What is Action Research?

As educators we try to develop our students into life-long learners. We want them to appreciate the benefits of learning and continually seek new knowledge. We, too, must be life-long learners. As part of our learning process we must evaluate and study our practices. We must make the effort to examine our techniques and methods to ensure their effectiveness. After we examine our processes we can then make changes in order to improve our effectiveness. This process of self-evaluation and change is action research. When conducted by administrators of a school it would be classified as administrative inquiry.

The action research method allows educators and administrators to make decisions based on information that is specific to their situation. In traditional educational research an outside researcher gathers data and develops new processes and/or procedures. The drawback is that the researcher is far removed from the classroom and the specific situation the administrator is facing.

Action research can take a variety of forms. These forms range from very general (college coursework) to very specific (professional learning communities). This method allows data to be collected at the classroom level by the people that will have to implement those decisions. The proximity that action research provides creates much more effective results.