I hope that my topic has merit...

I thought that, for my reflection today, I would copy the answer to the third paper in the Week 2 assignment.  It is a good summary of my thought process as I chose a topic.  I would like to thank my mom, Joan DeLuca, and my IS principal, Kim Miori, for helping in my brainstorming as I came up with a topic.

--------------

In anticipating a meeting with Kim Miori, my campus supervisor and Intermediate School principal, I developed three topics for administrator inquiry.  My topics included the role of teachers’’ associations, the impact of school facilities, and the effect of random drug testing.  In seeking an appointment with Mrs. Miori, I emailed her my three topics to allow her the opportunity to consider them and formulate her own opinions.  Below are the three paragraphs I sent her describing my topics.

The role of teachers' associations in the improvement of schools. Public school teachers and employees belong to various organizations. Among the most popular in Texas are the Association of Texas Professional Educators, the Texas State Teachers Association (NEA), the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, and the Texas Federation of Teachers (AFT). Often, these organizations are viewed with a wary eye by administrators. Too often, these associations appear only to be interested in protecting jobs rather than improving classroom outcomes. However, these organizations can also be a powerful resource for administrators and teachers. What roles do teacher organizations currently play in campus life? What other roles can they play? What is the link between a teacher's job security or job satisfaction and that teacher's student's academic performance? (Full disclosure: I am on the state board of directors of TSTA and am a candidate for state Vice President of TSTA.  My overall interest in this is to help overcome the impression that teacher associations are detrimental to public education.)

How do a school's facilities impact student achievement? In May, our school board presented a $30 million bond proposal and it was soundly defeated at the polls. There are many reasons for its defeat, but I wish to focus on the adequacy of the existing facilities. Our seventh and eighth grade students are housed in a building built in 1927. Grades PK through 2 are in buildings built in the mid 1940's. The bond proposal was intended to remedy these issues. However, one statement made in opposition to the bond was that "bricks and mortar do not make a school". In fact, it has been said that "a good teacher can teach outside under a tree." On the surface, we educators know these statements to be false, but what does objective research say? Is there data to support the need for modern facilities? One fear that I have is finding a situation in which there are great facilities without an unusual student population. Outstanding school facilities are usually found in affluent areas with students from affluent families. How can a separate the influence of their school's physical plant from the many other advantages greater financial resources bring? Or should I try to make that separation? Outstanding facilities can be used to attract outstanding teachers. What data out there supports that assertion?

What is the effect of random drug testing on student achievement?  As you know, Elgin ISD recently decided to implement random drug testing among secondary students involved in UIL activities.  Each test will cost the district around $15.  Is this an effective use of money?  Does drug testing, or the threat of a drug test, affect student achievement?  Naturally, most people do not want young people to use illegal drugs or abuse legal medications.  However, is it the proper role of the public school to test students for drugs?  What are the issues involved in only testing a subset of the student population, particularly since it is a subset that may be less inclined to abuse drugs in the first place?  I am concerned that objective data may be difficult to find.  The goal of any drug testing like Elgin's is not to find drugs.  It is to serve as a deterrent.  One would expect the overwhelming majority of tests to come out negative.  However, it is difficult to assess drug use among a student population -- illegal drug users do not typically report their drug use.  Does illegal drug use/abuse have an adverse effect on a campus's TAKS scores?  In other words, do drug users fail the test at a greater rate than non-drug users?

My visit with Mrs. Miori went very well.  In fact, we sat and talked for about ninety minutes, but the time flew by.  One of our first tasks was to agree on the meaning of “action research”.  In her M. Ed. program, Mrs. Miori did an in-depth study of the numbers of minority students from La Grange who go on to college or other post high school education.  She also studied the recipients of scholarships from La Grange and linked that to the college figures.  She discovered that Hispanic females from La Grange overwhelmingly do not attend college.  They also do not receive a share of scholarships that is proportional to their share of the overall class population.  Mrs. Miori’s research also went on to examine the causes for this and to develop possible solutions.  One important difference between Mrs. Miori’s research and the action research that I am asked to do is the amount of time available.  Mrs. Miori took an entire year to compile her research and findings.  I have a five week course, with two of those weeks gone.  We therefore decided that such a longitudinal study would not be appropriate at this time.

Mrs. Miori was actually quite excited about the idea of studying the impact a school’s facilities has on student achievement.  This was especially significant due to our recently defeated bond proposal.  We discussed this for a while and also bandied about the issues surrounding my study of teachers’ associations.  With regard to facilities, we agreed that it would be difficult to focus only on school facilities.  Schools with nice facilities also tend to have other advantages.  Inside the nice building, one might also find nicer computers, nicer furniture, and better paid teachers.

It was with that last factor that the light bulb flashed.  What about those better paid teachers?  Performance based compensation – merit pay – is a hot-button issue among those who seek to “reform” public schools.  We began to focus our questions around the issue of merit pay.  Does merit pay for teachers impact student learning?  What was the reaction to Texas’ “career ladder” in the late 1980’s?  (I began teaching in the fall of 1992 and missed being impacted by career ladder.)  Are there ways to implement merit pay while avoiding most or all of its pitfalls?  What can we learn from schools, districts, or states that have a merit pay system?  What is the role of teachers’ associations/unions in all of this?  What ways, if any, could our school district use merit pay to improve student learning?

So, with all of that in mind, I have decided to pursue merit pay as my action research topic.  This is an excellent blend of issues that are passions of mine.  As a leader in TSTA/NEA, I have certainly heard much about merit pay.  I confess a predisposition against it.  However, I do have an open mind and would like to be persuaded that there are ways to use merit pay that are fair to educators and achieve desired academic results.  I also firmly believe that, if merit pay is to be a success, teacher groups such as TSTA/NEA must be central to the plan’s creation.  Teachers must have a seat at the table and must be involved in the decisions.

So, here I go into the world of performance based compensation. 

At last, I think I've found my topic

After a wonderful conversation with my site supervisor (and Intermediate School Principal), I have settled on a topic.  The purpose will be to examine the effects of Performance Based Compensation (also known as merit pay for teachers) on student achievement.  In today's atmosphere of education reform, merit pay is often mentioned as a reform worthy of consideration.  Some stakeholders even appear to consider merit pay a panacea that will cure all that is wrong with public education.  However, what evidence is there that merit pay has any positive effect on student learning?

The implementation of non-traditional pay plans can have the benefit of improving the student learning.  Some merit pay plans can, however, pit teacher against teacher and be detrimental to the collaborative atmosphere of schools.  What is the best way to implement a merit pay plan that avoids some of the pitfalls?

The "Why" of it all...

One of the challenges facing school administrators is one of isolation.  On most school campuses, there are several English teachers, several math teachers, etc.  These teachers can collaborate and share information, techniques, and resources.  The principal, however, is the Lone Ranger.  He or she is the only one on campus with that job.  There are no other principals on campus with which to collaborate.  Blogs such as this one can be useful in mitigating this problem.

So, what is "Action Research"?

“Research” is a word that often brings back vivid memories of high school.  I remember the anxiety of anticipation as teachers warned of the Research Paper awaiting me and my classmates in our junior year English classes.  Preparing the actual paper required hours of poring over books in both the school and public libraries.  I even could be found searching the stacks of the famed Perry-Castaneda Library on the campus of the University of Texas.  Now comes a new M. Ed. course and the title is that ominous word again:  research.

However, that high school research was really just a compendium of research done by others.  All of the browsing of books and journals in the various libraries was intended to gather as much information as practical on the subject at hand.  The actual Research Paper simply brought all of this information together in a coherent way.  This new course, however, is different.  In this case, the research is called “administrative inquiry” or “action research.”

Nancy Fichtman Dana defines administrative inquiry as “the process of a principal engaging in systematic, intentional study of his/her own administrative practe and taking action for change based on what he/she learns as a result of the inquiry.”  (Dana, 2009, p. 2)  Unlike the work in high school, action research is intended not only to cover a subject, but to identify actions to take based on the research.  It is Dana’s hypothesis that a “administrator inquiry becomes a powerful vehicle for learning and school improvement”. (Dana, 2009, p. 3)

Combs et al illustrates Dana’s definition by analogy.  They compare action research to a visit to a physician.  The patient comes in with a list of symptoms.  The doctor then listens, asks questions, and orders diagnostic tests.  Systematically, the doctor gathers data until he is ready to make a diagnosis.  Together, the patient and doctor develop a plan of action to address the patient’s issues.  The last step is then maintaining the improvement the plan has made possible.  (Harris, Edmonson, & Combs, 2009, p. 6)  In this way, the research (gathering of data) is put into action (treatment and maintenance plans).

Traditional educational research also has the gathering of data and taking action in response to the data.  However, the difference between traditional educational research and administrative inquiry lies in who poses the questions and presents the solutions.  So often, education issues are studied by academics who are divorced from the day-to-day practice of educating young people.  As Dana puts it, “the [educational] practioner’s role is to implement the research findings of ‘outside’ experts… who are considered alien to the everyday happenings in schools.”  (Dana, 2009, p. 4)

Other educational research seeks to make description the prescription.  In other words, find what works and describe it.  Then, encourage others to do what was described.  Unfortunately, this ignores the importance of understanding and acknowledging contextual differences.  (Dana, 2009, p. 5)

Action research, on the other hand, is conducted by the actual educational practitioners.  They gather the data, reflect on their own practices and beliefs, and take action based on the data uncovered in the research.  When action research becomes a habit of leadership, it can become a powerful tool in professional growth and school improvement.  

-----------------------------

Harris, Sandra, Edmonson, Stacey, & Combs, Julie. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools. Larchmont, NY: 2009.

Dana, Nancy. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.