Action Research

Action Research

Action research has been a core component of the teacher and administrator professional development and appraisal process in our district for many years.  Educators create a banner question at the beginning of an academic year that will address a need in their work.  For example, a teacher with low scores on writing assessments may focus her action research on, “How can I more effectively facilitate independent writing in my classroom?”   An administrator with a high at-risk population may pose the question, “How will building a school-wide intervention time into the master schedule affect the progress of our at-risk students?”  Educators must begin with the end in mind, specifying what type of data will be gathered and how they will know if they are successful.  This may include the quest for quantitative and/or qualitative results.

Action research is a process of inquiry.  A participant in action research gains new information and understanding in a variety of ways, which may include participating in professional development, working with an instructional coach, reading professional literature/blogs, observing other educators, reflecting in a journal, analyzing student work samples, or any other learning activity.  Along the way the action researcher should discuss his learning and progress with colleagues who may ask clarifying/reflective questions or serve as a critical friend.

Action research follows the plan-do-study-act cycle of continuous improvement.  Educators plan for their own professional learning with a desired result in mind.  Then they do the research and learning activities.  Then they study their data to see if the desired results were obtained, and then act on the data accordingly.

I see the potential of action research in this online learning forum to study the superintendent competencies.  Through these initial assignments, I already have an idea of where my opportunities for growth and deep understandings are, and I anticipate that I will be formulating an action research project through this course that revolves around those weaker areas.