Reference no: EM133679028
Assignment: Preliminary Site Information
In this section (1-2 paragraphs), introduce your site by providing a short description of the organization, including pertinent contextual information (for example, type of organization, purpose of organization, pertinent demographic information). These details provide context for the sections that follow.
Role in or Relationship with the Organization
In this section:
1) Describe and explain your role in the organization. Refer to yourself as the applied researcher. Avoid first person.
2) Explain the nature of your relationship with the organization (if not employed by the organization).
3) Discuss briefly how your role at or relationship to the organization and the local organizational issue are connected. For example, if you are a financial aid director and there is a gap in meeting and maintaining the standards of federal financial aid, describe how compliance is an integral part of your job. If you are a principal, you are accountable in your role as instructional leader for the performance of your teachers.
4) Describe and analyze any potential conflict of interest as a result of your role at the organization. Conflicts of interest occur in every research setting, so it is important to begin developing a COI mitigation plan. Think about your potential dual of role of a both leader and an applied researcher while you complete your Applied Improvement Project.
For example, if you are the supervisor of the participants in your applied project, you might temporarily move your supervisory role to another leader in your organization. You might further assure participants that their participation, including their performance during their participation, will have no bearing on their performance reviews. These steps could help mitigate a potential risk of coercion. Your direct reports might, otherwise, feel compelled to participate (i.e., feel coerced) for fear of possible negative repercussions should they decline to be part of your study.
Statement of the Problem
In this section (2-3 paragraphs), describe the local organizational issue that gave rise to the problem of practice. Identifying local organizational issues and developed expertise in distinguishing between local and global organizational issues. For example, the local organizational issue at a middle school might be seventh grade literacy. Then, you should describe the three-phase process you used to generate the Problem of Practice (POP). Recall the three phases beginning with the Gap analysis, Ishikawa root cause analysis, and then the POP formulation that emerged from Phase Three which involved six steps. Be concise in your description of how the POP emerged from the three-phase process.
Data and Evidence
In this section, provide a narrative about the organizational evidence that supports your Problem of Practice. Your Problem of Practice and your assertions about it need to be substantiated with organizational data and evidence. Data and evidence should be convincing and should be aligned with your POP. When possible, include tables, charts and graphs. Data and evidence should be presented so that the reader would come to the same organizational issue definition that you do, given the data provided.
The following section will help you think about what kinds of supporting data and evidence you might include:
1) Records and existing organizational data to which you have access, such as persistence or survey data (that is, surveys that have been conducted in the past by the organization), teacher observation data, achievement data, or other data routinely collected and archivedby your organization.
2) Information or knowledge you have about the organizational issue through firsthand experience(for example, at staff meetings, informal conversations, observations, or review of student work).
3) Interviews or information gathering you conducted to learn more about the gaps, Ishikawa root causes, or even the POP.
4) Other evidence used to conduct your gap or root cause analysis.
5) Evaluations or results of past efforts to address the Problem of Practice.
Preliminary Site Information
In this section:
1) Provide pertinent contextual information, including organization type, purpose, and demographics.
Your Role In or Relationship with the Organization
In this section:
1) Describe the learner's role in the organization, and if not employed by the organization, describe the relationship to the organization.
2) Explain how role or relationship is connected to the problem, or if appropriate, explain role in relation to the larger project or improvement team.
3) Include an analysis of potential conflicts of interest.
Statement of the Problem
In this section:
1) Define the problem of practice concisely, in no more than two sentences beginning with the statement of the problem.
2) Include a narrative after the statement of the problem that describes the scope including:
a) Who is impacted by the problem.
b) Where the problem exists in organization, for example, the unit or department.
Data and Evidence
In this section:
1) Provide a narrative that substantiates the problem and assertions with relevant data and evidence.
2) Provide an in-depth analysis of the root causes of the problem, and include the Ishikawa Root Cause Analysis diagram.