1	Action Research “Action Research is studying whatever you are doing…in the classroom…through disciplined inquiry.” Emily Calhoun
2	Action Research… “…is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice, systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research.” Watts, H. (1985) “When Teachers are Researchers, Teaching Improves,” Journal of Staff Development
3	Disciplined Inquiry…
4	"Action research by teachers focuses..." Action research by teachers focuses on the question, ‘How can I help my students improve the quality of their learning?’ Action research provides a teacher with EVIDENCE to guide the exploration of how teaching affects students’ learning.
5	5 W’s and H! Why are you collecting the data? What exactly are you collecting? Where are you going to collect it? When are you going to collect it? Who is going to collect the data? How will the data be collected and displayed? Source: National Staff development Council
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7	Four Approaches Individual Teacher Research Collaborative Action Research School wide Action Research System wide Action Research
8	How do we do this? In Five Steps…. Problem Formulation Data Collection Data Analysis Reporting of Results Action Planning
9	Questions? What could I do to encourage quiet students to participate actively in discussions What motivational strategies could I employ to increase the achievement of seven of my students who are failing in ___________? What happens when I use activities developed for gifted classes in my heterogeneous middle school class? What happens when I try to teach 8^th graders? I would like to improve… I am perplexed by… I’m really curious about… Something I think would really make a difference is… Something I would like to do to change is… Right now, some areas I’m especially interested in are… How does… What happens when…
10	Some Question Ideas… Questions should not be “yes/no” questions Questions should help us explore the nature of the relationship Avoid evaluative words Try to surface assumptions and clarify terms embedded in the question Try to balance between a narrowed and an open-ended question Those involved shouldn’t already know the answer Those involved must be passionate
11	Triangulation…. To help with the validity and reliability of your data, gather your data from 3 different angles. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3
12	Data Analysis The process of sorting the data into a useable fashion 1. What are the important themes, issues or factors in the data? 2. How much data supports the themes?
13	Interrogate the Data Break the data down further to see if the evidence supports the question. Use the matrix, flow chart, graph, spread sheet, or other form to help analyze the results.
14	Reporting the Results A description of the research process An analysis of the data How will this change your classroom?
15	Action Planning Planning and implementing improvement, based on what you’ve learned Choose your plan, based on your results and the professional literature Simply present the data