Final Reflections on EDLD 5301: Research for Teachers

Final Reflection

This course taught me a great deal about making a difference on a campus through action research. As I have written in a blog post and in my discussion this week, I have never understood how administrators come up with ideas, strategies, policies, or procedures that can drastically change one or several aspects of a campus, until I took this course about action research. I understand that there is no exact science to improve every campus, so it always seemed like a “magic power” administrators had when they were able to initiate a huge campus changed. Action research provides the opportunity for continual inquiry, assessment, and improvement.

I have had several conversations with my dad (a 17 year high school principal, and designer of our districts’ alternative education program’s school of choice, Mesquite Academy) about how he created such drastic changes that positively impacted the lives of those involved in the schools. Most of these questions were “HOW did you do that?” or “HOW did you think to do THAT?” I am always amazed at the changes that he is able to initiate. My dad saw a need for and designed a program for at risk students in our district. He designed a school of choice and was the principal of the school for 12 years until central office asked him to go to one of the 5 high school campuses to improve several aspects of the school, which happened to be the lowest performing school with the highest economically disadvantaged population. Over the last 5 years, he has completely changed the campus environment at that school and the students are performing better than they have in the past.

I interject all of these stories about my dad because I am always wondering “HOW?” There had to be some sort of “magic power” or secret principals’ book passed down from generation to generation of great principals. Unfortunately, neither one of these exist. There is no magic power or secret book that usually fixes problems on a campus. It is intentional inquiry, research, and implementation of research based strategies that improve most situations.

What I have come to understand through this course is that action research and intentional inquiry can be the first step to some of these great changes that I have watched my dad initiate over the last several years. Action Research involves an initial inquiry when a problem is put on the table. Through thorough investigation of data and research of literature on the topic at hand, it is much easier to start to "fix" on little problem at a time.

The first part of action research in inquiry. Administrator inquiry, is the process a principal takes to engage in "systematic, intentional study" of a specific area that needs improvement and taking action to implement and change as a result of the inquiry (Dana, 2009). Inquiry is important because without digging into the data, the principal will not know the areas that need to be addressed.Many teachers and principals constantly go through the process of inquiry, unknowingly. In order for it inquiry to be the most effective, it must be done intentionally, and a plan needs to be designed around it.

In an article in the Journal of Scholarship & Practice, Ringler (2007) writes about four steps to effective action research:

1. Defining and Issue to study- this is decided through the process of initial inquiry

2. Review of Professional Literature- that discusses strategies to implement or case studies related to the item(s) in question

3. Take Action- implementation of chosen strategies for improvement

4. Use and Share Results- assessment and analysis of the strategies implemented and the new data

Sandra Harris (2010) writes about eight steps that provide a “framework for examining school improvement.” These eight steps include similar aspects of action research that Dana and Ringler also discussed in their books, but it goes into a little more detail and gives some other specific action steps.

All of the authors addressed in this reflection discuss similar qualities that are foundational to action research: inquiry, data collection, and implementation of research-based strategies, assessment, and evaluation. This process is imperative to leading a school to improvement. Dana (2009) writes about how viewing the process of intentional inquiry as a “journey,” instead of a destination, will lead to continual learning and the ability to sustain improvement.

It is important for us as educators to understand the process of inquiry and action research in order to effectively initiate positive change and improvement in our schools. I have really enjoyed this course (even though the title “Research for Teachers” gave me a little scare before the course started). I thought it would be a bunch of busy work, readings, and writing of research papers on education. Looking back over the course, I am really glad I have been exposed to action research and how to use it to improve schools. I will use action research in the future, and continue to reference the text books from this course as I embark upon my inquiry journey!

Works Cited:

*Harris, S. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

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

*Ringler, M. (2007). Action research: An effective instructional leadership skill for future public school leaders. Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 4(1), 27-37.