Recent reform documents have identified practitioners' lack of awareness and implementation of exemplary, innovative practices, and major national associations have noted the ongoing gap between research and practice. The literature supports collaborative action research and teacher researchers as methods to expand the base of educational research…

This paper traces one example of area support for schools to show how an administrator can initiate school-effectiveness work. The paper describes the implementation of an intervention plan for social justice and improved educational outcomes for aboriginal students, the Social Justice Resource Schools (SJRS) program, which was established in the…

This study examines the use of research techniques to generate information that informs curriculum development, in order to develop more powerful social studies curricula for the primary grades. The paper describes the studies of four implementations of units, all done in self-contained second-grade classrooms in suburban schools with traditional…

A systematic way to create collaborative school improvement is provided. The currently expanding role of administrators as staff developers is explored; 10 strategies are listed for the principal to use as a key player in staff development. Two specific organization development problem-solving strategies, Situation-Target-Plan (S-T-P) and Force…

This paper describes a critical, collaborative, qualitative approach to action research that involved university and school system personnel. The paper discusses researchers' engagement with narratives and conversations during their study, examining how they gained critically reconstructive insights into the teachers' world of curriculum decision…

This project paper described a program for increasing reading comprehension. The targeted population consisted of sixth grade students at River Bend Elementary School in a middle class community located in western Illinois. The problem of a steady decline in reading comprehension was documented by the Illinois Goals Assessment Program, Iowa Tests…

The Professional Development Schools Model (PDSM) allows universities and schools to work together at developing, implementing, and delivering meaningful professional development experiences for practicing educators. One such program is the Utah-Local Educators' Action Research Network (U-LEARN). U-LEARN is a 1-year, 8-credit-hour graduate course…

This paper describes an ongoing collaborative school evaluation program that involves a partnership of different stakeholders in southwestern England. Participants include student teachers, serving teachers, local authority representatives, and university teachers/researchers. The discussion demonstrates the ways in which school evaluation, based…

This paper examines collaborative action research in order to clarify the arguments and research base that either support or oppose the process. Proponents who advocate the institutionalization of collaborative action research point to its theoretical rationale, a growing research base that documents the value and outcomes of the process, and…

A program was developed to improve the reading scores and communication skills of ninth-grade students from multicultural backgrounds. The students' socioeconomic status ranges from below the poverty level to upper middle class. The population of the high school in suburban Chicago (Illinois) is multiethnic, the English is not always the primary…

This paper describes a course taken by elementary student teachers at Central Missouri State University, with particular emphasis on the action research projects that are a part of the course requirements. The intent of the course and the action research is to foster in the student teachers reflective decision making in their own classrooms.…

The progress made by 24 League of Professional Schools in increasing the variety, collection, and use of data during 1990-91 is examined in this paper. Three goals of the league are to involve schools in action research for school improvement, increase teacher participation through shared governance, and develop school improvement initiatives.…

The University of Southern Maine offers a Master's degree in Instructional Leadership designed to prepare educators for the demands of working with others to promote educational excellence. Two themes of the program focus on: problem finding--the disposition to scrutinize aims as well as means; and a valuing of and practical experience with action…

Ralph W. Tyler's paper on "Curriculum Development and Research" contains examples of research findings which were or were not used in efforts to change or develop curriculum. The roles, use, and importance of action research, formulation of objectives, planning and organization of learning experiences, program assessment, relationship…

The emerging movement to deepen and expand higher education's civic mission and work is calling on scholars to enter the public realm and become actively engaged in civic life. To heed the call, scholars will need to embrace and pursue a view of scholarship as a public rather than a private craft, one that brings them into public space and…