The purpose of my Action Research Project was to review and learn how to best utilize a 30 minute study period during the regular school day called “Enrichment.”  I wanted to learn from other schools, my school’s stakeholders, and through implementation, how to best organize this period.  All schools in my district were mandated to create and implement a study session during the school day 4 years ago.  After 3 years of our original plan, it was determined by the district and my schools leaders, that the program was inadequate.  I was given the task of altering and developing this time period the summer before last as I began my Lamar graduate program.  The program we were conducting, only had students meeting with teachers one day a week, Friday morning.  The data from these sessions only told us that students were attending the sessions, but it did not tell or show us if any real enriching was occurring.  We needed to create a new program that allowed us to track progress through benchmark, SOL (Standards of Learning) exams, and PSAT/SAT scores. 

Through my action research, I expected to be able to gain new insight into how to use this time period, insight that would help me create a program that was data driven, as well as completely different and much more effective than the previous one.  The change process and explaining that to the faculty would be an obstacle that I would need some research to handle also.  My action research would begin with reviewing framework articulated to me by the administration in terms of time and resource allocation.  My vision was one that included an enrichment period each day of the week, allowed all core subjects to receive at least one day to pull any students they wanted to their session, SAT and SOL review weeks, and other development opportunities geared towards preparing our students for higher achievement and accomplishment levels.   By using PSAT, SAT, benchmark tests, and SOL scores, I would be able to see if the enrichment program was or was not helping the students achieve at higher levels than in previous years. 

In researching this program, I relied on other schools across the state more than specific literature.  With the goals of my school in mind, it was more valuable for me to examine how other schools in my state, which had the same objectives as I did, organized and managed enrichment sessions with the goal of raising SOL scores.  After researching and contacting over 10 other high schools, I took my data and information to the administrative team for review.  I was given a tremendous amount of authority in reorganizing my school’s enrichment session and the administrators simply guided me and advised of certain guidelines I must follow in my creation process.  The main decisions that had to be made were made based off of data collected from other schools with successful programs.  One example was that teachers, who had planning before enrichment, would cover classes so teachers could pull students on their subjects saved day.  This allowed all core subject teachers to have one day a week they could pull any students they wanted to without interference from other classes.  Incorporating elective courses into the program was another concept that relied heavily on what we had heard worked for other schools. 

During the teacher work week, the first week of school when no students report, I was given an opportunity to meet with the entire faculty and explain the new and improved enrichment session plans.  Through the use of PowerPoint, charts, graphs, and documents that the teachers would be expected to use and complete, I explained how the new session would work and how they could begin to adjust to it.  Most importantly I explained why it needed an adjustment and why we choose the adjustments we did.  I then created a PowerPoint to be sent to parents and reviewed with students during their first day back to school.  The PowerPoint was added to the school’s website and the county portal, so that any interested individuals could see a full explanation of our program and exactly how it would work.  

The first major decisions included when in the day the time period would occur, who would supervise certain areas of the program like teacher coverage or the computer or testing labs, and how much of a role I should have on a daily basis.  We wanted to minimize student movement and wasted time, while maximizing the time students had in the enrichment period, so 1^st period teachers retained their classes during enrichment which began directly after 1^st period.  Teachers were allowed to pull students every day of the week, and could work with those students while assigning the students in the class a review or enrichment activity.  Enrichment activities were designed to help students in math and reading understanding as well as were focused on assisting students with the SAT and SOL tests.  With the assistance of department chairs and teachers across the district, I created and sent the teachers several assignments they could give their students when they were working with others or if they ever needed something to teach.  Teachers, who had 1^st period planning, would cover classes during enrichment 3 days a week since they did not have a class during enrichment either.  These teachers made up a pool for the core subject teachers to pull from on their designated days.  For example, Mondays were English days; every English teacher in the school could pull from the pool a teacher to cover his/her class that day during enrichment allowing them to pull up to 30 students from other classes to review with.  Tuesdays were for Math and so one with Fridays being reserved for electives.  If a teacher simply wanted to review with their 1^st period class or give them an assignment during enrichment that was perfectly fine, but they could not teach new material as on most days several of their students were being pulled and were going to remediation, review, or make-up opportunities.  Logs were kept documenting everything concerning student travel and class location.  Students that were failing should have been pulled out almost every day to attend enrichment in a class they were underperforming in and my team could track which teachers were pulling students and which ones were not allowing us to notify administration with information they could use to help improve achievement across the school.  Teachers who had failing students but were not enriching those students when they received the opportunity were put on notice by the administration as to what was expected and were given consequences.  This was not necessary often as the strong accountability of the program encouraged large scale cooperation by all departments and teachers.  Once enrichment began, no students were to be in the hall to maximize enrichment time and to foster a safe working environment with minimal distractions in the hallways during the session.  

I immediately began reviewing and documenting data from previous years as well as the current one.  I also had a difficult task of building consensus over how the program could and should be used by the teachers on a daily basis.  Many tried to perform tasks or modify the period in ways that they thought were needed but in ways that were not permissible under the guidelines of the program I had created.  I had to meet individually with several teachers to discuss how I could help them use the enrichment period effectively and appropriately.  This gave me a great opportunity to work with individual teachers and help them understand why the enrichment session we created was one that could assist their students on their tests and SOL’s.  I communicated through email frequently but used my 1^st period planning time and time after school to meet with teachers and facilitate the change to the new program.  When there was conflict I tried to resolve it as positively and professionally as I could, but sometimes did refer the issue to the administration which supported me 100% throughout the year.  I tried to meet with the departments at least once a month to review concerns or questions, and to articulate any changes or adjustments due to information I had gained.  As we progressed through the year, the relationships I built allowed me to continue to make adjustments throughout the entire school year because I had created trust between the other teachers and my plans for the enrichment program. 

SOL scores drive education in my district and in my state.  ST scores drive college acceptance committees.  This are the main two areas focused on by the enrichment session.  Many students with special needs or diverse backgrounds do not receive the same opportunities in or out of school as other students.  This program was aimed at all students and more specifically, all students who were struggling in any class.  The program did not require extra time before or after school, nor did it require transportation or extra money.  No student was omitted or prevented from benefiting from enrichment.  Math was a specific area needing improvement and our male African American population was a group that was substantially behind other groups in the school.  Through enrichment every teacher could provide a math lesson by way of the enrichment activities provided each month, and our male African American students increased SOL scores by over 8% in each area tested last year with a 14% growth in the passing rate for mathematics.  All students are benefitting and no students are unable to experience the benefits of the program.