The Passions That Drive Your Journey, Common Action Research Topics in School Settings

1.    Staff development – How does the process of peer coaching help veteran, mid-career, and new teachers continue to learn and grow, and what role can the principal play in facilitating this process? This is extremely important because teacher should not be content with what they know or what they learned 5, 10, or 15 years ago. Education is an ever growing and evolving profession and in order to be the best for the students, teachers need to be updated and refreshed on the methods and strategies.

2.    Curriculum development – How can principals use learning communities as a tool for teachers and principals in the transformation of the writing curriculum at this school? Writing seems like a daunting task for the fourth grade teachers. If the students were better prepared and versed in the writing process and standards, this task would become more of an enrichment task rather then and intervention task. It is important to discuss issues like this in vertical teams and implement a solution for future benefits.

3.    Individual teacher(s) – What types of support help new teachers succeed? Studies have shown that new teachers usually leave education within the first five years in the classroom. It seems that new teacher get support for their first two years and after that they are left to fend for themselves. So there needs to be a consistent flow of support beyond the first five year and reanalyze the support given and verify if it what is needed.

4.    Individual student(s) – What happens to struggling readers in the school after the leave intervention programs? This seemed to be a problem at my current school. Students who were succeeding in kindergarten and first grade were not in fourth and fifth grade. What was happening? This would entail lots of research within the neighborhood, parents, and friends that students interacted with. As well as the bridge grades of second and third grade, examine the rigor in the classrooms and the methods of intervention.

5.    School culture/community – What role does a weekly school wide meeting play in creating a caring school culture? I find this method of support deeply impacts new teachers to stay committed to teaching. Visitors can feel the culture of a school by walking in through the building and watching the interactions of all students and adults. The students respond to the positive interactions between the staff and faculty. This is what creates a wonderful learning and caring environment.  

6.    Leadership – How can a principal build a cohesive and spirited team as well as promote teacher leadership within the school? This is an extension of the school culture. The principal needs to have the trust and support of all teachers and staff. It is also the principal’s job to create the inviting working environment and create that connection between administration and staff as well as staff and staff.

7.    Management – How can we all work together to make lunch time a cooperative and pleasant time for everyone? I find this is often a problem or was a problem for many elementary schools. Watching students at lunch is often an indicator of whether the school management is conducted poorly or proper and fitting. Students at lunch are a reflection of the school and the staff. The behavior at lunch is also an indicator of how the rest of the day may go. That is usually the most difficult as a teacher to redirect and force back on track.  

8.    School performance – In what ways will implementing the continuous improvement model help increase student achievement? I often see most staff is concerned with improving only the bottom quartile students. In which case, will not improve the school’s ratings. We as teachers need to understand and be reminded that we are here to grow all students even the high achieving ones.  RTI is crucial for the struggling students but sad to say that most of the higher level students are missed and not pushed to improve. 

9.   Social justice or equity issues – What can we do to help close the achievement gap and improve our practice for students in poverty? These students lack background knowledge and resources. When they enter school, they are already three steps behind the average student. To advance these students to be on grade level is an overwhelming task for teachers. In what ways can we better advance these children and what resources do we need to do so? What outside factors are impacting these students and how can parents play a role in their education?