Action Research

I believe action research is essential to the success of a leader. Not only will action research help in answering questions or solving problems but it is a continuous ongoing process. It collaboratively finds ways to solve problems and then continues to work on increasing the success of the program or project. Action research is not a onetime fix to a problem but a process that continuously works to re-evaluate data and make adjustments accordingly regardless of how many times or the length of the time. Obviously if too many changes are made in too short a time, the data would be erroneous. However, the key is to research, determine best changes, wait, collect data and re-evaluate. If more changes are necessary, collaboratively decide on the best approach.

I believe this type of research is beneficial in building a school culture that is unified and one that is constantly striving to increase student achievement. Teachers are more likely to take ownership thus project success is likely to increase as well.

Because teachers already feel overwhelmed with busy schedules, blogging is an excellent tool to involve more teachers without setting a formal meeting time to accommodate everyone. Also, some teachers are more likely to suggest ideas if they are blogging verses sitting in a large group of stakeholders. Another benefit of blogging is increase feedback or reflection without time constraints.