Narrowing My Focus

Sifting Through Data

The process of finding my TIP critical question has slowly refined and narrowed my focus. I find myself wondering what my staff needs to best serve students with autism. I am observing the staff working with our students with autism (my first point of data) and I notice areas where they can improve. I notice skills that work but are rarely shared from staff to staff. When looking at the staff as a whole, I see an overall inconsistency in the way we approach "Student A." For a person with autism, these inconsistencies can cause confusion which could lead to behaviors. 

I am also interviewing colleagues who also manage a large staff (my second point of data). The interviews are revealing that I am not alone in my area of inquiry. I am finding that my colleagues also want to help their staff grow and learn new skills for working with those students impacted by autism. 

Finally, I am surveying a large number of instructional assistant staff members from around the district (my third data point). I have not looked at the trends or themes here yet. I do think this data point will be very interesting. Getting input directly from the source of my study should be the most accurate and valuable. However, there is the Dunning-Kruger Effect which states that people often over asses their ability levels. This could be a possible bias in my study. 

Sifting through this information and trying to find a common thread is my next step.