The purpose of my action research plan is to take a look back at our student discipline process and procedures. We have a small campus, where most of our students are good. Many teacher complaints are about respect and getting a handful of students to get quiet and stop disrupting class. Very seldom do we have fighting, drugs or major discipline problems. The first stage of my action research project has started by reviewing discipline referrals: looking and categorizing them into different severities. I will check to see if there is a correlation between discipline and productive learning. I thought about checking to see if state assessment scores are affected in certain class with high discipline referrals. I also want to create teacher, student, and parent questioners to see how they feel about past, current, and present discipline on our campus. I feel that including those whom discipline affects, should have input about our discipline perspective. Maybe look at teacher training, has our district assured teachers have been properly trained how to discipline, defuse problems before they escalate. Also, look at students individual folders, could there be an underlying problem or issue with the student(s).
What is the significance of my action research project? I will create a positive beneficial way to keep discipline at its lowest level. I will create a positive and productive learning environment for administration, teachers, and students.
I like the way you will survey the parents, teachers, and students to see what they felt about the discipline plan. There are various workshops available to teachers regarding classroom management and how to handle various behaviors. I have attended some of the workshops and they are great.
ReplyDeleteI am actually very intrigued in the data that your action research study will yield. Student discipline is something that starts with effective classroom management but is vastly effected by variables such as class size, gender, socioeconomic background, age and maturity level, morals and values, peer pressure, and situation assessment. Across the board, it is the responsibility of teachers, coaches, and administrators to handle disciplinary action in a universal manner (i.e., the students should receive equal distribution of disciplinary referrals for the same offense regardless of the teacher or subject taught). Unfortunately, all teachers do not share the same level of classroom management skills, nor do they have the same tolerance level or threshold for disciplinary offenses. Whereas some teachers are strict and will write up a student regardless of the offense, there are some teachers who let more slide simply because they are unwilling to fill out the discipline referral, or simply do not have the time. The same case can also be made for administrators, especially when it comes to handling disciplinary referrals. Unfortunately, the punishment dealt as a consequence of a discipline referral doesn't always reflect the severity of the offense. Some administrators will let offenses slide, others will punish to the full extent of the campus/district code of conduct standards. In order for disciplinary measures to effective at a campus, all teachers and administrators alike must adhere to policies and procedures set forth by the school district and the respective campus. Then, they must be proactive in their enforcement. If disciplinary practices and procedures aren't adhered to at the same level across an entire campus, then discipline issues to tend to rise in frequency and severity. Students need structure and rules, whether they admit to it or not.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to following the results of your study. Best wishes!