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.