Table of Contents
Foreword Nancy Fichtman Dana v
Acknowledgments ix
Part I Exploring the Key Concepts
1 Promoting Teachers as Thoughtful, Proactive, and Effective Decision Makers! Roger Brindley Christine Crocco 3
2 Professional Learning Communities: Setting the Stage for Collaboration Christine Crocco 8
3 Demystifying Action Research: A Practical Explanation for Teacher Researchers Roger Brindley 18
Part II Creating a Culture of Inquiry
4 The Perspectives of a School Administration Chris Christoff Matt Gruhl 35
Part III Practitioner Research Chapters
5 Coming Full Circle: Describing a Year of Action Research Leslie Frick 59
6 Service Learning and Action Research: Developing a Course that Sparked the Flame of Citizenship Cindy Tehan Janet Tolson 69
7 Action Research" You've Got to Be Kidding Me Danielle Lawrence 78
8 Write-On: Using Research Data to Improve Student Achievement Karen Zantop 84
9 Action Research: Motivating Middle School Students Karen Wood 90
10 A Splash of Color with a Dash of Discovery Makes One Great Shade Lisa Fisher 96
Part IV Affirming the Voice of the Teacher Researcher
11 Reflecting Back on a Year of Growth: The Results of Thoughtful, Proactive, and Effective Teacher Research Christine Crocco Roger Brindley 109
About the Editors 117
About the Contributors 119