Teacher Action Research

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Coffee Break Inservice: Motivating Adult Learners Parts I and II.
Gerstner-Horvarth, Marilyn. (1994). A self-directed professional development packet for educators of adults. Parts I and II each address two characteristics of the motivating instructor. Following group preparation and discussion, individual teachers formulate their own action plans to apply strategies in their classrooms. After practicing the motivational techniques, participants evaluate the effect of their revised practice. Further professional readings are provided. (371.122 Ger)

Creating Practical Knowledge Through Action Research: Posing Problems, Solving Problems, and Improving Daily Practice.
Quigley, Allan B. and Kuhne, Gary W. (1997). This book is Number 73 in the New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education series. This issue discusses the role of research in adult education and how to use action research. Action research provides a systematic discovery process that has helped hundreds of adult education practitioners understand, analyze, interpret, and resolve day-to-day problems in the educational workplace. The intended audience is educators/trainers of adults in formal and informal settings. (374.02 NDACE Qui)

The Emerging Power of Action Inquiry Technology.
Brooks, Ann and Watkins, Karen E. (1994). This book is Number 63 in the New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education series. This issue discusses action inquiry research and its implications in adult education. Some of the chapter titles are: Learning and Transforming through Action Science; Participatory Action Research: Principles, Politics, and Possibilities; and A Framework for Using Action Technologies. (374.02 NDACE Bro)

Initiating Practitioner Inquiry: Adult Literacy Teachers, Tutors, and Administrators Research Their Practice.
Lytle, Susan L., Belzer, Alisa and Rebecca Reuman, National Center for Adult Literacy. (1993). This report is the second in a series focusing on a particular type of inquiry-based staff development referred to as inquiry-centered, defined as "a range of approaches to adult learning that purposefully builds on the richness and diversity of real-world experience and knowledge that teachers, tutors, and administrators currently bring to the field." This report explores how literacy practitioners initiate inquiry by generating questions and methods from their particular contexts. (370.72 Lyt)

Making Meaning, Making Change: Participatory Curriculum Development for Adult ESL Literacy.
Auerbach, Elsa Roberts. (1992). Unlike traditional curriculum guides that specify the structure, sequence, and content for instruction, this unique book raises issues about teaching and curriculum development. This format invites readers to share their experiences, make their assumptions about literacy explicit, and work together to investigate instructional methods. The author describes how teachers of adult ESL literacy classes and their students can collaborate so that a literacy curriculum is relevant to students' life experiences and helps students confront the challenges they face as workers, parents, and community members. (428.007 Aue)

he Pennsylvania ABLE Staff Handbook: 1998 Edition.
Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education. (1998). This handbook was published for program administrators and others involved in professional development. It includes many articles from a variety of sources, grouped into these subjects: Working Together for Program Improvement; Teaching and Learning; and Developing as a Professional. The chapter on "Active Learning in Continuing Professional Education" addresses reflective practice and inquiry among adult and continuing education professionals. (374.012 PDE)

Rethinking Leadership in Adult and Continuing Education.
Edelson, Paul. (1992). This book is Number 56 in the New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education series. Some of the chapters are titled: Leadership and Staff Development: A Mentorship Model; Symbolic Leadership: Redefining Relations with the Host Organization; and Visions of Leadership: Understanding the Research Literature. (374.02 NDACE Ede)

Accommodating Adults with Disabilities in Adult Education Programs.
Bulgren, Janis A. et al. (1998). This project is designed to facilitate the process of identifying and utilizing appropriate accom-modations for adult learners with disabilities. The materials include information on individual and program legal rights and responsibilities. The following materials are included: Implementation Guide; Adult Educator Handbook; Learner Handbook; Procedural Guide; and TARGET Self-Advocacy Strategy. (370.152 Bul)

Teaching Literacy to Adults With Learning Disabilities: A National Satellite Teleconference presented by the PBS Adult Learning Series and the University of Georgia.
(1999). This is a videotape and facilitator's guide from a two-hour satellite teleconference held on February 11, 1999. The facilitator's guide includes the program schedule, program outline, panelist profiles, and a bibliography. Components of the program include characteristics of learning disabilities, learning processes, classroom accommodations, instructional strategies, resources, and case studies. (370.152 PBS)

Vision for an Ideal System: Improving Services to Adults With Learning Disabilities: An Adult Education Partnership.
(1997). The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), and the National Adult Literacy and Learning Disabilities Center (NALLDC) sponsored a two-and-a-half-day focus group in November 1997. This group was to design an ideal "model" for services to adult basic education program participants who have learning disabilities or related disorders. The process included determining, without regard to existing models, what system elements were essential for adults with learning disabilities to become academically successful. This book includes an overview of that focus group meeting, areas of discussions consensus statements, highlights, key points, current action, and "what are the next steps?" Included among the several appendices are: interagency collaborative planning process model, meeting agenda, and focus group process model. (370.152 MSDE)

Assessing and Accommodating Adults with Learning Disabilities.
PBS Adult Learning Service and University of Georgia. (1999). This is the video and participant packet for a two-hour teleconference aired on March 11, 1999. The program focused on how to choose the right accommodation (including assistive technologies) for adult students with learning disabilities in different scenarios. Presenters discussed what to expect from a formal learning disabilities evaluation and how to differentiate between formal and informal assessment tools. They also discussed how to accurately match a student's skills to potential jobs. A final topic was school-to-work transition plans, including workplace accommodation. (371.9 PALS)

Delivering Family Literacy in the Context of Welfare Reform: Lessons Learned.
Alamprese, Judith A. and Voight, Janet D., Abt Associates Inc. (1998). In 1997-1998, the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) worked with five family literacy programs that had begun to adapt their services to meet the requirements of welfare reform. The NCFL commissioned Abt Associates, Inc. to conduct case studies of these five sites. The purpose of the case studies was to analyze the ways in which these family literacy programs were working with local welfare offices and adjusting their services so that welfare recipients could continue their family literacy program participation while meeting the new requirements. Presented in this document are the five case studies and a cross-case analysis of the programs' adaptive strategies. (649.58 Ala)

Everyday Matters: Activities for You and Your Child.
Washburn Child Guidance Center. (1997). Written in both English and Spanish, this book offers more than one hundred activities in five areas for parents of preschool children. The areas are: discipline, self-esteem, language development, coordination development, and infant care. The activities are short and simple, with clear descriptions written in everyday language. The activity pages can be reproduced. (649.58 WCG)

Families Talk About ... Fathers Matter.
Sayre, James. (1996). Created by a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester, this 19 minute video introduces viewers to urban fathers - married, single and divorced - who reflect on what it means to be a father; their influences on the next generation; and new roles, challenges, and opportunities for fathers in a changing society. (649.58 Say)

The Family Literacy Resource Notebook.
Sapin, Connie and Padak, Nancy D. (1998). This notebook is a reference volume for a broad spectrum of users, from someone who wants to know what family literacy is all about to a family literacy provider who wants to expand or enrich an existing program. This resource is the result of an Even Start Statewide Literacy Initiative grant in 1996, which funded a needs assessment survey and focus groups to determine the professional development needs of major family literacy providers. Chapter One of this publication supplies definitions and quotations to expand understanding of family literacy. Chapter Two describes a variety of types of family literacy programs. Chapter Three describes directories of agencies and organizations serving families nationally with resources for collaboration and public relations. Other chapters provide practical information, such as: the start-up process; team building and collaboration; funding sources and grant proposal writing tips; recruitment strategies; parent-child activities; a compilation of references; and a comprehensive index. Materials in the notebook may be duplicated. (649.58 Sap)

Little Books from A to Z.
McCormick, Christine E. and Mason, Jana M. (1998). This series of books contains twenty-six easy-to-recite, high-interest Little Books for children who are learning to recognize letters and connect the letters with their primary sounds at the beginning of the words. Each book fosters awareness of initial sounds by emphasizing a specific letter. Materials in this series may be reproduced. (649.58 McC)

Including Your Child.
Gruskin, Susan et al. (1997). This easy to read book covers several topics on parenting. Some of the chapter titles are: A Family is the Most Important Support a Child Can Have; Find Services and Supports Based on Your Child's Age; and It is Important to Have Dreams for Your Child. A list of resources such as agencies, hotlines, Internet sites, and government information is included. (649.58 Gru)

Just Because I Am: A Child's Book of Affirmation.
Payne, Lauren Murphy. (1997). This book teaches that a child is special. Through this book, children will learn to respect their needs and feelings along with discovering that everyone makes mistakes. A leader's guide is included. (649.58 Pay JBI)

Raising Lifelong Learners.
Calkins, Lucy. (1997). This book combines the unique perspectives of parent and professor with personal anecdotes and research of the author. This is a useful book for those interested in nurturing children to become lifelong learners. (649.58 Cal)

Tutoring Children in Reading and Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide: Book 1: Kindergarten.
Family Learning Association with Kay Sloan. (1998). The National Goals 2000 report calls for millions of tutors to help all children to read and write on grade level by the end of third grade. To accomplish this requires parents and volunteer tutors to work with schools to see that children get the guidance and practice they need to succeed. The Family Learning Association has utilized the resources of the ERIC system and the experience of teachers in providing this series of tutoring guidebooks that give practical guidelines and activities for grades K-4. This book is the kindergarten volume. (649.58 FLA)

How to Develop a Professional Portfolio: A Manual for Teachers.
Campbell, Dorothy M., et al. (1997). This book was developed by teacher education faculty to provide their students with a more authentic, broad-based and holistic way to demonstrate their growing competence. The intent is to give teachers a larger measure of control in charting their own professional growth. Specific guidelines are included for developing a port- folio, as well as a model portfolio assessment structure and process. Though written for preservice teachers, it can be adapted by inservice teachers, school districts, or other educational entities, to fit their unique situations. (378 Cam)

How to Be an Effective Teacher: The First Days of School.
Wong, Harry K and Wong, Rosemary T. (1998). This book was written for teachers of students of all ages to help them get a "jump start" by beginning the school year successfully. The result of ideas and technologies shared by the two authors/educators over their careers, the book is intended to motivate, and to encourage teachers to act as mentors and role models for one another. For administrators, the authors encourage quality training for increased retention and motivation of staff. Chapters cover: basic understanding of the successful/effective teacher; setting positive expectations; classroom management; designing lessons to help students reach mastery; and how teachers learn and grow to become professional educators. (378 Won)

Listening.
White, Goodith. (1998). This book is from the Resource Books for Teachers series (guides to classroom practice in key aspects of language teaching). It covers the issues of what makes a good listener and how teachers can motivate learners to develop confidence and independence in learning. Over seventy classroom activities are included, such as: raising learners' awareness of individual sounds and intonation patterns; exploiting published materials, radio, and television; "listening in real life," and listening projects. An appendix provides advice on teacher-made listening materials. (428.007 Whi)

Tools for Teaching.
Davis, Barbara Gross. (1993). This compendium includes classroom-tested strategies designed to improve the teaching practices of beginning, mid-career, and senior teachers. Forty-nine teaching tools are organized into twelve sections, covering both traditional tasks - writing a course syllabus, delivering an effective lecture - and newer, broader concerns, such as responding to diversity and using technology. Each tool includes a brief introduction, a set of general strategies, and concise descriptions of practical ideas culled from distinguished teachers, as well as from the literature on teaching and learning. (371.122 Dav)

Math for Everyday Living.
Edson, Ann and Schwartz, Allan A. (1994). For loan/trial use only (not to be copied), the loan set includes one CD-ROM (for both Mac and Windows format) and a User's/Teacher's Guide. This tutorial program was designed for upper elementary and secondary level learners with a reading level of fourth through sixth grades. The program's intent is to teach and develop the necessary math skills involved in real-life everyday activities while developing consumer math and business skill mastery. Simulation-type activities provide students with hands-on experiences in applying math skills to situations such as, making change, working with sales slips, unit pricing, computing gas mileage, figuring sales tax, working with wages, overtime, piecework, and more. A management system stores all student data. (371.39445 TBS Eds Math)

How to Solve Word Problems in Algebra: A Solved Problem Approach.
Johnson, Mildred. (1992). There is no area in algebra which causes students as much difficulty as word problems. Often, algebra textbooks do not have adequate explanations and examples for the student who is having trouble with algebra. This book provides the student with detailed instructions in procedures and many completely worked examples for the students to follow. All major types of word problems usually found in algebra texts are provided. Emphasis is on the mechanics of solving word problems, giving the learner basic procedures to follow, even if they are unable to reason out a problem. This book may be used independently- or in conjunction with a text, for students in beginning or intermediate level algebra. (501 Joh)

Math in the Workplace: Using Graphs, Charts, and Tables.
Geoffrey, Lynn. (1997). For loan/trial use only (not to be copied). The loan set includes one CD-ROM (for both Mac and Windows for- mat) and a User's/Teacher's Guide. Intended for ninth grade through adult, this program is based on Applied Mathematics, a modular, competency-based curriculum developed by the Center for Occupational Research and Development, under the direction of a consortium of forty-one state education agencies. Math in the Workplace is a series of interactive skills-development and tutorial programs designed to motivate students by providing practical job-related mathematics activities. Each program uses applied math involving industrial technology, building trades, marketing, agriculture, agribusiness, home economics, and health occupations. Students may choose the work area that interests them most, selecting up to six different sets of questions in each vocational field. Reproducible sheets accompany each program. (371.39445 TBS Geo)

Aging in the United States: An Education Module.
Population Reference Bureau. (1999). This teaching kit is intended for use in introducing teenage or adult learners to major issues surrounding the growth of the elderly population. Developed with support from the National Institute on Aging, the kit includes four reproducible lesson plans, a wall chart, data sheet, and Population Bulletin "Older Americans in the '90s and Beyond." These materials provide additional information about the elderly population. (301 PRB)

Black Families.
McAdoo, Harriette Pipes Ed. (1997). The editor divided this book into five parts: Historical and Theoretical Conceptions of African American Families; Family Patterns: Economics and Social Mobility; Socialization Within African American Families; Gender Relations Within African American Communities; and Advocacy and Family Policies for African American Families. Almost every aspect of different types of black families is addressed. Each chapter is written by a different author, presenting a variety of opinions. (649.58 Mca)

Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity, Space, and Rights.
Flores, William V. and Benmayor, Rina. (1997). This work of Latino scholarship combines theory and ethnography to explore the distinctive and much ignored dynamics of Latino community building. Latinos form the fastest growing demographic group in the country. The authors discuss the terms on which Latinos are demanding recognition as full participants in the American society. The authors explore the notion of "cultural citizenship," a term and concept coined by anthropologist Renato Rosaldo; meaning the process by which Latinos are claiming first-class citizenship without losing their cultural identity. (306 Flo)

Get Off My Brain: A Survival Guide for Lazy Students.
McCutcheon, Randall. (1998). This book is designed to assist bored or frustrated students in taking an unconventional and humorous approach to school. Through new ideas, encouragement, and creative self-motivation, it encourages students to feel better about school. (370.30281 McC)