A study investigated the effect Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) has had on literacy at Estancia High School in California which recently implemented an SSR program. It also examined the role SSR has on language development, comprehension, vocabulary, student attitudes, and its corollary consequence on the development of reading habits. A survey of…

After reviewing the language teaching/research situation this document offers a training paradigm that allows teachers to take what they already do and reposition and redefine it. In this way, the everyday concerns and issues facing them in the classroom may be translated into disciplined and structured research questions, which can then form the…

Argues that grounded theory, an explicit approach to the analysis of qualitative data, is ideal for applied settings and can be adapted to the limited, sporadic opportunities available to faculty and faculty developers who focus on classroom interaction and social relations. Introduces key features and techniques of this approach. (JB)

Discusses the evolving role of teachers in educational research, focusing on teacher empowerment. Over time, teacher role in educational research has been as minimally informed participants, collaborative participants, and researchers. Literature indicates a trend toward teacher empowerment via involvement in research and curriculum development.…

Review of recent literature on action research finds that action research has certain overall characteristics. It is a scaled down version of quasi-experimental studies, and it is highly quantitative in its nature of inquiry. Of nine recognized research designs (Isaac and Michael), action research is frequently the most statistically demanding…

This article discusses ways that the instruction of literature might be altered in undergraduate language and literature courses alike. It considers a broad spectrum of possibilities that may inspire different attitudes about the use of literature in foreign language classes at all levels, discussing how students can learn to analyze the ways that…

This study examines what really makes a difference in improving student learning. Teachers are constantly bombarded with ideas about how to do their work more effectively and efficiently. They must be encouraged to be knowledgeable about recent research in teaching and learning and committed to making solid research findings based on classroom…

This article examines historical styles of research conducted around the construct of gifted underachievement. It then explores possibilities of implementing alternative approaches and theoretical arguments in practical applications in this area. It discusses ethnographic narratives, deliberative hermeneutic research, aesthetic research,…

Identifies assumptions about teachers' work and working conditions evident in action research, examining patterns in the parameters of work and workplace issues and analyzing research and various projects from the 1970s and 1980s. Aspects of feminist theory are used to address tensions and contradictions in teachers' practice of action research.…

Clarifies themes common among articles in this volume, including the importance of collaboration between local and outside educators; the changing organization of language, literacy, and math instruction as local knowledge becomes the basis for curriculum; and enabling and disabling conditions for such change to occur (such as bilingual bicultural…

Reviews 73 reports of classroom action research classified into seven groups: seeking quantifiable answers, determining results of change in classroom practice, exploring effects of program restructuring, discovering whether students can learn to use a process, establishing new professional relationships, developing new understandings of students,…

Reviews three books that encourage practioners to be researchers of their own practice. Discusses absolutist and relativist approaches to research by examining assumptions related to questions the research generates. Recommends unification of practitioner and researcher roles through a dialectic, critical, reflective orientation that strives for…

Action research is defined as systematic classroom-based inquiry to solve teacher-perceived problems. It has been a component of education, particularly professional staff development, for the past century under several names although geography educators in the United States have rarely used it for this, or any other, purpose. This paper reviews…

This book offers teachers a convenient means of broadening their understanding of various kinds of composition theory and the steadily emerging field of teacher research by high school and college instructors. The book is designed to arouse individual teachers' interest in composition theory and encourage them to learn about and participate in…

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…