Critical participatory action researchers (CPAR) (Kemmis et al., 2014; Ledwith & Springett, 2014) created conditions for 25 parents and teachers to join as co-researchers in this research study. Together, they co-created a hybrid discursive third space (Gee, 1996; Gutierrez, 2008) that invited alignment of their respective funds of knowledge…

A team of teacher-researchers in a large urban school board is working in partnership with researchers from a leading Canadian university to use action research to broaden and deepen environmental education in their teaching practice. This research-informed approach involves teachers, students and their communities in collaboratively deepening…

Too often youth from vulnerable communities see themselves talked about in academic research, but are rarely involved as co-researchers or co-authors of research. The purpose of this article is to share our reflections on engaging youth, their experiences and their perspectives on the multi-levels of impact of participatory action research…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the social and cultural instructional process on independent reading. In addition, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the administrator-teacher relationship on educational practices in a lab site classroom. Using an action research design, data was collected through…

Given the vast range of diversity among children's backgrounds and needs, literacy educators must consider multiple ways in which children learn and interact with texts. Moreover, policies that increasingly require frequent assessments of children's literacy achievement place pressure on educators to find immediate ways to impact children's…

This action research study involves nine elementary school teacher-researchers, one university faculty member, and one graduate student engaged in developing creative pedagogical practices in one elementary school in an urban school in Alabama, USA. Participants found that a teacher's experience of agency and their ability to work creatively…

In this article we look at how a community of practice in one midsize urban K-12 school district engaged in a community mapping process to discover, gather, and analyze a rich array of community and home resources in order to create classroom practices and curriculum that integrated the literacies of home and school and led to transformed student…

Action research, particularly done by teachers, has had a contentious, decades-long history. As a form of social inquiry, action research has been designed to make it easier for members of social groups to create social change within their communities. Rather than conducting research that focuses on an outcome, action researchers focus on the…

In this study, the researcher examined student conceptions of "Whiteness" as it relates to past and present U.S. history. Using Critical Race Theory as the lens, this study employed mixed methods, analyzing teacher observations, classroom artifacts/student work, survey, and interview data from White students and students of color at an…

Action research has been recognized as a useful professional development tool for teaching, but for inservice teachers, conducting action research can be challenging. Their learning about action research can be influenced by social situations--whether in an MA (Master of Arts) program or other professional development. The purpose of this…

This article discusses competing perspectives on the value of the General Educational Development (GED) credential. Although scholars and journalists debate the worth of the credential, urban youth continue to pursue the GED, especially as proxy for inadequate schooling. Using qualitative data from a participatory action research project, the…

This action research project report uses standard-based grading to address the problem of traditional grades not adequately assessing student content mastery and students' lack of awareness regarding their strengths and weaknesses. Research was conducted by one elementary and two middle school teachers with 158 students between the dates of…

This paper examines the implementation of a participatory action research study as a parent involvement strategy in one urban, Colorado middle school thought to have low parental involvement. Parent leaders from the middle school community participated in the data collection, analysis, and dissemination as "promotora researchers." These…

This article reports on an action research project in which two New Zealand classroom teachers worked with a university researcher to investigate the effects of their knowledge, thinking, and beliefs on the ways in which they mediated students' learning in teacher-student interactions. Working in a small community of practice over a two-year…

In this action research project report, the teacher researcher focused on the problem of lack of achievement of students in middle school social studies classes. The purpose of the project was to increase motivation and engagement of students by incorporating the use of technology; thereby, increasing achievement. A total of 105 sixth-grade…