Draft Action Research Project Progress Report
a.
The
Effect of Freshmen Orientation on the Experience of a High School Freshmen
b.
The
need was determined because of the lack of freshmen participating in the
following: extracurricular activities, UIL academics, PreAP classes, etc. The
lack of discipline and dress code violations as well as lack of respect for
rules and authority were noted as needs to have an orientation early on so
freshmen would know what to expect. 99.8% hispanice males and females.
c.
I
want to find out if an annual freshmen orientation in the spring while students
are still in the 8th grade will help them to assimilate into high
school easier. Students need to be made aware of rules, dress code, clubs,
sports and extracurricular activities that they can join to stay out of trouble
and be part of the school in a positive way. We want to decrease the number of
referrals, dress code violations, absences, etc. by making the incoming
freshmen aware of the rules at our campus.
d.
The
research that I have conducted so far has revealed that this is a best practice
in many successful districts and high schools. I still have a lot more research
to do. The decision making process happened between my principal, dean and
myself. I proposed it and they thought it would be a great addition to our
campus. We also considered me doing a research project on pregnant teens at our
school and preventative measures that could legally be taken at the school
level.
e.
I
communicated the vision of my action research project to staff, parents,
students, and community members through an email to staff and teachers. Parents,
students and community members were kept informed via a pamphlet that I made and
through the school website. I also had the school put our event on the marquee
outside on the main road in front of school. We called students and teachers
the week before to make sure that they would attend.
f.
For
the first round of my orientation, the dean of instruction and the testing
coordinator both helped me to delegate responsibilities and find phone numbers
for the teachers and students that we needed to be in attendance.
I put myself in charge of making posters and
getting the area ready for everyone to show up and set up their stuff. I also
made a lot of phone calls and made the pamphlet for the incoming freshmen. The
dean made the color copies for us to hand out at the middle schools before the
8th graders got out in May 2012. The teachers were in charge of
bringing visuals for the students to see and the librarians did an awesome job
at bringing prizes to give away. The dean and testing coordinator had goodies
to give students as a drawing for showing up.
g.
Our
priority was to get as many students up to school as possible. We had sign in
sheets and got the students name, ID #, phone number and addresses. We also had
sign in sheets at every table so students could sign up to be contacted if they
wanted to be in volleyball, UIL, PreAP, etc. or be called in to the counselor’s
office if they needed to be in a medical class as part of their graduation
plan. We had a built in consensus that
we would divide the orientation into three groups: the tour/counselor meet and
greet, the club fair, and the principal orientation.
h.
I
think that the research project will and was beneficial to these students
because they got a tour of the campus before they had to attend it. They had a
chance to meet their future teachers, principals, and counselor. I think that
this meets the needs of our community because we have a lot of students that
choose to go to other high schools as part of their magnet programs instead of
going to our school. I think that this orientation might show them the
enthusiasm they need to make the choice to stay local and go to Lopez. We have
so much to offer.
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