Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School Improvement(Christopher-Gordon New Editions)

Action Research: An Educational Leader’s Guide to School Improvement, Third Edition, is a clear and practical guide to conducting action research in schools. Although it offers neither a cookbook nor a quick-fix approach, this book does outline the process of designing and reporting an action research project. Useful as a classroom text as well as a self-teaching tool, Action Research: An Educational Leader’s Guide to School Improvement is a comprehensive training manual. It can be used by practitioners in the field, by graduate students enrolled in leadership and/or master’s thesis courses, or by anyone interested in learning how to conduct action research projects, including classroom teachers ,who are leaders too in their own right. The strategies and techniques of action research described are no different for teachers than they are for administrators. The underlying assumption of this work is that research is not a domain only for academics, it is also a powerful approach that can be used by practitioners to contribute to school renewal and instructional improvement. Rather than being merely a philosophical treatise or theoretical analysis, Action Research provides concrete strategies and techniques for conducting action research in schools.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Brief Description Uniqueness Audience Rationale Assumptions Goals Organization and Content References Chapter 1: An Introduction to Action Research: It’s Not All That Complicated What Is Research? Ignorance About the Utility of Research Research as a Professional Responsibility Why Educational Leaders Might Avoid Research A Paradigm for Research Evaluation Research: The Most Common Use of Action Research for Educational Leaders Evolution of Action Research Action Research Defined Benefits of Action Research Action Research Is Not Complicated Steps in Action Research The Educational Leader as a Reflective Practitioner Reflective Practice Summary References Chapter 2: Teaching and Doing Action Research Through General Semantics Introduction What Is General Semantics? Course Description Another Lesson From General Semantics Summary and Conclusion References Chapter 3: Getting Started on an Action Research Project Getting Started: The Overall Research Plan Clarifying Purposes Considering Logistics The Plan Suggestions for Getting Started References Chapter 4: Quantitative Approaches to Action Research Descriptive Research Correlation Research Group Comparison Research Choosing a Research Design An Inadequate Research Design Adequate Research Designs (or Simplified Designs for School Research) References Chapter 5: Qualitative Approaches to Action Research Historical Inquiry Ethnographic Research Case Study Research References Chapter 6: Easy Steps to Program Development and Evaluation Research Eight Steps of Program Development Five Steps of Program Evaluation References Chapter 7: Data Collection Techniques That Work Popular Data Collection Techniques Used in Action Research Primary Data Collection Techniques Secondary Data Collection Techniques References Chapter 8: How to Analyze Quantitative Data Easily Statistical Analyses Application of Mean, Standard Deviation, and Percentage The t-Test The Sign Test The Mann-Whitney U-Test The Chi Square and Other User-Friendly Statistics References Chapter 9: How to Analyze Qualitative Data Easily Analytic Procedures Computer Applications Tables, Graphs, and Charts References Chapter 10: Putting It All Together: What Does It Mean? Interpreting Data Reporting Data Writing the Research Report Overview of Steps for Writing Up an Action Research Project Elements of the Report References Chapter 11: Completing Your Action Research Master’s Thesis Project Step 1: Identify a Topic Step 2: Write a Literature Review Step 3: Develop a Research Plan Step 4: Carry Out the Plan Step 5: Write Up the Results Chapter 12: Action Research in Practice Action Planning and Implementation Becoming Reflective Practitioners Through Action Research Conclusion References Chapter 13:Seven Suggestions for Action Researchers Expect the Unexpected Be Receptive to Both Quantitative and Especially Qualitative Approaches Give It Your All Don’t Make a Decision Too Quickly Keep Lines of Communication Open and Clear Appreciate Your Enlightened Eye Take Action The Ethics of Action Research Conclusion References Appendix A: Pretest Appendix B: Sample Write-Up of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods and Results Appendix C: Sample Appendixes Appendix D: Are You a Good Writer? Appendix E: Brief Description of APA Appendix F: Evaluation Criteria for Report Appendix G: Sample Consent Forms Appendix H: Sample Cover Letter Appendix I: Sample Action Research Proposals by Teachers Glossary Annotated References Index About the Author

About the Author :
Jeffrey Glanz is Head of the M.Ed. program in leadership and management at Michlala-Jerusalem College, and a Professor of Education in the Azrieli Graduate Schoolat Yeshiva University.

Review :
Once in a while an educator comes along who sets the bar for the entire profession. In the case of Educational Leadership, that educator is Jeffrey Glanz. As a distinguished scholar who is known worldwide, Glanz has no equal when it comes to his educational expertise as a former endowed professor, assistant principal, and teacher. With this book Dr. Glanz has offered a roadmap for educational leaders of all ranks, whether they are pre-service teachers in higher education, building administrators, or the most important educational leaders of all—teachers in the field. Action Research is a must-read and the most thorough book on the topic that can be found anywhere. Action Research: An Educational Leader’s Guide to School Improvement third edition continues to fill a gap in research literature: a highly readable text that can be used in a university context and by in-service practitioners. Teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators can respond to accountability demands and simultaneously maintain reflective practices by following Glanz’s clear action research guidelines. The third edition of Action Research: An Educational Leader’s Guide to School Improvement offers a compass for school leaders and for budding undergraduate and graduate-level researchers who want to understand and improve learning in schools. There are many books about action research, but Glanz offers a suite of examples and solid explanations grounded in theory which leads the reader from the design and analysis of data to the extrapolation of meanings regardless of context or topics under investigation. Glanz assembles the very best thinking about action research and, in many ways, shows with razor focus how to make action research actionable.