Teacher Research as a Professional Development Activity for P-12 Educators

Teacher Research as a Professional Development Activity for P-12 Educators Kenneth M Zeichner University of Wisconsin-Madison July , 2000 CONTACT : University of Wisconsin-Madison 225 North Mills St Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Phone: 608-263-4651 Fax: 608-263-9992 E-mail: zeichner@facstaff.wisc.edu This work was supported in part by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S Department of Education The opinions expressed in this paper not necessarily reflect the position or policy of OERI, and no official endorsement should be inferred Abstract This paper reviews research related to the professional development impact of schoolbased teacher research programs for P-12 educators Following the presentation of a conceptual framework that describes the dimensions of variation in P-12 teacher research in North America, the paper reviews the results of several systematic studies of school-based teacher research programs and identifies several conditions under which school-based teacher research becomes a transformative professional development activity for teachers Teacher Research as a Professional Development Activity for P-12 Educators By validating teachers as knowers as well as doers, teacher research can turn traditional professional development on its head, offering the possibility of major long-term changes that are generated by teachers themselves, based on their own investigations of practice (Check, 1998, pp 17-18) P-12 Educator Professional Development Despite an emerging consensus in the teacher education literature about the need to change dominant practices in P-12 educator professional development to be more consistent with new and ambitious visions for school reform that view teachers as educational leaders (Corcoran, 1995; Little, 1993; Richardson, 1994; Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, 1999), a “training model,” unconnected to teachers’ daily work and disrespectful of teachers’ knowledge, continues to persist as the most common form of professional development for teachers in the U.S (Miller, 1995; Miller, Lord, & Dorney, 1994) This is the case despite the fact that teachers generally neither like these programs nor use them to improve their classroom practices (Richardson,1994) The majority of professional development experiences for teachers in the U.S are one-shot, one day or even briefer experiences (CPRE, 1998; Sparks & Hirsh, 1999) Two- thirds of U.S teachers state that they have no say in what or how they learn in professional development activities provided to them in schools (U.S Department of Education, 1994) Most of the inservice or staff development that teachers are now exposed to is of a more formal nature; unattached to classroom life It is often a melange of abstract ideas with little attention paid to ongoing support for continuous learning and changed practices (Lieberman, 1996, p 187) In the last decade, numerous organizations including the U.S Department of Education, American Federation of Teachers, The National Staff Development Council, The National Councils of Teachers of English and Mathematics, and academic scholars of teacher education have articulated sets of standards or “design principles” for describing good professional development (e.g., Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1996; NCTE, 1996; NCTM, 1996; NPEAT, 1998; National Staff Development Council, 1995 a,b,c; U.S Department of Education, 1995) These standards, which are often linked to research on teacher learning, commonly emphasize the importance of providing teachers with participant driven and intensive opportunities to engage in inquiry and reflection over time with colleagues about issues that matter to them in the course of their daily work This common vision of good professional development, while recognizing the need for teachers to learn new skills and content to meet school district initiatives for reform, emphasizes the need for professional development opportunities to respect and build on the knowledge and expertise that teachers already have and to nurture and support their intellectual leadership capacity Teacher Research as Professional Development Despite concerns expressed by some over the years that teachers are incapable of conducting research or that research will take time away from that which teachers should be devoting to their students (e.g., Hodgkinson, 1957), it has been argued for many years that P-12 educators should conduct research about their own practice as a form of professional development In the U.S we can first see evidence for this call for teachers to become researchers as early as 1926 in Research for Teachers written by Burdette Ross Buckingham, Director of the Bureau of Research at Ohio State University The teacher has opportunities for research which if seized, will not only powerfully and rapidly develop the technique of teaching, but will also react to and vitalize and dignify the work of the individual teacher (p iv) A few years later, Dewey (1929) referred to teachers’ potential contributions to educational research as an “unworked mine.” Over the years, a number of different arguments have been made as to why teachers should engage in research One of the most common claims is that teachers will become better at what they by conducting research and that the quality of learning for their pupils will be higher It has also been asserted that teacher research will stimulate positive changes in the culture and productivity of schools and raise the status of the occupation of teaching in the society Additionally, it has been declared that teacher research will produce knowledge about teaching and learning that will be useful to other P-12 educators, policy makers, academic researchers, and teacher educators It has been argued for example, that teacher research as a form of professional development has often had a profound effect on those who have done it, in some cases transforming the classrooms and schools in which they work For example, Cochran-Smith & Lytle (1992) claim that: When teachers redefine their own relationships to knowledge about teaching and learning, they reconstruct their classrooms and begin to offer different invitations to their students to learn and know A view of teaching as research is connected to a view of learning as constructive, meaning-centered, and social Teachers who are actually researching their own practices provide opportunities for their students to become similarly engaged what goes on in the classrooms of teacher researchers is qualitatively different from what typically happens in classrooms (p 318) It has also been concluded from analyses of researchers’ self-reports that teacher research helps teachers to become more flexible and more open to new ideas (Oja & Smulyan, 1989), to be more proactive and self-directed in relation to external authority (Holly, 1990), boosts teachers’ self-esteem and confidence levels (Dadds, 1995; Loucks Horsley, et al., 1998; Webb, 1990), narrows the gap between teachers’ aspirations and realizations (Elliott, 1980), helps teachers develop an attitude and skills of self-analysis that are then applied to other aspects of their teaching (Day, 1984), changes patterns of communication among teachers leading to more collegial interaction (Current & Hirabayashi, 1989; Selener, 1997), and alters teacher talk about students from a focus on student problems to an emphasis on student resources and accomplishments (Atwell, 1987), and helps teachers become more aware of their impact on students ( Allen, Shockley, & Baumann, 1995) These kind of claims led Grundy and Kemmis (1988) to conclude: The first hand accounts of teachers and students who have been involved in these projects reveal that action research has often been a major and significant experience in their personal and professional development and often a uniquely transforming experience In short, there is plenty of evidence in print and in people to justify a claim for action research based on performance rather than promise (p 331) Despite the growing amount of testimony in the literature about the positive outcomes associated with teachers doing research, there are a number of problems with drawing conclusions from these statements alone, about the value of teacher research as a professional development activity First, many of the references in the literature to the value of teacher research are anecdotal in nature and are not the result of systematic and intentional exploration of teachers’ experiences (Huberman, 1996) Second, even if we accept the accuracy of the claims that have been made about the impact of teacher research, we are often provided with little or no information about the specific characteristics of the research experience and /or research context that are responsible for promoting this growth Teacher research has become very common now throughout the world (see Zeichner, in press; Zeichner & Noffke, in press) and has been implemented in many different ways that reflect different ideological commitments and beliefs about teacher and student learning (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1998) Similarly, conceptualizations of the process of teacher research vary substantially in different locations, ranging from those that implement a particular structure of the inquiry process such as the action research spiral popularized throughout the world in the 1980's by Australian academics (e.g., Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) , to more open-ended approaches that enable researchers to choose from a variety of different methods of doing research on one’s own practice, including some not typically found within academic research communities (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) In cases where a particular structure of the research process is provided to and/or used by teachers, there are also important differences between the step by step problem solving versions that are part of a number of widely used teacher inquiry programs (e.g., ASCD, 1995; Sagor, 1992) and the more reflexive and cyclical models that place much more emphasis on problem setting and formulation (e.g., Elliott, 1991) The contexts in which teacher research is conducted also vary greatly For example, teachers conduct research either alone, in connection with a research group, or as part of a whole school faculty (Calhoun, 1993), and the particular motivations and conditions associated with teachers conducting research differ across North America (Noffke, 1997) It is unlikely that all of the various forms of teacher research and ways or organizing and supporting it result in the kind of positive outcomes for teachers and their students that are often reported in the literature It is important to begin to identify the particular aspects of the teacher research experience that are associated with different kinds of teacher and student learning Studying the Impact of Teacher Research as a Professional Development Activity There are at least two ways in which we can begin to gather evidence about the efficacy of different ways of conceptualizing, organizing and supporting teacher research as a professional development activity One way is to examine what teachers who have conducted research have had to say about the experience and its impact Although there are now an increasing number of research reports that have become readily accessible as papers, in books or journals and through the internet which discuss the influence on students of activities associated with teacher research, it is not that common for teachers to discuss in these reports the conditions under which their research was conducted and supported, or the influence of the research as a professional development activity A second strategy for gaining a better understanding of the nature and impact of teacher research as a professional development activity is to examine those instances in which teacher research has been systematically investigated There are a limited number of studies of teacher research programs that address both the conditions under which the research was conducted and its influence on teachers, classrooms, pupils and schools This paper will focus on an analysis of what has been learned about the nature and impact of teacher research conducted under different conditions from the few existing systematic studies of teacher research as a professional development activity To a lesser extent, it will also draw upon the first hand reports of teachers who have conducted research A Conceptual Map of Teacher Research in North America Before examining the evidence related to teacher research as a professional development activity for P-12 educators, I will attempt in this section to sketch out some of the ways in which teacher research activity in North America has been conceptualized, organized, and supported across and within particular teacher research programs There are several major dimensions along which teacher research activity in North America has varied These dimensions relate to the purposes and motivation of those who engage in the research, the conceptions of teacher research that are held by the researchers and program organizers, and the conditions under which the research is organized and supported Noffke (1997) outlined three different motivations that have existed for teachers who have conducted research about their own practices First, there is the motivation to better understand and improve one’s own teaching and/or the contexts in which that teaching is conducted Here the main interest is in how the research can contribute to the betterment of one’s own individual situation as a teacher and life in a classroom, school and community Second, there is the motivation to produce knowledge that will be useful to other educators either in the same settings or in other settings Here teacher researchers are interested in sharing their research with other educators through seminars, conference presentations and publications Finally, consistent with the democratic impulse that was originally associated with the use of action research in the U.S back in the 1940's (Foshay, 1994), there is the motivation to contribute to greater equity, and democracy in schooling and society Here there is an explicit agenda by teachers to work for social change by either working on issues of equity and social justice within the classroom or beyond (Anderson, Herr, & Nihlen, 1994) These categories are obviously not mutually exclusive and reflect the emphasis within particular research projects All teacher researchers are interested in improving their own classroom practice In addition to this motivation, some researchers are also interested in sharing their learning with others or in contributing to social reconstruction A second dimension of variation in teacher research is concerned with the context in which the research is conducted Here we have seen teachers conducting research alone as individuals, as part of small collaborative groups, or in school faculty groups involving everyone in particular schools When the research has been done in connection with a group, the groups have varied according to their size, the basis for their formation, and whether there is an external facilitator and/or university faculty involvement Some teacher research groups involve teachers from the same team, department or school, and others mix together teachers from different schools Another dimension along which teacher research has varied is in terms of the sponsorship of the research Here we have seen many different sponsors of the research the general support and encouragement and the breakdown of isolation among teachers that the research group provides Having opportunities to meet with colleagues in a supportive environment to share ideas and learn and support one another is a positive experience for many teacher researchers The opportunity to receive feedback about one’s inquiry from the diverse perspectives represented in research groups is also important for many teachers This diversity of response is often challenging for teachers and sometimes leads to the third critical feature of the group experience according to Kemmler-Ernst: the opportunity to question one’s assumptions about teaching and learning Discussion The above discussion of the nature and impact of teacher research based on teachers’ own self-reports and the systematic studies of others who have examined teachers’research experiences has revealed that under certain conditions, teacher research seems to promote particular kinds of teacher and student learning that many teachers find very valuable and transformative, qualities not often linked with most of their other professional development experiences Here we have seen evidence that the experience of engaging in self-study research helps teachers to become more confident about their ability to promote student learning, to become more proactive in dealing with difficult situations that arise in their teaching, and to acquire habits and skills of inquiry that they use beyond the research experience to analyze their teaching in an in-depth manner Teacher research, under the right conditions, seems to develop or rekindle an excitement and enthusiasm about teaching and to provide a validation of the importance of the work that teachers that seems to be missing from the lives of many teachers We have also seen evidence of direct links between conducting teacher research under particular conditions and improvements in students’ attitudes, behavior and learning, although these improved student outcomes have not always been reported in sufficient detail Because of the limited information that has been provided by teachers and those who have studied them about the conditions under which teacher research has been organized and supported, at this point we not have a clear view of how the contexts that support teacher research make a difference in terms of teacher and student learning The studies reviewed in this paper provide us however, with a good set of “working hypotheses” that can be used as a basis for exploring more deeply into this matter in the future From the studies reviewed in this paper, it appears that creating a culture of inquiry that respects the voices of teachers and the knowledge they bring to the research experience is a key dimension of teacher research programs that are successful in enabling the kinds of teacher and student learning discussed in this paper This respect for teacher knowledge and teacher voice can be brought about in different ways, but appears to be essential to a transformational teacher research experience This does not mean that we should romanticize the voices of teachers (Hargreaves, 1996) and uncritically glorify everything that emerges from their research Teacher research needs to be taken as seriously as any other kind of inquiry and evaluated by those who would use it on the basis of both moral and educational criteria (See Zeichner & Noffke, in press) Gallas’s (1998) arguement that teacher inquiry communities need to maintain a delicate balance between honoring teachers’ voices and expertise and asking them to critique what they know accurately describes the conditions within the teacher research groups in Wisconsin, California, and Massachusetts discussed in this paper (also see Wilson & Berne, 1999) One aspect of the investment in the intellectual capital of teachers shared by most of the programs reviewed here is that teacher researchers were given or took control over most aspects of the research process including defining a research focus, data collection and analysis strategies, etc This openness to teachers determining the focus and direction of their own inquiries might not be attractive to those who would like to move teachers’ practices in particular predetermined directions (e.g., in relation to standards), but the ownership of the research by teachers seems to be essential to teacher research which makes a difference for teachers and their students The studies reviewed indicate however, that the experience of conducting self-study research under certain conditions, seems to move teachers in a direction of more learnercentered instruction where they become more convinced of the importance of listening to and studying their students and more willing to use what they learn from this “student watching” to influence classroom events They begin to approach teaching more from the standpoint of their pupils and to give their pupils more input into classroom affairs One way in which the tension between school and district improvement priorities and teachers own definitions of their individual development priorities has been dealt with is for a school or school district to organize teacher research groups around areas of priority and to allow teachers to develop their own research foci within these broad areas The Madison School District Classroom Action Research program for example, has organized several of their research groups around areas of district priority (e.g., race and gender equity, assessment, elementary school literacy) and has used funds from different departments within the district responsible for those areas to fund the groups This setting of broad areas for research and then giving volunteer teachers the autonomy to develop their own research projects within these areas of priority seems like a reasonable way to tap into the power of teacher inquiry to promote broad school and school district improvement goals When teachers lack the ability to determine their research focus as appears to have been the case for some of the teacher researchers in the Ames, Iowa program, they reacted negatively to what they perceive as an administrative attempt to increase controls over them Obviously within particular school districts, a balance will need to be achieved between professional development that focuses on individuals and that which focuses on organizational features of schools (Guskey, 1995) Another condition that seems to be important to the success of teacher research in promoting teacher and student learning is collaboration over a substantial period of time in a safe and supportive group environment.9 All of the programs examined in this paper involved teachers working in groups over the period of at least a year This experience of working in a group where all of the members are engaged in self-study seems to help teachers develop new dispositions and skills to collaborate with their colleagues When teachers feel safe and supported in these groups that meet over a long period of time, communication among group members becomes more authentic and informative than daily teacher discourse in the staff room The sustained nature of the dialogues in teacher research groups over a long period of time seems to be uncommon in teachers’ experiences, but important to the in-depth analysis of teachers’ practices that is often achieved in teacher research groups 10 As one Madison, Wisconsin teacher claimed: It is widely different So many things, unlike action research, you get all excited about them, you get pumped up with information, but you really don’t ever have the time to digest it and work into it This lasted several months I continually built my habits of mind and my attitude The process has a longer lasting effect It’s more useful because it is internalized In other classes, you don’t internalize it You get exposed and that’s only the first step (Zeichner, 1997a, p 12) In addition to the safety and security provided by teacher research groups, it also appears to be important that the groups provide teachers with intellectual challenge and stimulation Teacher researchers in several of the programs studied valued the difficulty and challenges provided by group discussions of teachers’ inquiries, contrary to popular images of teachers as wanting quick fixes and as not interested in or capable of serious intellectual engagement with ideas Teachers interviewed in Madison for example, frequently compared the “deep discussions” that they saw themselves engaged in as teacher researchers with the shallowness of many of their other professional development experiences This dual role of providing safety and security and intellectual challenge is similar to what Lord (1994 ) refers to as “productive disequilibrium,”one aspect of his concept of “critical colleagueship” which he considers to be an important aspect of good professional development Another aspect of the group experience in the programs reviewed has been the rituals and routines that are established within the groups that help establish norms that build community (see Hallinger, et.al 1996) Three of the programs discussed in this paper (the Madison group and Massachusetts groups) have provided important information about the protocols and routines that facilitators introduce to structure the inquiry and group processes In addition to the structures provided in relation to the research process (e.g., share your research question with three people and ask for a reaction to it before the next meeting), there are various structures introduced to frame the group discussions of the research For example, Marion’s (1998) detailed study of two Madison, Wisconsin groups describes in some detail the various structured activities such as check-in and check-out procedures and norms for discussion (e.g., not attempting to give answers to teachers that are regularly employed by group facilitators in the Madison program The rituals and routines in the Massachusetts groups are different than those in Madison, but they also provide a structure for both the inquiries and discussions in group meetings that are consistent with the conditions described above: respect for teacher knowledge and voice, a safe and secure environment for inquiry, sufficient time to inquire in depth, and intellectual challenge and stimulation Not enough information is provided to be able to understand the rituals and routines that might have been introduced in the other programs There are many other aspects of the programs reviewed in this paper where we are less clear about their importance to teacher and student learning For example, whether or not writing is employed in the process of formulating and/or representing the research to others, and whether released time is provided for meeting in research groups, are dimensions on which the programs vary Also, there was very little reported in the discussions of these programs about how the skills needed for doing research (e.g., data collection and analysis skills) were taught to teachers and the nature of this instruction Conducting research was a new experience for many of the teachers who participated in these programs and we need to learn more about the process of how they were inducted into the role of researcher from a methodological perspective The kind of professional development described in this paper represents a long term investment in building the capacity of teachers to exercise their judgement and leadership abilities to improve learning for themselves and their students It is not a form of teacher education that will produce quick fixes for complex and enduring problems of schooling or compensate for the unsatisfactory working conditions that teachers are often forced to endure It will also not compensate for the failure of our society to provide the social preconditions necessary for educational success for all students: access to decent jobs, housing, food, health care, etc for all families In this era of educational accountability and standards, teacher research is not a tool that can be used by policy makers or administrators to externally impose particular changes on teachers’ practices When it is organized and supported though according to the kinds of conditions discussed above, it can become a professional development experience that has a clear impact on teachers and their students in the ways described in this paper It can become a transformational professional development experience of great importance to teachers Of all of the things that I have done in terms of classes and inservices in the last 20 years, this one stands out This one experience changed the way that I think about teaching and learning (Madison teacher researcher, Zeichner, 1997a, p 19) In the end, the quality of learning for students in our schools will depend to no small extent on the quality of learning and opportunities for professional development that we provide for our teachers While it is appropriate and necessary at times for policy makers and school administrators to set directions for reforms and to provide teachers with the skills and content that they need to carry them out, there must also be a place in teachers’ lives for the kind of professional development that has been discussed in this paper that respects and nurtures the intellectual and leadership capacity of teachers References Allen, J.B ; Shockley, B.B & Baumann, J.F (1995) Gathering ‘round the kitchen table: Teacher inquiry in the NRRC school research consortium Reading Teacher, 48, (6), 526-529 Allen, L., & Calhoun, E (1998) Schoolwide action research: Findings from six years of study Phi Delta Kappan, 79(9), 706-710 American Federation of Teachers (1995) Principles for professional development: AFT's guidelines for creating professional development programs that make a difference Washington, D.C.: Author Anderson, G., Herr, K., & Nihlen, A (1994) Studying your own school Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (1995) Action research: Inquiry, reflection, and decision-making Alexandria, VA: Author Atwell, N (1987) Class-based writing research: Teachers learning from students In D Goswami & P Stillman (Eds.), Reclaiming the classroom: Teacher research as an agency for change (pp 87-94) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Berthoff, A (1987) The teacher as Researcher In D Goswami & P Stillman (Eds) Reclaiming the classroom: Teacher research as an agency for change (pp 28-39) Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton Cook Boles, K.; Kamii, M & Troen, V (March, 1999) Transformative professional development: Teacher research, inquiry, and the culture of schools Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal Bransford, J.; Brown, A & Cocking, R (1999) (Eds.) How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Education Press Brodhagen, B.; Caro-Bruce, C.; & Klais, M.(March, 1999) The nature and impact of action research in one urban school district Paper presented at a Spencer Foundation sponsored invitational conference on Collaborative Research for Practice Buckingham, R (1926) Research for teachers New York: Silver Burdett & Co Burgess-Macey, C., & Rose, J (1997) Breaking through the barriers: Professional development, action research and the early years Educational Action Research, 5(1), 55-70 Calhoun, E (1993) Action research: Three approaches Educational Leadership, 52(2), 62-65 Calhoun, E (1994) How to use action research in the self-renewing school Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Calhoun, E., & Allen, L (1996) The action research network: Action research on action research In B Joyce & E Calhoun (Eds.), Learning experiences in school renewal: An exploration of five successful programs (pp 136-174) Eugene, OR: ERIC Center on Educational Management, University of Oregon Center for Policy Research Education (1998) Changing teaching practice and improving student performance: The role of professional development Philadelphia: Center for Policy Research in Education Check, J (1998) Teacher research as powerful professional development In P Tovey (Ed.), Professional development (pp 17-19) Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Letter Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S (1992) Communities for teacher research: Fringe or forefront American Journal of Education, 100(3), 298-324 Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S (1993) Inside-outside: Teacher research and knowledge New York: Teachers College Press Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S (1998) Teacher research: The question that persists International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1(1), 19-36 Cone, J K (1997) Appearing acts: Creating readers in a high school English class In I Hall, C Campbell, & E Miech (Eds.), Class acts Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series No 29 Corcoran, T (1995) Helping teachers develop well: Transforming professional development Madison, WI: Center for Policy Research in Education Current, L., & Hirbayashi, J (1989) Teachers as researchers: Papers and commentary from the 10th annual Northern California conference Oakland, CA: Mills College Dadds, M (1995) Passionate inquiry and school development London: Falmer Press Darling-Hammond, L & McLaughlin, M (1996) Policies that support professional development in an era of reform Phi Delta Kappan, 76, (8), 597-604 Day, C (1984) Teachers' thinking, intentions and practice: An action research perspective In R Halkes & J Olson (Eds.), Teacher thinking Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger Dewey, J (1929) The sources of a science of education New York: Liverright Elliott, J (1980) Implications of classroom research for professional development In E Hoyle & J Megarry (Eds.), Professional development of teachers London: Kogan Page Elliott, J (1991) Action research for educational change Philadelphia: Open University Press Fishman, S.M Charter conceptions of teacher research In Fishman, S.M & McCarthy, L (2000) Unplayed tapes: A personal history of collaborative teacher research (pp 14-32) New York: Teachers College Press Kemmler-Ernst, A (April, 1998) Collaborative inquiry as a catalyst for change Cambridge, MA: Unpublished Paper, Harvard University Graduate School or Education Foshay, A (1994) Action research: An early history in the U.S Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 9, 317-325 Frankwicz, K (1997) Helping kindergartners become writers Madison, Wisconsin: Madison Metropolitan School District Frye, S (1997) The power of deliberately listening: A interview with Maureen Barbieri Teacher Research, 4(2), 42-58 Gallas, K (1998a) Sometimes I can be anything; Power, gender, and identity in a primary classroom New York: Teachers College Press Gallas, K (1998b) Teacher-initiated professional development: The Lawrence school study groups Chicago: The Spencer and MacArthur Foundations Glickman, C (1993) Renewing America's schools: A guide for school-based action San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Goff, S (1996) Experienced teachers and action research: A model for professional development In G Burnaford, J Fischer, & D Hobson(Eds.) Teachers doing research (pp ) Mahwah, N.J Erlbaum Grundy, S., & Kemmis, S (1988) Educational action research in Australia: The state of the art In S Kemmis & R McTaggart (Eds.), The action research reader (3rd ed., pp 321-335) Geelong, Australia: Deakin University Press Guskey, T (1995) Results oriented professional development: In search of the right mix of effective practices In T Guskey & M Huberman (Eds.), Professional development in action: New paradigms and practices (pp 114-132) New York: Teachers College Press Hallinger, P., Chantarapanya, P., Taraseina, P., & Srliboonma, U (1996) Nourishing the spirit: The role of ritual in building communities of learners Journal of Staff Development, 17(1), 22-26 Hammatt-Kavaloski, J (1997) Learning by teaching: Enhancing academic achievement through service learning Madison, WI: Madison Metropolitan School District Hargreaves, A (1996) Revisiting voice Educational Researcher, 25(1), 12-19 Hodgkinson, H (1957) Action research: A critique Journal of Educational Sociology, 31(4), 137-153 Holly, M L (April, 1990) Teachers' theorizing: Research and professional growth Boston: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association Huberman, M (1996) Moving mainstream: Taking a closer look at teacher research Language Arts, 73, 124-140 Joyce, B., Calhoun, E., Carran, N., Simser, J., Rust, D., & Halliburton, C (1996) The university town program: Exploring governance structures In B Joyce & E Calhoun (Eds.), Learning experiences in school renewal: An exploration of five successful programs (pp 5293) Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, University of Oregon Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R (1988) The action research planner (3rd ed.) Geelong, Australia: Deakin University Press Kent, K (1996) Breaking new ground: Teacher action research, a wealth of learning Redwood City, CA: Bay Area IV Professional Development Consortium Lieberman, A (1996) Practices that support teacher development: Transforming conceptions of professional learning In M McLaughlin & I Oberman (Eds.), Teacher learning: New policies (pp 185-201) New York: Teachers College Press Little, J W (1993) Teacher professional development in a climate of educational reform Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 15(2), 129-151 Lord, B ( 1994) Teachers' professional development: Critical colleagueship and the role of professional communities In N.Cobb (Ed.) The future of education: Perspectives on national standards in America (Pp.175-203) New York: College Entrance Examination Board Loucks-Horsley, S., Hewson, P., Love, P., & Stiles, K (1998) Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Marion, R (1998) Practitioner research as a vehicle for teacher learning: A case study of one urban school district: Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of WisconsinMadison McDonald, J P (1987) Raising the teachers' voice and the ironic role of theory Harvard Educational Review, 56(4), 355-378 Miller, B., Lord, B., & Dorney, J (1994) Staff development for teachers Newton, MA: Educational Development Center Miller, E (1995) The old model of staff development has survived in a world where everything has changed Harvard Education Newsletter, 11(1), 1-3 National Council of Teachers of English (1996) Inservice education: Ten principles In R Small (Ed.), Guidelines for the preparation of teachers of English language arts (pp 59-62) Urbana, IL: NCTE National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1996) Standards for the professional development of mathematics In NCTM (Ed.), Professional standards for teaching mathematics Reston, VA: Author National Staff Development Council (1995 a,b,c) Standards for staff development: Elementary, middle school, and high school editions Oxford, OH: Author Noffke, S (1997) Professional, personal, and political dimensions of action research In M Apple (Ed.), Review of Research in Education (Vol 22, pp 305-343) NPEAT (1998) Characteristics of effective professional development Washington, DC: Author Oja, S., & Smulyan, L (1989) Collaborative action research: A developmental approach London: Falmer Press Richardson, V (1994) Teacher inquiry as professional staff development In S Hollingsworth & H Sockett (Eds.), Teacher research and educational reform (pp 186-203) Chicago: University of Chicago Press Richert, A (1996) Teacher research on school change: What teachers learn and why that matters In K Kent (Ed.), Breaking new ground: Teacher action research: A wealth of new learning Redwood City, CA: Bay Area IV Professional Development Consortium Richert, A (April, 1999) The learning teacher for the changing school:Teacher research as a methodology of change Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal Ross, J., Rolheiser, C., & Hogaboarm-Gray, A (1998) Skills training versus action research inservice: Impact on student attitudes to self-evaluation Teaching and Teacher Education, 14(5), 463-477 Sagor, R (1992) How to conduct collaborative action research Alexandria, VA: ASCD Sagor, R (1997) Collaborative action research for educational changes In A Hargreaves (Ed.), Rethinking educational change with heart and mind (pp 169-191) Alexandria, VA: ASCD Selener, D (1997) Participatory action research and social change Quito, Ecuador: Global Action Publications Sparks, D & Hirsh, S (December, 1999) A national plan for improving professional development Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council Stenhouse, L (1975) An introduction to curriculum research and development London: Heinemann Troen, V., Kamii, M., & Boles, K (April, 1997) From carriers of culture to agents of change: Teacher initiated professional development in the learning/teaching collaborative inquiry seminars Chicago: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association U.S Department of Education (1994) National Assessment of Educational Progress, long- term assessment Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S Department of Education U S Department of Education (1995) Building bridges: The mission and principles of professional development Washington, DC: Author Wanne, K (1952) Teachers as researchers Educational Leadership, 9, 489-495 Wilson, S & Berne, J (1999)Teacher learning and the acquisition of professional knowledge: An examination of research on contemporary professional development In A IranNejad & P David Pearson (Eds.) Review of research in education (Volume 24, pp 173-209) Washington, D C.: American Educational Research Association Zeichner, K (April, 1997a) Action research as professional development in one urban school district Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago Zeichner, K (1997b) Action research as a tool for educational and social reconstruction Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Brazilian National Association of Postgraduate Education and Educational Research, Caxambu, Brazil Zeichner, K (In press) Educational action research In H Bradbury & P Reason (Eds.) Handbook of action research Newbury Park, CA: Sage Zeichner, K., Marion, R., & Caro-Bruce, C (1998) The nature and impact of action research in one urban school district Chicago: Spencer and MacArthur Foundations Zeichner, K & Klehr, M (April, 1999) Teacher research as professional development in one urban school district Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal Zeichner, K., & Noffke, S (in press) Practitioner research In V Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (4th ed., ) Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association NOTES I would like to thank Amika Kemmler-Ernst, Mary Klehr, Robin Marion, Fred Newmann, and Sue Noffke for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript 2.”Teacher research” will be used as a generic term in this paper to discuss an activity that is referred to by several other names in the literature such as “practitioner research,” “self-study research,” “action research,” “teacher inquiry,” and “participatory research.” See Zeichner and Noffke (in press) for a discussion of the different traditions associated with the use of these different terms 3.There are several different versions of the action research spiral (see Mckernan, 1996) In their work at Deakin Uuniversity in Australia, Kemmis & McTaggart (1988) introduced what is probably the most widely accepted and simpliest version of the spiral: repeated cycles of plan, act, observe, and reflect The term “program” refers to many different patterns for organizing teacher research ranging from those where individual teachers are funded to research on their own to instances where many teachers in the same school district are engaged in research Fishman (1999) describes the variation in teacher research studies in relation to what he calls two “charter conceptions” of teacher research The first, based on the work of Lawrence Stenhouse (1975), is that teacher research involves established methods of data collection and analysis, peer review and publication This academic conception of teacher research is closely associated with the notion of the action research spiral discussed elsewhere in this paper Here teachers investigate specific research questions to improve particular aspects of their practice The second conception, according to Fishman is based on the work of Ann Berthoff (1987) and involves the reexamination and re-searching of experiences that teachers already have had with the goal of greater understanding This view of teacher research is less about systematic data collection and analysis in relation to specific research questions and more about a more holistic reflection about a number of different aspects of one’s practice simultaneously 6.Since 1990, over 400 teachers and other staff in the district have participated in the program 7.Although at times two to three people in a group may be from the same school, the groups are mostly composed of teachers from different schools 8.Each teacher presenter was responsible for telling the group what kind of feedback they wanted and often reading material to prepare for the discussions was given to the group a week in advance 9.Loucks-Horsley et.al (1987) have argued that successful professional development must be seen as a process taking place over an extended period of time rather than as an event 10.In a comparative study of the effectiveness of action research and skill training in relation to helping students evaluate their work in cooperative groups, the authors conclude that there was no overall improvement achieved through action research because the action research groups lasted only eight weeks (Ross, et al 1998) ... several conditions under which school-based teacher research becomes a transformative professional development activity for teachers Teacher Research as a Professional Development Activity for P-12. .. knowledge about teaching and learning that will be useful to other P-12 educators, policy makers, academic researchers, and teacher educators It has been argued for example, that teacher research as a. .. teacher research experience that are associated with different kinds of teacher and student learning Studying the Impact of Teacher Research as a Professional Development Activity There are at