What have I learned about action research and how might I use it?

Action research is a way of researching that involves the people it will affect. It is a chance for school leaders to be involved and to get their staff involved in conducting research that will benefit them and the students in their schools. The person leading the action research will begin with a question they want answered or solved. It is usually geared toward a problem that needs a solution or something on the campus that needs enhancing or improvement. This gives the group a place to start with their research. They will then begin looking through data, and searching for solutions and ideas to help solve the problem. From here they will begin trying their solutions.


I really like the idea of running the action research group as a PLC, especially if your campus is already working in a PLC. You want your research to have a positive impact on your school, and I think that starts with having a positive group experience. As a leader you model what you want to see, and that means how you work with each other. Basically to have successful action research you need to be able to collaborate in a positive manner.

I think any campus would benefit from action research. Every school has something they can work on, improve, and find out more about. I think every campus needs a proactive leader who is willing to engage in action research. I think action research is a great way for me to find out more about a program (AVID) that I would like to see at the intermediate level. We currently have this in our high schools, and it seems to be successful, and I would like to see what it can do for our students at the intermediate level to prepare them even further for high school, and their life after high school.