Action Research Plan | ||||
Goals
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Action Steps(s): | Person(s) Responsible: | Timeline: Start/End | Needed Resources | Evaluation |
Review literature for best website design for school websites as it relates to common website elements and visit award winning school websites. | James Hawks | Start: 2/6/12 End: 3/16/12 | Research tools: Internet, library, EBSCO Database | Make a comprehensive list of elements. |
Make a representative checklist for evaluating disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) websites. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee | Start: 3/19/12 End: 3/22/12 | Best practice data from the literature review and surveying of school websites. | List of committee chosen common elements |
Construct school website survey to gather data on the most common school website elements found in DAEP websites. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee | Start: 3/26/12 End: 3/30/12 | List of committee selected common school website elements. | Created survey/checklist to use to gather data from DAEP websites |
Create a definition of what constitutes and DAEP school. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee Carolyn Alexander | Start: 3/19/12 End: 3/22/12 | Internet, Texas Education Agency | Working definition of DAEP. |
Survey 30 DAEP websites using the checklist survey to gather data to ascertain the most common elements found in DAEP school websites. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee | Start: 3/26/12 End: 4/5/12 | Created Survey Check list of common elements seen in school websites used to gather data on each website. | Completed Surveys 30 completed surveys of at least 30 DAEP school websites. |
Evaluate the data from website surveys. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee Carolyn Alexander | Start: 4/9/12 End: 4/13/12 | Completed surveys and statistical analysis | Compile results for review by TPJH Website Committee and Site Supervisor. Develop report on common DAEP school website elements. |
Construct survey for parents, students, and staff. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee | Start: 4/16/12 End: 4/20/12 | Statistical analysis of most common elements found in DAEP school websites. | Created survey for students, parents, and staff using a scale of 1 to 5; one being described as not very important and five being described as very important. |
Survey parents, students, and staff. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee Carolyn Alexander | Start: 4/23/12 End: 5/18/12 | Surveys Designated times and places for conducting surveys. | Collection of Completed Surveys |
Evaluate data from student, parent, and staff surveys of common components desired to be seen in an disciplinary alternative education program school website. | James Hawks TPJH Website Committee | Start: 5/18/12 End: 5/25/12 | Statistical Analysis of common components desired and to what degree they are desired. | Report – TPJH Website Committee and site supervisor. |
Apply research results to the design of Turning Point Junior High’s school website. | Turning Point Junior High School Website Committee | Start: 5/29/12 End: 7/31/12 | Web design tools, online web space, apply results of the research. | Published Website |
Reflect on lessons learned. Discuss future research questions as it pertains to the use and improvement of TPJH school website. | TPJH Website Committee Administration | Start: 8/15/12 End: 9/15/12 | ||
Complete Action Research Report | James Hawks | Start: 2/6/12 End: 9/20/12 | Formatted Action Report in APA Style | Completed Action Research Report |
Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools
(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)
James, your plan looks well thought out and detailed. I think you will find this to be a very useful project.
ReplyDeleteI was curious about your school, is it part of a district or is it a stand alone alternative to regular education models? I was wondering because if you are part of a district you may need to see if they have specific design criteria that you need to adhere to. I am assuming that you are not part of a district that would have such criteria but I thought I would mention it.
Yes we have some design elements that have to be included. The design elements are: mascot, picture of the school, and motto. The rest is left up to us. We are using an open source website builder and the common elements are left to us.
DeleteI work in Arlington Independent School District. Our school is a stand-alone campus. We receive students from all elementary schools and junior highs.
Your inquiry is interesting to me. Our DAEP is housed in one section of our campus since it is still small. They were on a different campus in previous years until the money crunch hit us. In fact, my husband is the high school DAEP teacher. We have one teacher at the high school level and one at the middle school level. Anyway, I wanted them to create their DAEP webpage. My husband asks," What type of information do you put on the DAEP webpage?" I didn't know how to answer him except to say maybe rules of DAEP, dress code, but other than that, I don't know. So, I am interested in following your inquiry to see where it leads you and see your finalized product.
DeleteI agree with Jackie that this study is both valuable and interesting. I realize that our students leave campuses with very rich websites with massive amounts of information about their home campuses. It would be unsettling to go to a new campus without the same type of access to information. Having this resource for parents and students will help make the transition much easier to your campus. Your plan seems well thought out and constructed. I will be watching to see how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by your topic. The DAEP school in my district does not have a website. All other schools including the Alternative High School have very detailed sites. I believe it would really be an assest for the DAEP to have its own website and take some of the mystery out of the place. Do you think some DAEP schools do not have websites because most students are only there for a short amount of time? You have constructed a very detailed plan. I would suggest locating some of the largest and some of the most established DAEP schools to survey.
ReplyDeleteYour plan made me want to go explore the website for my district's alternative school. I was quite surprised to see it was vibrant and very updated. I'm not sure about the profile of your students, but I wonder if you find that parents of students at a DAEP school access the website often or use it as a primary source of information.
ReplyDeleteYour research action plan will be a wealth of information for other DAEP's seeking to implement an effective website. I looked for my district's DAEP website and found out we don't have one. I wonder how often the DAEP sites are visited. I wish you well on your endeavor.
ReplyDeleteJames, I am impressed by the detail in your plan. I was wondering if your school is a separate DAEP campus? At my school the DAEP students are on our campus, but they are not allowed to interact with the students or attend any tutorials. However, I am to facilitate some student's social studies credits. these students are assigned to me, but I never see them and only send and receive work via a box in the mail room. Being able to exchange information and tutor these students is one of my reasons for my developing curriculum through Google. Have you considered adding teacher to student communication to your website?
ReplyDelete