DIGEST EDO-FL-03-08 • DECEMBER 2003 Action Research RICHARD DONATO, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH CENTER FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS • ERIC CLEARINGHOUSE ON LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS • 4646 40TH ST NW • WASHINGTON DC 20016-1859 • 202-362-0700 Action฀research฀can฀inform฀teachers฀about฀their฀practice฀and฀em- power฀them฀to฀take฀leadership฀roles฀in฀their฀local฀teaching฀contexts.฀ Mills฀(2003)฀provides฀the฀following฀deinition฀of฀action฀research: Action฀ research฀ is฀ any฀ systematic฀ inquiry฀ conducted฀ by฀ teacher฀researchers฀to฀gather฀information฀about฀the฀ways฀that฀ their฀ particular฀ school฀ operates,฀ how฀ they฀ teach,฀ and฀ how฀ well฀their฀students฀learn.฀The฀information฀is฀gathered฀with฀ the฀ goals฀ of฀ gaining฀ insight,฀ developing฀ relective฀ practice,฀ effecting฀ positive฀ changes฀ in฀ the฀ school฀ environment฀ and฀ on฀educational฀practices฀in฀general,฀and฀improving฀student฀ outcomes.฀(p.฀4) Action฀research฀is฀conducted฀by฀teachers฀and฀for฀teachers.฀It฀is฀small฀ scale,฀contextualized,฀localized,฀and฀aimed฀at฀discovering,฀developing,฀ or฀monitoring฀changes฀to฀practice฀(Wallace,฀2000).฀The฀deining฀features฀ of฀action฀research฀also฀relect฀the฀qualities฀of฀leaders฀in฀collaborative฀ cultures฀of฀change.฀These฀qualities฀include฀a฀deep฀understanding฀of฀the฀ organization,฀vision฀and฀insight,฀a฀quest฀for฀new฀knowledge,฀a฀desire฀ for฀improved฀performance,฀self-relective฀activity,฀and฀a฀willingness฀to฀ effect฀change฀(Fullan,฀2000a,฀2000b).฀This฀Digest฀discusses฀a฀framework฀ for฀conducting฀action฀research฀and฀describes฀an฀action฀research฀study฀ carried฀out฀in฀an฀elementary฀school฀Spanish฀program. A฀Framework฀for฀Action฀Research A฀review฀of฀action฀research฀frameworks฀reveals฀several฀common฀fea- tures.฀An฀action฀research฀project฀seeks฀to฀create฀knowledge,฀propose฀and฀ implement฀change,฀and฀improve฀practice฀and฀performance฀(Stringer,฀ 1996).฀ Kemmis฀ and฀ McTaggert฀ (1988)฀ suggest฀ that฀ the฀ fundamental฀ components฀of฀action฀research฀include฀the฀following:฀(1)฀developing฀ a฀plan฀for฀improvement,฀(2)฀implementing฀the฀plan,฀(3)฀observing฀and฀ documenting฀the฀effects฀of฀the฀plan,฀and฀(4)฀relecting฀on฀the฀effects฀ of฀the฀plan฀for฀further฀planning฀and฀informed฀action.฀New฀knowledge฀ gained฀results฀in฀changes฀in฀practice฀(see฀also,฀Fullan,฀2000a).฀Action฀ research฀is฀often฀conducted฀to฀discover฀a฀plan฀for฀innovation฀or฀inter- vention฀and฀is฀collaborative.฀Based฀on฀Kemmis฀and฀McTaggert's฀(1998)฀ original฀formulation฀of฀action฀research฀and฀subsequent฀modiications,฀ Mills฀(2003)฀developed฀the฀following฀framework฀for฀action฀research: •฀Describe฀the฀problem฀and฀area฀of฀focus. •฀Deine฀the฀factors฀involved฀in฀your฀area฀of฀focus฀(e.g.,฀the฀ curriculum,฀school฀setting,฀student฀outcomes,฀instructional฀ strategies). •฀Develop฀research฀questions. •฀ Describe฀ the฀ intervention฀ or฀ innovation฀ to฀ be฀ imple- mented. •฀Develop฀a฀timeline฀for฀implementation. •฀Describe฀the฀membership฀of฀the฀action฀research฀group. •฀Develop฀a฀list฀of฀resources฀to฀implement฀the฀plan. •฀Describe฀the฀data฀to฀be฀collected. •฀Develop฀a฀data฀collection฀and฀analysis฀plan. •฀Select฀appropriate฀tools฀of฀inquiry. •฀Carry฀out฀the฀plan฀(implementation,฀data฀collection,฀data฀ analysis). •฀Report฀the฀results. This฀deductive฀approach฀implements฀a฀planned฀intervention,฀moni- tors฀its฀implementation,฀and฀evaluates฀the฀results.฀A฀more฀inductive฀ approach,฀formulated฀by฀Burns฀(1999),฀is฀to฀carry฀out฀action฀research฀ to฀explore฀what฀changes฀need฀to฀be฀made฀or฀what฀actions฀need฀to฀be฀ taken฀in฀a฀speciic฀ instructional฀setting.฀Burns฀suggests฀the฀following฀ interrelated฀activities: •฀Explore฀an฀issue฀in฀teaching฀or฀learning. •฀Identify฀areas฀of฀concern. •฀ Observe฀ how฀ those฀ areas฀ play฀ out฀ in฀ the฀ setting฀ of฀ the฀ study. •฀Discuss฀how฀the฀issue฀might฀be฀addressed. •฀Collect฀data฀to฀determine฀the฀action฀to฀be฀taken฀(e.g.,฀student฀ questionnaires,฀observation฀reports,฀journal฀entries). •฀ Plan฀ strategic฀ actions฀ based฀ on฀ the฀ data฀ to฀ address฀ the฀ issue. Kemmis฀and฀McTaggert's฀approach฀focuses฀on฀implementing฀an฀action฀ plan,฀whereas฀Burns’฀focuses฀on฀planning฀for฀action.฀ Commonly฀ used฀ data฀ collection฀ tools฀ in฀ action฀ research฀ projects฀ include฀existing฀archival฀sources฀in฀schools฀(e.g.,฀attendance฀reports,฀ standardized฀test฀scores,฀lesson฀plans,฀curriculum฀documents,),฀ques- tionnaires,฀ interviews,฀ observation฀ notes฀ and฀ protocols,฀ videotapes,฀ photographs,฀journals฀and฀diaries,฀and฀narratives฀(e.g.,฀stories฀told฀by฀ teachers,฀see฀Hartman,฀1998). An฀Action฀Research฀Project฀in฀Pittsburgh:฀ Elementary฀School฀Spanish The฀following฀project฀illustrates฀how฀teachers฀can฀assume฀leadership฀ roles฀to฀support฀their฀programs,฀contribute฀to฀the฀knowledge฀base฀on฀the฀ teaching฀and฀learning฀of฀foreign฀languages฀in฀their฀school฀and฀school฀ district,฀and฀promote฀well-informed฀changes฀in฀practice. In฀ 1996,฀ a฀ school฀ district฀ in฀ suburban฀ Pittsburgh,฀ Pennsylvania,฀ decided฀ to฀ implement฀ a฀ foreign฀ language฀ in฀ the฀ elementary฀ school฀ (FLES)฀program.฀After฀considerable฀discussion฀of฀issues฀such฀as฀sched- uling,฀teacher฀availability,฀and฀the฀necessity฀of฀developing฀long-term฀ articulation฀ from฀ one฀ grade฀ to฀ the฀ next,฀ the฀ decision฀ was฀ made฀ to฀ form฀a฀program฀steering฀committee฀and฀propose฀to฀the฀school฀board฀ the฀implementation฀of฀a฀Spanish฀FLES฀program฀that฀would฀begin฀in฀ September฀ 1996฀ for฀ all฀ district฀ kindergartners.฀ The฀ proposal฀ recom- mended฀extending฀the฀program฀one฀grade฀level฀each฀year.฀That฀is,฀all฀ kindergartners฀and฀ irst฀graders฀would฀participate฀in฀the฀program฀in฀the฀ 1997-1998฀school฀year,฀all฀kindergartners฀and฀irst฀and฀second฀graders฀ in฀the฀1998-1999฀school฀year,฀and฀so฀on.฀The฀Board฀of฀School฀Directors฀ formally฀approved฀the฀plan฀and฀authorized฀a฀5-year฀pilot฀project. Teachers฀ as฀ researchers.฀ After฀ 5฀ years฀ of฀ implementation,฀ the฀ program฀ steering฀ committee฀ had฀ to฀ prepare฀ a฀ presentation฀ for฀ the฀ school฀ board฀ that฀ would฀ demonstrate฀ that฀ the฀ program฀ was฀ work- ing,฀ that฀ the฀ children฀ were฀ progressing,฀ and฀ that฀ the฀ approval฀ of฀ 5฀ more฀ years฀ of฀ funding฀ was฀ warranted.฀ Responding฀ to฀ this฀ challenge฀