Reflections on Action Research

The title of this course created some early apprehensions. I believed I would be spending five weeks analyzing someone’s generalized research and hypothesize how it could fit into various school situations. I was pleased to learn I was wrong. I believe what I have learned in this course is highly valuable and will make me a much better administrator. I am excited about my project and a little frustrated that this is my last course. I believe this would have been more meaningful as one of the earlier courses. Then, the research could be built in to the internship. It seems that the planning and revising was stretched out over five weeks. Spreading things out and giving time for actual research would make the learning more meaningful. It would also allow us to look at real data and use it in a research setting.
During the summer of 2009, shortly after beginning this program, I was fortunate enough to attend a summer institute on PLC’s by Solution Tree and Richard DuFour. The team that attended this conference was focused on the concepts that build successful PLC’s. During this institute, the idea of common assessments really intrigued me. During the 2009-10 school year, our focus was on building a PLC environment. This change was well received, so we considered the idea of adding common assessments to our campus. During the initial conversations, it became apparent that most of the leadership team believes that common assessments are another form of benchmark testing, just more frequent and at the campus level. This misconception is why I have chosen common assessments as a topic for my research. This belief will make buy-in from the teachers very difficult. As I examined information about common assessments I found these reasons for using them in PLC’s.
“In professional learning communities, collaborative teams of teachers create common assessments for three formative purposes. First, team-developed common assessments help identify curricular areas that need attention because many students are struggling. Second, they help each team member clarify strengths and weaknesses in his or her teaching and create a forum for teachers to learn form one another. Third, interim common assessments identify students who aren’t mastering the intended standards and need timely and systematic interventions” (Stiggins, & DuFour, 2009).
Being a science teacher, I thought of research as a controlled activity. I found Dana’s clarification of generalizability and transferability refreshing. The idea of using generalized research in education is stressful, but transferable research just makes sense. “It is not meant to be generalizable to all practitioners everywhere” (Dana, 2009). With my research, I can take the ideas I learned from DuFour’s presentations and transfer them to meet my campus needs. Dr. Jenkins seal my confidence in this type of research in week 2 when he stated, “Your goal in the significance of the study is to look to the future” (Arterbury & Jenkins, 2010). I am frustrated by the departments of transportation and education when they propose solutions that only address today’s problems, and do not prepare for the future.
The practice of action research is invaluable. Good teachers, coaches, and administrators are in an improvement cycle at all times. Action research practices help to refine these practices and ensure it is data based and increases improvement.


Stiggins, R., & DuFour, R. (2009). Maximizing the Power of Formative Assessments. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(9), 640-644. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Arterbury, E, & Jenkins, S. (Producer). (2010). Week 2 video. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.lamar.epiclms.net

Draft Action Research Plan: Common Assessments

Action Research: Common Assessments

What effects do common assessments have on math and science instruction? In this research, we will look at the benefits common assessments have on teacher instruction and student learning. Teachers will collaborate to create these assessments. This helps them to focus on a common destination. Then, the curriculum and lessons can be designed to lead the students to this destination. Students will receive a more complete, consistent, and focused learning experience. This focused learning will help teachers identify gaps and weaknesses. They will collaborate and improve early in the learning process. Student scores on math and science benchmark and TAKS exams will improve and be more consistent across the campus.

Educationl Leaders & Blogs

Collaboration is an essential tool of successful learning. Continuous learning is a characteristic of successful school leaders. Blogging provides an avenue for school leaders to learn and collaborate. Educators, especially on secondary campuses, have a tradition of working in isolation. This is also true with principals. They may have staff to collaborate with, but how often do they get the opportunity to collaborate with other principals in a non-competitive environment? Blogging allows principals to share their thoughts, insights, suggestions, and concerns in an open-environment. They can receive feedback from other principals (new through retired), teachers, STUDENTS, PARENTS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, etc. They can use this feedback to develop and mold their own learning and leadership. It also provides an insight into his/her beliefs and philosophies. This insight helps build relationships and shared visions. All of these benefits increase the success of the leader and the school.

• Action research is diagnostic, prescriptive, and cyclic. It is not done simply because a directive was given to research a topic. Nor is it done because some expert and some conference said “X” is the answer to all educational woes, so we must research and implement it. Action research is engaged and implemented to address a specific concern. Action research can be done at the district level to address a district-wide issue. It can be done at the campus level by a principal or other campus leader. It can also be done by teams of teachers to address more specific issues. Content teams may establish goals and use action research to improve scores on content specific tests. Grade levels may address knowledge gaps and vertical alignment. Our campus has divided our teachers AND students into smaller “teams.” These teams use action research to address concerns for individual students on their team. Regardless of the group dynamics and specific goal, action research is an ongoing process. DIAGNOSTIC: The teams identify a need and establish a measurable and obtainable goal. They research the characteristics of the issue and best practices to address it. PRESCRIPTIVE: The research is used to develop and implement a plan, with a timeline. The goal will be measured again. Research is done, again, to determine the effectiveness, concerns and successes. CYCLIC: This research is used to modify the action plan and timeline. The cycle is then repeated.