Young man... you have got it!

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
PROCESS OVERVIEW REVISIONS
ROLE OF ATHLETICS IN THE OVERALL EDUCATION PROCESS

I. OBJECTIVE- To investigate the correlation of athletic participation and the overall education process. To establish a foundation for continuing research as to whether or not the athletic department is facilitating the academic growth its student-athletes require. Acquire new information on how athletics can support the overall educational mission and standards set by the school.

II. ACTIVITIES- To accomplish the above stated objective, we will need to collaborate with various faculty and staff members on campus.
1. Data processor- We will collect information on athletic period enrollment, as well as, receiving progress report data every three weeks. This will allow us to compare failures across the school. This data will include all student progress at the three weeks mark.
2. Attendance Clerk- We will collect weekly data of school wide attendance. This will allow us to chart the attendance of the athletes versus the regular student. In our athletic policy there are provisions regarding attendance.
3. Principal’s office- We will collect discipline data on all students and determine how many athletes were seen by a principal for discipline reasons. This will help us to determine the amount of time student-athletes are spending outside of the classroom due to discipline issues.
4. Counseling office- We will collect TAKS data of all of the students in the athletic periods. This will give us an opportunity to study their scores as a whole compared to the rest of the school population.

III. RESOURCES- We will use a variety of resources to collect our data. As stated above, we will use various faculty and staff members in collecting our data.
1. Parent Portal- This is an online grade book that will allow us to stay updated on student performance. As an educator we will have access to our student’s grades for every class and set up and alert when those students have grades fall below our specified perimeters.
2. Data Processor- Our Data Processor will be able to provide progress report information for all students in the school. These reports will be set to only show the students who are failing a minimum of one class during the grading period. We will be able to separate any athlete that is on this report and have an accurate count of both athlete and non-athlete failing at this grading period.
3. Principal- By collaborating with our grade level principal, we will be able to monitor any discipline activity that occurs with our athletes. This information will only need to show the ratio between athlete referrals and non-athlete referrals.
4. Counselors- Our counselors will be able to provide us information on the latest TAKS data. We also will be able to pull athlete information using a program called COMPASS to check on TAKS data for the student-athletes assigned to each coach. We will also use Benchmark Exam data to monitor the progress of the athlete and non-athlete. This testing tool gives us an opportunity to see how the students are progressing in their courses. This data is also provides information concerning students district wide.
5. Attendance- Our Attendance Clerk will set us up with daily/weekly reports that will show school attendance data. This will allow us to see the number of athletes that are missing school versus the number of non-athletes that are not attending school. This data could also serve as a correlation between attendance and grades.

IV. TIMELINE FOR COMPLETION- Due to nature of our research we will be studying this topic into the end of the school year. However, we will be able to collect vital data throughout the fall and spring semesters. The attendance data and the three weeks progress reports will allow us to compile valuable information. This will also give us time for self reflection throughout the year allowing us to find ways to improve our parts in the education process.

V. PERSONS RESPONSIBLE- Ultimately, myself as the Athletic Coordinator will take on the brunt of this project. There will be many other players involved in our research. Coaches, teachers, administrators and counselors will all aid in the compiling of our data as well as the implementation of any changes that may come about as a result of our findings. Our findings will also make it possible for further research on the district level. This will serve as a tool to improve the role of athletics in all the district secondary schools.

VI. PROCESS FOR MONITORING DATA- There will be many avenues in which to monitor our data. One such way will be through the use of three week progress reports. We will be able to have data online and in a hard copy format. Every three weeks there is a progress report given regarding the current status of all students in the school. The use of Benchmark Testing will also allow us the opportunity to have more information available throughout the year. Through collaboration with our data processor, I will have access to this data and will be able to decipher its information.

VII. ASSESSMENT OF ACTION RESEARCH- With the ability to monitor most of the data coming in throughout the year we will be able to keep track our research more thoroughly. With the weekly attendance records and three weeks progress reports, we will have a constant turnover of information. This will not allow the study to become stagnant or incomplete. By the end of the school year we will have the preliminary TAKS data available to us. This will allow us to compile the data and report our findings. Most importantly this study can be performed multiple times. It will allow us as athletic administrators a chance to evaluate our performance and our overall contributions to the education process.

Student-Athletes--- An Oxymoron?

So I am going to tackle the hot button topic of Athletics in the secondary school. Now being a coach I might be a little partial to the whole athletic period but, I still would like to see what the whole hub-ub is about. This will be an interesting week of action research, I can already tell...

It's 10 o'clock... do you know where your blog is?

So can educational leaders use blogs? Absolutely! What a great use of technology. Here are some things we can use the blog for:
1. Updated School News
2. Increasing stakeholder involvement
3. Providing another avenue for communication
4. Addressing current issues or events
5. Develop a relationship with the school community (even the people who don't have kids at your school anymore)

This is too easy to do and school leaders have another outlet to reach the community.

Action Research and Me

Wow, where do I begin. Action research and I first came together about a week ago. Although I felt that I have known about it a lot longer, my feelings were confirmed. I had actually done action research without even knowing it. So what do I think... I feel that as a leader it is crucial to the success of your program. For too long we have heard about research and thought, that it was something you did in the library, report your findings, then file it away. The thing about action research is the in the title... Action! You actually have to do something with your findings. It's that twist on the same ol' research we've done for years. Now, the big question that seems to be on everyone's mind is when do we have time to do this. Well, we must find time for it or take a step back and realize you may be doing it and did not even know it! Action research seems to be an essential in the success or failure in any plan. We must know if what we are doing actually works. Action research helps us to recommit to the plan. It keeps us interested, willing and hopefully able to keep trying. We cannot be afraid to examine the data or ask the questions about what is happening at our school. We just might find a better way. Or we may find we've been doing it the best way already. Either way it ultimately benefits kids and creates a better school climate.