First Week of School

As part of my action research plan we met with new hire teachers and mentor teachers the first week of school. In addition, we also met with first year and second year teachers. The second year teachers were asked to offer any "words of wisdom" to the new teachers to survive the first year of school. This was extremely enlightening and the second year teachers offered great advice. For example, "Remember to balance school and personal life, what you don't get done will still be waiting for you tomorrow", "If a lesson doesn't work, trash it and try something different, don't feel like a failure just learn from your mistakes", "Don't let teachers offer you a preconceived idea of a student, let each student enter your room with a clean slate. Then if you need additional background information, seek it out."
My plan is to meet with new hire and mentor teachers at the end of this week. However, we have not experienced your typical beginning of school year. The City of Kemp ran out of water on Thursday and we were forced to shut the school down on Friday. Then, we had a complete district "lock down" today. Therefore, I will be flexible when meeting again with all concerned.

Final Action Plan Submission

After meeting with my Site Supervisor, we agreed upon the existing action plan. Together we researched data from 07-08, 08-09, and 09-10 school years. Out of 31 total teacher turnover for those years, we discovered 11 teachers left for unknown reasons. Mr. Stevenson questions whether a mentor teacher program would have helped those 11 teachers. In addition, he pointed out that the other 20 teachers left for various other reasons, none of which would have been affected by a mentor program. He questions the fact that as an administrator you can fix procedure problems and refine teacher skills through mentoring but how do you mentor/teach content not skill. He also brought forth the problem that "knowing the procedure (mentoring) and executing the procedure (mentoring) are two different things". I gained a tremendous amount of insight from my Site Supervisor.

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template

Goal:
What types of support help my new teachers succeed? What impact do induction and mentoring programs have on teacher retention? What are the characteristics of effective induction and mentoring programs?

Action Step(s)
1.Experienced teachers are identified and invited by principal to join the mentorship program for the coming school year.
Person(s) Responsible
Principal
Timeline:Start/End
April/May
Needed Resources
Experienced teachers

Action Step(s)
2.Newly hired teachers are matched with mentors by principals. Mentors make contact with protégé by phone, email, or letter.
Person(s)Responsible
Principal
Timeline:Start/End
May-August

Action Step(s)
3.Mentor meets beginning teacher and provides support on arrival and during orientation.
Person(s)Responsible
Mentor and protégé
Timeline:Start/End
August/ September
Needed Resources
In the formal mentorship program, a new or beginning teacher is paired with a trained, experienced mentor who will provide support ranging from professional advice on classroom management to information about life in the community.

Action Step(s)
4.Questionnaires given to new-hire teachers, 1-5 year teachers, and mentor teachers
Person(s)Responsible
Principal
Timeline:Start/End
September
December
May
Needed Resources
Questionnaires to be designed by Principal
Evaluation
Comments will be tallied and graphed.
Results will be discussed at the quarterly meetings.

Action Step(s)
5.School Team Planning/ Team Teaching
Several teachers teaching at a similar grade level or subject area meet regularly for joint planning. The team ideally consists of experienced and beginning teachers.
Person(s)Responsible
Principal
Timeline:Start/End
August - June
Needed Resources
Teachers share ideas, brainstorm, choose a format that suits everyone, and then expand the plan into more detailed, short-term weekly or daily plans. Teachers share responsibility for gathering resources and creating learning materials.
Evaluation
Team planning and team teaching allow teachers to share the planning and teaching responsibility, thus creating a cooperative model for their students. It reduces the feeling of isolation for teachers and also facilitates on-going feedback and opportunity for professional growth and reflection.

Action Step(s)
6.Quarterly meetings with new-hire teachers, 1-5 year teachers, mentor teachers, principal, and assistant principal
Person(s)Responsible
Principal
Timeline:Start/End
September
December
March
June
Needed Resources
Conference room
Snacks
Evaluation
Teachers will be asked to express positive and negative experiences.
Teachers and principal will work collaboratively to address any issues which arise.

Action Step(s)
7.Professional Development
Person(s)Responsible
Principal and professional development personnel
Timeline:Start/End
As specified by school and regional professional development calendars.
Needed Resources
*Workshops
*Beginning teacher workshops (by arrangement)
*Courses
*On-line learning
*Committee work
*Staff meetings
*Research
*Curriculum development
Evaluation
PD for beginning teachers should address areas of greatest need to allow for the connection of theory in pre-service with teaching experience in the beginning years. Experienced teachers also benefit by refreshing knowledge and by learning new strategies.


Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools
Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, Julie Combs
© Eye On Education

Action Research Plan

My action research study will be in the context of teacher retention.This study will include not only new-hire teachers but also existing teachers with 1-5 years experience.The teacher turnover rate at Kemp Primary School is astronomical.Last year, our new principal was encumbered with the task of hiring 11 new teachers to fill vacant positions before the beginning of school.

What types of support help my new teachers succeed?What impact do induction and mentoring programs have on teacher retention?What are the characteristics of effective induction and mentoring programs?

Participants will include new-hire teachers and teachers with 1-5 years experience.Teachers will be given a questionnaire at the beginning of school, middle of the school year, and end of the school year.I will also meet with teachers quarterly throughout the school year to gain insight regarding satisfaction of effective induction and mentoring programs.I am limiting the years of experience as research shows most teacher retention takes place within the first 5 years of teaching.My study will correlate differentiated information based on the 2 categories of experience.

Reflection Week 2

This week was extremely "eye-opening" for me. As I read chapter 2, I felt as though the author had a window into my soul. Many of the "wonderings" mentioned are actual scenarios taking place at my campus. I was overwhelmed as to which "wondering" would take precedence over the other ones. They all appeared equally important and narrowing my choice to one was a difficult task. I have a better insight as to why principals struggle to balance all the priorities placed in front of them. I firmly believe in delegating and can visualize several "task forces" to perform action research on several "wonderings" simultaneously.

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs

As an educational leader, I would produce a personal blog about my school and leadership experience. A blog would be a fantastic way to communicate to your parents using an ongoing commentary about cool things which are happening at the school and school business topics. As a principal, using a blog might provide a way to save a few phone calls a month, allow you to make your staff aware of important ideas, or even save a staff meeting or two.

Action Research- Learned

Action research is a valuable tool to principals, administrators, and teachers. Action research is used for various purposes: school-based curriculum development, professional development, systems planning, school restructuring, and as an evaluative tool. In order for action research to be effective, time must be made to organize, study, collect data, analyze data, and for dissemination. As an aspiring principal, I value the concept of modeling this tool for my teaching staff. Teachers would learn what they are able to influence and they possess the ability to make changes which produce results. In addition, this process provides the opportunity to work with others and to learn from the sharing of ideas.
This year, our district has chosen to utilize inclusion for our special needs program. I have been selected as the Third grade teacher to incorporate inclusion into my classroom. In order to prepare for this transition, I have attended several inclusion seminars along with our current Special Education teacher. We have been gathering information and ideas on how we are going to co-teach this school year. I am concerned about many issues including effects on regular education children, TAKS scores, and co-teaching. As a principal, I would use action research to address this new situation. The information gathered by utilizing the action research method would be a valuable tool for providing insight into continuing a successful program the following school year and beyond.