Reacts to Frederick Burton's response (same issue) to her article on teachers as researchers. Emphasizes the value of collaborative research projects, the need for teacher researchers not to imitate the work of traditional researchers, and the use of local forums to give teacher researchers recognition. (RS)

Discusses eight books which illustrate different approaches teachers are using to continue learning from their colleagues, from their teaching and their students, and from writing. (SR)

Describes the value to the author of taking notes on students at work in her third-grade classroom. Uses the analogy of "Footprints In The Snow" (from her daily morning walk) as a way of thinking about the importance of note-taking in teacher research. (SR)

Shares the author's systematic observations and reflections on students' learning in her first-grade classroom as a means of opening a conversation about what counts as teacher research. (SR)

Describes the experiences of one recipient of a teacher researcher grant from the National Council of Teachers of English as her research began to inform her teaching and her teaching influenced her research. (SRT)

Responds to an article by Dorothy Strickland (same issue) concerning the teacher as researcher. Argues that the debate over whether teachers do research should focus on epistemological and political issues, and not on methodology, since research is a way to know, as well as a matter of whose knowledge is valued. (RS)

Asserts that becoming a teacher-researcher is one way to get better at teaching. Shows that teacher research is not as daunting as it may first appear. Examines three myths and three opposing realities regarding teacher research. (PRA)

Illustrates the concerns and problems that two teachers have tackled and are currently addressing as they change their teaching to an integrated language program. Considers issues and dilemmas that emerge when teachers begin to share power with their students. Covers some parallel power issues that arise in the collaboration between…

Describes the "Book Club Plus Inquiry Group," a group of classroom teachers and university teacher educators in Michigan involved in practitioner research. Offers perspectives from the group on the question of what counts as teacher research. Concludes with a model of their conception. (SR)

Describes how a researcher and an elementary school teacher added a word sorting component to help children work through the complexities of the language as they group words into categories. Describes results as fifth graders thought aloud while they sorted words. Finds a link between children's developmental knowledge of spelling and their…

Points out that traditional report cards contain messages about the nature of reading and writing that need to be reexamined. Describes the process that a group of reading clinicians went through to develop a meaning-centered checklist to evaluate the reading and writing of elementary school children. (ARH)

Focuses on student-teacher interaction in one classroom. Discusses different methods for conducting informal classroom research, connecting classroom practices with current theories, and analyzing and interpreting classroom events to improve instruction and learning. (HTH)

Presents a case study of one fourth-grade teacher researcher. Documents the teacher's initial reticence toward teacher research, how being part of a group was central to her participation, and how her preferences for methods of data collection and methods for presenting teacher research findings differed from the preferred methods of the group…

Investigates effectiveness of a first-grade formal spelling program (with explicit spelling instruction and weekly spelling tests). Shows that most children knew a majority of the spelling words before being given explicit instruction, and they transferred few of their spelling words to their journals. Notes the classroom reading/writing workshop…

Notes the increasing influence of conservative politics on education at the local school board level. Offers a fairy tale written by a group of educators that raises questions about autonomy, control, and the need for participation in the context of the current conservative climate. (SR)