What is Action Research?

To simply put it, action research is self-evaluation. It is when a principal, committee, or teacher studies their own practices and takes steps to change based on the results of their research. It differs from traditional research because the inquiry is done as more of a self-analysis rather than from the outside-looking-in approach. The practice of action research can be a valuable tool that allows for in-depth self-inquiry. One example would be a professional learning community doing a self-inquiry about how effectively they are improving their math TAKS scores by evaluating their data, analyzing the effectiveness of their current program and taking steps to improve their process. Benefits of conducting action research include increased collaboration through in-depth inquiry of their own problems. This increases a sense of ownership and willingness to make changes based on their research. It also allows for theories to be made that are derived from real-world practices. The process can be extensive and many administrators do not feel they have time to perform such a task. But, if you are willing to put in the work the rewards can be great.

I am currently the chair of our Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) team and one of our goals is to decrease the amount of referrals written by teachers. We could use an action research plan to evaluate our current referral data, analyze the types of referrals being written, and create a discipline action plan that addresses our needs. After the first semester, we could use the action research inquiry to evaluate the effectiveness of the discipline action plan we developed.