Draft Action Research Plan

Action Research Plan Draft

New Thoughts on Action Research

Two weeks ago, the term "action research" was foreign to me. And, while the first week of my Research course helped me to develop a preliminary understanding of the topic, it is only just now truly coming into focus.

I spent much of the first week simply working to figure out for myself what action research means. Now, instead of focusing on solely the definition, I am starting to see areas where the concept may be successfully applied. This week, we read a chapter from Nancy Fichtman Dana's excellent book, Leading with Passion and Knowledge. In it, she discussed how action research may be applied to the following areas: Staff Development, Curriculum Development, Individual Teachers, Individual Students, School Community/Culture, Leadership, Management, School Performance, and School Justice. In examining her writing as well as the excellent interviews with local administrators, Dr. Timothy Chargois and Dr. Kirk Lewis, I am finally starting to see how I can actually apply the action research model in my own school one day.

All I can say is the topic is fascinating, and I hope to learn much more about it in the coming weeks and months as I work to complete my own action research project!

The Benefits of Blogging for Administrators

Nancy Fichtman Dana (2009) posits that blogs are an excellent way to capture "thinking" - something that is generally difficult to pin down. She continues, "Ironically, as educators in charge of facilitating the thinking and learning of others, we have not been socialized to think that our own thinking can lead to critical insights into your administrative practice, insights that may only occur when you revisit a though or when you string a number of thoughts together that have come to you intermittently over a longer period of time," (Dana, 2009). In short, blogs provide administrators with an opportunity to "go back in time," revisiting their previous thinking to reflect on it in terms of the current climate. This can have a powerful effect on what actions they choose to pursue next to improve their campuses.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Action Research - the Beginning...

Action research is undoubtedly a powerful tool available to all educators. Unlike so many of the professional development activities in which teachers routinely participate, action research done properly can reap tremendous rewards for our students.

The reason that action research is so powerful is that it is focused entirely on the needs of each particular campus, classroom, even student. Whereas typical research projects require one to gather information from outside sources and then search for ways to apply it to their particular situation, action research takes a completely different approach. The process begins with the teacher surveying their environment, analyzing data, and determining what the most pressing needs are. Then, the teacher goes about looking for additional information which will help him/her concoct a plan of attack to remedy the problem. After working toward a solution for the problem, the process repeats itself with the teacher again analyzing their own teaching environment to determine where improvements may be made. Moreover, after the cycle is completed, information is shared with one's colleagues so that they too may benefit from the research that has been completed.

There are clearly many uses for this type of research in schools today. While the process may be used by just about any person involved in the education of students, it is perhaps most powerful when utilized by the classroom teacher. The teacher can use recent student data to discover their deficiencies, then follow through on the action research plan to improve student achievement. In so doing, the teacher will also improve their teaching thereby positively affecting not only the current class, but many students to come as well.