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Practical Action Research

A Collection of Articles

Second Edition
By: Richard A. Schmuck

Create alternative ways for enhancing classroom practices and boosting student achievement!

Action research can make a critical difference in helping educators collect objective data on their own practices and transform challenges into solutions. This updated collection reflects the editor's extensive experience, recent developments in the field, and insights from experts, and helps educators navigate the classroom inquiry process by offering:

Articles covering key aspects of action research, including seven new contributions
Case studies demonstrating action research in real-world situations
Discussions of the main models of action research: proactive, responsive, and cooperative
Methods needed for gathering reliable objective data

Full description

Product Details

Grade Level: K-12
ISBN: 9781412962872
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2008
Page Count: 248
Publication date: August 20, 2008

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Description

"Schoolwide renewal and improvement occurs only when a group of dedicated professionals decide to study and reflect on what they are doing and how it affects the students in their school and classrooms. Schmuck provides multiple examples of how school professionals use action research in their quest for improving the school experience for children."
—Shaneen Bell, President and CEO
Exchange Pointe International

Create alternative ways for enhancing classroom practices and boosting student achievement!

Action research can make a critical difference in helping educators collect objective data on their own practices and transform challenges into solutions. This new edition of a landmark collection reflects the editor's extensive educational experience, recent developments in action research, and the voices of some of the best and brightest in the field. This updated volume helps educators navigate the action research process by offering:

Articles by experts—including seven new contributions—that help educators define, understand, implement, and study action research
Case studies that demonstrate how the multiple forms of action research are used in real-world situations
Discussions of the main models of action research, including proactive, responsive, and cooperative approaches
An exploration of methods needed for gathering reliable objective data

Well suited for individual reflection, group study, or staff development, the second edition of Practical Action Research is a valuable and much-needed contribution to the ongoing quest to strengthen educational outcomes for all schools.

Key features

Provides articles by action research experts
Includes case studies that present the multiple forms of educational action research in real world examples
Discusses the main models of action research, including proactive, responsive, and cooperative approaches

Author(s)

Richard A. Schmuck

Richard A. Schmuck is professor emeritus at the University of Oregon, where he chaired the dissertations of 132 doctoral students who are from all parts of the world. He taught thousands of other educators worldwide about action research, group dynamics, and organization development. He has served on the faculties of the University of Michigan, Temple University, and Leuven University (Belgium), was the first president of the International Association for the Study of Cooperation in Education. Schmuck is a visiting Professor at Arizona State University-West.

Schmuck is the author of 20 books and 190 articles. His best-known book is Group Processes in the Classroom (with Patricia Schmuck), now in its eighth edition. He received The Stevens Award from the Northwest Women in Educational Administration to honor his support of women in administration and his "commitment to equity, justice, and democracy." He received the Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award from the University Council on Educational Administration for "superior scholarship, distinguished service, and recognized international leadership" and "to celebrate an extraordinary and generous career." Schmuck continues to teach, consult, and write.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Editor

About the Contributors

Part I. Defining Action Research

1. Writers Develop Skills Through Collaboration: An Action Research Approach

2. Educational Action Research

Part II. Understanding Action Research

3. The Unexpected Journey: Renewing Our Commitment to Students Through Educational Action Research

4. Action Research: Three Approaches

Exemplary Project: The Effectiveness of Spalding Instruction for Spelling Performance

Exemplary Project: The Business Managers’ Network: Action Research to Improve Business Capacities of Colorado Charter Schools

Exemplary Project: Improving Schoolwide Communication Through a New School Web Site: Responsive Action Research

Part III. Implementing Action Research

5. Creating a School for David: A Principal’s Narrative

Exemplary Project: Proactive Action Research to Build Leadership for a Charter School’s Success

Exemplary Project: Examining the Impact of External Building Coaches on Teachers

Exemplary Project: Implementing Strategies to Reduce Dropout Rates of At-Risk Youth in an Online Learning Environment

6. Using Action Research to Assess Instruction

Exemplary Project: Singapore Math: Action Research on a Curriculum Change, Student Achievement, and Teacher Efficacy

Exemplary Project: Increasing Math Achievement of Title 1 Middle School Students

7. Action Research for School Improvement

Exemplary Project: Action Research on Middle School Mathematics Instruction Differentiated by Student Gender

8. What Happens When a School District Supports Action Research

Exemplary Project: Professional Development as a Tool to Enhance Teacher Quality in Charter Schools

9. Using Action Research to Solve Instructional Challenges in Inclusive Elementary School Settings

Exemplary Project: Math Fact Memorization in a Highly Sequenced Elementary Mathematics Curriculum

10. Using Action Research as a Collaborative Process to Enhance Educators’ and Families’ Knowledge and Skills for Youth With Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Exemplary Project: Building Blocks to Healthy Emotions: A Parenting Program to Improve the Emotional Health of Low-Income Children

11. Action Research in Action: Curricular Articulation and Integrated Instruction

Part IV. Studying Action Research

Exemplary Project: Initiating a Collaborative Action Research Project: From Choosing a School to Planning the Work on an Issue

Exemplary Project: Self-Reflection in Essay Writing: An Action Research Project

12. Promoting Quality for Teacher Action Research: Lessons Learned From Science Teachers’ Action Research

13. Schoolwide Action Research: Findings From Six Years of Study

14. Ecology and Ethics in Participatory Collaborative Action Research: An Argument for the Authentic Participation of Students in Educational Research

Index

Reviews

"Schoolwide renewal and improvement occurs only when a group of dedicated professionals decide to study and reflect on what they are doing and how it affects the students in their school and classrooms. Schmuck provides multiple examples of how school professionals use action research in their quest for improving the school experience for children."

Shaneen Bell, President and CEO
Exchange Pointe International

Other Titles in: Staff Development & Professional Learning | Administration & Leadership | Data-Driven Decision Making

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Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.