Describes how the authors plan professional development for teachers interested in using high-quality and award-winning literature across the curriculum. Shares a vignette that describes one demonstration conducted in a third grade classroom, and shares what they have learned from this lesson about the power of ownership and potential of…

Explores contradictions and tensions in action research on the technical aspects of good teaching and democratic possibilities of empowering teachers and learners. A case study of an action research course for practicing teachers highlights dilemmas in teaching action research as a university course. Most participating teachers felt empowered by…

Introduces the special issue of the journal, which is devoted to Exploratory practice (EP), a form of practitioner research. All of the articles are concerned with a particular approach to practitioner research in language teaching and learning. EP is explained, focusing on the development of its practices and its principles over the last 10…

Presents seven points, using research to examine research-policy connections, to illustrate the role of psychology in policymaking. Argues that it is appropriate for psychologists to concern themselves with policy, and it is essential that attention to policy become an important aspect of psychological research. (SD)

Describes how a teacher researcher invited her students to be detectives on the lookout for language and to take a critical perspective on how it varies with each speaker, purpose, and context. Suggests that educators need to be careful about how they present language varieties so that their students appreciate them as more than "quaint artifacts…

The term and notion of the "half-life" index-number of literature obsolescence, and their borrowing from nuclear physics and adaptation into the literature of literature obsolescence, have up to now been attributed to the librarian Burton and the physicist Kebler and to their 1960 journal article. This article presents evidence to show it is…

Using a systematic approach to addressing classroom questions, practitioners can utilize the results of their own research to assess, develop, or improve their practice. A study of mentor teachers, administrators, and teaching fellows provides information on potential "bumps in the road" of action research, focusing on: knowledge and skills, time,…

Work with 17 teachers conducting cooperative research under the British government's Best Practice Research model identified underlying tensions: conflict between the process of becoming a researcher and focus on findings; relationship between practice and research; the issue of what counts as learning; and conflicting intentions (government focus…

Reveals a few of the obstacles that hinder the sustainability of community literacy programs. Finds that professors in service learning courses can better sustain these initiatives when they view the community site as a place where their research, teaching, and service contribute to a community's self-defined needs and students' learning. (SG)

Addresses the problem of research formulation for the inexperienced. Provides a model for geographic research, and identifies types of research problems. Discusses problem definition utilizing both the inductive and deductive method; literature searches; the data base; and methodology. Explores the role of theory, the theorizing process, and…

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's three-person research staff conducts several projects each year and coordinates others by university researchers, but without the publicity from the new rule on academic standards for freshman eligibility. Most research addresses a variety of topics such as athlete academic achievements, injuries, and…

Identifies factors that contribute most to productive scholars' success as published researchers. Finds that personal motivation is the strongest factor contributing to an individual researcher's productivity. (RS)

Features researchers reviewed by the AASA Advisory Committee on Higher Education Relationships and selected to present research findings at the 1989 AASA convention. Iris McGinnis won the Research Award in the graduate student research category for work on school board participation in contract bargaining. Two other commendation awards are…

The impact of item response theory (IRT) on the measurement practitioner is discussed, with a review of potential benefits. The complexity of IRT theory and procedures and the lack of robustness of IRT procedures to violation of assumptions must be recognized for the measurement practitioner to realize its advantages. (SLD)

Describes the efforts of one teacher-researcher to explore the effectiveness of different peer response strategies in the writing class. Notes that teacher-researcher projects can help to develop and assess writing curricula in ways that are outside the scope of specialists and external evaluators. (MM)