Research: Final Reflection

In the Education Administration course, Research, I have learned how to use research skills as well as personal knowledge and experience to research a topic of interest and plan out its successful implementation. When I began the course, I was intimidated by the title. Research is typically not a topic of interest for most people, including myself. However, by choosing a topic that was of interest to me and of need on my current campus, I was able to use the skills I learned to create a plan that I am beginning to implement on my campus this fall. I am very excited that my school work will be translating to benefit the students that I teach as well as my colleagues and other stakeholders. I also learned how to better facilitate discussions and decision making at meetings by using methods such as the Delphi method, which will be a great help to me in leading the committees that I am a part of in this upcoming school year (Harrison, Edmonson & Combs, 2010). I also learned the different ways that action research can be used. It works best when it is combined with personal experience and background knowledge (Dana, 2009). Action research can be used to help understand the usage of professional development, the builing of culture on an individual campus, as well as to benefit individual teachers (Dana, 2009). Action research planning is not as daunting as it sounds, and I am glad that I know have this skill to add to my experience and prepare me to be a school administrator in the future. What I am most happy that I accomplished through this course, was the development and soon-to-be implementation of the first ever transition camp for incoming 9th graders at North Crowley Ninth grade. Hopefully my work and the creation of a committee and transitional programs will lead to an increase in successful students entering high school.

Dana, N. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge. California: Cowin.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools. New York: Eye on Education.