creating rapport
between parents and teachers, assisting teachers with communication strategies,
providing resources for both the school and the community to benefit students,
and possibly increasing student achievement (Epstein, 2010).
Initially, I want to survey my population to determine our
needs, and then use that data to implement one strategy over the next few
weeks. For example, parents may feel
there isn't enough communication “keeping them in the loop” or
that the communication they receive is mostly negative. Our action for a
few weeks may be for teachers to choose a few students from their class weekly
and make a point of writing notes home about those
students' progress while highlighting something
positive they've done or said during the week. I’d like to
follow up with a focus group or individual interviews to determine the effects
of the action from the teachers’ perspectives. Was it a worthwhile
activity? Did you learn anything about your students or their parents
you didn't know before? Is this an activity you would
consider continuing? From there, I'll use survey data and inquiry data
from teachers to determine the next action to implement.
Epstein, J. (2010). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing
educators and improving schools. (2nd Ed.). Boulder,
CO: Westview Press.
Hendricks, C. (2013). Improving schools through action research: A
reflective action approach. (3rd Ed). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
Crystal I think your AR has some real potential. Parent communication seems to be an area were many schools get dinged. Increasing positive communication can really go a long way in advancing community relationships that ultimately could lead to increased student engagement. Our system has adopted the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, and students in the elementary schools are being “coached” in how to be reflective learners who can discuss their strengths and areas for growth. Having the students lead parent discussions are a great idea. I do think that students and teachers might need to be coached as to how to do this, but that it could be done. Do you have a plan as to how train the students and teachers in this process?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about using the Teaching Channel as a video resource to share with the staff. Initially, I'll have some teachers volunteer to "pilot" the student-led conferences, and then have them share their experiences with the staff about what worked well and what needs more work.
Deletehttps://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/