EDLD 5397 Week 3 Discussion Post

APA and IRB

1. What did you learn about APA?  I learned that according to the American Psychological Association website, APA format was first introduced in 1929 by a group of psychologists and other professionals who wanted to establish a set of rules for the documentation of social and behavioral sciences.  The groups of psychologists and other professionals focused on a style of writing that would allow readers to find important information easily within a document.  I also learned that APA format is concentrated on fundamentals that are attributes to scientific writing.

2. Share your understanding of APA style, why it is used, and share any information about what is the most confusing or least clear aspect of APA. It’s my understanding that APA style is commonly used by professional associations, and for college and university research papers.  I found a number of websites that gave examples of APA format; however, the manual published by the American Psychological Association is all inclusive.  I understand that APA makes very specific use of style and formatting, but with so many different sections and examples it is quite overwhelming.  Nonetheless, the eight sections of an APA style document provide clear and specific information which will definitely help when writing our research findings.
3. Share your understanding of the IRB policy.  An institutional review board is a committee that has been designated to monitor and review and approve research that involves human subjects.  IRB policy is put in place to protect humans from physical or psychological harm for studies in the field of health and social sciences that includes: anthropology, sociology and psychology.   
4. Does your district have an IRB policy? If so, in what ways is it similar to the Lamar University policy? What ways is it different? Our district does not have an IRB policy per say.  What we have is a Committee for External Research Review (CERR).  In the CERR policy it requires that all research within the District adhere to federal regulations regarding family and pupil rights, privacy and protection.  It also states that all research within the District adhere to federal guidelines regarding the protection of human subjects.  Our district relies to some extent on the organization requesting to do research’s IRB to ensure that the appropriate steps to protect human subjects have been taken.  Similarities to Lamar’s policy are that of confidentiality and consent agreements, they both have strict guidelines for submission, and the Exempt Status of the research from full IRB review is the same regarding research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings.
Part 2B:

Post a paragraph describing your progress so far in leading your action research project.  Include at least one lesson learned.
Although I have made ample progress so far in my action research, I have also had some major setbacks.  Some of the action steps I initially wrote may not be able to be seen to their completion as written.  The goal of my action plan is to see that Response to Intervention (RtI) is consistently used to identify, monitor and support all children prior to the referral process for special education, dyslexia, 504, and/or targeted assistance.  Meeting with district leadership and representatives of district department programs has proven to be difficult, however imperative in my action research plan to develop common forms to be used across our district.  One lesson I have learned is that my action research plan may need to be revised and dates extended due to unforeseen barriers and time constraints on all stakeholders involved.

EDLD 5301 Research - Final Reflections

EDLD 5301 Research - Final Reflections

When this course began I was a little apprehensive given my archaic definition of “research”.  I have learned so much about the purpose for practitioner inquiry and the importance of action research during this 5 week course.  As each week approached and a new challenge unfolded, I began to understand what it meant when I read that action research simply meant, “Systematic, intentional study of one’s own professional practice.”  (Dana, 2009, p. 9) and was delighted to discover that I have been actively doing this for several years now.  I just didn’t realize until now that research can be fun, exciting and inspiring not to just me, but to others I am sharing it with as well.

As I reflect on the course content I realized that I have been fortunate in that I have been a part of leadership (campus and district level) for over thirteen years now that embraces change and is continually improving based on inquiry.  The idea of being an active practitioner is what my site-supervisor has been teaching me all along.  During this course I have learned the importance of being a reflective practitioner.  I can clearly see the benefits of action research for campus and district leaders.  I even know how to create a blog and share my progress in a more updated and meaningful way!  My favorite highlight hands-down! 

I learned to be self-reflective and that my action plan is intended to be a “living document”, not something to be completed, considered finished and then forgotten about later.  I learned that as I research I need to take the appropriate action to change it or plan a change because of it.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to other practitioners who are active in the process of being reflective practitioners describe how they do it at the campus and/or district levels.  There is nothing better when you can hear how it is actually working in “real world” situations.

What I really enjoyed about this course was that we were encouraged to create an action research project intended to be a part of our own self-discovery as future leaders, and it didn’t need to be apart from what we are already doing either in the classroom or otherwise.  In fact, we were encouraged to pick a topic and develop a clear and concise research question that fits into our already existing responsibilities so that it wouldn’t add to the ever demanding work load as educators.  That was a HUGE highlight for me.  As I have stated in previous reflections I applied for a new position as our district’s coordinator for RtI and this course has already helped me in preparation for the plan to revisit and revise our district-wide implementation of RtI.  T

In closing, I will admit that prior to taking this course, I had my own idea of what action research entailed.  Although similar in most ways, through the texts, lectures, blogs, and discussion forums I have been given the additional knowledge I needed to really understand the process.  I have found this course to be helpful and relevant to my professional career, and one that has certainly enriched my professional life.

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

Thanks for the great comments regarding my action plan and I thought I would address why I did not include providing professional development for teachers. 

We are revisiting and making improvements to the infrastructure of our curriculum framework (CF’s) after receiving the results of a curriculum audit done last year.  Part of that infrastructure is the RtI Program.  We are following TEA’s guidelines and full implementation of a successful RtI Program happens over a period of several years.  Here are the four growth stages:

• Emerging- The goal of this stage is to build consensus and buy-in for RtI implementation.

• Developing- This stage involves designing the infrastructure to implement RtI.

• Operationalizing- During this stage, the school implements the structures that were designed during the Developing stage and works to build consistency and fidelity.

• Optimizing- Within this stage, the model is embedded and done with fidelity. Schools now focus on how effective the model is and make changes based on data to ensure it is effective.

Our program is still in the developing stage.  Professional development for teachers will be addressed in the Operationalizing stage and is not a part of my action plan.  However, it is a part of my internship plan. 

EDLD 5301 - Week 3 - Action Research Plan

GOAL:     Response to Intervention is consistently used to identify, monitor and support all children prior to the referral process for special education, dyslexia, 504 modification, and/or targeted assistance.
Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.  Meeting with district leadership that is representative of district department or programs	Representatives of Administration General education Special education 504/Targeted assistance ELL Bilingual education	May 16, 2012	Admin. 205 Current RtI Plan	Agenda/Sign in A core district RtI team established. Schedule of meeting times.
2. Identify stakeholders in the district, share information and gain consensus to support RtI	Penny Stephens District RtI Team	Present – August 2012		A core district RtI team has been established. Stakeholders in the district have been identified
3.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback	Penny Stephens District RtI Team	May 31, 2012	Admin. 205 List of Stakeholders	Agenda/Sign In Minutes from meeting
4.  Provide information about RtI practices.  §  Introduction §  Overview of Process §  Tier I Instruction §  Tier II Instruction §  Tier III Instruction §  RtI Team Responsibilities §  TEA Guidance §  Glossary §  Forms §  FAQ	Penny Stephens District RtI Team District Departments	May - September 2012	History of RtI Resources Flow map Process Detail for initial referral & Tiers I, II, & III Universal screening instrument identified TEA Guidance FAQ	Response to Intervention Procedural Manual completed
5.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback	Penny Stephens District RtI Team	May 29, 2012	Admin. 205 Draft copy of procedural manual	Agenda/Sign In Minutes from meeting
6.  Identify tiers of intervention to be used across district based on information and feedback from stakeholders meeting	District RtI Team District Departments Stakeholders	May - September 2012	Universal Screener identified. Interventions currently being utilized across the district	Draft of tiered interventions completed by September, 2012; Update/modify interventions based on district purchase of ISEP
7.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback	Penny Stephens District RtI Team	June 6, 2012	Admin. 205	Agenda/Sign In Minutes from meeting
8.  Develop common RtI forms to be used across district based on information and feedback from stakeholders meeting	Penny Stephens Stakeholders District RtI Team	May - September 2012		Forms are developed by district RtI team and shared with all stakeholders (district & campus)
9.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback	Penny Stephens District RtI Team	June 13, 2012	Admin. 205 Draft copy of common RtI forms	Agenda/Sign In Minutes from meeting
10.  Identify tiers of intervention to be used across district	District RtI Team District Departments Stakeholders	June - September 2012	Universal Screener identified. Interventions currently being utilized across the district	Draft of tiered interventions completed by September, 2012; Update/modify interventions based on district purchase of ISEP
11.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback and finalize common RtI form to upload on district framework	Penny Stephens District RtI Team Stakeholders	June 21, 2012	Admin. 205 Draft copy of tiers of interventions Draft of common RtI forms to	Agenda/Sign In Minutes from meeting
12.  Upload all forms on District framework for easy access/use	Penny Stephens Mauk B	June - September 2012	Completed forms	Forms posted and URL included in resource section of RtI procedural manual
13.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback on posted RtI form and its easy access/user friendly	Penny Stephens District RtI Team Stakeholders	June 27, 2012	Admin. 205 Draft copy of common RtI forms	Agenda/Sign In Minutes from meeting
14.  Identify and train campus-based RtI teams with specific selection criteria	District RtI Team Principals/ Assistant Principals	June - September 2012	List of: §  83 Elementary §  28 Middle Schools (including 6th grade centers)	List of Campus-based RtI teams established at each school and training has been provided
15.  Meeting with district RtI team to provide information and receive feedback on identified campus-based RtI teams	Penny Stephens District RtI Team Stakeholders	July 9, 2012	List of campus-based RtI teams	Agenda/Sign in Minutes from meeting
16.  Meet with RtI team and stakeholders to finalize RtI procedures and forms	Penny Stephens District RtI Team Stakeholders	July 20, 2012	Admin. 205 FWISD Print Shop Spiral RtI Procedural Manual – Fall 2012	Agenda/Sign in Minutes from meeting
17.  Make any additional edits as a result of the RtI team and stakeholders meeting to finalize RtI procedures and forms	Penny Stephens	July 24, 2012	Spiral RtI Procedural Manual – Fall 2012 with additional edits	Completed RtI Procedural Manual – Fall 2012