Well, week five is here. I really feellike I got a lot of great ideas on conducting research. I hope that mine will show whether or not all that money that is being spent has some sort of positive effect ont he students. I feel like I might jsut find out that the kids just enjoy coming to school more. I think I need to add a student survey as well!!

I have decided to make a few changes in my research. I will not be comparing discipline referrals from last year to this year. I think I will create a survey for the teacehrs to fill out instead. Every group of kids has a different dynamic so I feel like getting teacehrs opinions, int his case, might be a better indicator of how this technology has effected the overall behavior. I also feel like I can get more specific information about positive effects this might have rather than just seeing the negative ones associated with discipline referrals. Thanks to everyone who is commenting and following this. I really appreciate the input and advice!

So, after a long talk with my principal, we decided to take a different dirrection for my reserach. We both agree that teacher stress is a huge problem, but can't see a real solution that doesn't involve money or eliminating the state testing...neither of which is realistic right now. Our school recently received some new technology so I am reseraching just how effective this will be on student performance.

Goal: To determine what effect, if any, the purchase and use of extra technology in the classroom has on student performance on local and state testing and on student behavior.

Action Step(s)

1.    Study the amount of time students use the extra technology per month and compare that to amount of time technology was used last school year in the group of teachers that will be involved in the study. Study will be conducted over the last two 6 week periods and the first 6 week period of the next school year.

2.    Compare behavior referrals for the determined amount of time from last year to this year. One team has received the use of the new technology so I will compare their behavior referrals from the same time last year to this year.

3.    Over each of the three 6 weeks involved in the study, I will collect data from the local testing and state testing from the classroom that uses the extra technology and compare that data from the same team last year, when they did not have access to this technology.

Person(s)

Responsible: I will be responsible for collecting and analyzing data. I will be studying one team of three teachers who have received the new technology. I will be conducting interviews and gathering data from that team of teachers throughout this project.

Timeline:

Start/End This project will begin at the beginning of the fifth 6 weeks of the 2011-2012 school year and will end after the conclusion of the first 6 weeks of the 2012-2013 school year.

Needed

Resources:

1.    Lesson plans or information from teachers involved in the study indicating amount of time the new technology is being used compared to last year.

2.    CBA (local) test scores from students on this team last year and from students on this team this school year.

3.    State test scores of students from this team last year and students from this team this year.

4.    Behavior referrals from the same point in time last year from this team compared to behavior referrals from this team over the next three 6 week periods.

5.    Articles/research on the effective use of technology in the classroom.

Evaluation and Monitoring

1.    Monitor monthly behavior referrals and amount of time technology is used in the classroom.

2.    Compare CBA scores each 6 week period to those of last year.

3.    Compare state testing scores to those of last year.

4.    Evaluation: At the end, will there be a significant difference in scores and behavior? If there isn’t a significant difference in either what will that mean? That the investment in technology may not be all that it seems? May not be worth it?

Teacher Stress in the Classroom

I have learned that Action Research can be a powerful tool in analyzing and changing situations in your school. It is a unique way to look at things from the perspective of those involved in any given situation. It is not just posing a question and looking to outsiders to find solutions, it is posing a question and finding your own solution that works best for your unique situation. It involves working together with the people that are directly involved in making changes necessary to carry out the solution to your research. It allows principals and teachers to study ways to make changes to better your school. It also allows teachers and administrators to have an open dialogue about issues relevant to your situation and to learn from each other and from others research as well. The benefits of conducting action research seem quite obvious after reading about it. Action research involves focusing on specific problems related to your situation. It takes into account your specific school, teachers, students and community and focuses on changing the situation based on your specific situation. It is not based on a generic, outsider’s response to similar situations but rather a very specific response to a specific situation where the control and direction of research is in the hands of those that know the situation and possible solutions for their situation best.

I believe that action research can be used to discover the reasons for teacher stress in today’s schools. It is a good method to use because all buildings are unique, and what might be a stress in some instances may not be relevant to others. Using action research can help to identify the top reasons for teacher stress that are unique to each campus. This research can not only identify causes of stress but will hopefully generate some real solutions that could help alleviate these stresses from the people who are actually experiencing it.

Educational leaders can use blogs to determine teacher’s true thoughts about situations without worrying about being reprimanded for their feelings or ideas. It is a good way to get a lot of information from people that are directly affected by a situation in a short amount of time. It also allows people to be part of a conversation that can generate ideas for solutions and to learn from others experiences or successes.

For those of you who visit this blog, I would love to hear the top three stresses you experience as a classroom teacher, the grade that you teach, the socioeconomic area that you teach in, and ideas about how those stresses could be alleviated.