Student Action Research: Reaping the Benefits for Students and School Leaders

Recent years have seen a proliferation of student action research both nationally and internationally. Going by various names—participatory research, action research, participatory evaluation—student action research is research that (a) is conducted by youth, within or outside of schools and classrooms, with the goal of informing and affecting school, community, and/or global problems and issues and (b) contributes to the positive development of a variety of academic, social, and civic skills in youth. This article reviews research and writing on student action research, describing different types of student action research ini-tiatives, the benefits of this powerful practice, and how principals can manage implementation challenges