Practitioner Research for Educators: A Guide to Improving Classrooms and Schools

'I plan to use this book with district administrators, building administrators, and building staff. All would find it an excellent tool for bringing about change in their organizations. It is infinitely readable, meaningful, and very useful' - -Linda L. Elman, Ph.D., Director, Research & Evaluation, Central Kitsap School District, Silverdale, WA

'The material on the research process and the examples are terrific. Steps are clearly spelled out and practical suggestions hit the major problems teachers encounter in attempting research for the first time' - Mildred Murray-Ward, Assistant Provost for Assessment, Professor of Education, California Lutheran University

'(With) more schools...operating as 'learning communities,' this is an excellent tool for schools conducting action research in their own settings. Practitioner Research for Educators is easy to read, has lots of practical advice and examples, and should appeal to the seasoned as well as the novice researcher' - Roxana M. Della Vecchia, Professor & Assistant Dean, College of Education, Towson University

Learn to conduct research rather than just consume research!

Each school and classroom is different. Therefore teachers must learn, through their own inquiry, how to adjust their practices in ways that will improve teaching and learning. Practitioner Research for Educators explains how the popular technique of practitioner inquiry can be used by teachers, headteachers and other school leaders to solve teaching problems and improve student achievement. Viviane Robinson and Mei Kuin Lai include step-by-step instructions, ready-to-use tools and examples of successful practitioner research projects. Practical yet rigorous, this collaborative process is ideal for use in professional learning communities.

Focusing on the pragmatic aspects of embedding research into everyday practice, the authors demonstrate how to:

- Develop an important, yet manageable research question

- Select research methods appropriate to the question

- Plan and conduct a research project that is both practical and rigorous

- Use inquiry to reveal, critique, and revise taken-for-granted assumptions about how to teach

- Use evidence to check the accuracy of claims about "what works"

- Communicate the results of the research to a range of professional audiences

Appropriate for new and experienced teachers alike, this indispensable book provides a functional framework for developing a culture of inquiry among teachers based on high-quality information, mutually supportive critique, and a sustained focus on school improvement. While the primary audiences for this book are teachers, headteachers and other school leaders, this valuable resource is equally useful for teacher educators and pre-service teachers.

Viviane Robinson completed her doctorate at Harvard University and subsequently took a position in the School of Education at the University of Auckland where she is now Professor. She is passionate about doing research that makes a difference to practice, and it is this passion that motivated both this book and her previous, more theoret­ical volume, Problem-Based Methodology: Research for the Improvement of Practice (1993). She has considerable experi­ence in the formative evaluation of school reform initiatives and in teach­ing teachers how to research their own schools and classrooms. She has published extensively about how to understand and close the research-practice gap, and on organizational learning and school improvement. Viviane is the Academic Leader of the induction program for New Zealand's school principals and Director of a master's program in educa­tional management.

Preface
About the Authors
Part I: The Need for Practitioner Research
1. Educators as Researchers
2. Tailoring Research to Solve Problems
3. Collaborating to Improve Practice
4. Combining Rigor and Respect
Part II: Doing Practitioner Research
5. Planning Your Research
6. Purposeful Information Gathering: Interviews and Questionnaires
7. Purposeful Information Gathering: Observations and Other Data Collection Methods
8. Purposeful Data Analysis
9. Communicating Your Research
Part III: Practitioner Research and School Improvement
10. Integrating Practitioner Research Schoolwide
References
Index