Week Two Reflection

After watching the videos of the leaders this week describe their experience with action research I was able to gain a lot of insight in beginning my action research project.  The various leaders described various action research plans they have been apart of or supervised and data was key in all of them.  Dr. Briseno talked about never approaching a problem or issue on campus without looking at the data first.  He meets with his teachers and looks at current quantitative data before determining the direction.  Then the qualitative data is assessed, from there an action plan is determined.  After reading the text this week, I became very knowledgeable in the nine areas that action research can take place.  It really showed me that there are always areas on a school can improve.  This takes me back to a quote from Dr. Chargois who says, "A great leader is a lifelong learner."  I truly believe that as leaders we need to always be looking for areas of improvement and instill continuous improvement in our students and staff!

Proposed Action Research Topic

After talking with my site supervisor we have decided to use campus survey data to determine an action research project.  After reflecting on the data intervention on our campus was an area of concern.  This year we are compiling a group of people on a task force to look and research this topic.  We will be using Professional Learning Communities to research the effectiveness of intervention on our campus.  We will use common assessments and collect data to determine the intervention plan and from there use RTI tools to provide the needed area of intervention.  After a few weeks of intervention common assessments will be used again to determine growth.  We will be focusing on our RTI tier 2 students where the teacher is providing most of the intervention, where tier 3 students will also receive support from our campus interventionist. I'm excited to see how the results and data from this project! 

Action Research in Education

Action Research can be used in the educational setting in a variety of ways.  Teachers can work together to effectively assess their current scores and come up with a plan for intervention by studying data and creating change.  Teachers and administrators face dilemmas in the school system everyday and are constantly focusing on student achievement.  This can be done through action research.  Enrichment can be assessed to see the effectiveness on scores, parental involvement, technology use, classroom environment etc.

Action Research Defined

I am very fortunate to work on a campus that utilizes action research yearly to improve the education of our students and the motivation of our staff.  I have learned that action research is a process that involves time and effort.  Beginning with posing a question you wish to research and conducting a literature review to gain some background knowledge and insight to your topic.  Creating a plan of action and working through various groups collecting data.  Once data is collected is important to work with the important stakeholders and campus staff to analyze the data and begin to make a plan to facilitate change.  Action research can benefit student achievement, teacher motivation and style, parental and community involvement and basic educational processes.  When conducting action research one needs to make sure to follow each phase and collaborate effectively with those involved.  Our campus is being trained and going to be working as a professional learning community to help to improve student achievement.  We are working towards collaborating and learning from one another to assist in our individual teaching.  On our campus this year we will form a task force to conduct action research in improving intervention on our campus.  Through the use of PLC's we will work with staff to research our current intervention situation and collect data.