Reading Classes into an Alternative High School Curriculum: Improving Reading Comprehension and Student Success.

The title of my action research project is: Reading Classes into an Alternative High School Curriculum: Improving Reading Comprehension and Student Success.

I chose this topic because a large majority of students that attend an alternative high school are considered at-risk. The purposes of high schools in the State of Texas are to prepare students to attend colleges. If the majority of students were better readers the opportunity for success would be greater. Will adding a reading class into an alternative high school curriculum improve reading comprehension which in turn improves student success?

The purpose of the needs assessment is to measure whether a reading class would better prepare the students for college. The information gathered in this action research will be presented to the campus and district administration with hopes of implementing a required reading class in alternative high schools. The primary data collect came from two surveys: one the teachers filled out on students reading abilities and one the students filled out on their own reading comprehension. Secondary data sources include benchmark results and TAKS data. The audience of the action research is students, teachers, administrators, parents, and stakeholders.

The vision of my action research project could just about fall under any campus or district vision because it is all about the students’ success.

Vision: I believe reading is essential for individual success and creates a love of lifelong learning. Reading can improve socioeconomic status of individuals, families, and communities. It has the ability to open doors and stimulates communication that is critical to a child’s education. I believe a balanced approach to literacy is required for all curriculum areas. A balanced approach to literacy instruction is characterized by:

a)            Providing opportunities that promote discussion on common text.

b)            Clearly modeling reading strategies.

c)            Using varied assessment tools to differentiate instruction.

The implementation of this program was based on the fact that students are not prepared for college level work as stated by Richard Ferguson (2006). The implementation of this program is a campus wide affair. It mostly consists of the campus administration and ELA department. The only true aspect that was considered was if it would be beneficial to the students. There has been an outline created for the program but, like all other things on my campus, nothing is set in stone. The program will be changed and modified as problems are recognized.

To communicate the vision you must inform all stakeholder of the vision. It good vision is shared by all. I would inform staff members through a staff meeting. For the other stakeholders, I would use the school website, an open meeting forum, and one on one parent contact. I feel it is important to let the parents know about the vision before it is introduced to the students. This gives the parents an opportunity to be on board and help inform the students of the vision as well. I would then inform students through a general assembly.

The strategy used for the implementation of this project, would by normal standards seem odd. This is due to the makeup and nature of my campus. As a self-paced campus we do not live or think inside a box, to be honest, there is no box at all on my campus. This allows a tremendous amount of flexibility when dealing with the students. To implement the program the campus consists of 5 highly qualified teachers that are certified and capable of teaching reading. With so many reading teachers available there will be a change in the master schedule. Each of the five teachers will take on a reading class. Each of the teachers will teach at a varying level, so teacher A will teach the reading class on grade levels 5 -6, teacher B will teach on grade levels 7 -8, and so on. There will be no added expenditures to implement the program; all need materials are readily available within the district. There will be a slight modification to the master schedule, by modifying the master schedule it will increase some class sizes but this will be by a maximum of 3 students per class. Once students have been identified and placed in the correct class setting.

The strategies used to set priorities will consist of planning meeting that includes all campus teachers. This allows for all the teachers to provide input on the students reading abilities and identifies students with major and minor deficiencies. Once the students have been identified, testing data (TAKS, Benchmark results) will be used to determine the student’s placement in the program. Curriculum for the program will be written using the TEKS that are available for the lower grade levels. The process will include all ELA teachers, campus administrators, and the district curriculum director. Once the program is operational, surveys will be sent all teachers that have a student in the program asking for information on the students’ reading progress in their class. This information will be used to tailor the program for the individual students’ success.

The program will be very similar to the way special education works in the each student will have an IEP for the reading class. This does not mean that the student is in special education just that the program can be modified to fit the individual student. With that said, the program will serve the needs of all students. The reading program will be tailored to the student not to a set of standards.

Vision Reflection

A vision can be described as a description of what your school will look like at a specific time in the future.  If you do not know where you are going how will you ever get there?  A vision does exactly that.  It is an idea of what your school will look like at a specific time in the future.  It is your road map to what you and your school must do to improve your campus.  The vision of leadership should be reflected in the schools vision and will ultimately affect the culture of the entire school.  When I have a personal vision for myself, my students, and my school I need to share it and not keep it to myself.  It is something that must be shared with others that are involved. Goals and mission statements can help communicate the vision and also help others involved in that vision to align themselves to that vision.  My actions must be consistent with my words and vision. Lastly my vision must be communicated to stakeholders in a way that will not only inform them but get them excited and interested in the vision. 

Reveiw of my Action Research Plan with the boss

I met with my principal today to discuss my action research plan. He said he liked the plan that I had laid out. He said he did not see any major problems with it but recommended that I include some use of vocabulary into it. He felt that a reasonable reading program could be developed with in the state required TEKS while also grabbing the students interest.

When I posed my research questions he said he felt they were on task for the problems that we have in the alternative high school environment. He said he liked the question: Will improving reading comprehension prepare students for college?

I have learned from working in an alternative high school environment that most students that graduate from this type of school will not try to attain an education past the high school level. The boss agreed with me on this and asked if I thought it could be because of their lack of motivation or college readiness. I told him I thought it was from both. He encouraged me to examine the reading comprehension for college readiness.

Action Research Plan

Action Planning
Goal:
Action Step(s)	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1.Discuss the possible topics for action research with my site supervisors	J Cypert G Campbell R Sims	October 3, 2011/ October 17, 2011	-Internship plan -Principal -English Depart    Chair -school data  (TAKS and  Benchmark  results) -school internet -English Depart  faculty	Decide topic issue
2. Interview principal and English department faculty	J Cypert G Campbell R Sims C Rippy D Dean	October 17, 2011/ October 21, 2011	-TAKS data  results for high  school for  2009-2010 and  2010-2011 -TEKS for  reading	Evaluate data -TAKS scores 2009-2010,  2010-2011, and TEKS
3. Conduct survey of student body in regards to reading comprehension	J Cypert	October 24, 2011	-Microsoft Word	Evaluate responses from survey. Correlate data from survey with TAKS/benchmark results of years listed.
4. Meet with campus principal and discuss results of survey.	J Cypert G Campbell	October 27, 2011	Data from analysis of TAKS/benchmark and survey	Use data from survey and TAKS results to determine if any improvements or changes can be made to improve reading comprehension.
5. Meet with English depart faculty	J Cypert R Sims C Rippy D Dean	October 31, 2011	Data from survey	Use data from survey and TAKS results to determine if any improvements or changes can be made to improve reading comprehension.
6. Implement any necessary improvements to existing English classes or the adoption of reading comprehension class for the 2012-2013 school year.	J Cypert G Campbell R Sims	November 1, 2011 through June 1, 2012 Possible extending to the 2012-13 school year	Principals and Faculty	Principal and faculty evaluation of TAKS results.
Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, Julie Combs © Eye On Education

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Is all this preparation really necessary to get action research going? How long must one reflect before they see the problem? Aren't we as teachers suppose to recognize problems immediately? Should I be writing a blueprint for everything?
I have included my blueprint for tomorrows lunch just in case.

Action Step-Lunch
Person Responsible- me
Timeline Start/End - 11:50 thru 12:20
Needed Resources - my lunch (specifics to follow if needed)

Evaluation - 500 word essay about the quality, content, consistency.

In case you could not tell, I am a little frustrated with research courses. I think this is because my B.A. is in Sociology. And if you don't know about sociology, I will tell you, we researched everything. For two solid years I did nothing but research. I researched everthing from monkey addicted to drugs to prison lifestyle in the 1800's.

I understand the need for the research course and I understand the difference in the research that I have performed and the type of research they are asking me to perform. What I have done in the past is traditional academic research. The leadership program is wanting me to conduct research that can be implemented. There is not much difference in them except action research will be actually used where as traditional research is mostly just read. A good example of academic research is the drug addicted monkeys, there would be no benefit to have drug crazied monkeys running the local school campuses. In this case, I can see where action research would not be benefical.

Traditional research and action research both require a question that needs to be answered. Both require some sort of data, traditional usually requires somebody to get that data through a survey or observation while action research data is usually available in the educational profession through standardized test. I know, I will have somebody say "well there is no data available when it comes to students being tardy or the buses running late." That is why I said usually available. Next comes the correlation of the data from the surveys, observation, and existing research. Does the data answer the question that has been asked? Is the data supported by the observation? If it is, start writing. 

Reading Comprehension

I had to pick a topic for my action research project. I chose to look at the addition of a reading class in current curriculum to improve reading comprehension. I chose this because I teach at an alternative high school with low student success.
The majority of our students usually rank in the last quartile of their class this is because most do not have good reading skills. I feel that research and implementation of a reading class can improve the students comprehension in all subjects and allow for greater student success.

How educational leaders could use blogs

Blogs came be a great way to get information out to the community about their school system. A stakeholder whose child attends school has information readily available to them but what about the individual that is active in the community that has no children. Can a person get accurate information from the many available media sources? Why not hear it from the man/woman themselves. Educational leaders can uses blogs to inform the general public about the goings on at the school, whether it is at the district or campus level. Blogs can be a great asset in the educational system.