Back in the Saddle Again...

It's been a while... It's amazing to think that I'm at the half-way mark in my journey to complete my Master's Degree! While working through the classes and embedded internship, it's imporant to reflect on the work that continues to happen in regards to the Action Research Project.

Here are this week's reflections:

Who is the audience for the Action Research Project?

One of the main ways I will disseminate the information found in my Action Research Project will be through a campus staff-development meeting. I am presenting at one of our spring faculty meetings with ways of working non-academic grades into the classroom. Additionally, I'll present my findings through the blog I set up earlier in my coursework. The target audience for this project is classroom teachers, exposing the staff to a new way to facilitate grading that reflects both a student's academic ability and a student's ability to manage their "professional ethics" in the classroom.

One of the main reasons for implementing the use of academic vs. non-academic grades is to provide the students, teachers and parents the information necessary to provide a complete picture of the student's abilities in school. The process must be used by teachers in order to work, but needs to be explained to both parents and students to ensure that the non-academic grades are understood by all.

How I'll get the word out about my project:

As stated before, the information will first be presented to the staff in a faculty meeting. There will be an additional presentation at a PTA meeting on the campus' use of non-academic grades and how they will help both teachers paint a more complete picture of a student's work in the classroom.

In addition to face-to-face meetings, I plan to build a website that outlines the research regarding the use of academic and non-academic grades. This website will allow teachers a place to share ideas for how they are using non-academic or formative grading practices in the classroom. There will also be a place on the site for parents to explore the research-based methods for moving beyond the use of purely "academic" grades. The site will also house a list of books and/or websites that further explain the implementation of non-academic grades in schools across the district and country.

How I plan to accomplish the "4 Critical Tasks":

The four tasks are as follows:

• Provide background information.
• Share the design of the inquiry (procedures, data collection, and data analysis).
• State the learning and supporting statements with data.
• Provide concluding thoughts.

All four are necessary in the process for both crafting and presenting the ideas behind an Action Research Project. The background information allows the audience to understand the thinking behind the project. It shows the context for the research and allows a common understanding of why the project is even undertaken. The design for the project allows all parties to understand how the research was conducted and how the project was set up. In other words, this is the blueprint for the learning outcome. As we analyze the data collected throughout the project, the next step is to state the things learned through the project. Successful projects will not only prove this with statements, but with data and research that further proves the inquiry. The last step in the process is to provide concluding thoughts, or commentary, about the lessons learned. This is where the researcher interprets the data into a way that is meaningful for all involved.

No one step in this process is more important than the other, infact, they all work in tandem with each other in order to disseminate the information learned throughout the project. Excluding any one part of the critical tasks would negate the entire project.