Goal: The main goal of this action research project is to find an effective tardy plan that will decrease the amount of students arriving late to class. The new plan should be easy for teachers to implement and also manageable for administrators to enforce. Students are safer in the classroom rather than loitering in the hallways unattended. Tardiness also increases classroom interruptions and decreases instruction time.
Action Person(s) Timeline: Needed
Step(s) Responsible Start/End Resources Evaluation
| 1. Read current articles and research current data. Investigate other school policies. | Jana Williams | Present – August 15, 2010 | Internet, Reflective Journals/ Literature, and Weblogs | Obtain possible solutions to start generating ideas. |
| 2. Interview school personnel. | Jana Williams | August 1 – 20, 2010 | Assistant Principal and 3-4 Experienced Teachers | Gather data from experienced educators. |
| 3. Develop a site-based committee. | Jana Williams & Assistant Principal | August 16 – 27, 2010 | Assistant Principal, 4-5 Teachers, Attendance Clerk | Meetings to discuss and create new tardy policy. |
| 4. Implement revised tardy policy. | Assistant Principal | 1st Six Weeks of 2010 School Year | SHS staff | Daily tardy records. |
| 5. Assess progress and achievement. | Site-based Committee. | End of 3-week period. | SHS staff | Staff surveys. Evaluate tardy records. |
| 6. Evaluate revised tardy policy. | Site-based Committee. | End of 1st Six Weeks. | Weekly tardy records and discipline referrals. | Feedback on the effectiveness of new tardy policy. |
| 7. Implement necessary changes. | Assistant Principal | 2nd Six Weeks | SHS staff | Daily tardy records. |
| 8. Implement rewards program. | Principal/ Assistant Principal | 2nd Six Weeks | Prizes such as gift cards, i-pods, etc. | Improvement in tardy records. |
Jana: I agree with you about that tardiness increases class interruptions and decreases instruction time. I will include how is the opinion of parents in these cases, besides personal excuses. My perception is that tardies and absenteeism have some kind of relationship. Those show lack of responsability in parents on early grades and in students in upper grades. I wonder who will the sponsor of prizes: teachers, PTO,etc. I wonder if your plan includes contact parents about posible reasons to arrive in the school late. Your research and implementation of new tardy police will be very helpful in your campus in terms of having a strong foundation to respect the school rules. Good luck in your project!
ReplyDeleteI am interested in how your reward program will work, Students tend to like incentives and this may help the tardy issue. The rest of your plan looks good.
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