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Improving Schools Through Action Research: A Comprehensive Guide for Educators, 2/E
Cher C. Hendricks, University of West Georgia

ISBN-10: 0205578462
ISBN-13: 9780205578467

Publisher: Merrill
Copyright: 2009
Format: Paper; 224 pp
Published: 03/18/2008

Suggested retail price: $40.00
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This brief, user-friendly text provides everything a pre-service or in-service educator needs to know to follow the research cycle and conduct an action research project.  

 

This text emphasizes the reflective processes used in planning and conducting action research studies, data analysis techniques (quantitative and qualitative), and displaying and explaining results. It provides specific information needed to complete each step of the action research cycle with chapter activities that help the student/reader conduct projects focused on school improvement. Each activity includes a research paper component that helps students create a research paper as they complete the activities.

 

This text has more emphasis on reflective and reflexive activities than other texts and is geared toward adults/professionals who will use these activities to conduct action research for educational change and school improvement. This text is for all educators: teachers, administrators, support-staff, media specialists, school psychologists, counselors, and district-level personnel.

  • Includes a chapter (Chapter 2) on the various forms of reflective/reflexive practices that are used in action research studies so students can consider how their educational core values and their reflective/reflexive practices align to ensure their actions represent their values.
  • Includes activities that guide students in the completion of steps of the action research process. Each activity includes a research paper component that, when completed, helps students build and document a research study in their educational setting.
  • Provides thorough information on examining the knowledge base and writing a literature review (Chapter 3). Strategies for reviewing and synthesizing literature are provided. Also includes information on writing in APA style.
  • Includes examples from principals, teachers, counselors, and other educational professionals throughout.
  • Contains detailed information about how to analyze various forms of data, including quantitative data, student work samples, observations, and interviews, and then write and graphically display results (Chapter 5) for maximum effect.
  • Incorporates numerous pedagogical devices such as Exercises, Cases, Chapter Activities, and Research Paper Assignments throughout the text so that students can explore topics further.
  • Integrates numerous internet links to direct readers to sources, journals, articles, and other supporting information.

  • Chapter 3, Connecting Theory and Action, has been extended to provide more detailed information on synthesizing and writing the literature. The chapter also now includes information on writing in APA style.
  • Chapter 6, which focuses on validity issues, has been streamlined and clarified. Validity issues are described in an understandable and simple way, and examples/tables are provided for clarifying difficult concepts.
  • Internet links and other supporting information are provided on using Microsoft Excel for data entry and analysis.
  • Includes a more in-depth discussion of writing in APA format in Chapter 8, Writing and Disseminating the Action Research Report. The chapter also provides alternative ways to report findings including via narrative accounts, portrait writing, and artistic forms.

List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………..       

List of Figures………………..……………………………………………………………  

List of Chapter Activities………………………………………………………………….       

Preface……………………………………………………………………………………..    

 

Chapter 1     Research Traditions in Education…………………………….......................               

Ways Research Advances Knowledge about Education……………………………………    

The Origin of Action Research…………………………………………………………......     

The Action Research Process………………………………………………………………   

Types of Action Research......................................................................................................   

The Importance of Action Research for Improving Schools……………………………….   

Becoming Familiar with the Language and Process of Action Research ...........................    

 

Chapter 2     Generating Research Ideas through Reflection………………………………       

 

Reflection: Its History and Definitions…………………………………………………….    

Types of Reflection…………………………………………………………………………   

Reflection in Action Research……………………………………………………………..    

Reflecting to Identify a Research Focus…………………………………………………...   

Reflective Journals…………………………………………………………………………   

 

Chapter 3     Connecting Theory and Action: Reviewing the Literature…………………..  

  

Reviewing the Literature as a Professional, Intellectual Activity…………………………   

Sources of Topic-specific Literature………………………………………………………    

Searching for Literature to Review……………………………………………………......   

Choosing, Evaluating, and Synthesizing Reviewed Literature for

        Action Research Studies ……………………………………………………………..    

Organizing and Writing the Literature Review……………………………………………    

 

Chapter 4      Initial Planning of the Action Research Study………………………………         

 

Articulating Research Questions…………………………………………………………..    

Planning the Intervention……………………………………………………….................

 

Chapter 5     Strategies for Collecting Data……………………………………………….      

 

Collecting Multiple Forms of Data to Establish Credibility and Validity………………..   

Methods of Data Collection: Artifacts, Observational Data, and Inquiry Data…………   

The Importance of Collecting Baseline Data…………………………………………….    

Aligning Data Collection Strategies with Research Questions…………..........................    

 

Chapter 6 Final Planning before the Implementation of the Study………………………   

 

Definitions of Validity…………………………………………………………………….   

Determining Ways to Increase Validity…………………………………………………..   

Ethical Guidelines for Action Research Studies………………………………………….   

Engaging in Continuous, Ongoing Reflecting Planning throughout the Study………….    

Creating a Timeline for the Project………………………………………………………  

 

Chapter 7 Strategies for Data Analysis……………………………………………………     

 

Interim Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………..  

Using Software Packages to Analyze Large Amounts of Data…………………………… 

Analysis of Quantitative Data: Reporting, Comparing, and Displaying………………….  

Analysis of Qualitative Data: Looking for Themes and Patterns………………………… 

Triangulating Data Sources: Drawing Conclusions from Data ………………………….  

 

Chapter 8 Supplementary Chapter: Writing and Disseminating the

                Action Research Report…………………………………………………………   

 

Guidelines for Writing the Final Action Research Report………………………………..   

Disseminating Action Research Findings…………………………………………………  

Concluding Comments……………………………………………………………………  

 

Appendix 1  

Article 1.1   Conceptual Learning and Creative Problem Solving Using

                   Cooperative Groups in Middle School Science Classes……………………..   

 

Appendix 2

Article 1.2   The Influence of a Peer-Tutoring Training Model for Implementing

                   Cooperative Groupings with Elementary Students ………………………….  

 

Index………………………………………………………………………………............   

    This brief, user-friendly text provides everything a pre-service or in-service teacher needs to know to follow the research cycle and conduct an action research project.  

     

    This text emphasizes the reflective processes used in planning and conducting action research studies, data analysis techniques (quantitative and qualitative), and displaying and explaining results. It provides specific information needed to complete each step of the action research cycle with chapter activities that help the student/reader conduct projects focused on school improvement. Each activity includes a research paper component that helps students create a research paper as they complete the activities.

     

    This text has more emphasis on reflective and reflexive activities than other texts and is geared toward adults/professionals who will use these activites to conduct action research for educational change and school improvement.

  • 0205385850Improving Schools Through Action Research: A Comprehensive Guide for Educators
    Hendricks
    © 2006 | Merrill | Paper; 216 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0205385850 | ISBN-13: 9780205385850
    Brief Description

Improving Schools Through Action Research, 2/e

Cher Hendricks

0205578462

 

This brief, user-friendly text provides everything a pre-service or in-service educator needs to know to follow the research cycle and conduct an action research project.  It emphasizes the reflective processes used in planning and conducting action research studies, data analysis techniques (quantitative and qualitative), and displaying and explaining results. The text provides specific information needed to complete each step of the action research cycle with chapter activities that help the student/reader conduct projects focused on school improvement. Each activity includes a research paper component that helps students create a research paper as they complete the activities.

 

New to this edition:

  • Chapter 3, Connecting Theory and Action, has been extended to provide more detailed information on synthesizing and writing the literature.
  • Chapter 6, which focuses on validity issues, has been streamlined and clarified. Validity issues are described in an understandable and simple way, and examples and tables are provided to help clarify difficult concepts.
  • Internet links and other supporting information are provided on using Microsoft Excel for data entry and analysis.
  • An in-depth discussion of writing in APA format is included in Chapter 8, Writing and Disseminating the Action Research Report. The chapter also provides alternative ways to report findings including via narrative accounts, portrait writing, and artistic forms.

Here’s what your colleagues are saying:

 

“This is the most effective text currently available to help teachers systematically examine their practice and make research-based changes in their classrooms and schools to increase student engagement and student achievement. Hendricks succeeds admirably in creating a handbook that teachers can actually use to gather and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data in their classrooms, helping them to procure far more meaningful data about student performance than any standardized test could ever hope to provide. If our nation is serious about closing the achievement gap, we need much more investment in the meaningful professional development that occurs when teachers study their own practice in the ways that Hendricks describes.”

–Joseph M. Shosh, Moravian College

 

“This book is an excellent introduction to action research for a beginning teacher researcher. It is written in a style that seems to put the readers at ease, even those who are initially apprehensive about conducting research.”

–Elizabeth Fogarty, East Carolina University

View a Sample Chapter PDF:

For Introduction to Educational Psychology


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  • 0137157711Education Custom Database
    Pearson Custom Publishing
    © 2009 | Allyn & Bacon | Electronic Supplement | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0137157711 | ISBN-13: 9780137157716

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  • 0137146264Improving Schools Through Action Research: A Comprehensive Guide for Educators, CourseSmart eTextbook, 2/E
    Hendricks
    © 2009 | Merrill | Electronic Book; 224 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0137146264 | ISBN-13: 9780137146260
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