Looking Pretty Good

This week was definitely a low-stress assignment week.  I felt a lot more comfortable in reviewing my plan because I wasn't creating anything brand new.  I'm not working at the school I will be doing my action research plan in so I have emailed with my principal numerous times to get her feedback on the project.
This week I had the opportunity to Facetime with my new principal as we looked again over the action research plan.  We were both really pleased with it's set up and are looking forward to the implementation with the new school year.  I did add a blog to the way I will disseminate the information collected so that I could communicate in another form with my colleagues and my principal.  I also changed the dates of my data collection.  I focused on only using the Science STAAR data from 2013 and 2014 because the scores counted those years and not 2012.

Action Planning Template
Goal:  To improve the district science STAAR scores of fifth grade students relative to the state scores from 2013 to 2014.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Increase the amount of time fifth grade students spend in science class from 45 minutes to 65 minutes daily.	All fifth grade teachers will plan according to the new schedule. Assistant Principals Principal District Elementary Science Coordinator	New schedule: August 2013 – 2014 First Survey:  November 2013 Second Survey: March 2013 District will determine the benchmark dates for the 2013-2014 school year. Classroom Observations:  August 2013 – May 2014	Surveys given to fifth grade science teachers to see if they see improvement in student achievement in their own classrooms.  How often? School and District-wide Benchmark assessments given to the students to check for improvement of grades from the 2012-2013 school year to the current 2013-2014 school year.	I will gather the survey results given to the teachers and determine if time is a factor in student achievement.  This will also be recorded in the blog. I will compare the benchmark assessments given during varied times of the year to look for improvement of scores.  I will also compare the benchmark assessment scores from 2012-2013 school year to the current 2013-2014 school year. Classroom observations
Reintroduce teams at the fifth grade level so interdisciplinary units that support science are possible.	Fifth grade teams and their science teachers to aid in the creation and implementation of science-based interdisciplinary units. Team Leaders Principal	August 2013 - February 2014 Unit Test: February 2014 Survey: February 2014	I will work collaboratively with the team teachers to create an interdisciplinary unit that will support the science curriculum and create the assessment to measure the learning objectives presented to the students. Survey given to the team teachers after the unit takes place to evaluate student performance and the academic outcomes provided in the unit.	I will collect date from the assessments given to the students and will gather the survey results given to the teachers.  This will also be recorded in the blog.
Use vertically aligned Science Curriculum (grades K-6)	Fifth grade Science teachers Principal District Elementary Science Coordinator	Stemscopes and Curriculum:  August 2013 – May 2014 District will determine the benchmark dates for the 2013-2014 school year. First Survey:  November 2013 Second Survey: March 2013	Stemscopes Science Curriculum Stemscopes Representative – Gloria Chatelain District Scope and Sequence Collaboration on lesson plans for fifth grade science Survey to teachers over use of new curriculum	Calibration of assessments based on Stemscopes and the new curriculum. I will use District-wide Benchmark assessment results to see if the curriculum is being used successfully in grades K-5.  This will also be recorded in the blog. I will gather the survey results from the teachers to compare the amount of time using the new curriculum to the assessment scores.  This will also be recorded in the blog.
Analysis of Science STAAR scores from 2013 through 2014.	Principal District Elementary Science Coordinator	May 2014	Texas Education Agency District and state fifth grade Science STAAR results from 2013 and 2014	I will compare the scores given the original 45 minute classes, no teams, and not having a vertically aligned curriculum with the 2014 Science STAAR results after an increase in class time, having teams at the fifth grade level, and a vertically aligned curriculum grades K-6. I will compare district versus state scores to look for an improvement over the state scores.