Action Research Summary

The need for Inclusion in a regular education classroom for Preschool Children with disabilities is very high.  Both regular education and special education students will benefit, learn and grow from an inclusion program.  In April 2013 I met with site supervisor and Special Ed. Director, and Lead Speech pathologists  to discuss and lay foundations of expectations and requirements of Inclusion Program at Pre-K level.  From November 2012 to March 2013 I attended an inclusion project grant offered through  RegionIV.  To get a better understanding of how the teachers felt and understood the inclusion program in May we Conducted a teacher survey of their understanding and view on 2012-013 Pre-K Inclusion program.  To prepare for this new school year in August 2013 I attended a professional development on Inclusion and special Ed program.  Also in August I met with site supervisor and speech pathologists to discuss plan for staff development session.  Over the last year I have also read many articles on Inclusion.  I have done much research on the topic.  I have learned so many successful strategies as well as strategies that are not as successful, for implementing inclusion in a regular ed classroom.  During our in service days at the beginning of the school year, I presented a staff development to the teachers and paraprofessional staff, on inclusion.  To prepare for this staff development I met with the Meet with site supervisor and speech pathologists.  My district is very aware that the need for inclusion in a regular ed classroom for all children with disabilities is very high. We are meeting this need by starting the inclusion program in our pre-k center and continuing all the way through 12^th grade. 

Final Reflection

Prior to this course, I did not know what an Action Research Plan was. As I reflect on the course content and its relation to my action research plan, I find four key areas that seemed particularly relevant and important to my understanding of what an Action Research Plan is: the primary class text Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher, Nancy Fichtman Dana, 2009; the discussion board,  the weekly web conferences and finally the Facebook page.

 According to Dana, “Action research refers to research intended to bring about change of some kind.”  This course provided me with intense knowledge on the steps and hard work it takes to do action research on my campus. 

A major highlight from the readings was in the Dana text, chapter 2, The Passions That Drive Your Journey.  This chapter contained important information for me.  The nine passions helped me break down the components at our campus and figure 2.1 (Dana, 31) provided a visual that helped me find my wonderings on my campus.  I think that’s the hardest part.  Choosing a topic or question / wonder statement.  There were so many things I was interested in but this chapter helped me focus on an area that would benefit teachers as well as the students. Table 2.1 (Dana, 65) served as excellent guideline questions.  This provided excellent examples of inquiry questions.  This table helped me focus.  Forming an action research inquiry keeps your focus on the right track.  Ultimately the Dana text will continue to guide me through my research and future research.  It even gets into ways to share my research with others

Once I chose my topic, the discussion boards were very useful because many of my peers had very interesting and useful suggestions.   The discussion boards helped me see areas that I could improve.    

I also found the weekly web conferences essential to my understanding and success in this course.  At the beginning of the first weekly conference I felt so lost and confused as to what an action research plan was.  By the end of the conference I understood completely and even had a topic for my research action plan.  I was not able to attend all of the conferences, however I feel so very blessed that the web conferences were made available by posting the recording of the conference. 

Finally I feel the Facebook page that has been created has been absolutely an essential component of my success in this course as well.  Anytime I felt I did not understand something all I had to do was post it in the newsfeed and so many of my peers would come to my rescue.  One week in particular I was not able to even start my work until late Sunday evening.  In this week one of the requirements was to summarize your peers comments and suggestions from you blog.  However, I since I had not yet posted in my blog, I was unable to complete that part of the assignment.  I was absolutely mortified and so regretful for not having started my assignment sooner.  I went on the Facebook page and explained my situation.  Within minutes the comments on my blog started flowing in.  Two hours later, my assignment had been completed and submitted.  Without the collaboration of my fellow peers, I would not have found myself as successful. 

In conclusion, through the four key areas: the primary class text Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher, Nancy Fichtman Dana, 2009; the discussion board,  the weekly web conferences and finally the Facebook page, it seems certain that I have increased my knowledge and my passion for doing action research as a result of this course.  I now have the tools necessary to take the plan that I created in this course and see it through to its completion.

References:

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/274493472681728/

Action Research Plan

The need for Inclusion in a regular education classroom for Preschool Children with disabilities is very high.  Both regular education and special education students will benefit, learn and grow from an inclusion program.

After discussing the topics of interest for our Action Research plan, we came to the conclusion that the Inclusion program at our campus being met with much hesitation and  good inclusion strategies were not being implemented.  The students in our Inclusion program will benefit from being a part of the Inclusion program.    Both the students with disabilities and the regular education students will benefit greatly from a good Inclusion program.    We decided we need to create a that will introduce good inclusion strategies and provide input from both administrators and teachers, with the goal of having the teachers have buy in and essentially practicing good inclusion strategies in their classroom.

Action Planning Template
Goal: The need for Inclusion in a regular education classroom for Preschool Children with disabilities is very high.  Both regular education and special education students will benefit, learn and grow from an inclusion program.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with site supervisor and Special Ed. Director, and Lead Speech pathologists  to discuss and lay foundations of expectations and requirements of Inclusion Program at Pre-K level.	Emily Laird Odie Michelle Robbinson Christina Castillo	April 2013	Signed approval to conduct Action Research Plan	Review practices for teacher exptectations on Pre-K Inclusion Program
Attend RegionIV Inclusion Project  Grant	Emily Laird Odie Christina Castillo	November 2012- March 2013	Material/content for Region IV Inclusion Project Grant	Identify important Inclusion Strategies that can be implemented in the Pre-K Classroom
Conduct teacher survey of their understanding and view on 2012-013 Pre-K Inclusion program.	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	May 2013	Teacher Survey	Collect and review Teacher Surveys
Research Literature on Inclusion	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	March 2013-December 2013	Lamar Online Library Internet	Research and review literature and make notes of the benefits highlighted in the literature, on the benefits of Inclusion of Children with disabilities.
Attend professional development on Inclusion and special Ed program	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	Summer 2013	Channelview ISD Calendar of Summer Workshops	Identify important Inclusion Strategies that can be implemented in the Pre-K Classroom
Meet with site supervisor and speech pathologists to discuss plan for staff development session in August.	Emily Laird Odie Michelle Robbinson Christina Castillo	August 2013	Material/content for staff development Literature review	Identify any resources and areas that need to be addressed.
Conduct a staff development session	Emily Laird Odie Michelle Robbinson Christina Castillo	August 2013	Material/content for staff development Literature review	Teacher survey
Teacher Survey on Inclusion Staff Development	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	August 2013	Teacher survey	Review teacher surveys
Monitor teachers implementation of inclusion strategies and curriculum.	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	August 2013-May 2014	Monitor and feedback forms Strategy check off list	Review Monitor, feedback forms, and check off list
Monitor Students in the inclusion program	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	August 2013-May 2014	Monitor and feedback forms	Review Monitor and feedback forms
Compare inclusion students data and CBA test at beginning and end of school year.	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	May 2014	Monitor and feedback forms CBA tests Student Data	Review data and beginning of the year test and end of the year test results
Conduct end of the year teacher survey on 2013-2014 Inclusion Program	Emily Laird Christina Castillo	May 2014	Teacher survey	Collect and review teacher surveys
Report the results to site supervisor and Special Ed. Director, and Lead Speech pathologists  and teachers.  Discuss how research findings can improve the Pre-K Inclusion Program for the 2014-2015 school year.	Emily Laird Odie Michelle Robbinson Christina Castillo	May 2014	Research findings	Review research plan findings on Pre-K Inclusion Program