Find your area of focus as a teacher, develop a research question, and research the literature based on your topic.

create and compile all the elements for your AR proposal. The complete proposal includes:

• Title Page
• Proposal – this includes:

• • Literature Review : (minimum 8 – 10 pages, minimum 12-15 sources of which at least 10 are primary research)
  • Demographics : Describe your context and demographics of your population. On the Action Research Proposal template, the demographics section is comprised of three subsections: Demographic Data, Target Group, and Baseline Data.

    Answer the questions for each subsection below in a paragraph.

    Demographic Data

    • Where/what is the research site?
    • Who is directly involved?
    • What statistics will give a clear understanding of the context and culture of the research site?

    Target Group

    • Who are the students you are trying to impact?
    • How do you think this strategy or content focus will benefit the target group?

    Baseline Data

    • What are the baseline data that support your choice for this area of focus?
    • What patterns or trends do you see in the data?
    • What is your proof that an issue exists in this focus area?

    Reminders: Do not use names as identifiers for the research site or participants. Please also take care to be vague with details of your geographic site (e.g. a large urban city in the northeast rather than saying Boston). Finally, be conscious of the use of the place name or district name in any research references that you include for the data you are sharing. For example, if you consult the U.S. census data, please do not provide a link that includes the location name but rather include the link to the larger census database. For further information on how to cite confidential sources, please see this FAQ

  • Proposed Action :Explore options for action and implementation
    • Identify and describe three possible solution strategies for implementation
  • Intended Data Collection and Analysis Measures: Learning more about data collection and analysis. Select and/or develop your data collection tools. As you consider the construction of your data gathering instruments, use the following questions and explanations by Sagor (2011) to guide you.
    • What are three data sources will you use for your AR?
    • Do you need a matrix for data triangulation?
    • Is the process I am using to answer my question clear enough that my students (clients or participants) can understand it?

    When collecting and analyzing data, action researchers can do a great deal to ensure the validity and reliability of their findings by using a process called triangulation. The term triangulation refers to the use of multiple independent data sources to corroborate findings. The purpose and necessity of corroboration is the same for the action researcher as it is for the trial lawyer. A trial lawyer knows that to convince a jury of the accuracy of a legal theory, it helps to have more than one witness; the more individual witnesses whose testimony supports the theory, the more credible the theory becomes (Sagor, 2002, p. 16-18).

    Educational action researchers usually have a wide variety of data sources available to them. Some of the most common data sources are the following:

    Existing data

    • School/teacher records
    • Referrals to the principal
    • Attendance records
    • Tardies
    • Classroom behaviors (talk outs/negative behaviors)
    • Number of detentions (per student)
    • Number of suspensions (per student)
    • Student work/portfolios

    Observation data

    • Photographs
    • Videotapes
    • Diaries, logs, journals
    • Rating scales/rubrics
    • Data obtained by shadowing students through the school day

    Probes

    • Tests
    • Surveys
    • Interviews
    • Focus groups

    You, as the researcher, will describe the instruments and data gathering techniques used. You must establish criteria for selecting the data as they relate to the scope of the problem.

    A helpful tool for planning data collection and triangulation is a triangulation matrix—a simple grid that shows the various data sources that will be used to answer each research question. The matrix provides the action researcher with some assurance that the potential for bias (which is always present whenever a single source of data is used) won’t take on undue significance. Figure 2.3 illustrates how a completed triangulation matrix for a study on student editing might look.

    During data analysis, the teacher researcher engages in a systematic effort to search for patterns or trends in the data. There are many ways to accomplish this. Regardless of the particular technique employed, during the analysis phase the researcher tries to systematically cut, sift, and sort the data into piles of like or similar objects. The key purpose of this systematic sorting and categorizing is to assist in answering the following two questions:

    • What is the story told by my data?
    • What might explain this story?

    These two questions help us to frame out what can be learned from the data analysis process.

  • Ideas for Sharing Findings : How can you envision yourself sharing this work with others? While you didn’t implement your project, what can you envision doing with this work to help improve your practice and impact others? As you reflect on the experience of designing the action research proposal, what is the biggest change or influence on your thinking that you will take from this experience?

• Reference Page : APA Format
• Appendixes: 

Combine all parts into a single document.

NOTE: Action Research involves the identification of a specific issue in your work setting, analysis of research from the literature regarding the issue, design of a plan to solve the issue, a plan for implementation of a solution.