Week 2 Reflection

After completing this week's assignment, I have learned that the current trend for school leaders is to lead by example through the process of action research. It has now become an expectation for teachers to also engage in their own action research in addition to being knowledgeable of instructional techniques and course content. I also learned about the different common research topics in the school settings and why they are important to the development of student success. I am currently leaning to explore how enrichment courses or student activities directly impact student data such as attendance rates, student discipline, grades, and test scores.

Action Research

After reading several book excerpts and articles, I have learned that action research refers to the procedures a principal takes as an organized, purposeful study of his or her own administrative processes, and making modifications based on what he she discovers as a result of the inquiry. Inquiring professionals pursue new modifications and reflect on their processes by posing inquiries, collecting data to learn about the areas in question, analyzing the data along with surveying supportive literature, making modifications based on their discoveries during the inquiry process, and sharing conclusive evidence with others.

Action research in the educational setting can include engagement of a campus leadership team regarding an inquiry on the topic of effective preventative discipline strategies. Another example of action research would be creating a professional learning community for the purpose of addressing the inquiry of acquiring effective differentiated instruction activities for ELL students. A third example of action research would be to enroll in university coursework, and conducting research of an inquiry such as how co-curricular activity participation is directly related to attendance rates, and preparing this research in the form of a written/oral project to be shared with professors and colleagues.

Blogging

Blogs capture thought processes as inquiries unfold as teachers and educational leaders collect data in support of evidence of learning opportunities. A blog allows the author to instantly publish news to the Internet including the combination text, images, and inks to other blogs. Publishers also have the ability to receive instant feedback from their readers. Administrators can utilize blogs to serve as a collection of thought to be shared and reflected upon as the need to learn from such experiences dictates. Following the creation of these blogs, developed collaboration and support from the blogging community strengthens as each blogger, regardless of location and distance, provides feedback. As the community becomes cohesive, one can continue to reflect on administrating and teaching practices to be more effective.