Week 2 Enlightment

This week was very enlightening, watching the video presentations I gained a clearer picture of how different types of information are dissected and put to use. Johnny Briseno, A Principal who believes in going beyond the surface to see the true student. His passion is finding what makes a child who he/she is. He uses his data to establish a reference point as to where that student is in regards to state standards. He goes the extra mile to meet each students specific needs. One the other hand, Dr. Kirk Lewis who holds a position as a superintendent has a completely different perspective on using data in making a school/district successful. He uses his data strictly as benchmarks to gauge where his district stands. He looks at the entire district to gather information in forming his profile of where the strengths and weaknesses are. As far as action research they both agree on the significance of this practice and the value of its usable data collection. They both agree that action research should be campus specific. With that being said, knowing how to begin the process of researching your campus is research in itself. Realizing that choosing the action research model that fits your campus and where to place emphasis is to the outcome of your research. Avoiding issues that are merely interesting and focusing on the issues that provide real usable data is critical for implementing this effort. Defining your research so that is not only intriguing but also provides answers which in turn, has a positive impact on your campus. I am looking forward to studying and beginning the initial outlines of my research on Parental Involvement in the classroom.