Action Research Progress report for Week 5 EDLD 5326

Action Research Project Title: Developing and Using a Working School Garden to Meet our Campus’ Need for Experiential Learning
 Blog URL: http://alissadamore.blogspot.com/
 Number of AR Project Documented Hours: 20 hours + wait time for surveys to be completed by staff and parents (1 week each). Will be completing about 10 more hours in the next month with meetings and planning for the project with the Garden Committee.
 AR Project Summary (at least 250 words): My AR Project has dealt with determining the need for experiential learning on our campus, and coming up with a plan to meet it in order to increase student learning in the area of Science at the 5th grade level based on comparison of performance on state wide assessments from previous years and the next 3 school years. Since we only have up to 4th grade on our campus, our school is not responsible for Science scores, but our students head to the Intermediate where they will take the test, and it will count for our district as the only score in science since we only have one 5th grade campus. The lack of hands-on Science was determined through our Campus Leadership Team reviewing the CIP, and writing this need in at the beginning of this school year. We currently have a Science lab, but the team determined we needed even more experiences for our students if they were to be competitive and meet the qualifications for Learner of the Future in our school district. A small group of parents was already talking of starting the garden, so my principal paired me with them, and we have been planning ever since. It has been a long road, but an interesting one. We have done research into other local gardens: how were they funded, designed, used, and what kind of impact have they had on student learning? I have attended a North Dallas Garden Club meeting to hear the National Director of Real School Gardens speak. I have met with our parent representatives and my principal to discuss our plans, as well as email with them routinely to share new research data, products, interesting websites and other pertinent information to our campus starting a garden. We have also met with a local representative for Real School gardens 2 times to discuss how much their assistance will cost our school (we will have to “sponsor” an low-income campus to gain their assistance), what we need to do to begin our planning, and surveying our campus to see where our best locations for installation could be. I have also developed and completed two surveys through Survey Monkey, one for parents, the other for faculty, to determine interest levels in our school community for the garden. I surveyed the teachers on what kind of experience they had with a garden, how important they felt this kind of opportunity could be for their students, how they could use it, and if they would be willing to help with it. The parent survey was similar, but included more questions about how they would and could support the project: financially, construction, maintenance, training for teachers, corporate support, etc… . Both surveys came back with overwhelmingly positive results, especially the parent surveys (263 of them completed). Even the parents who were not sure how they felt, were still positive and willing to be open-minded. Their support is just as important as the teachers because they are going to be key stake-holders through funding and volunteering to keep it going and maintaining it as a major educational opportunity for our campus. Our PTA Executive Board will be meeting this next week to vote on the approval of the funding for the garden. We are hoping that we will be able to make a partnership with Real School Gardens, and come up with a way for us to be able to use them to help design and install our garden as well as train our parents and teachers in its use. If the funding is not approved, I may be revising my project, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well. Following the board meeting, our small garden Planning Committee is planning to meet with Scott from real School gardens again to complete our camus survey of the grounds,and get started with the design.

Progress is progress

It has been awhile since I've posted anything, and have I been busy.  This project has proved to be exciting and exhausting all at the same time.  So far, we have had a couple of meetings with our Planning committee, and members of our committee have also met with Scott from Real School Gardens for a brief presentation.  We are planning on setting up another, but have been busy researching some more on our end.  As of Spring Break, we have conducted two surveys, both written by me based on some research I did  on other campuses which have done similar projects.  here is am amazing amount of existing data on the Internet about school gardens!  Our first survey went to our faculty, the second to the parents, and both were well received, and have given us the good data we need to go forward.  Now, we are waiting to see what kind of money our Spring fundraiser brings in, and we will, as a committee, revisit the costs of working with Real School Gardens compared to what it would cost us financially and time wise to go on our own.  We are hoping to have some type of decision, as well as a timeline for implementation soon!

For now, I have designed a presentation that could be used to give to our PTA Executive Committee or our staff or Campus Leadership Team to support our Garden Committee's plan for a garden on our campus.

Gambling on a Garden

Well, we are now pretty much done with Week 4 of our Research class, and have been working for weeks now on developing our plans for our Action Research Projects.  I have posted my project draft, gone over it with my principal, and still feel like I'm standing at the starting block waiting for the gun to fire.  When we looked at the draft, she agreed that so far, it looked good, but without having the full support of our PTA Board for the go-ahead, we are kind of stuck.  So, as it stands right now, even with the support of my principal, my PTA president and other members of our Campus Leadership team, we are waiting for the final word to know if we have a project or not.  The board meets early this week, and as soon as they do, I will have my answer.  I will either be able to start running the race to complete the project, or I will be desperately looking into my other options for my "new" project.  If we are voted against, I will be disappointed on many levels.  I will feel that a wonderful experience for our students will be lost in not being able to use the garden as a hands-on learning tool.  I will also feel a bit exhausted from the last 4 weeks of work, knowing that in a sense, they will have been for naught in that I'll have to completely redesign my action research plan and basically start from scratch.  So, I am not really a gambling type of girl, I usually tend to be very conservative and not much of a risk taker with the big things in life, but this project has definitely been a gamble.  I have faith in our project being accepted, but boy am I nervous.  Since I am unable to attend the meeting (it's a closed meeting), I'm going to have to wait with baited breath to hear the outcome, and then hopefully set my plan of action, whatever it is, into play.  This could be an interesting week!

Stumbling Though the Steps

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I really like my project, and I have all the faith in the world that it is going to be not only enjoyable for me, but will be such a benefit to my campus when it is complete, but man oh man, creating the actual "plan" is a bugger!  Since my project revolves around data we don't even really have yet, and is going to focus mostly on how our campus is going to accomplish the building and use of this garden, I found it incredibly hard to write this plan out with dates, steps, evaluations, etc...  I have a feeling this project is going to continuously change throughout its entirity and I may be revising my question quite a bit to fit the needs of the project as it evolves. Anyone else out there wondering if your plan makes any sense?  I think I'm curious to see how this is all going to work out.

Let me know. I'm feeling the need for input!

Action Planning Template
Goal:  I will be able to determine and successfully meet our campus need for experiential learning through the development and use of a working school garden.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Meet with Campus Leadership Team to review Campus Improvement Plan to determine if there is a need for experiential learning to meet the needs of our students in Science and to meet the district initiative for “The Learner of the Future” Review existing and collected data on start-up	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner, campus principal Campus Leadership Team	October 25, 2012-October 29, 2012 August 2012-October 2012	Campus Improvement Plan, Highland Park ISD research, data and Profile for the Learner of the Future	Determination of need for experiential learning based on review of CIP, collaboration of CLT during meeting, and group agreement to further look into the development of the project.
Create a Garden Committee, made up of my self, PTA President, principal and additional various campus and parent representatives to head the development of the school garden.	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner (principal), Caroline Williams (PTA President)	October 2012- December 2012	Survey, description of plan for garden	We will use surveys, grade level meetings, staff meetings and parent meetings to discuss the purpose of our committee and to recruit members from all grade levels and parent groups.
Research possibilities for using outside agencies to assist in development of the garden.  Research at least 2 local options for comparison.	Alissa D’Amore, Caroline Williams (PTA President), Christine Brunner (principal)	October 2012-December 2012	Pamphlets or online information describing services provided by non-profit school garden groups, and determination of timeframe, cost, and staff/parent involvement in start-up of garden.	Committee will research the obtained information in order to make the decision of whether this is the direction we want to go.  Findings will be brought to faculty and to parent groups for approval (PTA, Dad’s Club)
Research cost of designing and building the garden if we decide to build on our own without the assistance of a specialized non-profit group.	Alissa D’Amore, Caroline Williams (PTA President), Christine Brunner (principal)	October 2012-December 2012	Price quotes from developers, garden shops, and home improvement stores for the cost of materials and procedures to begin development of garden.	Use various quotes to compare with research done on agency quotes to determine best route to take in moving forward with garden.  Gain approval from committee members, principal, Campus Leadership Team and parent groups.  Develop projected plan to present to parent groups in order to go forward with plans for funding the project.
Research exact type of campus need for hands-on learning through the use of grade level surveys of teachers, students and science lab teacher.  Also use input from randomly selected grade-level parents.	Alissa D’Amore, Garden Committee, Campus Leadership Team	October 2012- May 2013	Surveys and interviews  (parent, student, staff), STAR data, benchmark scores, MAPS testing, CIP, TEKS	Take data compiled from surveys, testing, and interviews to base need for garden and what we will be using it for.  Compare possible teaching objectives linked to using the garden to campus needs areas and work into design, curriculum planning, and final proposal.
Develop Plan for School Garden with proposal, including cost	Garden Committee	October 2012-January 2013	Findings from interviews with similar campuses, organizations and professionals, research of costs and plans, including use of school garden from multiple schools and districts	A proposal will be created by our garden Committee to be presented to faculty and parent groups for approval and/or revision.  If the proposal is accepted and decided upon as an action plan, we will take the next steps to ensure implementation.
Find sources for funding	Garden Committee, PTA, Dad’s Club	October 2012-May 2013 Ongoing	Garden Plan Proposal, cost analysis, timeframe for implementation, list of possible funding sources for start-up.  Comparison reports for using an organization to assist us and going on our own.  Research on cost related to upkeep of garden for continuous use.	Research possibilities for funding on campus and within the Highland park Community. Meet with campus parent organizations to present plan proposal with projected cost.
Pros/Cons Comparison of developing and using a school garden with local schools who have already completed the project in the last 5 years	Alissa D’Amore	November 2012- February 2013	Research local schools who have utilized the services of Real School Gardens or have independently built gardens on their campuses.  Write up data for presentation to Garden Committee and Leadership Team	Interview campus staff who are closely related to the project, and gain insight into pros/cons of using Real School Gardens, compare to going independently.  Use interviews to compile data on campus use of gardens, cost for upkeep, lesson planning, and gaining staff and community buy-in in order to write it inot our own presentation to funding committee, faculty, PTA  and Campus Leadership Team
Assess campus for location and size of garden	Garden Committee, Outside organization specialized in landscape design	November 2012-February 2013	Draft Proposal for garden, soil study, light study, needs assessment for hands-on learning	Use assessment of outside agency or professional in garden design to find location on campus to best fit the needs of our project. Look into soil, water source, light.  Use assessment to work into Final Proposal to use with resource planning. Meet with campus leadership and parent groups at a monthly meeting to gain approval to proceed with project.
Gain City Permit to build on property	Garden Committee, HPISD	December 2012-May 2013	Research for Garden Proposal, Garden Proposal, research from garden professionals related to structures, digging, etc… related to building of garden.	Work with City of Highland Park to gain approval for building the garden on our campus.  Make any needed revisions to plan proposal.  Take findings to parent groups and campus leadership to approve changes if necessary and fund permit.
Science Benchmarks or Informal Assessments to determine areas of learning need for 3rd and 4th grade students, first administration	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner, 3rd grade teachers, 4th grade teachers, science lab teacher	January 2013-February 2013	Benchmark data from fall 2012, informal needs assessments, 2012 STAR scores for Math and Reading (3rd and 4th), 2012 STAR Science scores for 5th grade students	Review assessments to better pinpoint areas of need to focus on when determining the type of garden to build, how we are going to tie it to curriculum.  Will look at last years district Science test scores to find specific STAR areas where we will need to focus hands-on Science Learning for our students currently in 3rd and 4th grade.
Review of 2012/2013 STAR data	Alissa D’Amore, Christine Brunner, Garden Committee, Campus Leadership team	May 2013-September 2013	STAR Science test results for 2013 administration for HPISD 5th grade.  Compare to 2012 results.	Use last year and current year STAR test data for former Bradfield students to find any areas where the students failed to progress.  Use data to assist campus development of curriculum and lesson planning to align with the use of the school garden.  Bring plan for use to campus committees involved with approval of garden and funding.  Present to staff for approval
Staff Development for Garden Committee	Professional gardening group, Alissa D’Amore, Garden Committee, Christine Brunner	March 2013- May 2013	Training materials based on development of a working school garden	Staff Development will be provided to Garden Committee in order to train on planning, development and use of school garden.  Following training by professional group, Garden Committee will present to faculty and parent groups in order to establish support and inform on steps needed to get underway with project.
Staff Development for Faculty and Parent Volunteers	Professional garden group, Garden Committee,  Christine Brunner	April 2013-June 2013	Training materials, campus proposal for garden	Professionals will conduct workshop with all campus faculty and parent group leaders in order to train them on what the garden will look like, basic gardening information, how to use the garden materials when they are installed, and what is involved with the daily use and upkeep.  Surveys will be conducted following the training to address any additional staff development for staff necessary to the understanding of the use of the garden with students.
Break Ground on Garden Project	Garden Committee, Christine Brunner, Parent Groups, Community volunteers, Faculty and staff, students	May 2013-September 2013	Completed and accepted Garden Proposal, Blueprints for building Garden, financial support, building materials	After obtaining support from school district, parents, and community volunteers and businesses, a day will be set aside to construct the garden on our campus.  All members on site will assist in construction of all structures and installation of plants, water sources, ornamental structures, etc… .  Following the installation, surveys will be conducted to assess the process from beginning to end (given to random members of every group, 20 surveys) to determine success of project from idea to implementation.  An additional survey will be given to teachers to gain insight into how they are planning to use the garden with their classroom instruction in ways other than Science in order to improve student learning across curriculums.
Review Science STAR data 2013/2014	Alissa D’Amore	May 2014-September 2014	Science STAR results and break down of test data for our former 4th grade students who took the 5th grade Science test at the Intermediate School	Review STAR data of former Bradfield students for 5th grade.  This data should be after one school year of having the garden on our campus to be used for experiential learning in Science.  Look at pass rate and commended rates of these students compared to the scores of the previous two administrations of the STAR test to former Bradfield students in order to determine the possible effect of having the garden and how it affected the scores of our former students

Planting the seed...

Wow.  This week has been very eye opening where research is concerned.  I have been very busy reviewing my Internship Plan, speaking with various campus and district groups and representatives, and just plain sinking my teeth into study.  I have to admit that I really enjoyed the reading this week from the Leading with Passion and Knowledge text by Dana, and feel that it has greatly helped me in the narrowing down of my topics for research, as well as helping me to find out exactly how to ask the question.  I've also enjoyed the input of some of my fellow classmates and reading about their plans for research. When I first found out about this class, I was a bit nervous, and was having trouble pinpointing a project.  Now, just 2 weeks later, I am finding I see a possible research project in almost every activity in my Internship Plan.     
This week, I attended 3 separate meetings  on 3 new initiatives on our campus, all 3 of which are included in my Internship Plan, and can also be formulated into questions for research.  I spoke of these with my principal, and when we discussed these topics (inclusion, RTI, how the use of state of the art video equipment can be used across subject areas to improve learning with 3rd and 4th grade students), as well as several others, and on top of these, we are still looking into further topics.  The problem is that there will always be "more".  Every meeting, every grading period is going to raise questions for investigation.  At this point, I think my enthuasiasm has been eclipsed by that of my principal, and if we don't slow down, I'll either be doing about 10 projects or have one so broad I'll never complete it.  Can't say we aren't coming up with ideas.
This week, I have also used the guidance of the leaders who were interviewed for our class this week, and looked into research that has already been done. There is so much available if you just look for it.  Since one topic my principal and I have discussed involves the creation and use of a school garden, I decided to look into it online.  I am finding that others have already used this as an action research project, and I may be able to look into their findings to narrow my question, as well as find a starting point for where we need to begin.  There are also many organizations that are available for assisting campuses build these type of gardens, and even though we won't be able to qualify for their assistance, I can use their planning and blueprints to present to our campus representatives (Leadership Team and PTA) when it comes time to look into location, cost and use of our garden. 
I am meeting with our campus leadership team this week to discuss the garden for the first time.  Even though I am excited about it, I am a bit wary of the response from the group when it is brought to the table.  This is something our PTA is wanting, and even though they are going to be a great help in getting it going, the bulk of the responsibility is going to lay in the laps of our teachers, and extra responsibility is something that is never easily swallowed.  I have two more days to come up with a very positive presentation and to find the best way to present this project in order to gain the most support from the campus.  I am hoping this goes well, I am hoping the PTA representative is prepared with their part, and I am not going to uncross my fingers until Thursday.  Whew!

How Can Educational Leaders Use Blogs?

I have to be honest...I am very new to blogs, and am still learning how they even work, but I can already see the benefits they provide to educational leaders.  I think that blogs can be a great resource to those looking to find groups of individuals with similar inquiries into their profession.  They are a great source of knowledge sharing, and can provide lines of communication that would not be there otherwise.  With a blog, it seems you can find information sharing on so many topics, and unlike websites that are set up to be purely informational, a blog is an actual ongoing communication of the subject.  You can post questions to others who may have new insight into your question, share your thoughts, and get almost instant responses that can assist in the construction of your next question. Educational leaders can use a blog to post information about what is going on with their campus, share information with faculty, parents and the community,  and even use it as a forum for all parties involved to post questions and ideas that can be used to structure new learning initiatives. I'm hoping to use this blog to share my learning in this program, and my progress on my action research plan throughout my internship.  I'm also looking forward to following my fellow classmates on their journeys with their projects.  Happy blogging!

What Have I Learned So Far About Action Research?

Even though I feel that I am just beginning my journey into the world of "action research", I feel as though I am already gaining insight into the many ways I can use it in my profession as an educator.  Through my studies, I have learned the difference between traditional educational research and action research, and just how the use of action research in a school setting can be beneficial to not only those doing the research, but also to the students or faculty who may be affected through its outcome. Since action research is done by those most closely involved with the design, data collection, and interpretation of the data surrounding their question, it is much more meaningful than research done by an outside source and then implemented on a campus.  I have also learned that I have been for years, been doing some type of action research on my campus through my participation in Leadership Teams and PLCs.  These past learning and leadership experiences, even though they were not done through actual action research projects, could be considered works of action research in that we formulated inquiries, used took action for change based on what we learned from these inquiries.

I'm actually very excited about beginning an action research project on my campus.  When posed the question of finding an action research project to do in an educational setting as part of my internship, my mind began racing with all the possibilities.  When I met with my principal, who is my site supervisor, in order to work on my Internship Plan, she proposed several projects I could take on as part of my internship.  When I came to her with the question of what to do for an action research project, I mentioned a couple of ideas, and she came up with a brand new one: Assisting the campus leadership team and the PTA in researching the development of a working school garden, and how we could use it as a learning tool on our campus.  I'm hoping to pursue this as my action research project over the duration of my internship, but had several other ideas on projects that could be done on my campus with current issues.  One was to follow the development and implementation of a new school-wide discipline plan and to monitor its effectiveness.  Another was to survey staff on how to better design professional developments to fit their education needs, and how this new, tailored training changed their instruction in the classroom.  I had also thought of reviewing current RTI strategies being used, surveying campus needs for RTI, and coming up with new RTI strategies that may further improve student learning and progress.  No matter what project is chosen by me or by any of my classmates, I am hoping that through action research, we will all gain first hand insight into inquiries we have concerning our campus' improvement, and will be able to use this knowledge to further growth of not only our own learning, but that of our co-workers and the students we work with every day.