Action Research 101

Prior to beginning the Education Administration program at Lamar University, I thought I had a very clear understanding of Action Research or Administrative Inquiry.  Upon reading works by Nancy Fitchman Dana and by Harris, Edmondson and Combs I was able to greatly expand my understanding and appreciation of action research in the administrator role.  I saw Action Research as more of an experiment, performing some action and evaluating the results.  I was enlightened by the idea of an ever-changing system that progresses through the years to meet a goal.  Furthermore, this system does not end with reflection; reflection is simply the guide to the next stage of the never ending action research cycle.

While I did not realize it, I am actively participating in a number of administrative inquiry in my classroom.  I have been focusing on students attendance and improving scores to help our campus meet AYP.  In our department we have incorporated a number of new ideas to see if any would better meet the needs of our students.  Preliminary benchmark data is showing students to be making positive gains and as we look towards our standardized tests, we feel if we continue to modify and support these new ideas we will meet our campus goals.  Initially these new ideas appeared only as extra work but when we as a department saw positive gains the moral and dedication to this system has improved.