What is Action Research

 “Practitioner inquiry” or “classroom research” or “action research” is known for the practitioner (teachers and principals) being the knowledge generator.  This model focuses on the practitioner's concerns and engages practitioners in the design, data collections, and interpretations of data around their questions.  This model has many benefits: theories and knowledge are generated from research, practitioners become collaborators in educational research by investigating their own problems, and practitioners play a part in the research process, which makes them more likely to facilitate change.

Administrative inquiry is a systematic approach to solve problems in education (classroom, campus, and district level) using both quantitative and qualitative data. An educational leader needs to implement a school vision.  This is a critical component to be a successful educational leader. Inquiry is an ongoing evaluation of how to solve problems by collecting and analyzing data, asking appropriate questions, and continuing to ask questions that involves reasoning and processing.

Successful teachers utilize inquiry based teaching to promote student learning. Since teachers are successful using inquiry based teaching then educational leaders could and should be successful using this method to encourage thinking and questioning of themselves and their teaching staff to continually grow as professionals. When an educational leader promotes inquiry as a way to grow as a professional, then they will lead teachers to grow and inquire as a professional. When a successful school utilizes inquiry to solve problems, then this strategy will enhance the learning environment for the students to succeed.

I plan to do an inquiry on "Why our economically disadvantaged students score lower than our other students?"  I want to look into classroom grades, amount of time in tutoring, what interventions are in place for these students, what RtI data do we have on them, do they have mentors, are their parents supportive, and are they involved in extracurricular activities at school?