Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Process Overview


Action Research Project
Process Overview
Campus Schedule

1. Setting the Foundation:
After meeting with my campus principal/site supervisor, we identified the current campus schedule and duty rotation for teachers and staff to be an area of concern. The schedule and duty rotation feed into campus climate. We want our schedule to primarily benefit the kids, but to also be as comfortable and workable as possible for our teacher’s and staff.

2. Analyzing Date:
Data will be gathered from teachers and staff through the use of online surveys and internet research regarding optimal learning times for elementary kids. I will also meet with a veteran counselor to discuss any information that could be useful or influence the process.

3. Developing a Deeper Understanding:
The goal is to best meet the needs of our students, but we would also like to know what parents are thinking. Through the use of an online and printed survey, I hope to gain insight from our parents regarding their child’s daily schedule.

4. Engaging in Self-Reflection:
When the new schedule is created and presented to the staff, I hope to gain feedback from the staff. Hopefully this feedback will be useful in reflecting upon the process we followed in creating this schedule. Periodic surveys or even a suggestion box would be useful in documenting positive aspects of the schedule along with suggestions to take into consideration for the following school year.

5. Exploring Programmatic Patterns:
 I will be working with my principal and vice principal in making the new schedule. But I hope to gain insight as to prevent problems along the way by meeting with a veteran counselor who has been responsible for scheduling most of her career.

6. Determining Direction:
The primary goal of this project is to determine if we can better serve our students by manipulating the current schedule. Another goal is to determine if campus climate can be improved by taking suggestions and opinions from the staff. We want a schedule that best serves our children (with a specific focus on our RtI students). Hopefully through research regarding when children learn best during the school day, we can build a campus schedule that is beneficial to our students.

7. Taking Action for School Improvement:
My principal, vice principal, counselor, and I will collaborate to build a schedule with the kids’ best interest in mind while also trying to accommodate our staff. A survey after the schedule has been in place for a few months will be given to assess the level of satisfaction with the new schedule. We can also interview the RtI teacher(s) regarding their opinion on how the new schedule is benefitting their students. (Do they have time to get to all the kids they need to see every day?)

8. Sustain Improvement:
Every year we look at our schedule and make changes that we feel are necessary to get everyone where they need to be. I feel, that through surveys and research, we can improve the current schedule to benefit everyone and hopefully improve campus climate, while also positively impacting our students. I feel that a survey should be given every year to gain insight to help make improvements. We should never be comfortable, but always strive to be better.

2 comments:

  1. Appears organized and structured. Scheduling is such a huge task. What level are you? I know I get frustrated as a parent and a teacher of an elective that students desires especially for free electives are truly not taken into consideration where I am. I will be following your research because I am on the scheduling committee this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds great, Keri! I worked with our counselor on creating a new schedule for our campus that was totally redesigned & it was so much work! We were in a time crunch so we weren't able to get input from the teachers which I think they would've appreciated. I think it's great that you will be doing that. We weren't able to make everyone happy, but we were okay with that knowing that it's what is best for kids.

    ReplyDelete