Action Research is a decision-making cycle that guides instructional planning for the school and individual classrooms. Unlike traditional research that comes from people who are typically not in the everyday classroom, action research is conducted by real teachers and administrators. It focuses on the concerns of the teacher for the learner.
As a school teacher and leader, it is important to understand the action research process and how to make it an effective tool for improvement. According to Examining What we do to Improve Our Schools (2010), there are eight major steps to the Action Research Process: setting the foundation, analyzing data, developing deeper understanding, self-reflection, exploring patterns, determining a direction, taking action, and sustaining improvement. It is important to keep the foundation of your research in the forefront of all of the steps to make sure that your research is focused.
I will be doing my action research on the progress made this year from our math benchmark to our 3rd term content based assessment compared to last year. Starting this semester, our campus is piloting a new math framework. I will be assessing the data collected to report back to my administrators for them to use with the district to determine the new programs effectiveness. I will also be using this opportunity to take note on the staff’s acceptance to this dramatic change. I am looking forward to working with math teachers across different grade levels to collect my data and then share my findings with them.
Harris, S., Edmondson, S., and Combs, J. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our Schools:8 Steps to improve Our Schools. Eye on Educaiton Press.
I, too, am investigating math progress for our students. I have no idea what Tablor rotations are and am very interested in learning more about them from your blog. I think the input of the staff will be interesting and I am curious if their attitudes will impact student acceptance and achievement toward new model- although I have no idea how you would measure that. Good luck with your plan- I look forward to checking in and learning from your research.
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