What Have I Learned About Action Research?

As I read the Dana text, Leading with Passion and Knowledge (2009), I realized that what I knew as research was not action research. What I have done as an undergraduate and a graduate student that was called a "research paper", was really not true research because all that I did was review existing literature on the topic. I did not extend on what was available and apply it to my practice as an educator.

Action research is a spiraling process "focused on providing the administrator insight into his or her own practice in an effort to make change and improve the school"(Dana, 2009, p.7). Unlike traditional research where the question or issue comes from the researcher, principal inquiry (action research) centers around a question from the principal or leader. It allows the principal to be specific and targeted to the needs of the school rather than being general to education as a whole. For example, instead of asking what professional development strategy is most effective, the action researcher might ask how he as the principal can facilitate the professional growth of the teachers within his school. Action research brings relevance to professional development because it looks at the specific needs of the school. In this way, it makes teachers and adminstrators feel more involved in the professional development instead of feeling like the professional development is done to them.

Action research would be used well in conjunction with the campus improvement plan to determine what the needs of the campus are and go about the inquiry based process to address the needs. As I was working through the week's material, I was connecting action research with Response to Intervention. The idea behind Response to Intervention (RtI) is to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of the student and then develop research based strategies to address the needs. Educators first do this on their own in TIER I instruction, and then if need be, they take the concern to the RtI committee where a PLC type of approach is used to reflect on what is working for the student and refine our practice to teach the student the skills needed. It is constantly being monitored and adjusted to enhance the learning of the student. As a principal, I also plan to implement PLCs with the faculty. I think this is a great way to involve all teachers in smaller, focused groups that can target specific areas of need. Large groups tend to make it easy for teachers to be less invovled in the meetings, and everyone's input is important to the well being of the school.