Action Research

This is a form of reflective inquiry in which a group of stakeholders systematically addresses issues, problems, and ideas that emerge from a particular community with the intention of generating genuine improvements in the quality of practice. In school settings, action research entails thoughtful consideration of educational theory and research, the analysis of the effects practice on student learning, and use of research findings to inform curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Educators cannot afford to practice their craft in an unsystematic fashion. Schooling is a highly complex, decision-driven, and action-oriented enterprise with immediate and long-standing ethical implications for individuals and society. Decisions about what and how to go about the business of schooling and teach are too often based on intuition, memories of events, anecdotal information, and casual observations. To be effective, school-based professionals must collaboratively examine and interpret the learning environment in order to make informed decisions about curriculum design, instructional strategies, and assessment for learning. It is the systematic and collaborative collection and analysis of valid data considered in light of established theory that helps to transform typical and less rigorous forms of reflective practice into action research.

The term action research was first used in the 1940s to characterize group research activities that resulted in changed community practices (such as Native American farming tactics). In time, the principles of action research came to be applied to the examination of pedagogical and educational reform activities. Today, action research stands in marked contrast to traditional educational research (or “pure” research), in which an outside investigator examines an issue, generates findings, and then leaves interpretation and implementation of the results up to school practitioners. Through applied social science data collection and analysis methods, school-based action researchers explore and test new ideas, methods, and materials; assess the effectiveness of the new approaches; and determine the most worthwhile approaches to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Action research is most effective when it becomes an embedded and routine part of practice, when educators collaboratively initiate and manage systematic inquiry as part of their teaching and administrative responsibilities. When undertaken by educators in school-based learning communities, action research becomes an exceptional and powerful means of professional development.