Action Research Possibilities

Here are the three possible topics: 

ONE - I want to measure the performance of our English Language Learners on state assessments, and how class pass rates have improved since we have started to implement a new 100% graduation intervention for ELLs.  The research will show senior graduation rates prior to the intervention and for two years following.  It will also show core class pass rates for 9th through 12th grades and state assessment improvements for 9th through 12th grade.  This action research will benefit the teachers and ELL students at our school.  It will show if the current intervention is having a positive effect and highlight areas that the intervention needs improvement. 

As the ESL teacher at a secondary school, it is not uncommon for me to hear complaints about the ELL students such as they are “lazy” or “unwilling” to learn.  Additionally, I have heard teachers say that ESL classes are “dumbed down” or that they are special education classes.  I feel that an action research project with questions such as Mr. Scott, another administrator from our text, asked is in order.  Questions such as “What can we do to help close the achievement gap and improve our practice toward language learning students?” would be important in highlighting professional development efforts that could be made to open the teachers’ eyes to the true needs of the ESL student. 

TWO - Our district has a mentoring program that all new teachers and all teachers new to the district are required to participate in.  The program assigns the new teacher to an experienced mentor teacher on his or her home campus.  The mentor is trained by the district and offered a small stipend for the service.  The mentoring continues for a period of two years and then, often, the teacher exiting the program is asked to serve as a mentor for other new teachers.  I went through the program and did not find it effective.  As a matter of fact, the program only added to the stress of those two years for me.  I would be interested to see some action research done to evaluate the success of this program and the satisfaction of the teacher participants.  I believe that questions like “What benefit, if any, are the teachers getting from the program? How can this program be revamped to improve teacher satisfaction?  What support do the mentor teachers need in order to be effective in the mentoring role?” 

THREE - Our district has a mentoring program that all new teachers and all teachers new to the district are required to participate in.  The program assigns the new teacher to an experienced mentor teacher on his or her home campus.  The mentor is trained by the district and offered a small stipend for the service.  The mentoring continues for a period of two years and then, often, the teacher exiting the program is asked to serve as a mentor for other new teachers.  I went through the program and did not find it effective.  As a matter of fact, the program only added to the stress of those two years for me.  I would be interested to see some action research done to evaluate the success of this program and the satisfaction of the teacher participants.  I believe that questions like “What benefit, if any, are the teachers getting from the program? How can this program be revamped to improve teacher satisfaction?  What support do the mentor teachers need in order to be effective in the mentoring role?”