Action Research In Education

Action research is defined as research that occurs in its natural setting, this is research that can be done in a classroom. As I researched this topic I realized so many of the things we do in school can be linked to action based research. Example being: when we want to change an instructional setting for a special ed child, we see them successful in a resource setting and want to continue to challenge them, so we propose to move them to a coteach model and continue to monitor, document and test to see if this is working for the child. Another example- the coteach model- developed via action research.
So many things we do in schools today came from teachers wanting to improve their classrooms to give kids better opportunities, to challenge them to improve and this type of research many times goes unnoticed.
Action research does not come without problems, one is many times no one knows it is going on and many times two different people could be doing the same or similar projects. As a leader it is important to be aware of what teachers are working on and creating some way for everyone to be aware of this project, offering support to these teachers and if it is something that can be used at a district wide level, being the voice that promotes the work that has been done by teachers at the campus.
Action research is important for schools, as many times it can help schools make that little change that can be the difference for getting from good to great. This type of research can investigate many things: analyzng the structure of the master schedule, passing periods, safety issues, teacher discipline plans, use of technology in a particular content or as a partner, for example, in the science classroom.
Where to start you might ask? Solicit projects, ask for a specific situation to be looked into, have teams evaluate a system that is already in place. Where will I start? At my school, we have numerous teachers who looped up with their kids. I had read so much research on the benefits of looping, on how the teacher makes the biggest difference. Therefore, I decided to have two strong reading teachers and one strong math teacher loop up with their students. Now the items we will need to evaluate include, but are not limited to: Did this improve scores, retention of new material, build stronger relationships/trust? We will need to evaluate the benefits, the possible problems, use data to show statistics.
What do you think? Will looping help our most at risk kids? This is the group I was targeting.