Improving Schools Through Action Research: A Reflective Practice Approach, Enhanced Pearson eText -- Access Card Package (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements)

Educators live in the lab, and action research, which focuses on investigating and improving their practice, seems to be tailor-made for them. Hendricks (education research, U. of West Georgia) guides educators from theory to practice, covering generating research ideas through reflection, reviewing the literature to connect theory and action, plan Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Preface 4 Acknowledgments 6 Brief Contents 8 Contents 10 Chapter 1 an introduction to action research 14 What Is Action Research, and How Does It Improve Schools? 14 Types of Action Research 19 Why Do We Have Action Research? 21 Where Does Action Research Fit with Other Types of Educational Research? 22 ■ ACTIVITY 1.1 Check Your Understanding 25 Summary 25 Chapter 2 Generating a Research focus and research questions 26 Reflection in Action Research 28 ■ ACTIVITY 2.1 Engaging in Reflexive Inquiry as a Way to Know Yourself as an Educator 31 Reflective Journals 31 Reflecting with a Critical Friend 34 Identifying a Research Focus and Research Questions 34 ■ ACTIVITY 2.2 Reflecting to Identify a Research Focus and Research Questions 41 Summary 43 Chapter 3 Connecting Theory and Action: Reviewing the Literature 44 Reviewing Literature as a Professional, Intellectual Activity 44 Sources of Topic-Specific Literature 45 Searching for Literature to Review 48 ERIC 49 ProQuest 52 EBSCOhost 53 Documents Not Available Full-Text 54 Choosing, Evaluating, and Synthesizing Reviewed Literature 54 Choosing Literature 54 Evaluating Literature 56 Synthesizing Literature 57 Organizing and Writing the Literature Review 58 How to Avoid Plagiarism 62 ■ ACTIVITY 3.1 Reviewing the Literature 64 Summary 66 Chapter 4 Planning the Action Research Study 67 Planning the Study 68 Creating a Timeline 69 Identifying Participants 70 Following Ethical Guidelines 71 ■ ACTIVITY 4.1 Planning the Action Research Study: Identifying Participants, Describing the Study, and Working with the IRB 76 Increasing Credibility and Validity 77 ■ ACTIVITY 4.2 Creating a Plan for Increasing Validity 81 Summary 82 Chapter 5 Collecting Data 83 Using Triangulation to Increase the Study’s Validity 84 Methods of Data Collection: Artifacts, Observational Data, and Inquiry Data 85 Artifacts 86 Observational Data 95 Inquiry Data 103 The Importance of Collecting Baseline Data 114 Aligning Data Collection Strategies with Research Questions 115 ■ ACTIVITY 5.1 Choosing Data Collection Strategies 116 Summary 117 Chapter 6 analyzing data in action research studies 118 Interim Data Analysis 118 Using Software Packages to Analyze Large Amounts of Data 120 Analysis of Quantitative Data: Reporting, Comparing, and Displaying 120 Tests 122 Closed-Ended Items 125 Checklists and Tally Sheets 127 Computer-Generated Reports and School Records 131 ■ ACTIVITY 6.1 Analysis of Quantitative Data 134 Analysis of Qualitative Data: Looking for Themes and Patterns 135 Interviews, Focus Groups, and Conferences 137 Observational Records and Field Notes 140 Documents and Journals 143 Open-Ended Items (Surveys, Scales, Self-Assessments, Peer Reviews) 145 ■ ACTIVITY 6.2 Analysis of Qualitative Data 148 Triangulating Data Sources and Drawing Conclusions from Data 148 ■ ACTIVITY 6.3 Answering Research Questions and Reaching Conclusions 150 Summary 151 Chapter 7 Writing and Disseminating the Action Research Report 153 Guidelines for Writing the Final Action Research Report 154 Paper Format 154 Content Format 158 Disseminating Action Research Findings 160 Other Ways to Write Up Research 165 Concluding Comments 166 Appendix A Using Student-Created Rubrics to Spark Students’ Writing Achievement and Attitude toward Writing 167 Appendix B Teachers’ Perceptions of Co-Teaching and Support Needs for Co-Teaching: An Action Research Study to Understand and Better Support Teachers in a Rural Elementary School 175 References 187 Index 191 A 191 B 191 C 191 D 191 E 191 F 192 G 192 H 192 I 192 J 192 K 192 L 192 M 192 N 192 O 192 P 192 Q 193 R 193 S 193 T 193 V 193 W 193 Y 193 Z 193