Pedagogical practices are fundamental to teachers' work, and in the spaces of schooling impact significantly on students' success and achievement (Evans, J. 1986. "Physical Education, Sport and Schooling: Studies in the Sociology of Physical Education." London: Falmer Press.). This is especially the case for students from disadvantaged…

Changes in Washington State law require all school districts to adopt policies and procedures concerned with student reengagement. This dissertation describes the action research undertaken in the Mead School District to address requirements of the new law to successfully reenter students after being absent due to exclusionary discipline. The…

This study implemented and evaluated gaming instruction as a professional development for science teachers at a Georgia high school. It was guided by four research questions that (a) assessed the impact of training in gaming instruction and evaluation of that training on science teachers' ability to use games; (b) examined evidence showing that…

In an increasingly multilingual world, the question of how to improve foreign language speaking skills of pupils in British schools is of paramount importance to language teachers and policy-makers today. This paper examines how an explicit focus on metacognitive strategy use within secondary school foreign language lessons impacts pupils'…

The purpose of this action research study was to measure the transactional distance of computer science students who participated in an online virtual community after completing a college preparation program. Using data and results generated from previous cycles of research I developed and moderated an online virtual community designed to lessen…

In this article we describe a three-year study that was conducted in three phases to evaluate the feasibility of assessing digitized portfolios of student creative work for high-stakes purposes. The first two phases suggested that creative work could be digitized with adequate fidelity, and that students could submit their own work from schools to…

This study explored the ways in which our classroom community (students and teacher) engaged with humanizing pedagogy in a seventh grade science classroom, toward the full development of our classroom community, and the dismantling of inequitable practices and unjust policies that we recognized in our science classroom, school and/or community…

The participatory learning and action: PLA was the process used for empowering in this program. This process has four steps: 1) create awareness, 2) specify problems or needs, 3) act and 4) present and reflect or monitor. The purposes of this study were: 1) to investigate the conditions of communities in terms of context and problems or needs in…

Recognising that the theory-practice gap remains problematic in the preparation of physical education (PE) teachers, this study sought to explore three undergraduate students use of jigsaw learning teaching gymnastics during a secondary school placement. Specifically, the research attempted to identify those issues that arose using this learning…

At-risk students are oftenn unmotivated and disengaged from literacy activities. They are sometimes below grade level and feel inadequate to accomplish the complex reading tasks with which they are confronted in high school; therefore, they often will not even attempt to do the work (Bandura, 1986). Students who are assigned to a Disciplinary…

Drawing on analysis of student work, we will discuss the ways in which literacy supported youth's civic engagement in the context of sustainable democracy projects that engaged students from an alternative high school in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago in the investigation of social issues relevant to their communities. Our presentation…

The authors explore strength-based learning projects that value the lived realities and literacies of adolescent scholars of color, setting the stage for the powerful relationships through which meaningful learning happens.

As science fiction has a way of capturing the human imagination that few other genres can rival, this study sought to investigate the effects of using science fiction on the performance and interest of high school chemistry students. An action research approach was used to guide the first author's practice as she studied two college preparatory…

This article explores student empowerment in a restructured urban Title I middle school. The study includes data from eight participants in an action research project that involved a critical inquiry unit in an eighth-grade language arts class that asked students, "How are you empowered and disempowered by school?" Findings reveal that…

One of the aims of participatory action research (PAR) is to bring realities of lives closer together through dialogue and "conscientization," raising critical awareness among participants from all backgrounds. Promoting participation often assumes a power shift from the decision-makers to the majority of society, who can be the…