Action Research for School Improvement

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
https://www.towson.edu/coe/departments/leadership/grad/schoolimprovement/

Program Director: Dr. Katherine Orlando
Phone: 410-704-4623
Email: [email protected]

This 12-unit certificate program is designed for educators who desire to pursue school-based leadership positions, such as Lead Teacher, mentor, instructional coach, department chair, or for teachers who prefer to remain in the classroom but are interested in more informal leadership roles such as conducting action research, facilitating PLCs, or organizing other collaborative learning experiences with colleagues. Building on research that identifies teachers as the most significant school-based influence on student learning, this program develops teachers' understanding and application of theories and research-based practices on inquiry-based action research, high-quality professional development, and school improvement that engender rigorous and equitable opportunities for all students' learning.

The program structures participants' experiences as they design an action research study, while also developing their role as teacher-leaders to build colleagues' capacity to engage in similar inquiry approaches on issues of importance to the school community. It addresses the underpinnings of individual and organizational learning in an era of rapid change with emphasis on participants' roles in shaping schools into learning communities and using an ongoing, job-embedded, evidence-based and differentiated approach to professional learning.

1. Use evidence to evaluate, design, cultivate, and advocate for a supportive and inclusive school culture.
2. Evaluate, develop, and implement formal and informal culturally-responsive and accessible research tools and strategies that support evidence-based instructional improvement and the learning and well-being of each student.
3. Evaluate, cultivate, and advocate for equitable access to educational resources, technologies, and opportunities that support the educational success and well-being of each student.
4. Develop and engage colleagues in a collaborative professional culture designed to promote school improvement, teacher retention, and the success and well-being of each student and adult in the school.
5. Personally engage in, as well as collaboratively engage colleagues in, professional learning designed to promote inquiry, reflection, cultural responsiveness, and distributed leadership.