So much has happened since my last update. Way back in January or February I started meeting with my administrators about my action research project. Our principal invited me to lead the committee that was in charge of our back to school program, Wrangler Ropes. I learned so much from being the committee lead for my action research. I realized very early on just how much time is required when leading a committee. The time I spent composing and answering emails alone was well over 8 hours from the start of my time with the committee through the end of Wrangler Ropes.
My action research was to find out if modifying our back to school program from previous year would have an impact on school culture and discipline issues. The committee I was on reviewed feedback from teachers and students from previous years and made our modifications based on that feedback. The most significant change was that we went from a 5-day program to a 3-day program. This was the most requested change for the program from both teachers and students. Our committee met many times in the spring of the previous school year to review what needed to be done to make the appropriate changes. We were able to finalize the program before the end of the school year and left for the summer with a very solid plan in place that was ready to implement when school started back up this August.
The changes we had made were well-received by students and especially by teachers. At this point the program is over as well as the first half of my action research. I have decided to wait for at least a month to pass by from the end of the program until I start looking at data to try to determine whether or not there was a change in school culture and discipline issues. I have also decided to expand my research a bit by looking at schools with similar demographics as ours who do not provide a back to school program like we do. I'm curious to see if the type of program does in fact impact discipline. I realize that this is entirely dependent on being able to access data from other campuses and might not play out.
