Peer Suggestions for My Action Research Project

Peer Suggestions and Reviews: In sharing my action research ideas with my fellow classmates, some of their comments have led me to adapt and change my project, hopefully, for the better. In our week two discussion as I brought up my purpose for my action research idea and what the application of the data would be used for and a few of my colleagues commented on my idea. Their comments have led me to change a few of the things within my project.

One of my peers mentioned that he would be interested in finding out the attendance rates, attitudes, and grades of seniors after their season had ended to see what kind of drop off if any occurred.  This comment got me thinking about the scope of my project and led me to adjust my student selection from not just freshmen and sophomores that were in season or not in athletics at all, but to also include all classifications as well as in-season, out-of-season, and non participants in my study. By weighing all of these categories I should be able to get a clearer picture of the attendance rates of students both participating and not participating in athletics as well as in and out of season participants.

Along the same lines another colleague of mine mentioned an interest in knowing what other coaches have done to address the attendance issue of students that are not involved in a particular sport. This comment got me to think about what I will do with my data. I am not completely sure yet at this point, but I do know I want to share my findings with the head coaches of the various sports in my school as well as the principal and assistant principals. Together we can come up with a plan of attack to help boost student attendance whether the student is an athlete in season, an athlete that is out of season, or a student that does not participate in any athletics at all.

In my week three discussion, one of the comments that were posted mentioned how the commenter liked that I was sampling both males and females in my sample test as well as having a large enough sample size that I should produce a good amount of data. This comment reinforced my thoughts about the depth of my student selection that will ensure positive data that should help me determine what effects extra-curricular activities have on attendance.

Does participation in extra-curricular athletics have an effect of student attendance?

Action Planning Template
Goal: The goal of my action research plan is to determine if participation in extra-curricular athletics has an effect on student attendance.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. I will measure the attendance of 25 randomly selected male athletes and 25 randomly selected female athletes in each grade level (9-12) at my high school. From that data, I will determine who is involved in an in-season athletic sport and who is involved in an out-of-season athletic sport and measure their attendance throughout the spring semester. 2. I will meet with the attendance office administrators to randomly choose the 200 students and monitor their attendance for the spring semester ensuring that I weed out students that are chronic absentees. 3. Meet with the counselors and determine the amount of involvement of these 200 students in extra-curricular athletics. 4. Analyze the data of student athletic involvement and attendance.	Myself, Lisa Henley (Attendance administrator), Brooke Scott (Attendance Administrator), Micah Lyles (Counselor), and David Williams (Assistant Principal) will all work collaboratively on this project. I will spear head the research and data gathering with the assistance of the others.	1. I will meet with the attendance office administrators in January 2011 to randomly select the 200 students. 2. I will meet with the counselors in February 2011 to determine the extra-curricular status of each student. 3. I will measure the 4th six weeks attendance of all 200 students in February 2011. 4. Measurement of the 5th six weeks attendance of all 200 students in April 2011. 5. Measure the 6th six weeks attendance of all 200 students in May 2011. 6. Analyze the data and come up with my conclusion for the project in June 2011.	I will need to utilize our schools skyward program for attendance records with assistance from office administrators as well as our school counselors.	The data itself should be a valuable evaluation tool in determining the effectiveness of this study. I should be able to compare my results with those of other similar projects to determine effectiveness. The results should be valuable in determining whether or not it is important for students to be involved in extra-curricular athletics.

Action Research Plan

Setting the Foundation – In collaboration with school attendance administrators, counselors, and other coaches, I hope to determine whether or not participation in extra-curricular athletics is important in student attendance. I hypothesize that students involved in sports will have better attendance records than those not involved due to the “No Pass, No Play” rules and the need to be at practice to be able to participate in the sport.

Analyzing Data – I will gather data by looking into the attendance records of 200 random male and female 9^th through 12^th grade students, and measure their attendance compared to their involvement, or lack thereof in extra-curricular athletics. I will also look into other published data concerning this project.

Developing Deeper Understanding – Comparing the results of my data gathering with other sources of published data concerning this project will give me a deeper understanding of whether or not there is any validity to participation in athletics effecting attendance.

Engage in Self-Reflection – After analyzing the data some questions should probably be posed should the data support my hypothesis.

If being involved in athletics does improve student attendance, then…

1. Should we encourage more students to be involved in extra-curricular athletics?
2. Is an athlete’s attendance affected by whether or not they are in or out of season?
3. Is there a direct correlation between athlete attendance and athlete grade point?

If being involved in athletics does not improve student attendance, then…

1. Does being involved in athletics have an effect on student grades?
2. Do coaches need to do a better job of ensuring that athletes are attending classes?
3. Should athletes be made responsible for attending class and held accountable for not?

Exploring Programmatic Patterns – Analyze the data and self-reflect by asking myself the questions, then determine the usefulness of the results. Can the results be used to increase attendance in the school? If so, how? Discuss the results and these questions with my site supervisor and determine the importance of the results and how they can affect our school as a whole.

Determining Direction – Collaborate with attendance administrators, counselors, and site supervisor to determine if there are any “holes” that need shoring up. Discuss the intent of the project as well as the importance of what the results might bring. Utilize their feedback to make any last minute adjustments to what needs to be done.

Taking Action for School Improvement – Organize a group or committee consisting of the head principal, athletic director, head coaches and assistant principal’s to discuss the results of my research project with. Discuss the importance of student attendance and the effect of athletic involvement has on student attendance and therefore, student grades. Prepare a summary report to present to the group outlining the results of the study.

Sustain Improvement – Understand the results of the project and pass those results on to others.  Share the results with my classmates, district personnel and other online communities that would benefit from the results of my study. Determine if any future research plans could be developed building on the results I discovered.

Reflections from Week 3 EDLD 5301

Well I hope everyone has had a great week. Unfortunately our football season ended last weekend and I have found it hard to motivate myself to do much of anything, thus the late posts. Regardless, I must get back into a groove and continue with this course. I am looking forward to the research project I am designing. I think that it will, hopefully, give me a good indication of the importance of athletics in regards to attendance. Here is the question I have designed and my purpose for the project.

"Action Research Question – Does the participation in extra-curricular athletics have an effect on student attendance?

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of extra-curricular athletics on attendance rate in-season and out-of-season for a group of high school athletes. I will randomly include 25 males and 25 females in each grade level 9-12 and measure the attendance record throughout the second semester of this school year. I feel that it is important to look into the results of this project to determine if participation in extra-curricular athletics has a positive impact on student attendance in class due to the current “No Pass, No Play” standards. If so, then it would benefit schools to encourage students to involve themselves in extra-curricular activities to increase student attendance."

Ya'll have a good week and we will see you next time!