Action Research Plan

Goal:  The goal of this action research plan is to investigate and improve the current formative teacher evaluation and summative revision at our campus to provide more efficient and relevant teacher improvement and excellence.  The goal is paired with the desire to provide the best possible educational experience leading to student life change.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) Involved	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation Method
Interview with the current campus administrators. Goal: Gain insight into the current teacher evaluative practices and regulations.	1. Grant Miller 2. Campus Principal 3. Campus Vice Principal	Start Date: September 2011 End Date: September 2011	1. Interview questions. 2. Appointment time and location.	I will use one-on-one interviews with each of our campus administrators and compare the results of the interview questions.
Observe a series of core area teacher evaluations under the current system. Goal: Learn from first-hand experience the methodology of our current teacher evaluation.	1. Grant Miller 2. Campus Administrators 3. Core Area Teachers	Start Date: October 2011 End Date: December 2011	1. Permission from campus administrators and core area teachers. 2. Observation forms. 3. Time and location of teacher evaluation.	I will observe the formative teacher evaluation and following summative meetings and will critique the effectiveness and relevance to our campus situation.
Research a variety of literary sources on the types and styles of teacher evaluation practices available. Goal:  Discover potential evaluation practices that have proven beneficial in school districts that are similar to Kaufman ISD.	1. Grant Miller	Start Date: October 2011 End Date: December 2011	1. Literary sources (i.e. books, journals, and internet sites).	I will research several literary sources and evaluate their effectiveness based on the data included in the source evaluation.
Survey all junior high teachers. Goal: Gain insight into the perceived thoughts and recommendations of the core area teachers.	1. Grant Miller 2. Core Area Teachers	Start Date: October 2011 End Date: October 2011	1. Meeting time with junior high teachers. 2. Teacher surveys.	I will compile the data from each survey and compare the results with the data found in the literary research.
Survey a select group of junior high aged students. Goal: Gain insight into the student’s thoughts on the facets of an excellent classroom experience.	1. Grant Miller 2. Select Group of Junior High Students	Start Date: November 2011 End Date: November 2011	1. Meeting time with junior high students. 2. Student surveys.	I will combine the student survey responses and rank the responses based on frequency and relevance.
Compile and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of all gathered data. Goal: Select the criteria for the creation of a blueprint for a new evaluative method.	1. Grant Miller 2. Campus Administrators 3. Core Area Teachers	Start Date: January 2012 End Date: January 2012	1. Interview transcripts. 2. Evaluation forms. 3. Literary data. 4. Teacher surveys. 5. Student surveys.	I will combine the results of all data and search for areas of overlapping need and solution.  I will also find commonalities in evaluative strengths and weaknesses across all areas.
Collaboratively create and test a prototype teacher evaluation method. Goal: Institute a new, efficient, and relevant evaluation method.	1. Grant Miller 2. Campus Administrators 3. Core Area Teachers	Start Date: February 2012 End Date: March 2012	1. Meeting time with campus administrators and core area teachers. 2. All gathered data.	I will help to lead a collaborative group of administrators and core area teachers.  Evaluation of the collaborative effort will come in follow-up interviews.
Follow-up with interviews of campus administrators. Goal: Check for further needed revisions to the prototype.	1. Grant Miller 2. Campus Administrators	Start Date: March 2012 End Date: April 2012	1. Interview questions. 2. Appointment time and location.	I will use one-on-one interviews with each of our campus administrators and compare the results of the interview questions.
Follow-up with interviews of junior high, core area teachers. Goal: Gauge the thoughts and feelings of the new evaluative method.	1. Grant Miller 2. Core Area Teachers	Start Date: March 2012 End Date: April 2012	1. Interview questions. 2. Appointment time and location.	I will use one-on-one interviews with each of our core area teachers and compare the results of the interview questions.
Revise the prototype teacher evaluation method and test the revisions. Goal: Make the needed changes to further improve the new process.	1. Grant Miller 2. Campus Administrators 3. Core Area Teachers	Start Date: May 2012 End Date: May 2012	1. Meeting time with campus administrators and core area teachers. 2. All gathered data.	Again, a collaborative effort will be made to revise the prototype teacher evaluation and results will be discussed amongst the team.
Share results with relevant district stakeholders. Goal: Increase the effectiveness of teacher evaluation across all district campuses and gain insight from other campus ideas.	1. Grant Miller 2. Relevant District Stakeholders (i.e. Central Office Administrators, Campus Administrators)	Start Date: June 2012 End Date: September 2012	1. Action research summary and findings. 2. Relevant data. 3. Proposed teacher evaluation changes.	The final evaluations of the action research project will be opened to other district stakeholders.  Comments and suggestions will be taken into account for future changes.