Action research in administrative internships.

Abstract

The demands on educational leaders in the context of an accountability environment are complex, implying a comprehensive field experience as part of graduate program preparation. This article will outline the University of Hartford's use of action research in its administrative internship program as a way to provide aspiring leaders the skills necessary for data-driven decision making leading to school improvement and change.

Introduction

Action research has gained recent popularity as a tool for professional growth and change in teachers' classroom practice (Ferrance, 2000; National Staff Development Council [NSDC], 2001; Sagor, 2000). Sagor defined action research as "... a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the 'actor' in improving and/or refining his or her actions." (p. 3, emphasis in original). Glanz (2003) noted that many educators view leaders' roles in action research as facilitators of teachers' work. However, he suggested that educational leaders "can and should become involved in action research for their own professional development" (p. 17). Glanz also listed a variety of benefits of action research, including "an intelligent way of making decisions" (p. 19).

The current climate of schools and districts to meet accountability mandates has moved many toward a data-based decision making process. The data collected for analysis are driven by federal and state legislation, such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, P.L. 107-110), and are often limited to standardized test scores. These legislative mandates place a lesser emphasis on other sources of data (i.e., other student records, student work, observation of practice, etc.) to measure improvement. Action research is one method for educators to be able to develop a research-based process for examining practice in schools, using additional data sources to foster improvement of student achievement at the school level and across the district. Sufficient rigor in the action research process is critical to its viability as a means for school improvement and lasting change (Ferrance, 2000; Glanz, 2003; Sagor, 2000).

The view of educational leaders as participants in rather than facilitators of the action research process requires a complete understanding of action research as a tool for overall school and district improvement. If leaders are expected to use data to make decisions, attention to action research in administrator preparation programs is important to building the capacity of leaders as full participants in the action research process and to encourage teachers to do the same. Action research may be conducted by a single person; however, the literature has made it clear that its power can be more fully realized when done in collaboration with others (Ferrance, 2000; Glanz, 2003; NSDC, 2001; Sagor, 2000; Stringer, 1999). Aspiring educational leaders embarking on a field experience leading to certification are able to form such a collaborative research group when looking at issues of practice at school and district levels. The coordinated work of the interns, their university supervisors, and their clinical supervisors provides a strong support system in which successes can be shared and problems can be addressed.

Internship Structures Supporting Action Research

Careful attention has been paid to the rigor and structure of the administrative internship experience at the University of Hartford. These experiences are jointly planned by the intern, the university supervisor, and the clinical supervisor, whose roles are clearly defined in the Department of Educational Leadership's (2004) Administrative Internship Guide. The framework for the field experience is grounded in twelve state standards, which have been collapsed into four areas for school improvement planning: (1) Teaching and Learning, (2) Capacity Building, (3) Community Building, and (4) Policy and Management (Connecticut State Department of Education [CSDE], 1999; CSDE, personal communication, 2003). Students meet together in a seminar using action research as both a method for gathering data about leadership skills and for its use toward refining their personal practice.

The complexities of school and district level leadership in an age of accountability necessitate that interns experience the work over time in a field-based setting. Therefore, graduate preparation programs must ensure that their internship programs are of the highest quality including: opportunities for interns to reflect on their observations and projects; providing sufficient rigor; grounding in state and national standards; and giving ample time for students to complete long-range meaningful projects (Capasso & Daresh, 2001; Wylie & Clark, 1992). The use of action research to accomplish these goals infuses systematic inquiry into practice by aspiring leaders, who will ultimately be responsible for participating in similar work as they move into leadership positions.

Applying Action Research to Internships

The structure of the internship activities, for the most part, is project-based, with the understanding that a full day placement in the primary district is rare due to the interns' need to continue in their current positions. Each of the projects, agreed to by the interns, university supervisor, and clinical supervisors, becomes part of the growth process, where action research methodologies are used for students to gather data regarding their work as leaders, reflect on those data with their supervisors and fellow interns, and use that reflection to make modifications along the way. Using Ferrance's (2000) six-step action research cycle, interns engage in the processes of (1) identifying a focus for their research, (2) collecting data, (3) analyzing and interpreting the data, (4) taking action on the evidence, (5) evaluating the results, and (6) identifying next steps.

Interns begin this process by completing an adapted version of the Educational Leader Self Inventory (Connecticut State Board of Education, 2001), which is designed to assist leaders in assessing their strengths and weaknesses across the CSDE standards. The interns use these rankings to identify where they should prioritize their projects. Once focus areas are identified with their clinical and university supervisors, the interns then gather data from their experiences by collecting data from a variety of sources and keeping a reflective journal of their actions and observations, which form the basis of the personal and group action research. Students' projects have led them to assist their host schools and districts with a variety of issues. Among them are: taking leadership roles in accreditation processes, conducting policy manual reviews and bringing recommendations forward for a board of education vote, developing and directing summer school programming for special needs students, planning and implementing faculty professional development at the school and/or district levels, and leading curriculum development projects.

Using action research in their individual projects, interns define focus questions with their clinical supervisors, gather data, propose plans, and begin the implementation process. For example, an aspiring principal chose to focus on a project designed to increase the amount of time teachers spend with their elementary school students. The issue was with regard to accountability for instruction and a perceived lack of time that regular education teachers had to teach their full classes. Teachers complained of students being taken out of class for extra academic help, music lessons, and other interruptions, such as time for special subjects (art, music, physical education). This intern gathered data from two sources. Teachers were asked to submit a sample weekly schedule and complete a survey regarding time for instruction with all students in their classes and the details about numbers of students out of the classroom and the frequency of these disruptions. The intern chaired a teacher committee that analyzed the data and confirmed the overall perceptions of the problem. Acting on the evidence, the committee suggested several options for restructuring the school's master schedule, which were then submitted to the principal and full faculty. These hard data became the impetus for a final recommendation designed to give teachers the extra time necessary to work with their full classes. After further negotiating with the principal and district level leaders, an adapted version of the restructuring plan was adopted and implemented the following year. Through this experience and others like it, interns learn the value of gathering data from multiple sources to ensure that perceived issues are grounded in fact. Armed with evidence, the interns learn that change plans are more readily considered by both stakeholders and decision makers.

Action research is also used in the bimonthly seminar sessions to engage interns in reflection regarding their leadership skills, beginning with a journaling process. Interns are expected to keep reflective journals chronicling their experiences and logging their individual reflections as a part of their data collection. An electronic journal summary is required weekly through an online course support system, where interns can receive feedback directly from the university supervisor. They are also required to collect documents to be included in a final assessment portfolio, which the university supervisor reviews with the interns during individual meetings between seminar sessions. These individual interactions allow the university supervisor to systematically organize the seminar sessions where interns share their experiences, reflections, observations, and other data they are collecting; and seek out further input from their colleagues. During the collaborative process, issues relating to leadership skills and the change process are the most frequently discussed, rather than the projects themselves. Often interns struggle with others who are resistant to change and their roles as change agents. Using the theoretical models from prior coursework as a basis for discussion, the interns are able to think through the change process together and work collaboratively to find ways to solve problems. Through these discussions, a secondary action research focus area usually emerges for the group, how to facilitate change. Interns share their experiences and observations of leaders who facilitate change well, and brainstorm strategies for addressing the change process. Subsequent seminars allow them to follow up on their attempts to work through the change process and what they have learned about leadership as a result of their collaborative action research. The seminars provide a structured environment where interns share data and work together to make decisions about how to proceed with the various projects in which they are engaged. Follow-up sessions are designed to help interns share the actions they have taken as a result of the evidence they have collected and analyzed, the results of those actions, and brainstorming next steps.

The Role of the Professional Portfolio

The culminating activity in the internship is the development of a professional, reflective portfolio prepared by the interns which brings them back full circle in the action research cycle. The professional portfolio allows them to reflect upon themselves as professionals and upon their experiences in practice. The interns are asked to write brief reflection pieces on themselves and the standards they are expected to address during the experience. In the context of the standards, interns present artifacts and excerpts from their journals as evidence of their work. The portfolios are formally presented at a Portfolio Showcase to their clinical supervisors, education faculty members, and colleagues. This development of a portfolio and its presentation provide an opportunity for the interns to report the results of what they have learned through their practice and their use of action research to shape it. The feedback they receive at the Portfolio Showcase gives them the opportunity to further reflect on their emerging leadership skills. These structures and practices at the University of Hartford are intended to ensure quality experiences for the interns. Feedback from course evaluations indicate that the students have found a great deal of value in the action research component, felt that the experience is both rigorous and challenging, and expressed that they gained new understandings about leadership and how theory links to practice in ways that they were not able to do during their other coursework.

Conclusion

The body of literature regarding administrative internships is growing and the need for quality internship experiences for aspiring school leaders grounded in state and national standards is well documented. The use of action research as a methodology for exploring leadership practice takes the experience beyond that of simply meeting a list of standards. Interns learn the skills necessary to carefully focus their work, collect and analyze appropriate data, and fine tune their practice in order to build the capacity for change at the school and district level.

Action research can act as a powerful tool for professional growth as well school improvement and change by building the capacity for reflection and a professional culture in schools (Sagor, 2000). However, it is imperative that administrator preparation programs provide opportunities for aspiring leaders to practice and gain confidence in action research methodologies. The internship experience is a natural vehicle for this kind of leadership capacity building to occur.

References

Capasso, R.L. & Daresh, J.C. (2001). The school administrator internship handbook: Leading, mentoring and participating in the internship program. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

Connecticut State Department of Education (1999). Standards for school leaders. Hartford, CT: Author.

Connecticut State Board of Education (2001). Educational leader self inventory. Hartford, CT: Author.

Ferrance, E. (2000). Action research. Providence, RI: LAB at Brown University, The Education Alliance.

Glanz, J. (2003). Action research: An educational leader's guide to school improvement. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.

Milstein, M.M., Bobroff, B.M. & Restine, L.N. (1991). Internship programs in educational administration: A guide to preparing educational leaders. New York: Teachers College Press.

No child left behind act of 2001, P.L. 107-110.

Sagor, R. (2000). Guiding school improvement with action research. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Stringer, E.T. (1999). Action research (2nd). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. University of Hartford Educational Leadership Programs (2004). Administrative internship guide. West Hartford, CT: Author.

Wylie, V.L. & Clark, E.H. (1992). Evaluation of rigor and value as a base for restructuring the administrative internship in Wendel, F.C. (ed.), Reforming administrator preparation programs, 57-69. University Park, PA: University Council for Educational Administration.

Judith C. Houle, University of Hartford

Judith C. Houle, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership.