Action Research

  

   Action Research is vital to a district’s continued improvement. It allows individuals and groups to work collaboratively in order to find solutions to both simple and complex problems. Action research can be used by a group of teachers within professional learning communities to investigate and develop solutions to student’s lack of academic achievement. It could also be used by a Strategic Planning Committee to explore current statistics and develop action steps to solve them. Consider a track coach who looks at the times of a student running the 100 yard dash. If the coach simply looked at the times of the runner he may resolve himself to saying that the student needs to run faster. However, by utilizing action research at the time of the event he may realize that his student is the fastest runner but is the last athlete off the blocks. This would allow him to focus his training on the start and thereby improve his participant’s time.

I am currently serving as the internal coordinator for Strategic Planning for our district. This experience has allowed me to see first-hand the importance of Action Research. Action teams were formed and were given one of five goals that had been developed by a committee of 25 stakeholders representative of the district. The teams were given the task of developing action steps that would ensure the success of each goal. These committees utilize action research to allow them to come together as a group of professionals and collaboratively analyze a problem by investigating numerous forms of data. This investigation allows them to generate multiple viable options and solutions. For further reading check out the link below.