Purpose: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the diffusion of and user response to an information technology support system (ITSS) which was designed to facilitate inter-organisational coordination and collaboration in the professional development of officers employed by local authorities (LAs). Design/methodology/approach: An action…

This chapter addresses the role of action research in projects that link literacy education and cultural action in peripheral rural areas. These programs aim to improve the living conditions of a population without destroying its cultural heritage or way of life. Action research begins with three broad questions: In what terms do local people pose…

This paper describes the development of a research project in 1993 to address concerns and issues related to education of Aboriginal students in the Shoalhaven area of New South Wales, Australia. Specifically, the purpose of the project was to examine the relationships between Aboriginal communities, students, and their schools, and important…

This paper describes and interprets an action research project that supported student teachers learning to teach physical education in a community-based, after-school games program. Ten student teachers taught 10 lessons to elementary school children, under the guidance of 3 supervisory teachers, who were graduate students, and one program…

Three approaches to in-service development for teachers (action research, skills development, and materials dissemination) were compared using a multimethod evaluation design with innovation-specific and general outcome measures for students and teachers. Thirty-three teachers and their students participated in a project to teach students how to…

This paper reports research from four studies of how teachers come to learn professional knowledge based on theoretical frameworks of the developmental theories of Piaget (cognitive development), Kohlberg (moral development), Loevinger (ego development), and Hunt (conceptual development). Studies proceed on the assumption that a perspective of…

The focus of this monograph is on the distinctions between questions addressed in research on teaching and issues of concern in teacher education and on the interplay of curricular, contextual, and pedagogical issues in both public schools and university settings. The publication is organized into seven chapters: (1) "Action Research and the Work…

This study examined ways in which teachers use their own experiences and those of their colleagues to become better teachers, based on case studies of a group of eight physics teachers engaged in collaborative action research. Two perspectives on teaching that have framed other inquiries are first discussed: the teacher knowledge perspective,…

The structure and function of the California Educational Research Cooperative (CERC), a collaborative action research organization designed to link research to educational practice, is described in this paper. A brief history of school-university partnerships and a review of the status of these partnerships is provided, followed by a description…

An operational seminar is an in-the-field demonstration for those involved in the process of change that all community development projects require. It does not require previous theoretical exposure of any kind. On the basis of the analysis of a specific milieu, the seminar participants put together a program of activities, choosing appropriate…

By researching this project, a group of graduate students gained practical knowledge of administrative problems linked to declining enrollment while providing consultation for a Long Island, New York, school district. The two professors coordinating the project identified 13 component issues, each of which was assigned to a team of students; each…

The Roosevelt School District, with the lowest wealth per pupil of the 56 districts located in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, worked with the Urban Education Department of the University of Massachusetts' Division of Instructional Leadership to design and implement a degree-granting staff development program centered around identifying and…

The papers in this collection were presented at an international symposium on improving the management of urban research, particularly through city-university collaboration. An introductory framework paper summarizes the range of research services available to local government, the types of urban research activity, and the problems of urban…

This study attempted to replicate and extend previous aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) findings for students' learning in large-group and small-group teaching approaches. Two elementary teachers each taught a two-week geometry unit to two classes of fourth- and fifth-grade students. One teacher used a small-group teaching approach and the…

The objective of the Mountain-Plains Education and Economic Development Program, (MPEEDP), is to develop through action research and experimentation, integrated career education methods and programs which can be implemented on a widespread basis. This experimental demonstration activity involved various individuals, agencies, and other resources…