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This page provides archived information about and reports of locally undertaken practitioner-based inquiry and research work, as well as links to information developed around the world related to research addressing language and literacy development.
New resources are added, and inserted into the alphabetical list below, so please check back from time to time to see what's new.
2004 - 2005 projects departed from the inquiry model, in order to include both inquiry and other forms of learning.
Final reports; projects completed in 2004, here. To learn about these research project grants, click here .
Research share - July 31, 2003: read more about it ; this link leads to a write up of the work begun so far in thinking about new approaches to practitioner-based research in Rhode Island and also includes links to a range of research reports being considered by the group.
Following a retreat to revision ways of doing this work, inquiry projects were again supported during the 2002 - 2003 academic year. [ Applcations here, ]
2002 - 2003 completed projects: read
proposals
here. Final presentations were given on June 13th;
reports
link out from the proposals page.
2001-2002 completed projects: initial proposals and final reports
Projects completed: 2000 - 2001 Final sharing session was held on June 28, 2001. Read reflections on that year's process.
Projects completed - January - June, 2000
-
Adult Education Teacher Inquiry Projects were
initially supported in Rhode Island through funding obtained through Section 353, Special
Projects/Professional Development, of the National Literacy Act of 1991. A first round of
projects was undertaken in the spring of 1996, followed by a second round the
following spring.
Practitioners throughout the state are invited to submit questions they wish to explore during each round of the inquiry process; and at the end of each cycle come together to share their findings. They participate in an orientation session at the beginning of each round of inquiry, during which information about practitioner-based inquiry is shared, suggestions made and guidance given towards the development of their projects. Reports of many of the projects undertaken in 1996 and 1997 are online.
Dr. James Barton, Assistant Professor, Education Department, University of RI, assisted the project as advisor and provided technical assistance in 1996 and 97. Howard Dooley of the former Rhode Island Literacy Resource Center participated in disseminating information about the 1996 projects. Bob Mason of the RI Department of Education facilitates the funding process, and since 1997, Literacy Resources/RI has worksed with RIDE to assist inquiry work.
winter/spring/98 Reports on project processes and findings from a third round of inquiry projects (January 1 to June 25th, 1998) were shared at a final large group meeting on June 25th, and are online at inquiry.98.html.
fall/spring 98/99 Seven projects developed during the 1998-99 academic year are also online. Inquiry participants met monthly in order to bring others into the work, share early findings and perspectives. A final sharing session was held on June 25th.
In addition to local inquiry work, Rhode Island was represented in the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy's Practitioner Research Dissemination Network (PDRN). RI's PDRN leader, David Hayes disseminated this newsletter devoted to the early work of the PDRN, including links to NCSALL's ongoing research projects. More information about the now-defunct PDRN may be available at http://www.ncsall.net/
Inquiry and literacy research resources online
(* indicates site/description disseminated through The Institute on Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Problem Solving Through Action Research, sponsored by the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, November, 1997).
Action
Research - Center for Applied Linguistics Digest by Richard
Donato, December, 2003
ActionResearch.net - huge compendium of resources, papers, dissertations, articles from the University of Bath; this is the same resource as Jack White's homepage, listed below -- but might be known by this name.
Action Research Resources - vast range of resources, including papers, conference proceedings and online coursework.
Action Researchers’ Educational Theories and their Politics of Educational Knowledge: Reconstructing Educational Theory and Constructing Educational Knowledge. [ full text] Jack Whitehead; Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference (September 11-14 1997: University of York)
Adult
Learning and the Generation of New Knowledge and Meaning: Creating
Liberating Spaces for Fostering Adult Learning Through
Practitioner-Based Collaborative Action Inquiry by Lyle Yorks
— 2005 Teachers College Record Volume 107 Number 6, 2005, p. 1217-1244
The
Adult Literacy Reserach-in-Practice Pre-conference summary, July
7, 2002 - is not available online; the link here leads citations of this work -
University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC
The Adult Educator's Guide to Practitioner Research - by Suzanne Cockley ; "handbook for the novice practitioner researcher provides an overview of the practitioner research process, and discusses the strategies and methods used to conduct a qualitative inquiry...includes case studies, a sample outline for writing a research report, a list of recommended reading, and information about using the ERIC system."
An overview of practitioner based inquiry can be found in
Cassie
Drennon's
1994 NCLE Digest, Adult
Literacy Practitoners as Researchers
In addition to
providing
helpful background information about inquiry, the Digest also provides
a useful list of resources for further reading.
Adult Literacy and Numeracy Australiain Research
Constortium
- ALNARC represents a national collaboration between university-based
centres
in each state for research into adult literacy and numeracy. This
gives ALNARC a unique profile internationally. ALNARC builds on the
work
of the former Adult
Literacy
Research Network (Language Australia) which had research nodes in
the
states and territories.
Adult
Literacy
Research:
Extending our practice and building networks - Memorial
University
of Newfoundland, June 17 - 21, 2003. This four day
Institute
will bring together up to 60 people who are involved in adult literacy
research in practice. The event builds on previous Canadian
consultations
about literacy research and will draw from current endeavors to
support
research in practice in Canada and elsewhere. The gathering will be of
interest to new and experienced researchers in the adult literacy
field, including literacy teachers, facilitators or program
coordinators
an university-based and independent researchers.
Adult Literacy Staff Development Trends and Issues Alerts
by Susan Imel, also provides a list of resources pertinent to inquiry as well as to other forms of staff development processes.
American Educational Research Association, and its online publications page; includes resources, events, fellowships and legislative information.
Areol, action research and evaluation on line, as a web-based program - a 14-week public course offered each semester as a public service by Southern Cross University and the Southern Cross Institute of Action Research.
Applications
of
Participatory
Action Research with Students who have disabilities - ERIC
Digest,
July, 2003: Participatory action research, an approach in which
researchers
and stakeholders (those individuals who might benefit from the research
findings) collaboratively engage in the various stages of the research
process, provides for greater influence of stakeholders in the research
process and a higher level of support for the implementation of
research
findings in practice. This digest offers several examples of how
researchers
and practitioners are using participatory action research data to
select
effective practices and support change and innovation.
(also available here)
Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE)/L'Association Canadienne pour l'Etude de l'Education des Adultes (ACÉÉA) : English (language) resources to research in adult education
The Changes Project:From 1997 - 1999, adult learners from five Adult Basic Education programs in western Massachusetts conducted a participatory action research project focused on the impact of welfare reform, immigration reform and the changing nature of work on 620 of their fellow adult learners. The work of the project paints a picture of the impact of these three issues on the lives of adult learners at these five programs. Researchers make recommendations for ABE programs, fellow learners, legislators and policy makers. The Changes Project was a project of the Western Regional Resource Center of the Massachusetts SABES System at Holyoke Community College and was funded by the Field Initiated Grant Studies Program of the Office for Educational Research and Improvement at US DOE.
The Changes Project - Research and Learning in Western Massachusetts, an article by Alex Risley Schroeder giving an account of students participating in action research into issues affecting their own lives, appearning in Field Notes, (summer 2000)
Dancing
in the Dark - report on practitioner research in
British Columbia, Canada.
Directory of UK ELT (English Language
Teaching) Research 2005-08 - research-active institutions in
the UK to contributed to this Directory, which is available as a
searchable database, and a bibliography in printable pdf format. Around
850 research outputs from 52 institutions are listed. These outputs
include journal articles, chapters in edited books, papers in
conference proceedings, authored books, unpublished but
electronically accessible documents and doctoral theses. Additionally,
there are details of 55 research projects.
Education-line - freely accessible database of the full text of conference papers, working papers and electronic literature which supports educational research, policy and practice.
Ethnography for classrooms: constructing a reflective curriculum for literacy, Mary Hamilton, Curriculum Stuides, Volume 7, Number 3, 1999.
Focus
on Basics - Volume 1, Issue A, February, 1997 (scroll down for Volume 1) - What is
research?
Articles and reflections about research, inquiry and teacher and
learner knowledge.
Focused on Practice
- A Framework for Adult Literacy Research in Canada, 2007
Harvard Education Letter Research Online - bimonthly newsletter, covers timely topics in dept and explores issues from the perspectives of both research and practice.
Harvard Graduate School of Education News and Views - including research news updates
Inquiry tools for teachers - from the Coalition for Essential Schools' IITIC (Improving Instruction Through Inquiry and Collaboration) Project through which the Southern Maine Partnership and the CES Northwest Center each work with three local schools to assess and improve classroom instruction. The site required registration; includes numerous inquiry related resources.
Jean McNiff - a place for learning, sharing and creating new knowledge, developed by an earll practitioner of and advocate for action research.
Lancaster Poster Projects - wonderful graduate student projects investigating literacy practices in England; part of Lancaster University's larger literacy research site, The Literacy and Research Group home page
-
Becoming
expert: using ethnographies of everyday learning to inform the
education
of adults - Mary Hamilton, Literacy Research Group, Department of
Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK.
Local
teachers tackle reflection - a report from the Providence
Journal about a summer learning opportunity for K-12 teachers
The
Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning - "Lifelong learning is
critical for adults to be engaged citizens, active members of the labor
force, healthy, and informed consumers. Adults with limited
formal education, who left high school for what ever reason, are most
in need of opportunity and encouragement for continued learning.
However, the field of adult education has been limited by a lack of
research about literacy development during adulthood that would serve
to facilitate lifelong learning for this population. The Longitudinal
Study of Adult Learning project is breaking new ground by addressing
key questions about the literacy development, learning and life
experiences of low-education adults over time."
Maximising
the impact of practitioner research: A handbook of practical advice
(Hamilton, Davies and James) [developed from the NRDC's Practitioner-led
research initiative
Midwest
Research-To-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing and Community
Education - Two day meeting held each fall at a major university in
the Midwest United States; archives of the conference from 2002 - 2006
Mini-Survey of Research in Adult Education & Literacy - posting to the National Literacy Advocacy List about responses to the question: What 5-10 research studies ever produced on any aspect of adult literacy do you find most useful for purposes of guiding policy, management and/or practice?
National Labsite for Adult ESOL - a project of NCSALL and Portland State University; teachers teach, learners learn, this activity is videotaped, coded, reflected upon and in time, made available to others for their input and response.
National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy - UK's national centre dedicated to research and development on adult literacy, language and numeracy, was established as part of Skills for Life, the national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills. The Centre aims to improve practice and inform policy through the generation of knowledge, by creating a strong research culture and by developing professional practice. check the publications page for information about Strategy 2003-2007, a process that resembles work that RI practitioners are attempting to do in our own contexts. The work also bears a resemblance to that of NCSALL's five year plans.
Networks - An On-Line Journal for Teacher Research Journal offering teachers working in classrooms from pre-school to university a place to share their findings and learn from each other, and includes feature length articles, short reports of work in progress, book reviews, discussions on current issues in teacher research, responses to published articles and upcoming events in teacher research. Articles will cover a wide range of issues related to classroom teaching and learning, such as curriculum, research methodology, ethics and collaboration. Classroom teachers at all levels will be involved in reviewing the manuscripts. The emphasis will be on a reader-friendly writing style that gives a clear account of issues, questions and classroom inquiry.
An Overview of Action Research - from the Development and Dissemination School Initiative, an online resource for Educators of ELL Students. The project is part of a partnership between New York City Board of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and the Education Alliance at Brown University. Its goal is to help New York's English-language learners (ELLs) acquire both English-language and other skills and knowledge they will need to meet the New Standards that the Chancellor has established for all students in New York City.
[symposium ] Participatory Action Research (PAR): Collaborating to produce worthwhile knowledge - paper focussing on how teachers, researchers and educational advisors balance their different roles in participatory action research teams. (One of many papers archived on the Australian Association for Research in Education site).
PARnet - "Based at Cornell University in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of central New York State, PARnet serves an international group of students, faculty, and other practitioners who share a commitment to promoting high standards of intellectual and social integrity in doing social research for social change."
Portraits of literacy: Critical Issues in Family, Community and School Literacies - July 7 - 10, 2002, University of British Columbia. Strong research and practice components; many papers online and many due to be posted in proceedings, as well.
‘Possible Selves’: Girls and Their Mothers Research Own Lives - intergenerational research project; part of What Kids Can Do.
Practitioner
Dissemination
and Research Network of the National Center for the Study of
Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL): PDF document, evaluation of the
now defunct PDRN.
Practitioner-Led Research Initiative (PLRI)
projects - publication from the NRDC summarizing
practitioner-led research implemented from 2004-6.
Practitioner Research - topical listing from a larger subject index for Focus on Basics, a NCSALL quarterly journal.
Primer on Social Science Inquiry, part of WNET's Learning Adventures inCitizenship ADVENTURES IN CITIZENSHIP, a site containing Web-based learning activities designed to allows teachers, parents, and kids to learn more about and participate in their own communities. The site also includes links to resources found at the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry, "which provides workshops, programs, on-line support, and an intellectual community of practice affording science reform educators a deep and rich experience of how inquiry learning looks and feels."
Qualitative Research Websites - links from The University of East Anglia, one of of many of ERIC'S resources on action research.
Recognizing the Knowledge of Young People: An Interview with Michelle Fine and Maria Elena Torre on Youth Action Research, from What Kids Can Do.
Reflective
Teaching Practice in Adult ESL Settings - Digest by
MaryAnn
Cunningham Florez
Research and Practice in Adult Literacy - (RaPAL), a site that has come and gone online, but an entity which has consistently provided information, publications and hands on experience to learners and practitioners in the UK: "RaPAL campaigns for the rights of all adults to have access to the full range of literacies in their lives...RaPAL encourages a broad range of collaborative and reflective research involving all participants in literacy work as partners. We support democratic practices in adult literacy work and believe that a learning democracy can only be achieved if teaching, learning and research are kept together. A dynamic relationship between research and practice keeps the meaning of literacy open and responsive to the variety of changing social contexts and practices that exist in our society. We recognise the role of professional development in this process and of activities which enable learners to make their views known, in all media. As we see it, students are central to a learning democracy and their participation in the decision-making processes of practice and research is essential."
Research
as Staff Development: A Facilitator's Guide - a new component
of
the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center's website is for adult
literacy
programs and organizations interested in using inquiry groups and
research
methods in their program improvement efforts. The guide provides all
the
basic materials and information to implement practitioner research as
staff
development. The process is organized into four meetings: Coming Up
With
A Research Question, Collecting Research Data, Analyzing Research Data,
and Making Our Research Knowledge Public. It includes the steps
to
facilitate each meeting, handouts for all the activities, and links to
teachers' research projects and other resources.
Ronna Spacone, former VAERN coordinator, developed this extensive
website.
VAERN was funded in 1998-2000 by a grant to the Arlington Education and
Employment Program (REEP) from the Virginia Department of
Education.
-- Susan Joyner, Director Adult
Learning
Resource Center
RESEARCH / Centre for Language and Literacy - University of Technology, Syndney/ a research centre that focuses on the areas of language, literacy and numeracy education and research. Centre members are also involved in policy advice, consultancies and training for different educational and professional bodies, workplaces and State and National agencies and institutions.
Research
Community
Needs Voices of Classroom Teachers - Dr. Arif Altun Touts Potential
Role of Action Research; somewhat problematic in its implication/tone,
but also linked to a paper by David Nunan. Another doctor in the
academy considers practice in research.
Research
in Action: Teachers, Projects, and Technology by Heide Wrigley,
Literacy Links Volume 8, No. 3, June 2004. What counts as
research, why does it matter and what does it mean?
Research in Practice in Adult Literacy - Canadian-based site, designed to provide resources and access to communication with other researchers in practice; the site is in development - give your input through the site's online survey.
Reports for the Research-in-Practice Project are
posted on the RiPAL-BC website and
can be downloaded free of charge (http://library.copian.ca/publishers/ripal-bc).
Reports include: Make it Real: Participatory Action Research with Adult
Learners by Dee McRae, See Me: Use of Personal Narrative in the
Classroom by Paula Davies, Catching Our Breath: Collaborative
Reflection-on-Action in Remote-Rural BC by Anne Docherty, From Concrete
to Abstract: The benefits of Using a Guided Reflective Writing
Technique by Leonne Beebe, Walking Alongside: Youth-Adult Partnerships
in Making Change by Melanie Sondergaard
Research in Practice Seminar Edmonton, October 24th
to 26th
Exploring
Tensions and Possibilities for Research in Practice: Notes towards a
presentation!
Jenny Horsman - notes from an Edmonton seminar.
Researcher
index; subject and author index of research projects organised
and posted by the National
Literacy
Trust. Rich resource gateway.
Research, reports and policy on
adult literacies from Scotland and beyond from Adult
Literacies Online
Research to Practice: Guidelines for Planning Action Research Projects by Nancy Padak and Gary Padak
Resources for
Feminist
Research - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Student Research for Action,
Supporting students as action researchers - from What Kids Can Do
TAMING THE RESEARCH BEAST - Research Methods in TESL and Language Acquisition
The Impact of Teacher Knowledge Seminars: Unpacking Reflective Practice (drawing on the Teacher Knowledge Project at the School for International Training - The Teacher Knowledge Project (TKP) trains co-facilitators for reflective inquiry groups, offering teachers: time, a community of colleaguesand a structure for examining their teaching in relation to their students' learning, and for making thoughtful changes in their teaching
Voices
from the field - Third Quarter, 1999. Julia Nora, a former
adult
educator, currently teaching middle school ESOL, reports on her own
action
research. Her goals were "to assess the current level of performance in
my classroom, experiment with new ways of doing things, measure the
results,
and begin again as necessary."
Publications from the National Center on Adult Literacy:
Invitations to Inquiry: Rethinking Staff Development in Adult Literacy Education, Susan L. Lytle, Alisa Belzer, & Rebecca Reumann (October 1992) introduces a model for inquiry-centered staff development in which participants work collaboratively to conduct systematic inquiries at their program settings, critically analyze current theory and research from field-based perspectives, and make problematic the social, political, and cultural arrangements that structure literacy learning and teaching in particular contexts. (TR92-02, 40 pages)
Developing the Professional Workforce for Adult Literacy Education, Susan L. Lytle, Alisa Belzer, & Rebecca Reumann (December 1993) identifies policy issues in adult education staff development and introduces inquiry-based staff development as a promising approach for enriching the professional workforce and rethinking both practice and research on practice in adult literacy. (PB92-02, 11 pages)
Initiating Practitioner Inquiry: Adult Literacy Teachers, Tutors, and Administrators Research Their Practice, Susan L. Lytle, Alisa Belzer, & Rebecca Reumann (November 1993) focuses on the systematic inquiry into daily practice by adult literacy workers whose questions and methods emerge from quite particularized, workplace contexts even while addressing the wider concerns in the field such as staff development. (TR93-11, 53 pages) $
For more information concerning Rhode Island Inquiry Projects please contact LR/RI
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updated May 20, 2017