Collaborative Action Research: Developing Professional Learning Communities

Those new to action research are provided an overview and map to guide participants through the process. Gordon evaluates the work of the School Improvement Network, a partnership in which university professors and graduate students collaborated with K - 12 school leaders and teachers to design, implement, and assess schoolwide action research projects focused on long-term school improvement.Describing the role of both the university and the school, ""Collaborative Action Research"": explores critical aspects of collaborative action, including establishing relationships, using critical friends, developing leadership teams, readiness, organization, and implementation; provides lessons learned from successful and unsuccessful programs, to show schools what to do and what to avoid; and, examines schools in Texas that have used action research to improve student achievement within a standards-based environment.