Action Research

     Action research is research that does not just attempt to explain a certain educational shortcoming; it is research that hopes to correct shortcomings within a school. It is a tool that allows for real staff development.  I have attended many staff developments where we are “talked at”.  The Dana text was right on point in that regard.  Action research is where staff development becomes an action, not just a lecture.  The staff works together to identify a shortcoming or need within their own school and then works collaboratively to offer real, workable solutions to the identified problem.  

     For my interest this year, I want to study technology and parental involvement as they relate to student achievement.  Will increased use of one simple aspect of technology by the parents increase student academic performance?  Two years ago our district began using Power Schools as a grade book.  Parents can access this on a daily basis to see their child’s grades, assignments, teacher notes, etc…  Teachers can see which student’s parents are checking this and that information tells the teacher the date that the parent accessed the information and how long the parent spent looking at their child’s grades.  I want to track the current 7^th grade in their science classes this coming school year, when they are 8^th graders, and see if a push on the part of the school to get parents to access Power Schools leads to an overall increase in academic performance during their 8^th grade year.  I think that this is important to research because it may be a very simple tool to increase both parental involvement and academic performance.  An action research plan could show if there is indeed a correlation between the two. 

     A principal could make use of blogs as a very effective form of communication between many different stakeholders.  He could set up a blog to communicate with parents and the PTO, set up a community blog for the school that shows off the success of his school, and possibly even set up a student blog to allow for student suggestions.  The latter would have to be handled very carefully.  Of course, the principal could also avail himself of participating in established blogs that discuss current trends in the educational field.