After my (much anticipated, quite delayed) meeting with my site supervisor Monday, I have tentative approval to conduct one of my action research proposals. He "green lit" all three ideas but after much discussion of some of the district matters that have pertained to administrators in our district, and based on his evaluations of me in the past (he has always viewed me as a tech innovator, I have reached my at inquiry question:

What is the technology for instruction adoption among the 187 teachers at Seven Lakes High School? Of those who are highly tech-integrated, what packages, software, and apps do they use and why? Of those who are not tech integrated, why do they choose to not utilize technology at their disposal?

Action Research-- Imagine if...

Imagine the resources we could have at our disposal if...
- everyone in our PLC had to perform one action research proposal per year.
- if we had to perform action research in our first year of practice
- if we had performed our action research one year ago.

I am currently vacillating between how beneficial this project will be to education, our schools, and our own practice, and how overwhelming this will be on top of the other day to day responsibilities. This too will pass I suppose. Regrettably, my meeting with my site supervisor could not occur until tomorrow; with the size of our faculty it usually takes two - three weeks to get meaningful face time with an administrator at our behest.

Colleagues, this will be a beneficial test of our abilities to juggle schedules but in the end I am ultimately excited about the projects we are undertaking. Based on Blackboard and blogs, I see many of the same common concerns being addressed- teacher tech utilization, student performance as related to various attributes (extracurriculars, discipline), and so forth. I look forward to reading several of your projects and findings over the next few months.

How blogs can benefit educators

Much is said about the importance of reflective practice in teaching. A blog is a powerful resource in reflective practice; in plain language an English teacher will spell out the importance of organizing thoughts before writing. If an educator makes a commitment to regular blogging, the reflections of his / her practice will be found in the blog.

Action research, also called administrator inquiry, is an opportunity for a teacher or principal to analyze a specific problem within their practice and to generate knowledge about that issue. Action research differs from traditional research models which rely on external "outsiders" to provide data and explanation which must be "taught" to educational practitioners regardless of context or setting, and sometimes is strictly for the benefit of the university or academic setting. Administrator inquiry is powerful because educators analyze issues they face, practitioners collaborate on said issues, and teachers and administrators are more likely to produce solutions on these issues.

Action research requires what I shall call "ownership" because the practitioner is analyzing a problem that he or she faces regularly in their native context. Because of the ownership involved in action research or practitioner inquiry, knowledge generated from the analysis of problems are much more likely to result in meaningful change than simply installing platitudes from the latest inservice speaker.

Administrative course inquiry can be performed as part of a university course requirement, within a district, among a school's leadership team, or within a PLC.


In simple language, educators who use meaningful action research can expect students to benefit from higher achievement and principals who utilize this powerful tool can expect schools to better serve their communities.