This book provides a simple but effective model for approaching action research. It also contains a series of tools to assist the researcher in working through the research process. The chapters are: (1) "Research in Professional and Public Life"; (2) "Principles of Community-Based Action Research"; (3) "Setting the Stage"; (4) "Look: Building the…

A guide for organizational development specialists, this model for productivity improvement proceeds through six stages: awareness of needs, entry of specialist, data collection, problem identification, action planning, and implementation of solutions. Examples of specific activities for each stage are provided. (SK)

Discusses trends in teacher evaluation, including classroom observations, peer coaching, portfolios, self-evaluation, artifacts collection, and action research. Discusses the steps of action research. (RS)

This article discusses challenges in using participatory action research (PAR) in the evaluation of programs that provide services and supports to people with severe disabilities. Challenges include the need for modification of the model, time constraints, issues around power and position, and inclusion of individuals with severe disabilities.…

This handbook, written for educators (teachers, principals, central office administrators, university faculty, and area educational agency staff) offers guidelines on how to establish, maintain, and evaluate a practitioner-driven school network. Such a network is created and governed by practitioners who decide what services they want, modify the…

Action Research begins by identifying goals as perceived in the community; input is sought in neighborhood hearings or by running a series in the local newspaper and inviting response. Once a research group is organized, Action Research continues as a five-stage flexible study plan for practitioner improvement involving turning goals into…

This guide introduces the skills and dispositions necessary to participate in educational action research. It targets teachers, administrators, college faculty, graduate students, state professional organizations, and state administrators. Chapter 1, "Understanding Action Research as a Tool for Professional Growth and Organizational Development,"…

Action research allows teachers to find their own answers to classroom questions and issues. The five-step process for action research involves picking a problem to study and determining one's knowledge, collecting the data, analyzing the data, reporting the results, and planning actions using the knowledge. (SM)

Describes two teacher-preparation programs at California State University, San Marcos, that integrate action research. The paper highlights models for implementing action research and presents four examples of action research through the voices of preservice teachers. Preliminary findings suggest that both preservice teachers and supervisors…

Finds the metaphor of reading the classroom as "text" is (1) easy in that all it takes is an orientation that asks what the classroom has to teach; and (2) difficult in that what it has to teach is complex, multi-layered, and often conflictive. Provides a heuristic to guide teachers in viewing and understanding the classroom as text. (NH)

Schoolwide action research involves the actors in a school continuously and systematically studying their school, analyzing the information gathered, and using it to work toward improvement. Action research can involve collecting data over several years, such as the cumulative effects of schooling, or over shorter periods of time to evaluate…

The Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has recently developed a new protocol for accrediting schools entitled "Focus on Learning" (FoL). This monograph explains how the FoL process can influence student learning and serve as a vehicle for school improvement and accountability. The following…

Describes how to use certain action research methods to increase researchers' access to intergroup relations embedded in organizations. Discusses studies using these methods in two corporations--one on work group relations and the other on race relations among Black and White managers--and notes implications for intergroup relations theory.…

Discusses action research and its implications for library media centers; measurement and study; and steps in the action research process: clarify research need and define research problem, plan research to provide relevant data, collect and organize, analyze and interpret, report to relevant audiences, and integrate the results into library media…

Notes that outdated teaching practices and assessment strategies thrive in spite of research findings suggesting more effective alternatives. Argues that action research is a promising solution to this problem, seeking answers to classroom-based problems and issues. Uses a sports-coaching metaphor to examine a five-step model of action research.…