Action Research and MDMP

A significant reflection of this course I found there was a similarity to the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) when it comes to Action Research.  The steps to an action research project follow the same guidelines as deciding on a strategy and action of military operations in both combat and peacetime.  This plan is called the Operations Order or as it is commonly known as, the OPORD.  The OPORD format and the MDMP follow closely the Force Field Analysis model.

The OPORD format follows the set methodology of Receiving the Mission, Mission Analysis, Course of Action (COA) Development, COA Analysis (aka Wargaming), COA Comparison, COA approval, and Orders Production.  The Force Field Analysis model follows the path of Describe the current situation, Describe the proposed change, Identify the current situation if no action is taken, List all forces driving the change toward the desired situation, Determine whether change is viable and Discuss how the change can be affected.  The two models are the best way for me to effect a change in any desired situation.   

Action Research Update

The conference with my site supervisor went well.  She was happy with template and had no issues with the plan.  She reminded me that I should talk with the PEIMS director and assessment director for our district.  She stated they should have information I could use for the action research project.  I found I have some of the information already in my files from the previous years TAKS testing, however, I have the scores for all those that took the Math TAKS on the days they were administered.  What I do not have is the knowledge of is of those that tested which ones count against our PEIMS snapshot date.     I made arrangements to meet with the district PEIMS director and had an hour-long meeting with him.  I conveyed to him what my action research project was about and what I was attempting to do.  He seemed enthusiastic about the project and stated he would be happy to help with obtaining the data.  He stated the data would not be difficult to obtain, a simple matter of running the campus through the PEIMS database for the timeframe requested.  His concerns were once I had the PEIMS snapshot data, was correlating it with the assessment results.  He was worried that the data comes from two different databases and whether or not these will work together.  He stated that once he had the data he would contact me and have me work with him in collating it.  The other issue would be tracking of those students who left our campus and went to another school within district.  This would take going through each year group and then cross referencing them with their number to see if they remained in district or left.  This would be time consuming, however, since our campus is one of the smallest in the district, it should be easy to check out the names.  At the end of the meeting he told me he would contact the TAKS assessment director to get the data I requested and to talk with her about how they could combine their respective databases to get the results needed.  He stated that since it was about to be the STAAR testing dates, both of their respective offices were going to be extremely busy for the next few weeks.  He told me that he should have the results as soon as they reached a lull in their schedules. I reported back to my site supervisor with the results of my meeting with the PEIMS director.

Action Research Project

     The goal of this research investigation is to look at how mobility affects the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for 5^th grade math students.  The objective will be to examine the data of students who have been in class all year and see how they compare to students who move into or out of the school prior to the test administration in the March/April timeframes.  Results for the past four years will be the desired area of research.  Once the data is obtained, devised plans for supporting students that enter the classroom midterm and not counted against the campus pass/fail rate. 

Action Planning Template
Goal:  What is the effect of student mobility on school performance scores as measured on Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKStm) in fifth grade math?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.  Meet with campus principal/site manager to discuss action plan.	Maureen Adams Principal/Site Mentor	Start: March 2012 End:  May 2013	Draft Action research Plan	Notes and suggestions taken from initial meeting.
2.  Obtain 2007 – 2011 TAKS math scores for 5th grade at West Ward Elementary School.	Randy Clements, Maureen Adams, Cliff Holder, Jeffery Heckathorn, Anna Flores, Timothy Tidwell,	Start: April 2012 End:  May 2013	Campus TAKS data for 2007 – 2011, Internet, computer with Microsoft Excel.	Study data and review.
3.  Meet with PEIMS staff to obtain data for mobility students.  Track those that remained within district.	Randy Clements, Jeffery Heckathorn, Anna Flores,	Start: April 2012 End:  May 2013	Date/Time group for appointment with PEIMS personnel, computer, internet access and	Note and suggestions taken from the meeting.
4.  Collate and analyze data.  Look for patterns for mobility students.	Randy Clements, Jeffery Heckathorn, Anna Flores	Start: May 2012 End:  May 2013	Computer with Microsoft Excel.	Study data and review.  Evaluate all data gathered and summarize results.
5.  Research and compare result from other campuses on TAKS results for 5th grade math to see if there is a correlation of data.	Randy Clements, Jeffery Heckathorn, Anna Flores	Start: July 2012 End:  May 2013	District TAKS data for 2007 – 2011, Internet, computer with Microsoft Excel.	Study data and review.
6.  Discuss student results with principal and 5th grade math teachers.	Randy Clements, Maureen Adams, Teresa Garvin, Chelle Blaize, Nancy Fisher, Allison Farrow	Start: September 2012 End:  May 2013	Computer, internet.	Summarize results to staff and begin development strategies to support students.
7.  Introduce strategies for supporting students entering classrooms outside the PEIMS dates for TAKS formalized testing.	Randy Clements, Maureen Adams, Teresa Garvin, Chelle Blaize, Nancy Fisher, Allison Farrow	Start: October  2012 End:  May 2013	Eduphoria, Cscope,  time to meet with faculty and 5th grade math staff and special staff.	Introduce strategies for supporting new students and supporting them prior to TAKS/STAAR testing for 2012-2013 school year.
8.  Implement changes and track progress for the following year’s STAAR testing.	Randy Clements, Maureen Adams	Start: December 2012 End:  May 2013	Collected data, computer, time.	Plan on-going professional development opportunities.

Data and Action Research

      I learned this week that no matter the action research project, they are very much data driven.  With the advent of more sophisticated data collection capabilities, i.e. surveys, spreadsheets, databases, etc., data is more readily available for conducting researches.   Many action research projects will involve heavily the use of these means of collection and collation to develop courses of action.   The data can come from many sources, not only from within your organization, but from others as well.  Correctly collated, this data becomes extremely important to someone's research.

Blogs in Action Research

Blogs are an effective tool to use as an interactive journal and reflective tool for action based inquiries.  Blogs become a reverse chronological online diary of a series of thoughts, data, results and findings, and ongoing concerns that can be addressed during an inquiry in an open forum.  Additionally, these findings can be shared with others to gain different points of view or findings in a collaborative sharing of information. The owner of the blog may gain other knowledge or ideas about their research, leading them to additional ideas they may not have considered.  

Action Research for Principals

Action research can be an integral part of a principal’s arsenal to create change on their campus.  In previous years, the methodology of change came from outside resources, paid by a district, to give examples of ideas and plans to create change.  This plan however, did not always work because not every district or school faced the same challenges or issues.  The outside resources, whether done at research centers or universities, offered a “cookie cutter” approach to learning.  They developed plans that worked in a generic school system and in a somewhat perfect world.  This technique did not always work.

Action research has now become the method of choice for implementing changes in a school. It allows the administrator to use their own style of research to find what works for their campus.  They have the opportunity to share the load of responsibility with the teachers who are in the classrooms with the students and observing their challenges.  The administrator can take the data and results and use a series of spiraling steps to make the best decisions for their campus and implement the desired changes.  By using action research the principal can select the best course of action from the gathered data and make the appropriate corrective actions to enhance their school.   Action research does not use the “cookie cutter” approach because the results are based on the unique dynamics of their campus and allows for the individual tailoring to fit each campus uniqueness. 

Using action research allows the principal or administrator to develop ideas and strategies that will better fit their leadership style and make the desired changes accordingly.  No longer does a principal have to take a method of change from an outside source where the researchers do not have a clue about the uniqueness of a specific campus.  Action research allows the principal to make the changes that best fit their campus.