The restructuring movement is seen as the best way to reform and revitalize education. Restructuring is making individual schools the focus of change and empowering those closest to students with the responsibility and authority to effect changes responsive to student needs. This publication concentrates on teachers' and principals' roles as the…

Administrators of distance learning are faced with the challenge of encouraging reluctant faculty to consider online teaching. Is it possible that supporting faculty to conduct modest research studies is such an avenue? Currently, many research studies compare student grades or scores from an online course to a more traditional one, ignoring…

Teacher researchers may be the essential link between the philosophy and training of higher education and the grass roots implementation at the public school level. The Teacher-Researcher (T-R) Institute has the potential of providing a catalyst for role change and a channel for research in action. This paper describes the merits and defaults of…

To address how and why to do research in the classroom as a teacher, this book of essays by teacher researchers prefaces each of its four sections with interviews with Cindy Myers, Ken Jones, Patricia Reed and Betty Bailey respectively. Titles and authors are as follows: "Addressing the Problem of Elsewhereness: A Case for Action Research in…

A discussion of classroom research proposes that classroom-oriented, practical research or evaluation projects are feasible for the language teacher and explains several types of research that might be undertaken. First, it outlines practical and relatively simple ways to examine classroom activity more objectively, such as videotaping for…

Discusses the gap between the perspectives and practices of (1) teachers in classrooms where writing and reading are being learned and put to good use and (2) those who test students' language competence. Considers ways to narrow this gap, including the notion of teachers acting as tester-researchers. (JD)

Describes various ways of using children's questions as windows on their understandings and approaches to reading and writing tasks. Suggests that children need to know that questions are not signs of failure. (MM)

Discusses the benefits of a source of guidance for teachers: language arts research. Explores an authentic classroom experience using a socio-psycholinguistic theoretical orientation and an ethnographic approach to research. (EL)

This book, in its second edition, is intended as a practical guide to conducting action research in schools--it outlines the process of designing and reporting an action research project. Contending that action research can be used as a powerful tool that can contribute to school renewal and instructional improvement, the book defines and presents…

When one high school English teacher became engaged in active research, she reflected on her practice and learned to have faith in her students as learners and in herself as a teacher, and to ground her teaching practice consciously in theory. Her investigation centered on the question of whether teaching literary theory in the high school English…

Chapter titles in this book include the following: "Attitude and Access: Building a New Teaching/Learning Community in TESOL" (Julian Edge); "Here It Is, Rough Though It May Be: Basic Computer for ESL" (Alison Perkins); "An 'It's Not Action Research Yet, but I'm Getting There' Approach to Teaching Writing" (Neil Cowie); "Early Reflections:…

The supportive role of the research supervisor in an action research study is explored. This critical account of a relationship between a research supervisor and a postgraduate research student was prompted by a sense of disquiet and lack of harmony that developed during a year-long action research study. In the role of a teacher-researcher with a…

Review of recent literature on action research finds that action research has certain overall characteristics. It is a scaled down version of quasi-experimental studies, and it is highly quantitative in its nature of inquiry. Of nine recognized research designs (Isaac and Michael), action research is frequently the most statistically demanding…

A research study conducted by a classroom teacher explored the question of to what extent increased parent involvement through increased parent-teacher communication will act as a motivating factor for students in a seventh-grade reading classroom and whether this will relate positively to student success in reading. Parents and children took…

This article discusses ways that the instruction of literature might be altered in undergraduate language and literature courses alike. It considers a broad spectrum of possibilities that may inspire different attitudes about the use of literature in foreign language classes at all levels, discussing how students can learn to analyze the ways that…