The purpose of this monograph is to heighten awareness about action research for both teachers and administrators involved in California middle level reform efforts. This approach to educational research is a means of developing knowledge through collaboration in a process that improves both student learning and professional autonomy. The…

Over the past decade there has been a substantive change in the role of practitioners in educational research. Grassroots efforts in action research highlight the importance of educators' own understanding of their practice. This book, which stems from a school-university collaboration, describes the theory and methods for conducting…

This document was written by teachers and consultants who participated in a 3-year elementary school portfolio assessment project involving 13 school districts in Macomb County (Michigan). The goal of the Macomb Portfolio Project, initiated in 1990, was to develop portfolio assessment models through collaboration using the teacher-as-researcher…

Noting that raising standards for teaching is a key to education reform, this guide outlines a tested plan for helping practicing teachers upgrade and fine-tune their own performance by systematically studying their own classroom methods and the student learning that results. Following an introduction, the guide discusses research group…

Organizations, foundations, and individuals are concentrating their energies on making teaching a true profession. They are seeking changes in the way teachers are prepared, how they are evaluated and certified, their continuing professional development, and their compensation and working conditions. (Author/IAH)

This book, which focuses on the language arts teacher/researcher, is offered as a testament to teachers' expanding participation in collecting data and building theories about teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment. The book's 24 chapters are grouped into four parts. The first part addresses general issues about teacher research: its…

Typically, teacher research is conducted because teachers want to have some questions answered. Starting effective teacher research begins by framing the question in a way that will yield the best research. Three important suggestions when framing teacher research questions are as follows: the question needs to be open ended enough to allow…

This document is the outcome of a project conducted in Massachusetts to apply the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics" to adult basic education (ABE) learning environments. The first chapter describes the work of the Math Team, a committee of 22 adult basic…

Based on studies conducted by teachers and graduate students at Northeastern University, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the kinds of research being conducted by writing teachers, as well as extensive information on how this research has affected their professional lives. The chapters are divided into five parts dealing with the…

This book presents a fresh view of action research as a methodology uniquely suited to researching the processes of innovation and change. Drawing on twenty-five years' experience of leading or facilitating action research projects, Bridget Somekh argues that action research can be a powerful systematic intervention, which goes beyond describing,…

Based on a research project that sought to train instructors to conduct action research in a real-life context, this handbook was created to help literacy instructors to use action research in workplace education programs. The handbook is organized in three parts. The first part describes action research as a type of practice-based research. It…

This book focuses on how to meet the challenges of education in a pluralistic society, presenting the Bridging Cultures framework, which is designed for understanding differences and conflicts that arise in situations where school culture is more individualistic than the home value system. Six sections examine: (1) "The Bridging Cultures…

The focus in this report is the concept of what it means to "do mathematics" in the context of a group working committee of teachers and researchers committed to reforming mathematics teaching. During a regular meeting of this group of teachers and researchers, the participants explored the mathematical reasoning embedded in one…

This paper, which is intended to assist adult literacy practitioners interested in conducting research about their programs, discusses the four stages of the action research process: identifying questions to guide the research, collecting information to answer the questions, analyzing the information collected, and sharing the results with others.…

This book presents information on action research for teachers and administrators. Chapter 1, Reflective Professional Practice, discusses reflective professionals, urges active use of solitary dialogue and personal journals to enhance reflectiveness, delineates concerns of maturing educators, and summarizes meditative steps of reflective practice…