Real Life Research Action Examples

This week focused on real life examples of action research from three Texas school districts.  These included improving TAKS scores, the process of gaining approval for and organizing an action research project, and using a grant to develop an on-time graduation program.  Focus was placed on the importance of data driven research.  Action research should be used to develop any improvement plan. 

In order to develop research topics, the question ‘Where do I find my wonderings and questions?’ was explored (Fichtman, 2009). This section focused on nine passions that can be used to focus your thoughts when you are developing an action plan.  These passions are staff development, curriculum development, individual teacher(s), individual student(s), school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice or equity issues.  While these passions focus on a wide range of subjects, all ultimately relate to the goal of student improvement. 

This detailed exploration of examples of action research was beneficial to understanding the process and focusing on a topic for the required research in this program.  The topic should be achievable in the time allotted and should be of concern to the school staff.  By conducting the research, the topic can be examined and improved before determining if it can be successfully implemented.

Educational Leaders and Blogs

Through the use of blogs, educational leaders can access the collective knowledge of a wide variety of people.  New and innovative practices can be explored and debated.  As stated by Ferriter (2009), “Specifically, thousands of accomplished educators are now writing blogs about teaching and learning, bringing transparency to both the art and the science of their practice. In every content area and grade level and in schools of varying sizes and from different geographic locations, educators are actively reflecting on instruction, challenging assumptions, questioning policies, offering advice, designing solutions, and learning together. And all this collective knowledge is readily available for free.”  Blogs bring a real time aspect to the learning process.  Information and ideas are updated on a daily basis allowing a continuous exposure to professional growth.

Ferriter, Bill (2009, February). Learning with blogs and wikis. Educational Leadership, 66(5), 34-38.

What is action research? How can it be used in a school setting?

Action research is a process that allows participants to improve personally and professionally.  This process is multifaceted.  In order to analyze current practices or seek out a better or new methodology, questions are posed, data collected and analyzed, changes are made based on this analysis and results are shared.   Action research is beneficial to both principals and teachers.  As stated by Nancy Fichtman Dana (2009), “In a fashion similar to the ways teachers utilize this process to gain better understandings of themselves and their teaching practice, administrators can use it to gain deeper insights into their practice as administrators and their leadership role in school improvement efforts.”

The most appealing aspect of action research is the continuous cycle approach.  This reinforces the idea that learning is a lifelong process.  As educators, we need to constantly reevaluate ourselves and our techniques.  We, educators and students, must be global learners to meet the needs of our ever changing world.  In order to meet these needs, we must maintain a continuous cycle of evaluation and improvement of all our policies and procedures.

Technology is one aspect of education where action research can be used in a variety of ways.  With the advancements in personal technology and the budget constraints of many school districts, there has been a move toward ‘Bring Your Own Technology’ or BYOT in a growing number of schools.  This presents the issue of developing new policies for the use of student owned devices in the classroom.  Schools are facing limited budgets and there is a push to move to eTextbooks.  This would require detailed analysis including the cost of eTextbooks and supplemental materials, availability to students, and the updating of online content.

Action research is used on a daily basis is education. Teachers adjust their teaching strategies to accommodate the students’ learning styles. Administrators are always striving to implement and update their school improvement plans.  Education is not a static environment and action research is an excellent tool to use to development new and better methods of meeting the needs of the educational staff and the student population.

Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 

Murphy, Kari Rhame (2011, November). Striking a balance: district acceptable-use policies must evolve to reflect the changing realities of 21^st century learning. Techedge,4. 23-24.