Week 2 Reflection

  I think the best information I took away this week came from the interviews and reading. One suggestion about conducting action research I took away from Dr. Chargois was to always ask the question, “Is this going to increase student performance?” I would also extend that question to “How is this going to increase student performance?” We must ask this question if our research is going to be effective and relevant. This also leads right into a suggestion Dr. Lewis had for conducting research. He said that research should always be practical. He said you should ask what is practical for you and what are your campus needs. When those questions are answered it will have a direct impact on your school and your research will be more focused. The research topic will be of interest to you as well because it has direct implications for your campus or district. The interviews provided great questions to ask before conducting action research. Asking those questions will restrict the focus to areas of need at your campus. There was also a huge emphasis on making data driven decisions. In this age of accountability results are the bottom line and data will help us understand where we need to go and how we need to get there. The best advice I received was to be practical. Every school has needs and leaders are charged with the responsibility to make sure those needs are met. Focusing action research on the needs of your campus with the purpose of increasing student achievement through making data driven decisions will guide school leaders as they encounter new challenges in the future.