Does anyone know where the discussion board has gone? I went to tools this morning on the blackboard and it was not there.

The use of blogs by educational leaders.

I am finding this out as I type. Blogging is a great way to put out information an get an immediate response from those who are involved. It is also a great way to inform your staff and the community of any upcoming events or changes that they need to be aware of. Educators are able to inform the masses in a relative short amount of time.

Action Research

I have learned that action research is a vital tool that should be utilized as often as possible. Action research gives you the opportunity to take a hands-on approach when dealing with problems or concerns in areas that are specific to you and your district. By working with team members from across the district or even an individual campus you are able to explore and problem solve any issue or issues that need to be addressed by staff, campuses and/or your districts. Action research can also be undertaken by larger organizations or institutions.  I think by using this form of research you are able to better understand the issue that is before you and how to most efficiently obtain the goal that is trying to be reached. I think as a campus administrator or a district superintendent this research method will be an outstanding tool when looking at our state standardized tests. I would like to have my staff on my campus use action research in their individual departments while breaking down the test scores from this last year’s STAAR test.  The second step would be then to take that data and meet as a campus to further analyze the data and brainstorm across each department. I think this type of research is ideal for getting “buy-in” from all who participate.