The implementation of my action research project has occurred to this point fairly smoothly. My campus administrator and I agreed on the topic of whether or not involvement in extra-curricular athletics has an affect on student attendance. I then took the point on this particular project and began doing some of the research others had done on similar topics. I decided to set up my research by measuring the attendance rate of students that were in season athletics with those that were not in season or in athletics at all. I looked at the attendance of freshmen that were in my class and currently involved in season with a UIL athletic sport. To be able to participate students have to pass their classes to be able to play. Being in class is an important aspect of passing classes and I hypothesized that students that were in season would have a greater attendance rate than those that were not. I would measure 25 randomly selected freshmen students and see if they were involved in athletics. From there, I would measure their attendance throughout the semester making note of whether or not they were involved in athletics, both in and out of season, and if they were not involved in any extra-curriculars. After one semester of gathering data, I determined that it would be necessary to gather data in the following semesters as well. My school administrator and I also thought it important to include other classifications instead of just freshmen. We decided to start with this school year and measure attendance in the fall as well as the spring for 25 students in all classifications to get a wider range of data. From there we will be able to analyze that data and determine what steps need to be taken next.
The process that we used to build the shared commitment to the action research project is fairly easy. Seeing as how I am the main person involved in the research project, not very much buy in was necessary. In talking with some of my coworkers and some of the faculty, they very much see the need to understand the results of my research. The majority of those that I have discussed this with can definitely see the need for researching whether or not attendance is affected by involvement in athletics. If we can see a correlation, between being in season and increased attendance and out of season or non involvement and a decrease in attendance we can try and do some things to improve the attendance of those not currently in season. By discussing with my fellow teachers and discussions on blogs and discussion boards, I have been able to effectively communicate my vision for my project. When those I would discuss my project with had ideas to better the research, I was then able to reevaluate my research and revise some of the ideals I was pursuing.
Some methods that I would utilize in sharing the vision of my action research project would be to share my results with our athletic director and principal so that they would be able to see the importance extra curricular athletics has on student attendance. I would then set up an opportunity to discuss these results with the head coaches and teachers in the school to brainstorm some ideas to improve our schools attendance rates. It would then be easy to collaborate and communicate my results with the community to express to them the importance of attendance in the classroom, even when out of season in an athletic sport.
I was able to utilize our attendance office to help aid me with some of the legwork and logistics of my action research project. Both our our attendance clerks were able to provide me with information concerning student attendance in class. I was also able to look at the students schedule to determine if they were involved in athletics or not as well as whether or not their sport was currently in season. By utilizing a computer program called Skyward, the attendance office and I are able to look up student schedules, attendance, and whether or not a student is involved in the athletic program. Together we were then able to compare the rates of in season athletes, out of season athletes, and non athletes.
Throughout this research project we have not had to use very many community resources to support our vision. The extent of the resources that we have used has been the Skyward computer program that our school has purchased and uses. We have not had to use very many other resources at all and most of our research and data has come from the Skyward program.
Testing whether or not attendance is affected by students that are in season athletics, out of season athletics, or not involved in athletics can provide some very positive results that can be utilized to help increase overall attendance in our school. The results of this action research project can help promote a positive school culture that meets the needs of all students by providing data that can help determine if student attendance is altered when in season. By knowing this information, coaches can help encourage their student-athletes to attend their classes when out of season. Administrators can encourage students not typically involved in extra-curriculars to join and become a part of an athletic team. Hopefully knowing this information can improve attendance rates all around for our campus.
In discussing with other faculty members about the need to increase student attendance, many agreed that there was probably going to be a correlation between being in season and out of season for students that were involved in athletics. The entire school would be impacted if we were able to increase the attendance in classrooms. By being absent, a student does not receive all of the class information that he or she normally would. By being present in class, they are at least ensured of having the opportunity to hear and learn as the rest of the class does. Initially, we saw a need to determine if there was such a correlation between attendance and athletics. By measuring this data, we were able to determine that there was a difference in attendance for students that currently were in season for their athletic choice, students that were currently out of season for their sport, and students that were not involved in athletics in any capacity. By coming up with this information, we are able to conclude that our teachers, coaches, and administration need to do something to encourage the students that are athletes and not currently in season to attend their classes.
The plan that we will utilize to disseminate the results and recommendation of my action research project throughout the faculty, staff, administration, and community starts with presenting my findings to our athletic director and school principal. After both principal and athletic director are informed, I would take an opportunity to inform the head coaches and teachers of our school to start brainstorming ideas to increase classroom attendance. The head coaches can have a profound affect on their own particular student-athletes attitudes towards school as it pertains to attendance even when not in season. By letting these athletes know that they are looked up to and they should lead by example, hopefully we would see a rise in attendance.
Some professional growth strategies that will enable our schools faculty to realize the vision of this action research project is plainly enough a brief presentation during a faculty meeting. By pointing out the need to increase attendance and how athletics can have an affect on that attendance, our teachers can see the vision and why there is a need. Presenting the data to the staff allows them to see a hard copy of how things currently are and then provide ideas on how to increase the attendance of students not in athletics or in off season athletics.
In reviewing my topic for my action research project some important key words or phrases that could help others search and find information on my topic of athletics affecting attendance are as follows:
- Athletics affecting attendance
- The affect of in season vs off season athletics on attendance
- Increasing school attendance
- Attendance rates
- Student – Athletes
- Student first, athlete second
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