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Friday, December 9, 2011

Discussion Board: EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability

Week #5- What should schools do when they get stuck? “Stuckess” typically when people feel like they are doing their best work and it’s not paying off in visible of improved student performance. Have you or has your school found itself in that position? What are some things that can be done at that point to gain forward momentum?


My campus faced this kind of situation with its deaf education program and yet we haven’t gotten off the sinking ship yet. My campus is a public high school with a day school program for deaf students; there are numerous challenges in deaf education. The non-deaf student population at our campus is just over 1,000, whil there are 40 deaf students. Most of the deaf students tested lowest in all subject core areas, although this has had little impact on the status of AEIS because it is such a small subgroup. This is still a significant concern for our program supervisor and deaf educators.

The deaf student subgroup test scores have not improved since 2005, which is a clear indication that this subgroup is in much need for improvement. My supervisor and campus principal have pushed deaf educators to work harder to raise test scores by providing countless professional development meetings and experimenting with instructional curriculums for deaf students. Some of our deaf educators expressed that such effort has nothing to do with improving test scores, and noted that many of the deaf students are also economically disadvantaged. They usually come from homes where there are a lot of communication barriers, factors that contribute to low test scores. Despite such barriers, we are still devoted to finding ways to fill gaps in their educational needs.

We are committed to finding solutions, but it is not an easy task. Fortunately, there is an annual State Conference for Deaf Educators, a great opportunity for our deaf educators to work with other deaf educators to share ideas, explore alternate deaf education curricula and acquire new research on deaf education issues. The conference helps us bring effective instructional and motivational practices for raising deaf students’ test performance scores. Additionally, on-going professional development for deaf educators is also a key to improving test scores.

As a deaf educator, two main goals in my career are to advocate for deaf students and to work with schools to find creative solutions to bridge the communication gap between deaf students and their teachers through not only better instructional practices, but also through a better understanding of Deaf culture, greater parental involvement, and deaf professionals in the school. I am firmly convinced that research is needed in order to identify, understand, and propose solutions to the various dilemmas that affect the deaf education programs.

Course Relfection: EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability

This course has provided me valuable lessons in techniques for gathering data information and using data to develop a solution to address any area of concern regarding students’ educational achievements and overall campus’ health.  There are many research-based tools for collecting and using data to identify areas of improvement in students’ academic and test performance. Using data on students’ tests and overall campus performance gives us the opportunity to identity areas needing improvement to fill the gaps in student achievements and then develop the action plan for on-going improvements in our campus. However, it should not be the only criteria to evaluate their progress. Even though the campus, Memorial High School, according to AEIS report, is rated “academic acceptable,” our job as administrators is to continue joining efforts to improve our campus in order to maintain momentum. 

The next steps for continuous campus improvement cycle in our campus is to identity any areas that are in need for improvement by studying data information collected through appropriate research-based techniques. Then, I will develop and implement the action plan  for improvement on our campus. The action plan will include (once again) research-based tools to develop a rigorous professional development trainig for teachers and administrators.

This class, provided me with valuable tools to put together an effective professional development by incorporating a “Team Dialogue Guide” and reflection guide (both tools are similar to assessments for evaluating data and determining the most effective steps for addressing concerns). Thomas wrote, “…the team emerges from the data analysis process with a clear plan of action for identified students and for class instruction…” (p. 42). He also wrote, “The reflection guide included in this article is a helpful tool for team members to analyze the current status of curriculum, instruction and assessment and to identify instructional changes for the next unit” (p. 42); this data analysis tool is beneficial for a school team to explore the ineffectiveness and effectiveness of instructional practices and curriculums.

The benefits of “Team Dialogue Guide” and reflection guide in professional staff development is to provide teachers an opportunity to share input on student’ tests score improvements. This could be accomplished by sorting through data to identify areas of needed improvement. In general, the meetings would include discussion on data regarding students’ tests and overall campus performance to meet state standard requirements; this can be overwhelming and time-consuming.  Using the two guides Thomas provides, would bring about great relief for this data-driven dilemmas. These tools can help open dialogue with teachers and promote collaboration on data analysis of students’ achievements by presenting subgroups students’ academic performance and attendance rates. The data will be presented in a systematic way to point out strengths and weaknesses with combined data sources, and the factors contributing to low performance scores would be explained clearly. I would then provide recommended actions for improvementing, and opening the floor to input from the meeting participants. Additionally, on-going professional development for educators and administrators is also a key for continuous campus improvement cycle to thrive the excellence quality of education for every individual student.

The last step, I will use formative assessment to monitor the students performance and ensure that an action campus plan is in the place.  Dylan William from “Changing Classroom Practice” explains the role of formative assessment as a professional tool to promote teachers into action by using formative assessments for student performance, “Meeting regularly in teacher learning communities is one of the best ways for teachers to develop their skill in using formative assessment” (William, p. 36).School leaders should use formative assessment as part of their action plans when they see challenges or issues. As William suggests, “Formative assessment has the power to produce unprecedented improvements in student achievement in our schools” (p. 39). Using formative assessment will help me evaluate my campus and students’ performances for efficacy. However, formative assessment is a cynical process that requires a length of time as William emphasizes: “Don’t treat formative assessment as just this year's quick fix” (p. 39). This course helped me gain a greater understanding of the necessity of effective data collection and use, along with various guidelines, implementing action tools to improve students’ academic performances.

References:

Thomas, R. S. (2006). How to survive data overload. Principal Leadership, 7(2), p. 42.

William, D. (2007-2008). Changing Classroom Practice. Educational Leadership, 65(4), p. 36-41

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The purpose of my action research in Deaf Education


As a deaf educator, one main goal in my professional career is to advocate for deaf students and work with schools to find creative solutions to bridge the communicational gap between deaf students and their teachers through, not only better instructional practices, but also, through a better understanding of the deaf culture, greater parental involvement, and deaf professionals in the school.

I am firmly convinced that research is needed in order to identify, understand, and propose solutions to the various dilemmas that affect the deaf education programs. An urgent task to be addressed in research practices is determining the effectiveness of the current procedures to determine qualifications of teachers and interpreters working with deaf students, and means to increase participation of deaf professionals in careers related to education. A personal experience may further illustrate my point; two years ago, I attended a State Conference for Deaf Educators, however, only 11 of the 200 members were deaf (including myself). In addition, many of the “deaf/hearing educators” required sign language interpreters because they were not proficient in sign language. The question that had been bothering me since I was in elementary school came back to me in the same simple terms and unfortunately, remains without response; if deaf educators are not proficient in sign language, how are they able to communicate and teach deaf students effectively?

Research can bring new light regarding key questions; does our current educational regulation sets up appropriate procedures to qualify teachers to work with deaf students? Are there adequate workshops, trainings, and staff development activities that focus on improving sign language skills for deaf educators and enhance their knowledge about the psychology of deafness? Are our current teacher evaluation measures a true reflection of the teacher’s capacity to teach deaf students? School leaders need to take an active role in initiating a conversation about these issues and advocate for research that can bring new ideas about how to increase recruitment of deaf teachers and administrators, and ways to bring the parents of the deaf to become active participants in the educational process of their children.

I am convinced that action research is needed in order to identify, understand, and propose solutions to the various dilemmas affecting deaf education programs. My focus will be on determining the effectiveness of current teacher qualifications and interpreters working with deaf students, and identifying means to increase participation of deaf professionals in education-related careers.

This research may hold significant benefits for school leaders in charge of deaf programs. School leaders need to take an active role in initiating a conversation about such issues and advocate for research that can bring benefits to educators working with deaf students, such as new ideas for increasing recruitment of deaf teachers and administrators, development and implementation of effective staff development, and ways to have teachers of deaf students become active participants in the deaf students’ educational process for achievement at numerous levels.

What specific challenges do I foresee in implementing my action research on campus ?

Week 4 Discussion: What specific challenges do you foresee in implementing your action research ? How do you plan to address those challenges ?



#1 Challenge: Unexpected teacher absence.
Solution: Email to the teacher to reschedule the interview and observation.


# 2 Challenge: Teacher’s and interpreter’s comfort for observation.
Solution: Meet with teacher before the observation to explain the purpose of observation and ask their preference of observation setting (observer’s seat arrangement).



#3Challenge: Teacher understanding my role as internship and observer and do not confuse with teacher assistant or volunteer.
Solution: Meet with teacher before the observation to explain my role of observer.



#4 Challenge: Since I will be observing in the resource/self-contained classroom setting, I expect to see some student behavioral disruptions.
Solution: Discuss with teacher before the class observation about my role and boundary, how to handle with student’s behavior disruption and review the class procedure for behavioral management.



#5 Challenge: The interpreters may pause the interpreting during lecture to ask me for sign for a word.
Solution: Discuss with interpreter before the class, if the interpreters do not know the sign for the word, and then write the word on the list instead of pausing and asking me for the sign during the lecture. We will review the signs for the words after the class.


#6 Challenge: Limited budget and difficulties scheduling and implementing staff development focus on areas of sign language and deaf education for teachers and interpreters.
Solution: Discuss with supervisors to bring feasible solutions to make it possible to implement the professional staff development regarding to my action research.

EDLD 5301 Research for Teachers - Course Relfection

This course has provided valuable lessons in being an effective researcher as a school leader, and taught me new research techniques and other interesting information. I enjoyed learning about blogging, and better understood the benefits of action research. I learned great deal about using action research by reading Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcherand Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps from Analysis to Action.This course also helped me ensure that I am on track for my research project through guidelines, valuable group discussion feedback, and key techniques.


I was not a big fan of reading blogs until this course required my creation of a blog and reading others’ blogs. I became intrigued because blogging is a great way for professional educators to communicate and give feedback especially in action research, and discuss general school topics. The blog can be used as a data feed and share results for action research activities and projects. The use of blogs to collect and extract data can be useful for decision-making and problem-solving processes, especially in relation to education and campus issues. This may provide the opportunity to receive feedback from classmates and colleagues or seek collaborative participants for advice and ideas.Blogging may fit with my inquiry into how the use of technology can be merged with professional development within campus environments.


I perceive action research as similar to scientific methods. Action research for addressing problems in schools is similar to hypotheses within science. The principal is akin to a scientist, exploring and identifying issues and problems in school atmospheres, such as policy, curriculum, schedule management, and cultural issues as part of the hypothesis process. Like a scientist runs a laboratory, the principal runs the school using similar systematic tools of examining the problem and then devising solutions. The principal then experiments with solutions by implementing policies and procedures and new teaching practices or programs. The principal then decides which method is effective for data collection and analysis, just like a scientist does. Different data collection methods can be used, such as force field analysis, the Delphi method and the nominal technique. Upon conclusion, the principal and scientist both have to disseminate the results, prepare reports, and so forth.


Action research is a great tool for enhancement and for increasing the success of educational leaders and schools. ”Expertise comes from the combination of action and reflection. Expertise is gained as one learns to adjust the performance based on the factors and one's experiences with them. Learning from one's prior actions (and mistakes) is basic to the development of expertise” (Harris, Edmonson & Combs, 2009, p. 104). Action research provides school administrators and instructors with ways to monitor the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of their work so that they can make changes in their immediate working environment (Dana, 2009).Action research can be used for so many different aspects within the school with numerous benefits School leaders should use action research when they see challenges or issues within their schools. I have gained insight into the fact that my action research was not where I wanted it to be, and action research will help me evaluate campuses for efficacy. Using action research can bring great benefits for my work, such as increasing collaboration between principals and stakeholders, helping effective practices thrive on campus, and slowing down the pace of a school leader's everyday activities.





Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. P. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability- Week 1 Discussion Board

Week 1 discussion board

What critical attributes of a positive school culture does your campus exhibit? How does your principal contribute to that positive culture?


My school principal always promotes awareness of diversity, particularly religious beliefs, gender sensitivity and ethnicity, among students, staff, parents and community members. It is important for school principals to manage, and shape, the campus culture by analyzing and responding appropriately to diverse needs. This can be accomplished by using data, such as campus climate, demographics and emerging issues, to develop a campus vision and create a plan for implementation. When culture changes occur, school leaders should provide an effective monitoring system to ensure the appropriate campus culture and make sure that change happens in the right place. Such changes should promote student achievements by “[providing] feedback on the effectiveness of the school’s curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices and their effect on the student achievement” (figure 5.1, p. 71).


The culture change process also requires “developing effective means for teachers to communicate with one another, being easily accessible to teachers and maintaining open and effective lines of communication with staff” (p. 47). Input is required from staff and teachers to design and implement decisions and policies, and the leader has the duty in “providing opportunities for staffs to be involved in developing school policies, providing opportunities for staff input on all important decision, and using leadership teams in decision making” (p. 52). Communication and working with diverse groups to make certain all students have equal opportunities for educational success must take place. Additionally, school leaders must advocate for outreach throughout culture change processes by “maintaining responsibility of ensuring that the school complies with all district and state mandates” (p. 58).


Reference

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T, & McNulty, B.A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD Publications.


Review the article, “Ten Big Effect of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools”, in this week’s readings. Choose 2 of the 10 effects of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), give your positive or negative impression of each, and briefly explain your reasoning. It influences how students are taught, new standard exams, school budgets and teachers participating professional development trainings.


President George Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act into federal law in 2002. This act has had both positive and negative impacts on public schools. It requires a quantity of programs focused on improving U.S. education in early to postsecondary schools by increasing accountability standards. Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Public Schools explains how NCLB has shaped schools and lists the NCLB act’s ten major effects on public schools.


There are positive and negative aspects of the two effects: 1. “State and districts officials report that student achievement on state tests is rising, which is a cause for optimism, it’s not clear, however, that students are really gaining as much as rising percentages of proficient scores would suggest” (p.110), and “…students are taking a lot more tests” (p.111).


The first effect on public schools focuses on increased test scores since the NCLB law was implemented. The authors explain factors contributing to this increase:, “…under NCLB, student achievement is equated with the proportion of students who are scoring at the proficient level on state tests, and states have adopted various approaches in their testing programs, such as the use of confidence intervals, that result in more test scores being counted as proficient” (p.110). This is a significant positive effect.


However, NCLB requires students to take more tests to closely monitor their overall performances. Students are often unmotivated to take tests that do not count for a grade or satisfy graduation requirements. Test-taking can be very discouraging for students, and their scores do not always reflect their actual day-to-day academic performances. Additionally, tests can be very exhausting for educators when they have to attempt to achieve standards. This often forces them to focus on state standardized testing materials with the goal of passing, instead of actually teaching contents.


Jennings, J., & Renter, D., (2006). Ten big effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on public schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 88(2), 95.