Working Toward a Bully Free School

Tool 7.1 Action Planning Template

Goal:  Would students be more safe if teachers, counselor, and administrators were better able to protect them from bullies in our schools by researching where the bullies are taking advantage of the victims?

                            

                                 Person(s)          Timeline:               Needed

Action Step(s)     Responsible         Start/End            Resources        Evaluation

1. Observe students in classroom setting who are having issues with bullying	Myself Classroom teachers	January 2013/ June 2013	Time Cooperation of teachers whose classroom will be observed.	Monitor students’ participation and social skills in class.
2. Interviews with 7th and 8th grade students, counselors, administrators, and their teachers.	Myself	March 2013/ June 2013	Interview forms and teacher and student cooperation.	Monitor students and evaluate them using interview forms
3. Individual Surveys	Myself Teachers Students	January 2013/ February 2013	Questionnaire to be filled out by teachers and students.	Analyze information collected from surveys.

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

Data...A Huge Classroom Help

We know that our Action Research Plans have come from a good place, but do we realize how helpful data can be? It's time consuming to sit down and figure out the best way for us to collect data to resolve a school or classroom conflict. It's even more time consuming to actually collect that data. This year I have really come to realize that my school is using a significant amount of time, money, and energy to collect data in order to make our school a better place as well as to make our students more successful. Initially, I didn't understand why we were spending so much time. I didn't understand how helpful data can be. I had a lot to learn.
After my research and studying data-driven research, I realize that it's the only way we are going to be able to 'fix' our school's problems. It is imperative that we have a system to measure what is wrong so that we can look at what needs to be done in order to make those necessary improvements.

Jaclyn's Insight on Action Research and Educational Blogs

Action research is a great tool for educator use. It allows teachers and administrators to take ownership of problems in their schools and come up with possible solutions through literature research, data analysis, and collaboration. No one likes being told, "You're doing this wrong. Do it like this instead." This is a new alternative to traditional educational research that has come about in the last 30 years, and it is also referred to as "practitioner inquiry" or "classroom research."

Action research has been described as a continuing set of spirals that consist of reflection and action. This makes sense because our schools and classrooms will never be complete, finished, done. We are always having to make changes to accommodate students, parents, teachers, administrators, and even ourselves. For this reason, this is a terrific time-proven method that continually shows us that there are always improvements that can be made to make our schools more effective, more safe, and more challenging.

The positive results of action research have already helped improve many schools, and I look forward to implementing positive change in my classroom and in my school as well. As I have studied this method, I see more and more ongoing action research that is already taking place in my school, and I am now eager to be a knowing participant.

Blogs are a great idea for educational leader use. As leaders, we are always looking for a better way to do something, and blogs allow for collaboration. We can post problems that we are having or a new method that worked great, and others can share with us in our celebrations or make suggestions about what to try next. Blogs allow for collaboration which helps us to grow as educational leaders.