Presents five key elements of school improvement: effective leadership, teachers at the center of improvement, shared outcomes, action research as staff development, and continuous assessment. These five elements recognize the central role of teachers in lasting school improvement. They can help unlock the full potential of educators so they can…

Reports on a student-based action research project in quality management within a postgraduate education program at Massey University (New Zealand). Finds the program to be complex, interconnected to the wider university system, with poorly defined processes, and unclear assignment of responsibilities. Considers the role of students and other…

Describes an informal research activity in which third grade students invent their own algorithms for multidigit multiplication and division. Discusses teaching implications and action research ideas. (ASK)

Forms part of a themed issue describing "Parent-Kid-Teacher Investigators," a program in which parents, children, and teachers gather regularly to use language and literacy for action research projects. Offers a classroom portrait of these weekly meetings, looking at the process of research and the impact that "learning how to learn" had on all…

The Ottawa, Canada, Emergency Child Care Research Project examined the impact of emergency child-care service on individuals, families, and an Ottawa-based consortium; the effectiveness of emergency child-care service; and features and practices of consortium models in developing and providing human services. Findings indicated that emergency…

Investigated preservice teachers' thinking on research, considering how it might inform approaches to inquiry-oriented teacher education. Surveys and interviews with preservice teachers involved in inquiry-oriented programs indicated that the programs only modestly influenced their thinking about research. To have more influence, goals must be…

This commentary discusses the limitations of traditional research and the benefits of participatory action research (PAR) that changes the stance of the researcher from dispassionate observer to that of friend, ally, and colleague of the "subject". The use of PAR in helping researchers, parents, and advocates work together in promoting…

Describes a specific structured procedure for peer assisted learning in writing, Paired Writing, and its effects on the quality of writing and attitudes toward writing in primary school children. Reports on three action research projects. Finds the Paired Writing method proved practical and robust, adaptable to different classroom contexts, and…

Inspired by the impact of an increase in tourism in the Old Center of Naples, Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable town development and encourages participation, has undertaken the participatory action research described in this article. The inhabitants' sense of community (McMillan & Chavis,…

Many teacher educators today will find little difficulty in completing this cloze--but Bob Dylan's understanding of the outsider may not be one that we share in terms of our own experience as teacher educators. Our concern in this paper is to suggest that such an understanding may also be one that we do not often concern ourselves with on behalf…

This article addresses the controversial question of whether student learning journals should be assessed. It draws on a collaborative action research project into the uses of learning journals at the University of Sussex in which assessment was continually debated. The characteristics of learning journals in terms of pedagogic purpose, outcome…

This paper describes a collaborative action research project in one primary school that arose from a mutual interest in applying the concept of "Emotional Intelligence". It involves an exploratory qualitative study of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum. This is an approach aimed at promoting emotional competence in…

In what ways can information and communications technologies (ICT) be integrated into classroom practice to create a 'community of learners'? This paper describes an action research project, over a six-month period, in which a class of seven-year-old and eight-year-old children in a metropolitan South Australian school created digital images to…

The process of globalisation and modernisation of the south through "the development project" continues to "invite" resistance to ecological destruction and displacement of rural and forest-based communities. Post-developmentalist critics emphasise the significance of social movements in ushering in a new partnership for social…

Having worked and learned together, and shared many conversations about common goals and assumptions that guide their teaching and learning, the authors seek to construct a collaborative research project that will investigate how they were acting on, and building on, their shared pedagogical and political beliefs. In this article, they address the…