1. Designing Your Own Action Plan
Gabrielle LaVenia
Capella University

2. Problem
The attendance in the high school is declining. Students are skipping classes and on the verge of being withdrawn.
ACC is a cyber-charter school in Pennsylvania. The school holds students from kindergarten to twelfth grade. One of the biggest problems in a cyber setting is getting students to attend class.

3. Action Plan
Who: General Education Teachers, Special Education Teachers, Select Administrators
What: Student of the month program
Where: Online classrooms
Why: To improve attendance
How: Teachers will select one student per class each month
The purpose of this action research study is to implement a program to increase attendance within the high school. The goal is for the program to start within the month of February The project will last the remainder of the school year.
The desired outcome will be for the high school general and special education teachers to establish a student of the month program, with the possibility of earning a gift card. The hopes will be for students to be more interested in attending class to earn the card.
A program will be created called STOMP (STudent Of The Month Program)
General education teachers will pick one student from each of their courses who instill certain qualities.
Special Education Teachers will choose one student from their roster each month.
The winners from each teacher will receive a phone call from the teacher, a certificate stating that they won, and the exemption from a homework assignment.
Each month, the team of teachers in charge of STOMP will gather the information and determine who should be the ultimate winners for each grade. There will be 2 winners per grade (9-12), one from general education, one from special education.
These winners will earn a $25 gift card to a destination of their choice.

4. Key Questions
Will students be more interested in attending their classes knowing there is an incentive?
What will it take for students to attend their classes?
Will all teachers be willing to listen and put this plan in place?
Will administration keep up their end of the bargain and give money towards this program?
Will the team members be willing to keep this plan going until the end of the school year?
It is important to look into these questions, as the results will more than likely not be successful if people are not on board, and if administration changes their mind about the funds allowed for this program.
It will be good to get student feedback, as it is the students attendance we are looking to improve.

5. Data and Feedback Qualitative Analysis Feedback Survey’s of teachers
Interview students
Gain insight of practice
Feedback
High School Meetings s
Parent and Student Phone Calls
Qualitative analysis will be used in this project. The purpose of using qualitative is to get input from teachers and students about their thoughts and feelings of the program. Do the teachers see a difference in their attendance? Are students more willing to attend class if they know there could be a reward.
The high school meets at 8:00 am at least once a month to talk about different items of importance going on within the department.
The team can use this time to gather information from all teachers in one sitting. is a huge form of communication within the school, and this will continue to be used to get feedback on the program from teachers and administrators. Phone calls can also be made to parents and students to get their feedback on the program.

6. Existing Research
“Although online education has been in existence for a relatively short amount of time, recent advancement shows enrollment in k-12 online learning continues to grow at an exponential rate throughout the United States” (Archambault, Kennedy, & Bender, 2013).
“Being an active participant through observation and modeling in the online environment enables students to learn what is being taught” (Archambault, Kennedy, & Bender, 2013).
“Self-regulation refers to skills that learners use to set their own goals and manager their own learning” (McAllister & Watkins, 2012)
“It is easy to overlook the impact on the student, failing to ask if the students have the skills necessary to succeed in the online learning environment” (McAllister & Watkins, 2012)
Teachers learn by doing, reading, and reflecting (just as students do); by collaborating with other teachers; by looking closely at students and their work; and by sharing what they see” (Burke, 2013).
Archambault, L., Kennedy, K., & Bender, S. (2013). Cyber-truancy: Addressing issues of attendance in the digital age. Journal of Research on Technology in Education Learning, 46(1), Retrieved from
Burke, B. (2013). Experiential professional development: A model for meaningful and long-lasting change in classrooms. Journal of Experiential Education,36(3),
McAllister, C., & Watkins, P. (2012). Increasing academic integrity in online classes by fostering the development of self-regulated learning skills.Clearing House, 85(3), doi: /

7. Decision Making
Will need to take charge of a professional development session
Make sure everyone is staying on task and paying attention by making the presentation interactive
Polling, smiley faces, check marks
Reach out to administration throughout the process and make sure they are aware of the teams decisions
It will be important that the people running STOMP have control of what is going on. Though we will need to reach out to administration to get the final approval, we will create the ideas, share them, and implement the professional development that goes along with the program.

8. Conclusion
With the implementation of incentives the team hopes that students will be more willing to attend their live classes.
If the teachers can sell the idea of student of the month, and make it sound like a big deal, the students may have more of an interest.
With hard work, and the right professional development to share the program, it has potential to be very successful.