Advanced Action Research
Belmont Hill’s Advanced Action Research (AAR) Program emanates from its membership in the School Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC), a consortium of 11 independent schools in partnership with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
The purpose of this partnership is to provide diverse groups of students with college-level social-science research skills and experience to improve school culture, policy, and practice. Student groups at each school conduct a research project that examines a central aspect of school life and develop action steps or recommendations that address the topic selected. At the end of the school year, these student groups present their research projects at a roundtable conference held on campus at the University of Pennsylvania. Student groups also present their research at school-wide assemblies, at faculty meetings, and to their board of trustees. The fundamental goal of this partnership is to empower students to inform school change in meaningful ways.
Belmont Hill’s Advanced Action Research team comprises approximately thirteen juniors, with faculty advisement from Dr. Tift, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Harvey, and from Dr. Joseph Nelson from SPARC at UPenn, who is also a professor at Swarthmore College.
For more information, please contact: Dr. Jeanne Tift
What happens when students’ knowledge of their own school drives the research process? They create projects that peel back the layers of school culture and share findings and recommendations unlikely to come from traditional research. Learn more about SPARC in action
