Week 1: What is action research and how can I use it?

This week I have learned the answer to the question "what is action research"? Action research is the way an educator examines what is going on in their own classroom logically and with awareness. I've learned their are 4 ways educators can go about using action research. The first is by taking a class on action research such as this one I am enrolled in right now. The second, is to meet with a Professional Learning Community you belong to and have data driven discussions regarding the at-risk students in your classroom. What do we need to do to reach those students? Another way to utilize action research is to be apart of a leadership team at your school. The leadership team is in place to discuss many different issues, to communicate the needs of the staff and grade levels, and to support the principal. They are constantly looking at data to faciliate discussions and focus on what is best practice for the students. Lastly, being apart of district meetings will lead to action research. Principals are given valueable information at the district meetings that they can use to help teachers in the classroom always do what is best for all students.

I decided that one way I might be able to use action research as a future administrator would be to ask how valuable the intervention our school conducts with the student actually is. Specifically, how effective is the after school tutorials we provide in all content areas? Are teachers strategically planning what they will re-teach during after school tutorials or are they just throwing a workbook, worksheet, work something, at the student to keep them busy so they can get paid $25 an hour and have “proof” on paper they are most definitely are helping the struggling student? Are teachers using data that is available to them (i.e. campus online) to group the students according to the TAKS objective or TEK they are struggling to master? Are teachers planning with their Professional Learning Community (PLC) and sharing students instead of only tutoring their own?

I believe the problem of ineffective intervention is of critical importance. If we are not being highly effective by asking ourselves “is what I’m about to do beneficial to the student” (i.e. how relevant is it to their learning), then we are being unproductive. If we are being irresponsible in our planning then we are doing a disservice to the students. When we ask families to make accommodations for tutorials, we as educators should be prepared to meet the students’ needs and be able to show student growth and achievement. It’s imperative that the teachers that volunteer to stay and tutor the low performing students, take on the responsibility of planning quality, objective based instruction.
By conducting an action research study, I believe that I would be able to prove or disprove the benefits of an after school tutorial program. Is the tutorial program benefiting all stakeholders? I would be able to investigate if teachers are strategically planning using objectives that they are aware their students are not mastering. I would also be able to chart student growth and achievement during this time using campus online data and my own pre and post tutorial assessment of students.

The overall purpose of an after school tutorial program is to help ALL students be successful. If the students leave the program in the same dilemma they were when they entered, then we as educators have not done our jobs.