Week 2 Reflection

Lesson of the week was inspired by Dr. Timothy Chargois, "Be a lifelong learner."  This is something I believe in, but is is always nice to hear it from someone else.

The readings were insightful in helping to narrow down my "wonderings" this week.  I really enjoyed reading about the nine areas that Dana describes as major wonderings of many school leaders: staff development, curriculum development, individual teacher(s), individual student(s), school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice or equity issues.

The three school leaders, Dr. Johnny Briseno, Dr. Timothy Chargois, and Dr. Kirk Lewis, that were interviewed helped give me some insight on the importance of action research.  These men are very data driven and put data to use to drive instruction and decision-making.

I have nailed down my action research project: "Why are our Economically disadvantaged students scoring lower than our other students?"  I want to look into classroom grades, amount of time in tutoring, what type of instruction are they receiving (whole group / small group / individualized), what interventions are in place for these students, what RtI data do we have on them, do they have mentors, are their parents supportive, and are they involved in extracurricular activities at school?

To Blog or Not?

Blogging is an awesome way for educational leaders to collaborate, share, and problem solve with other professionals.  In this day and age, it is more important now than ever for educational leaders to seek out solutions and advice from other leaders in our field to ensure we are meeting the needs of our ever changing students' needs.

This is a great way to keep track of how our thinking as educational leaders is growing and changing over time.  It is important to revisit journals and reflect on our thinking.

What is Action Research

 “Practitioner inquiry” or “classroom research” or “action research” is known for the practitioner (teachers and principals) being the knowledge generator.  This model focuses on the practitioner's concerns and engages practitioners in the design, data collections, and interpretations of data around their questions.  This model has many benefits: theories and knowledge are generated from research, practitioners become collaborators in educational research by investigating their own problems, and practitioners play a part in the research process, which makes them more likely to facilitate change.

Administrative inquiry is a systematic approach to solve problems in education (classroom, campus, and district level) using both quantitative and qualitative data. An educational leader needs to implement a school vision.  This is a critical component to be a successful educational leader. Inquiry is an ongoing evaluation of how to solve problems by collecting and analyzing data, asking appropriate questions, and continuing to ask questions that involves reasoning and processing.

Successful teachers utilize inquiry based teaching to promote student learning. Since teachers are successful using inquiry based teaching then educational leaders could and should be successful using this method to encourage thinking and questioning of themselves and their teaching staff to continually grow as professionals. When an educational leader promotes inquiry as a way to grow as a professional, then they will lead teachers to grow and inquire as a professional. When a successful school utilizes inquiry to solve problems, then this strategy will enhance the learning environment for the students to succeed.

I plan to do an inquiry on "Why our economically disadvantaged students score lower than our other students?"  I want to look into classroom grades, amount of time in tutoring, what interventions are in place for these students, what RtI data do we have on them, do they have mentors, are their parents supportive, and are they involved in extracurricular activities at school?