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This article discusses technology improving communication within the education realm, among all levels. Examples are drawn from multiple schools but specifically Lewis Elementary school in Portland, Oregon where they are using technology to increase the improve staff communication and professional development. The main focus is around blogs as a means to improve staff communication and collaboration. The blogs are used with the school system as well as connecting parents and the larger community. The use of wikis and blackboard are also discussed.

6 Features of Effective Teaching for Middle Schools & High Schools

"Woodhead, M. (1988). "When psychology informs public policy." American Psychologist 43(6): 443-454."

Jenal Austin December 2010 "When Psychology Informs Public Policy" According to this article, there has been significant evidence that early childhood programs in the United States increase cognitive competence, school readiness, school achievement, social development, and health status in young children. Regardless, the government has not fully acknowledged the importance of such programs on the political agenda. Leaders should know that providing preschool education is a solid financial investment for the country. Children who attend these programs have shown promising long-term impact including higher high school completion rates, greater occupational aspirations, and improved employments rates and reductions in referrals to special education, juvenile delinquency, and teenage pregnancy. However, the author reminds us that there are limits to how much we can generalize these findings. He explains that this will not be a one-all, fix-all solution to our society's complex social and economic problems. It is also important to understand that the effects of early childhood intervention cannot be taken in isolation from the context in which it occurs and it may not be possible to replicate all aspects of an experiment of such programs on a national level. "..Effects are the result of a complex interaction of variables in home and school, throughout the school years and beyond, but also… the children themselves play an active part in the process through the images they project and the self-concept they acquire of themselves, either as competent and motivated, or apathetic, problematic, and unwilling." Governments should use the research on the positive impacts of preschool education when designing public policy; however they should not expect a simple solution. "..Where human development is concerned even an experimental approach can rarely yield definitive universally applicable statements about the extent to which a program is effec

An article highlighting the findings of a cohort of 14 teachers from high-needs, urban areas schools who have addressed the education dilemma in a report. The report highlights 5 things that needs to be addressed in order to change the effectiveness of how our schools current operate.

This article provides a glimpse of the potential backlash from parents as their children begin to utilize social media within their education. Seen as a pastime, some parents are alarmed that social media is being integrated into the school curriculum.

"Madison Metropolitan School District (2001). "Classroom action research." http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/sod/car/carhomepage.html"

This website is a very helpful tool for anyone taking on the task of an action research project. In the section "Reasons to Do Actions Research" it cites collegiality, personal/professional development, consistency, and challenging the norm, all as reasons why action research needed to be done in this situation. Under the section, "A process for Analyzing Your Data" the site goes through some steps to go through in order to get a big picture of the data that has been collected. Some of the steps include, look for themes or patterns, identify the main points, and draw the information together to include some of the evidence which supports each of your themes. The site also has many other links to topics such as "What is Action Research?", "Guidelines for Developing a Question", "Techniques for Collecting Data", and "Ideas for Your Final Write-Up".

This article looks at a staff training program in a school for children with multiple disabilitie. The staff training program was based on a personalized system of instruction, organizational behavior management procedures for supervisors, regular assessment of teacher behaviors, and teacher assessment of all instructional trials. The results showed that many of the teachers and the students behaviors improved as a result of this treatment package.

This article is an example of action research in schools serving students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Several schools were involved in this research which focused on student, parent, and teacher involvement to improve student's engagement and participation during the school day.

Action research in a school. This article discusses how a school librarian was required to have students for one thirty minute class period. She talks about how she didn't want it to be a waste of time so she came up with a plan to make sure the time spent in the library would be well spent. She got feedback from the students to get ideas on what they wanted to get from this experience.

This YouTube clip shows a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson on how we need to revolutionize our educational systems. It resonates with what Myles Horton said in his interview about "molding" vs. "liberating." Schools have been about preparing students to become productive members in an industrial based society. Like Horton, Robinson argues that we need to break free of that model. Robinson also has a couple of good talks on Ted.com related to education. Some of us watched his talk on how Schools kill creativity when we took Creative Thinking.

"Hitchcock, G. and D. Hughes (1995). Research and the Teacher: A Qualitative Introduction to School-based Research."

"Hunt, M. (1985). "The dilemma in the classroom: A cross-sectional survey measures the effects of segregated schooling," in Profiles of Social Research: The Scientific Study of Human Interactions. New York: Russell Sage,51-97"

I thought this article was a nice portrayal of the action research process. It discusses how a school lunch menu was changed so it would be healthier for the kids. The children also get to give feedback on the menu. It's nice to see a positive change made with just a few people trying to implement something new.

This article discusses the debate in LA over a "database" that indicated the value of every teacher in the LA school district. The controversy was sparked when a teacher recently committed suicide after a less than effective rating

(access full PDF via Umass databases page to SAGE journals online) "In this article we delve into the potential learning capacity inherent in project-based organizations derived from conclusions drawn from action research as well as extensive field experience. We propose project-based learning as a means to deal with the challenge of sustainable growth of learning capacity, i.e. developing learning capabilities that enable reasoning beyond the short term; knowledge creation and sharing beyond the individual or team. Based on stories from the field, we explore the distinguishing features of project-based learning and ways in which project-based learning can be instrumental in building communities of reflective practitioners."

This is an interesting perspective on learning styles and options. I've experienced working in a Charter School with this philosophy, project based learning, which of course is appealing to some learners, but not all. It is an excellent option to pursue for particular students who may thrive in this learning environment, where they might otherwise flounder in a traditional setting. It would be nice to see this option incorporated more widely in regular public Schools in addition to traditional tracks (business, college prep, vocational education). Mary Ann p.s. E.K. READ THIS ONE!

This article discusses the use of large-scale randomized trials to evaluate social policy. For decades, policy makers have rolled out changes without taking the time to conduct research to determine if the idea would be effective. One reason policy makers shun trials is the reality that the trials and experiments do not always support the ideas or policies. Rather than taking the time to conduct trials, policy makers prefer to "act swiftly" and propose policy. The article references the efforts of abstinence education, Scared straight programs, drug testing in prison populations, and school driving programs as examples of policies that have not worked--the research and data suggest the programs are not effective, yet policy makers continue to support the efforts.

Julie's point about not taking the time is a good one. This article was somewhat shocking in that it highlighted just how poor the research is behind many of our public policies and programs. Policy makers and politicians rush to gain political capital by moving decisively when they have only a kernel of research in support of their claims, without taking the time or making an effort to test the findings or dig deeper. After a policy or program is in place, it is not in their best interests to support research which may disprove the efficacy of what they have put in place. This could all tie back to our educational system, to whether or not we teach solid critical thinking and research skills.

I found this article to be very interesting. My favorite part was the study done in schools that polled the most influential peers, informed them on dangers of smoking, and attempted to decrease smoking by reverse peer pressure. I think this was a great idea!!!

I post this one as a counter to Mr Friedman, and as a guide toward where action research is needed: away from the built-in goals and failures of unchallenged schooling. It is a bit dated, but so is our approach. There's a chapter in one of his books entitled "Research by People" that I'll try to track down and see if it pertains.

No doubt helped by the federal dollars they seem to receive, here is a nice pamphlet from the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory At Brown University. It explains their approach and model, and includes a couple of informative charts. It also describes two action research projects, one at an elementary school in Lowell and the other at a middle school in Providence.

This article is the start to ongoing research in Lexington Public Schools. It was brought to the superintendents attention that there is an over representation of METCO students in the special-ed program, meaning there is a high number of METCO students requiring special help in one or more subjects. The study uses data from standardized testing, surveys, and past research. The article proposes quite a few different recommendations of where the research should go from here.

Great Post, Nicole: I recently petitioned to be able to take a different course for my multi-cultural component, that actually addresses legal and procedural considerations for such misrepresentations. This article was very timely for me personally, as I would like to be able to foster positive changes so that minority students are not misplaced in special educational programs, which both does not serve their individual needs appropriately and it also detracts from the resources available to true "special needs" learning disabled students. More programs need to be implemented such as those recommended in this article that provide extensive tutoring, mentoring, summer academic support opportunities that are separate from "special education" programs. Mary Ann Fogarty Pessa