Using Action Research

Action research or administrator inquiry is a process where one takes a look at a practice and then takes action to make a change on what they learn about their practice. It involves asking questions about the practice, or 'wonderings', then collecting data on those questions. This data is gathered to gain information to be able to analyze the practice. Part of the analysis of the data is to take time to reflect on the data to be able to learn from the experiences of the research. Once you look at the data, then you make a change. You have to start over again to make sure the action you took makes the changes you wanted. It is a continuous cycle. My district calls this PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) or PDSR (Plan, Do, Study, Revise/Revisit). We are always trying to go from good to better than before.
I think I could use action research to look for best practices to help students who do not pass the original EOC exam. It is state law that we provide accelerated instruction for those that do not pass the state assessment. However, the way this instruction is provided is up to the district. I have been involved with the accelerated instruction for 8^th graders who did not pass TAKS for the past several years, and I think we developed a good process. I would like to take what we learned is successful from that and apply it to the EOC accelerated instruction.