This book is more than a valuable addition to the teacher education literature and a valuable resource for the pre-service educator; it is an important addition to a movement to remake our nation's schools into true professional learning communities. -- Richard Sagor, Founding director, Institute for the Study of Inquiry in Education, Vancouver, WA Great teachers constantly learn about their students and study the effects of their teaching. This excellent collection shows them how. -- Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA I actually enjoyed reading this information. I found it to be very useful. Each part of the action research process is broken down and explained very thoroughly. Prior to reading this, I was unaware of what action research was, however, now I am fully aware and well informed. -- Ashlee Hoyman, teacher intern, Slippery Rock University Reading this book has benefited me considerably when conducting my own Action Research. It gave me the necessary tools and suggestions for what to do and how to do it! -- Sarah Anne Bauer, Teacher Intern, Stevenson University, Stevenson, MD Pelton (Stevenson Univ.), an educator with research interests in action research and professional development, has edited a coherent, useful book for teachers and teacher educators interested in action research. Pelton offers a needed addition to scholarship on action research in education. The book's strength is that it provides a methodology for preservice and in-service teachers to gather classroom data while navigating the multitude of obligations and strictures that characterize precollege education. Contributors offer suggestions and examples of how to design research projects for various grade levels, ranging from early childhood to high school. The focus is on classroom settings in the US, but contributed chapters do accentuate the diversity of contemporary US classrooms. Contributed chapters exemplify strong social science research practices, even harnessing behavioral science methodology. Essays discuss ways action research can serve as intervention in, and even prevention of, adverse educational and pedagogical outcomes. This balanced collection introduces teachers to the history, context, usefulness, and methods of action research for teachers. Current and pre-service teachers interested in any of these areas will find the book useful. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * CHOICE *
