What I have learned about action research:

Action research is something I think that can easily be pushed aside as an administrator has more than enough on their plate to fill several days without sleep. But, I really think this can be said for a teacher as well. As a teacher, I know that as soon as I feel caught up, I'm drowning again. Between planning, grading, contacting parents, and conferencing students, there's always an abundance to do. People who sit down and analyze their data must have too much time on their hands. Maybe I can give them some papers to grade. Or so I used to think. Action research is extremely important. It's not just one person sitting down and doing some research. It's really a collaboration of colleagues working together on a relevant topic for the ultimate goal of making things better for our students. It's not something you try to find the time to do; it's something that you make the time for. Action research should be something that is built into the work week ahead of time, on a regular basis, so that you're sure that it gets done. I think of it as a really great functioning PLC. The results can be profound because everything is relevant. Instead of researching someone else's data or trying to implement someone else's plan for their issues, you're able to gather your own data, in your own community, on your own campus, and collaborate with colleagues that you see and work with every single day. Action research is a very valuable tool that, if used regularly and treated very seriously, can have profound impact on an individual campus or even a district as a whole.