Drawing on situated learning and communities of practice, this teacher-research study examined multiple stakeholders' perspectives about the purpose, design, and inaugural implementation of the edTPA, a teacher performance assessment mandated for state certification. Participants included teacher candidates, mentor teachers, a field placement…

The benefits of action research for practicing teachers have been widely documented. This survey study examined the beliefs of preservice teachers at 2 levels of their preparation about the benefits of action research for them. Participants were 2 groups of students in the second and final semesters of a 2-year teacher preparation program.…

One elementary school's ongoing process in developing an appropriate action research requirement for teacher candidates during their student teaching experience (internship) is described. The assignment has evolved from a pilot project with one intern and mentor teacher to a requirement for all interns at the school. Several issues that emerged…

Describes a school-university collaboration which tackled issues of mentoring, writing, and publication, bringing teachers, professors, and administrators together for research. Participants' action research resulted in a major book publication on new directions for mentoring and creating cultures of synergy. Strategies for developing and…

This study examined preservice elementary teachers' perceptions as they engaged in an action research project. Data from surveys and interviews indicated that the active support of cooperating teachers or peers led to more meaningful experiences. There was some interaction of background life experience and quality of social support during the…

In the context of school-university partnerships, action research takes on the qualities of collaborative inquiry for achieving partnership. The article describes one partnership project, explaining the importance of action research and examining two studies conducted by school practitioners and college personnel that show the power of action…

Ideally, every teacher should engage in teacher research. The paper describes how one university placed preservice teachers with teacher researchers who shared common curricular interests. The partnership provided teacher researchers with extra resources for conducting their inquiry and preservice teachers with mentors who engaged in…

A mentor teacher, student teacher, and university educator collaboratively examined factors that guided student teacher actions, analyzing data from conferences, interviews, and dialog journals. Results indicated benefits of supporting sustained mentor/student teacher conversations, engaging in action research for mentors and student teachers, and…