Action Research Update/Revisions

After conferencing with my site supervisor and reviewing all peer comments, I have posted an update of my action research plan template.  This update includes one revision suggested by my site supervisor.  She suggested revising action step 10 to specify that the same fine arts disciplines at all 7 schools would receive the student surveys.  She felt that it was important to keep the control the same for comparisons.  Meaning, do not survey art students at one high school and band students at another.  Instead, survey all band or all art or both at all schools.  This would allow for better accuracy.  She also thought this revision might lead to data that is interesting for future inquiry.  For example, do band students respond differently than art students?  Is there a pattern of thought and perception that is consistent within fine arts discipline and are there differences between the disciplines? Her insight was extremely helpful and provided needed clarity.

Action Planning Template (Tool 7.1)

Goal:   To determine the impact of fine arts students on school performance.

                                        Person(s)                    Timeline                       Needed

        Action Steps            Responsible                Start/End                     Resources                Evaluation

1. Discuss Action Research topics with site supervisor	Mark Chambers  Diana Schumacher	02/28/2011 – 03/04/2011	School Data Intern Plan	Establish an Action Research question
2. Gather and organize data concerning discipline referrals, school attendance, TAKS scores, SAT/ACT scores.	Mark Chambers NEISD Research and Information Technologies Mike Lara (Executive Director, Research and Information Technologies	3/28/2011 – 08/22/2011	School Data Go Arts – advocacy research group	Evaluate data to look at statistics in relation to fine arts and non fine arts students
3. Gather and organize data concerning class rankings, and college scholarships	Mark Chambers School Counselors at NEISD seven comprehensive high schools	3/28/2011 – 08/22/2011	Counselor data at NEISD seven comprehensive high schools	Evaluate data to look at statistics in relation to fine arts and non fine arts students
4. Meet with NEISD fine arts teachers to explain Action Research to establish procedures for class evaluations	Mark Chambers NEISD Fine Arts Teachers	4/14/2011	EDLD 5301 Materials Power Point on Inquiry/Action Research	Survey teachers to see if they are willing assist in research by allowing class observations and taking a survey
5. Meet with principals of all 7 high schools to seek permission to administer surveys to their teachers and fine arts students	Mark Chambers HS Principals (Bill Boyd, Jeff Vaughan, Bobbi Turnbo, Rick Canales, Michael Cardona, Chris Thompson,	4/07/2011	Meeting Room Brochure outlining Action Research inquiry, process and plan for sharing information	Determine if principals will assist with research by participating in a survey and allowing an electronic survey to be distributed to their faculty
6. Determine my own thoughts and assessments by reflecting on past experiences	Mark Chambers	March 2011	Personal journal entries Videos	Evaluate objectivity in regards to my conducting this topic
7. Develop a survey that assesses feelings and perceptions of administrators, teachers and students concerning fine arts student’s impact on school performance	Mark Chambers Diana Schumacher Joseph Johnson	3/28/2011 – 4/05/2011	Survey Monkey Previous surveys concerning similar topics
8. Review current literature and statistics regarding Action Research topic as well as NEISD data from previous years	Mark Chambers TMEA Joseph Johnson (NEISD) Mike Lara (NEISD)	Spring 2011	TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) resource dept. Go Arts.org (Arts advocacy organization School Data	Evaluate data from previous years to see if it is consistent with current data and how it correlates with data from previous literature
9. Electronically distribute Administrator and teacher survey	Mark Chambers	4/20/2011	E-mail contacts for all participating in survey	Evaluate survey results
10. Distribute student survey to each of the classes at the 7 high schools previous mentioned.  Classes chosen for the survey will be the same sample at each high school.	Mark Chambers Teachers and students of the 7 selected schools and classes	May 2011	Survey forms, collection envelope, pens	Evaluate survey results
11. Disaggregate information	Mark Chambers Joseph Johnson (NEISD) Mike Lara (NEISD)	June 2011 – August 2011	Completed surveys Computer spreadsheets and graph programs	Review and reflect on disaggregated information to determine if revisions to process are necessary
12. Create document with conclusion and recommendations for future research	Mark Chambers Diana Schumacher (site supervisor)	August 2011	All data Examples of other conclusion papers	Distribute paper with selected reviewers to provide feedback before results are distributed
13. Present Conclusion to Principals, Executive staff, teachers, parents and students as well as colleagues in the arts community.  Some presentations will be oral and others will be written or electronic	Mark Chambers NEISD stakeholders TMEA Tom Waggoner (Fine Arts, TEA) TMAC (Texas Music Administrators Conference)	Start of 2011-2012 Academic year (late August/early September)	Power Point Brochure with main points Blogs E-mail blasts Website	Observe and evaluate reactions to information.  Determine if perceptions change or remain the same
14. Determine if follow-up research is needed or if more questions develop as a result of the action research project	Mark Chambers Diana Schumacher Arts Leaders NEISD Stakeholders	September 2011	New wonderings	Brainstorm