Thursday, August 9, 2012

Improved Action Research Plan

Action Plan for LHS World Geography Team
Goal: Enable staff and students to set measurable goals and increase student STAAR End of Course scores through improved instructional strategies and increased classroom rigor.

Action Steps(s):
Person(s) Responsible:
Timeline: Start/End
Needed Resources
Evaluation
Evaluate EOC Scores from 2012 and identify low performing TEKS or TEKS not mastered.

Outcome: Improve instructional Strategies




World Geography Team
August 22nd and August 23rd 2012 – May 2013 
EOC Data from 2012 and Sub – population data, and TEK Data
EOC Data 2013 will provide the Data of improvement
Identify low scoring TEKS 2011-12 and improve, change or modify lesson plans to teach that TEK better.

Outcome:
Improve instructional strategies



World Geography Team
August 22nd and 23rd – May 2013
EOC Data from 2012, Data for TEKS not mastered for LHS campus.   
EOC Scores for 2013, formal assessments and benchmarks that will identify TEKS that are not mastered.
Set Measurable goal on improved instruction

Outcome: increased rigor in the classroom and improved instructional strategies




World Geography Team
August 2012 – May 2013
2011-2012 school year goals, EOC Data, and formal assessment data
Analysis of 2012-13 Data, formal assessments and benchmarks
Student will use formal unit assessment  data and complete a data evaluation/reflection sheet/ This sheet will be a daily grade as well as the entry ticket to tutorials and retest.

Outcome:
Students will take ownership in their learning outcomes and reflect on individual areas to improve
Students and World Geography Teacher
August 2012 – May 2013
Formal assessments and Benchmark scores, Data Evaluation and Reflection sheet
Reteach and Rest opportunities will provide evaluation, as well as student performance on EOC, Teacher evaluation of student
Student will use test data and complete a data evaluation/reflection sheet

Outcome:
Students will take ownership in their learning outcomes and reflect on individual areas to improve
Students and World Geography Teacher
August 2012 – May 2013
Formal assessments and Benchmark scores, Data Evaluation and Reflection sheet
Reteach and Rest opportunities will provide evaluation, as well as student performance on EOC, Teacher evaluation of student
Teacher will utilize a reflective journal to document student’s improvement and changes made during the year. 

Outcome:  Reflective feedback for the Teacher
Geography Teacher
August 2012-2013
Reflective journal and data and reflection sheets from students. 
Self-evaluation and Instructional Coach evaluation of reflection.
Teachers will meet prior to each unit to improve instruction and increase rigor by using TEKS identified as low performing

Outcome:
Improved instructional strategies and increased rigor
World Geography Teachers
Prior to Unit starting (once to twice a six weeks)
Data identified by the team and district in August
Formal assessments will be evaluated by the teachers and students so they can identify areas for reteach or tutorials.

3 comments:

  1. I really like that you put this back on the students and not just on the teachers. I like that you are using a reflection sheet for formal assessments and tests. In your plan you may include more of a timeline of how often they will be doing that (much like you did on your last action step).

    As far as "improving instructional strategies" there is a new thing I have recently heard about called Inquiry based instruction. I teach science so its a lot of hands on stuff, having them dig into subjects and ask their own questions and connect the dots themselves. T.E.A. is on board with this and is putting out workshops (in science that I'm sure on) for EOC exams that Region 4 created. It might be worth looking into.

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  2. Using student journals is a great way to build metacognative learning. Students setting their own goals and reflecting on their own progress will encourage them to monitor and analyze the way they think and learn. I like that this is a school-wide program that will help students at all levels. Also, the teachers will have a record of the "improved instructional strategies" that they can compile and refer to during the next year's instruction. Sounds like an important project that will have far-reaching effects!

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  3. I like the the part of your plan including the students as well. They should be invested in their own learning to become successful adults (hopefully).
    Looking at the data and focusing on the low performing objectives is great. Changing strategies and activities on those particular objectives is a good idea - it won't get any better if everyone does the same thing over and over and over hoping for a better outcome. Last year at my school, the science dept, IC, and administrative team looked at the 8th grade science benchmark data. We focused on those objectives that the kids did poorly on. All of the teachers participated in intervention sessions. 6th grade teachers revisited the 6th grade objectives with the students since we were "experts" at these topics. 7th grade teachers did the same. We did this during school for a few days a week leading up to the STAAR test. We swapped classes for the day - we taught the 8th grade students and the 8th grade teachers taught the 6th grade students. It was an interesting day to say the least!
    My suggestion - on the low performing objectives, look at specific student data as well. Many of the students that were in my intervention group were PreAP or GT students - they were bored to tears! I think it would have been more advantageous for all concerned to focus on the students who performed the poorest, the objectives they scored poorly on, and focus on them first. That is my personal experience and it was the first year we tried it.
    I hope to keep reading about your plan and how things are going!!

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