This chapter addresses issues of action research from three perspectives. In the first section, what it means to engage in action research as a methodology for investigating teaching and learning in science education is overviewed and various conceptions of action research are explicitly made. The second perspective is that of an individual…

This paper draws on the findings from a collaborative research journey with two groups of primary school teachers and principals within a context of curriculum change in Hong Kong. The purpose of the paper is an invitation to stakeholders to reflect and act upon the findings that can have an impact on reconstructing teachers' work at various…

A high school science teacher describes her personal experience with the reform of science education, discussing her philosophical shifts in thinking, examining her channels of support in the change process (at the local and national level), and emphasizing her belief that teachers must persevere in their quest for change. (SM)

Action research exhibits great variety because of the many possible discourses and different ways in which it can be theorized and practiced. The paper describes the discourse of the researcher and of the facilitator; neither incorporates a critical theorization of subjectivity which can help create change through action research. (SM)

The article discusses the use of action research as a means of professional development. After describing action research and its benefits, the article explains the cyclical, collaborative process of action research, notes its possible applications, and presents implications for school reform. (SM)

Describes the Education Reform Act of 1988 as the most important and far-reaching legislative initiative in England and Wales since 1944. Presents the Education Reform Act Research Network, a voluntary body set up to establish ways of helping academics investigating the act to learn more about one another's work as well as disseminate their…

An Australian action research project to explore the construction of gender in elementary education experienced difficulties resulting from external management and funding. Some project managers had expectations of the participants that resembled a top-down approach to change. (SK)

There is little residue from the cooperative action research movement of the 1940s and 1950s. So far, teachers have found educational research applications of little use. Action research must originate in the classroom. Researchers are advised to keep it simple, become an effective classroom consultant, learn how teachers think, and be modest in…

Few people would disagree with the principle of evidence-informed practice. Actually using evidence to improve teaching and learning is not so easy to achieve. The Local Government Agency recently asked the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to find out how Local Education Authorities (LEAs) are helping schools to use research…

This paper describes cooperative endeavors involving a team of researchers and the staff of two rural school districts. In early 1990, the researchers asked teachers and administrators in an economically distressed rural Tennessee district (pseudonym Iris) to participate in a study determining school, community, and family characteristics related…

This paper examines the recent growth and changes in the discipline of mathematics, as well as current trends in the research on the teaching and learning of mathematics. The focus of this paper is revolution, reform, and research and their effects on school mathematics. The first section deals with revolution with regard to the teaching of…

THE RAPID EXPANSION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH HAS BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY THE FEELING THAT A CONNECTIVE LINK MUST BE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE AREAS OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE. THE INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH FUNDS NECESSITATES REFORMULATION AND CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SUITABLE MECHANISMS AND AGENCIES CAPABLE OF BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN…

This review was developed by and principally for the National Testing Service (NTS) Dissemination Project Staff. It is one of eight activities being used by NTS to develop a design for an evaluation of the State Capacity Building Program. The review is in two parts. The first part provides background information, evaluation methodologies and…

A series of 17 generalizations describes the educational research enterprise in the United States under four headings: Organizational patterns, training programs, dissemination techniques, and the relationship of research to practice. Eight summary statements outline the primary implications of these generalizations and define educational research…

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)