Action Research Topic:
To what degree are the development and support of middle school students transition to high school going to impact the effectiveness of their educational career?


Project Goals:
1. To see each student become more engaged, confident, and interested in their learning and being a part of the high school community.
2. Limit discipline problems with 9th grade students.
3. Socially prepare students to be more independent and ask for what they need. This will also limit some of the confrontations that lead to discipline problems in the halls.
3. Students who are more prepared for the academic and social rigors of high school it will decrease failure rate and the drop rate.
4. If students feel supported by the school community they will be more likely to participate in extracurricular activities which will in turn increase grades and decrease drop-out rates.
5. Academic readiness and rigor will increase test scores

The assignment for this week allowed me to see the different aspects of research that an administrator has at their finger tips in order to make a difference. This week taught me that I am in control of my own destiny and my own professional growth. If I take control of my own professional growth then the possibilities of learning and improving are limitless. The text from Dana showed me the "wonderings" of administrators and it gives me a starting point for my own questions/discoveries. Each topic that was addressed also gave me an idea of how to approach the scenario and provided an explanation for each action research project that the administrator pursued.

Also in this week's assignment I also learned how to come up with my own action research area that is of interest to me. When it is of interest to me then the focus will be more detailed and the outcome will be more beneficial for both me as the administrator and for my campus. As an educator with 16 years of experience (and the majority of the time with freshmen), I have noticed a trend with our incoming freshmen and the problems that they are faced with on a daily basis. Therefore, my action research will focus on the transition phase for freshmen from middle school to high school and how to make them more successful throughout their high school careers'. With an action research topic in place and a goal established I can now move forward with implementing steps that will make our campuses' freshmen more successful.

Action Research serves as means for administrators to address and work on problems that are specific to their campuses. Principals and assistant principals can resolve their campuses’ issues/challenges by using the action research procedures. Action Research teaches administrators to ask a specific question, define it, collect data, and then use/analyze the data to obtain specific results. This is different from traditional educational research that only provided limited answers/solutions for administrators, not to mention limited usefulness. Most of the traditional research was often about specific theories that did not specifically relate to the environment of the campus that it was being compared. Therefore, there were huge discrepancies in the validity of the research and consequently, Action research is done by educators/administrators who wish to find specific data that pertains to and will improve their individual campus. This research will not only improve the learning environment, but will also test educational theories and allow for specific educational implementation plans. Action research is a means for principals to extend their roles as educational leaders and test their expectations in a critical and reflective environment.

I see myself using action research as a way to improve my campuses’ learning environment. By incorporating this process it will allow individual educators/administrators to explore and discover what works best for individual campuses’. In order to effectively change the campus climate it will take the combination of reflection and leadership from the action research to establish a solid instructional basis in order to make decisions. This is the only way to effectively change the school climate and create the environment one is seeking to obtain. Of course the first step is to define the issue/problem that is occurring and then proceed from there by collecting data. This might include surveys, test scores, creating focus groups, studying/analyzing professional journals on the topic and then piece the entire puzzle together to formulate a solution that would work best for my campus. Once the problem/issue is identified through the research you can design a plan. This plan will carry out the investigative strategies, organize the data and determine how to use it effectively in order to improve the school’s
overall.

Analysis of how educational leaders might use blogs.

Educational leaders might use blogs to further develop ideas or gain other research from various administrators in order to obtain feedback from an instant audience that is in a similar setting. Administrators can offer up their ideas and instructional tips on a topic and then benefit from peer review. Another benefit of blogs for administrators is that it offers an online mentoring program for both new and veteran administrators. An example might be that a veteran administrator would give advice or offer other strategies to a less experienced administrator, thus reducing the risk of making the same mistake and also give the younger administrator more confidence in their leadership skills. A second benefit to blogs is allowing administrators the opportunity to participate in learning activities that require them to share research findings, ideas, and/or suggestions about issues that they have encountered or problems that they are researching. Again this gives them the opportunity to share in a win-win atmosphere and in some cases keeps administrators from re-creating the wheel. Thus, blogs for educational leaders is a useful tool in developing ideas and furthering researching for all participating.