Action Research Model 
Application for Professional Development Credit

Action Research is:

  • a methodical evaluation of topics or issues about teaching practice and student performance.

  • research-based, data-driven, and focused on student learning.

  • a structure for determining areas of focus for research, for gathering data, and for writing summary reports that describe observations and findings.

  • talked about and shared with students and colleagues.

Examples:

  • Individual Teacher Research — Involves one teacher and an individual or group of students

    • Example: Examination of the impact of a change in teaching strategies or learning environment on students learning.

  • Collaborative Research — Involves two or more teachers in one or more classrooms.

    • Example: Development and assessment of strategies designed to increase reading/writing scores for a particular group of students.

  • School-wide Research — Involves whole school faculty in instructional improvement centered on the needs of students.

    • Example: Evaluation of a student advisory program as a potential solution to student discipline issues.

  • District-wide Research — Involves groups of faculty throughout the district in inter-school research impacting student learning district-wide.

Underlying Assumptions:

  • Some of the most valuable classroom research begins with small questions, with the wonderings of individual teachers as they engage in day-to-day work with their students.

  • The knowledge and skills of actually performing research are not a prerequisite and can be developed.

  • Teachers are motivated to use more effective practices when they are continuous investigating the results of their actions in the classroom. (Loucks-Horsley, 1998)

    Action Research has the potential to generate genuine and sustained improvements in schools.

Go to Action Research Model
 

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