Reflection is a very skill for teachers to take part in. Reflection helps teachers decide what worked and what did not. In this case, I reflected on using Action Research for the first time. There was a lot for me to learn, but in the end, I decided that my school would benefit from taking part in action research. Our goal as teachers is to do what's best for kids, and sometimes, doing an action research project is the best way to determine what is going to work best for our students.

1. Belin, Jasmine
MODULE 5 REFLECTION

2. Belin- Module 5 Reflection 1
Action research is a is a wonderful method for teachers to get more involved in improving
schools, programs, and individual practices within a classroom. When engaging in action
research, teachers become experts on the problem that they are focusing on and ultimately
become experts in a sort of solution for said problem. While becoming this expert, the teacher is
finding ways to improve schools, programs, or their own personal practices as they are finding
ways to change things for the better. Action research is a starting point for change.
Scientifically based research and action research don’t only have similarities, but they are
both helpful to each other. Scientifically based research drives a lot of decisions in schools.
When programs and best practices are scientifically based, schools and teachers are more likely
to use them and districts may adopt them. For example, many districts around the country adopt
and purchase curriculums for Language Arts for all teachers to use. The research done behind the
curriculums show students growth and achievement through all grades. This helps district
employees be confident enough in the material to implement it into all classrooms. Once it has
been implemented in the classrooms, action research can be done in the classrooms by the
teachers using it to test the validity of the curriculum and its effectiveness.
I believe that my school could very much benefit from action research. We currently do not
follow any curriculum for Language Arts. Each teacher in our school essentially does their own
thing. While sometimes I enjoy this freedom, I do think there are some problems that can occur.
For starters, there is nothing forcing us to use the same vocabulary when teaching certain topics.
One of my biggest pet peeves in writing is when a student says, “I am going to tell you about…”
in their papers. If we had a curriculum to follow, there would be consistency in how we teach
something, and by the time the students reached me in 5th grade, they would have better
transition sentences.

3. Belin- Module 5 Reflection 2
Action research could be done to alleviate my school of this problem. Someone could conduct
a project on the differences in reading scores and writing pieces from students taught on a
curriculum and students not taught with a curriculum. If one way affected students differently
than the other, our school could make a decision based off of this and have more consistent
reading scores.
Data drives everything in schools. Therefore, it makes sense that data collection and analysis
would be essential to action research and the decisions that are made because of it. When a
teacher or another conductor of action research gathers data, they have a way to compare what is
working and what is working. The data that they find may cause them to change something in
their research and try again, or they may decide that their research is complete. Then, the data is
useful when showing the intended audience what changes can be made or what is already
working. Data provides proof, and that proof is the purpose of action research.
The biggest obstacle that I see with action research is time. I always believe that teachers are
pressed for time and that beginning an action research project may not seem as attractive to some
teachers because of the time aspect. A way to overcome this is by working with other teachers to
divide the work and conquer the time problem. For example, when doing literary analysis,
teachers can each read a few articles and then share with the others the findings from that article.
This is easier than one teacher reading multiple articles on their own to get all the information
that they need to conduct the action research.
One ethical consideration to make during action research that I think is most important is that
the current students are not disadvantaged while future students are advantaged. Students who
are the subjects of the research should still be learning and given the teachers full attention and
effort throughout the school year. Their education does not need to be less of a concern to benefit

4. Belin- Module 5 Reflection 3
students in a different year. I feel that if this is a possibility, then the action research does not
need to happen. It would be unethical for a teacher to not give their full attention to the growth of
their current students for the benefit of later students.
I am currently starting an action research project at my school due to a problem involving
parental involvement. Parent involvement is low at my school as students come from difficult
home situations. Many come from single parent homes while others come from foster homes.
Some students live with grandparents or another relative and some are considered homeless.
Because of these living situations, or other work situations for the parents, the lack of
consistency in the homes and guardians being unavailable or unable, students are suffering from
not having academic support outside of school.
To help this problem, I am trying to find the effectiveness of having an after school program
that provides students with some adult supervision and help. These adults would be volunteers,
such as teachers or other parents, and they would be available for the students to read to or get
some assistance on their daily homework. My belief is that this would increase scores in all areas
of school, but specifically in reading. The research shows that when students read 30 minutes a
night, their comprehension levels increase. By having adult supervision in this program, students
would be reading and receiving feedback. This program would also have the potential to create a
greater community surrounding our school and would get more people involved in making our
school a better learning facility.
Through action research, I will be able to provide the community and district officials with
the data that backs up what I am trying to prove. If all goes well, the district might supply some
funding or other resources to provide students with things such as snacks or new reading material
for an after school program such as this. Regardless of what data is presented, the process will be

5. Belin- Module 5 Reflection 4
good for me and my school to start attempting to make more of a difference in the lives of the
students who need a little more attention in our community.