-This text presents a step-by-step approach to problem diagnosis and school improvement. --

Action Research for Business, Nonprofit, and Public Administration covers the background, process, and tools needed to introduce and guide you through to a successful action research (AR) project. Included are how to successfully initiate, plan, and complete AR within all types of organizations while focused on business, nonprofit, and public administration. Graphic organizers and a modular sequence of topics help you manage the steps involved in AR practice. A protocol for weekly report writing, informed consent documentation, and clear guidelines for final analyses and report writing give graduate students the efficient format they need. This book teaches theory by interweaving discussion of the major content areas and stories of student success with the concepts that impact practice.

Across the social welfare and human services fields, interest is growing in how to apply research to influence policy and practice; simultaneously, with globalization's advance, it is clearer than ever that an international perspective is vital in understanding how social, political, and institutional contexts affect research and dissemination practices. This volume, with contributions from an array of eminent researchers and practitioners, provides valuable insight into effective research practice and the factors involved in putting research findings to use.Leading with experience - narratives of six child welfare case studies from the UK, Ireland, Israel, South Africa, and the US - the book frames those cases in the context of relevant literatures to build up a cross-case analysis that distills lessons, throws enduring questions into relief, and lays a foundation for informing future practice. It mines the cross-national experience to develop perspective for a better understanding of the importance of different policy and cultural environments, while nonetheless emphasizing issues that are applicable across borders. The ground prepared by the case studies allows the volume to tease out themes and lessons, placing the empirical findings against relevant theoretical frameworks and developing guidelines for improving research practice in this arena.Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and advocates concerned with promoting effective policy and practice will find this book a vital aid in understanding how to apply knowledge to the real world and bring about in ways that can inform and contribute to social change.

Action Research for Classrooms, Schools, and Communities is a core textbook for the action research course. This book addresses the trend toward high-stakes testing and teacher accountability by focusing on understanding student outcomes. With edTPA rapidly becoming part of the requirements for teacher certification, teacher preparation programs will increasingly be looking to measure the impact of the teacher candidate on student learning. The book focuses on the potential for action research to lead to greater understanding about student outcomes from the perspective of teachers, school leaders, and community members. There is a special emphasis on helping pre-service and experienced teachers use action research to understand their impact on student learning. There is an emphasis on using action research to understand community impacts on schools; unlike other books, this text acknowledges the complex ecology linking classrooms, schools, and the community, especially regarding issues fundamental to school reform.

"This is a wonderful book with deep insight into the relationship between teachers′ action and result of student learning. It discusses from different angles impact of action research on student learning in the classroom. Writing samples provided at the back are wonderful examples." —Kejing Liu, Shawnee State University Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies focuses on helping schools build knowledge democracies through a process of action research in which teachers, students, and parents collaborate in conducting participatory and caring inquiry in the classroom, school, and community. Author Gerald J. Pine examines historical origins, the rationale for practice-based research, related theoretical and philosophical perspectives, and action research as a paradigm rather than a method. Key Features Discusses how to build a school research culture through collaborative teacher research Delineates the role of the professional development school as a venue for constructing a knowledge democracy Focuses on how teacher action research can empower the active and ongoing inclusion of nontraditional voices (those of students and parents) in the research process Includes chapters addressing the concrete practices of observation, reflection, dialogue, writing, and the conduct of action research, as well as examples of teacher action research studies

While written for mastersÆ students in any Educational Leadership concentration, this is a core text for departments that teach action research as a primary research methodology or a supplemental text for those that place it in a range of research methods. The book provides a readable overview of the PAR process similar to professional learning communities in schools. Its design reaches out to visual learners as graphic elements guide graduate students through the research methods they need to successfully complete rigorous projects. The results of the original PAR study and continued work with educational leaders lead us to believe that this approach ultimately produces the results school leaders seek and appreciate. Key Features: o Clear process through both the PAR steps employing a research logic model throughout. This benefits the graduate student or educational leader by leading them to data driven outcomes that are valid, credible and reliableGraphic elements guide the reader through the process and aid the visual learner in keeping track of the concepts behind the theory. o Reflective questions precede each section. This increases the reflective practices and routines of the reader as appropriate to the PAR process. o Tasks, written for both groups and individuals, aid participatory teams in working towards consensus and strong research designs o Practitioner stories make the lessons real and ease the emotional unease that come from tackling research practices the first time. Intended Audience: This book represents the evolution of PAR from a soft science to a process appropriate for educators in todayÆs data driven environments or for graduate students whose thesis needs to pass the recommendations of professors steeped in positivist traditions.

AN ESSENTIAL CONVERSATION FROM TODAY'S LEADING VOICES ON EFFECTING CHANGE IN HEALTH AND SOCIETY "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has changed the conversation about health in the United States." --Jo Ivey Boufford, President, New York Academy of Medicine In a society where a person's zip code is a stronger predictor of health status than their genetic profile, every public health challenge is also a challenge of equity, implementation, and policy. For better or worse, improving health requires societal change, and the scale of today's societal challenges can have a stifling effect on even the most well-intended efforts. Assembled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and featuring today's most prominent voices from diverse sectors, Knowledge to Action is a collection of short conversations focused on the idea of meaningful change -- its definition, its impediments, and exploring how we can transition from research to action in health, well-being, and equity. Steeped in honesty and benefiting from the diverse experiences of an extraordinary assembly of academics, journalists, policymakers, public health practitioners, and researchers, this book offers provocative yet actionable perspectives that will benefit anyone who reads it.