Discusses the evolving role of teachers in educational research, focusing on teacher empowerment. Over time, teacher role in educational research has been as minimally informed participants, collaborative participants, and researchers. Literature indicates a trend toward teacher empowerment via involvement in research and curriculum development.…

Responds to Jean Rudduck's argument that teachers should research their own practice. Maintains the teaching profession needs an autonomous body to accredit teacher education and to regulate curriculum content and assessment procedures. Encourages development of an action research approach to professional development and upgrading quality of…

Suggests that a reductionist and mechanistic epistemology of present Environmental Education (EE) systems impedes the ability of EE to be an agent of environmental problem solving. Using an action research approach, presents EE as a transforming agent to enable epistemological change. (22 references) (Author/MCO)

A teacher-designed study of 46 eighth-grade students in a southeastern middle school showed that a majority of students (male and female of high, average, and low ability) liked integrated curriculum, though males favored it more highly than females. This information lends support for middle-school curriculum reform efforts focusing on life skills…

The promise of behavioral community research remains vibrant today, but behavior analysts are reminded that there are differences among advocacy, application, and research; there are many forms of research; knowledge alone is often insufficient to foster long-term change; and the complex environments of most community work involve multiple and…

This paper expresses concerns about implementing the behavior analysis values for community intervention expressed by Stephen Fawcett in EC 602 711. Concerns include inclusion of participants in selecting research goals, methods, and outcome measures; research impact on public policy; tension between research requirements and research settings;…

Describes a teacher-designed "pocket of excellence" in a small, rural Georgia community. In the Delta Project, teachers began with a commitment to meet students' affective and cognitive needs; proceeded to develop and implement changes in curriculum, instruction, and traditional team organization; and invited a university research team…

Seven articles discuss research by and for practitioners. The topics include demystification of research for practitioners, experiences with helping teacher researchers, an application of a collaborative action research model, one health practitioner's experience, creating a dance research database, basic data analysis for nonresearchers, and why…

To advance educational innovation, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education supports a practitioner-based action research approach to educational improvement through project reporting, conferences, project clusters, Lessons Learned publications, feedback, policy revisions, and dissemination grants. The fund attempts to sustain a…

Describes techniques for promoting conversation in teaching action-research to preservice and inservice teachers, discussing the theory framing the study and examining how conversation was promoted in one action-research class. Data from observations, student work, and student evaluations indicated that students found the techniques for promoting…

Describes the use of the action planning and research process (APR) by seven collaborative teams with 29 students having emotional or behavioral disorders in a middle school. The process involves student identification; systematic student assessment in interpersonal, emotional, cognitive, and biological areas; developing and implementing…

Discusses the potential of teaching teams and collaborative instruction to support college faculty's action research efforts, and describes the use of such teams at one university, with illustrations from faculty research projects. Lessons learned in establishing and implementing teaching teams, and recommendations for enhancing their…

Describes a Learning Development Model developed by a Michigan school working to foster an evolving process of staff collaboration and curriculum integration. Supportive professional-development activities include staff-planned and -facilitated workshops, staff writing and sharing of learning activities, and local university partnerships requiring…

Describes an intervention developed to help overcome reading apathy and motivate high school students to read. The intervention involved teaching students how to select books to read by practicing the creation of book previews in the computer lab. Evaluation of student surveys, book selections, and book reports indicated that learning to preview…

Describes three activities that formed part of an action-research project carried out in advanced English-for-academic-purposes classes. Outlines the activities, presents samples of student responses, and evaluates the usefulness of academic journalogs as used in these classes. (Author/VWL)