
Craig MertlerBarry University · School of Education
Craig Mertler
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Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Publications
Publications (88)
In this article, we look in general at the nature of a profession, how the teaching profession has become deprofessionalized, and various ways in which teachers perceive their profession. We continue by examining ways that teachers can regain a sense of professionalism—through the application of action research and other forms of teacher inquiry—as...
This entry focuses on various issues related to the use of quantitative methodologies when conducting adolescent research. The general purpose of quantitative research is to investigate a particular problem or topic through the measurement of carefully selected variables in quantifiable terms. Specifically, this entry discusses characteristics of q...
During an action research study, it is important to identify the positionality of the researcher, as the positionality will determine how the researcher frames the design of the study. Action research is a form of research that involves the teacher and an investigation of his or her own classroom. Literature circles couple two potent ideas in educa...
In the contemporary world, technology creates instant access to information and communication, and social life is increasingly impacted by global economic forces. This chapter seeks to present interpretations of ways that action research can provide the means for an enterprise. Ernie Stringer uses a developmental framework to describe how levels of...
This chapter argues that action research is a legitimate form of research that has value. It explores the various educational research paradigms and action research's place within these paradigms. The chapter argues that action research, when done well, is not only a legitimate form of research, but one that brings great value to the classroom teac...
This chapter examines rigor in educational action research in the larger context of education research. It restricts the discussion to educational action research in the United States, with consideration of the now vast spread of action research studies across the globe left to other sources. The chapter introduces a view of rigor in educational ac...
Curriculum‐Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) transforms highly decontextualized textbook information and facts into dramatic scripts and can be used to increase fluency, comprehension, and retention of information in any content area, including language arts, math, science, or social studies. This chapter discusses a mixed‐methods case study conducted a...
This chapter focuses on extensive use of action research in multiple educational contexts: PK‐12 classrooms, undergraduate programs, and graduate/doctoral programs. It includes brief case studies that illustrate key themes in the discussion and provides a closer look at the work being published, locally and globally, in the field of action research...
This chapter offers reasons to think that the future is inherently unpredictable and increasingly so. Certain skills and attitudes are likely to be an important component of what education seeks to help people learn. Action research, as usually practiced, has qualities that fit it well for the purpose of helping education achieve that goal. The cha...
Action research in education can make a strong argument for the importance of collaborative analysis of student work (CASW) as professional development. CASW, as professional development, was evidence for teachers, supporting them to continue to refine their knowledge and hone their instruction. CASW, as a form of action research, can quickly reach...
Action research is transformative social learning with a change agenda. This chapter offers a generic orientation for getting started with action research, referred to as a simple recipe which may look entirely different depending on context. It emphasizes the inclusion of students in the social learning process. Action research in education can be...
This chapter positions popular education and action research together as the foundation for leadership. It provides a brief picture of how popular education has been used in resistance and change movements through history, including work done through the Highlander Center. While highlighting the intersections of popular education and action researc...
Action research is sometimes considered atheoretical, focusing as it does on a pragmatic orientation to action. This chapter describes how theory plays an essential part in action research, though the place of theory differs from its orientation within quantitative research. It situates action research within the different research paradigms common...
This chapter introduces participatory action research (PAR) in the context of the teaching and learning process. It provides a synthesis of the major attributes of PAR, in terms of its origin and meaning, as a pedagogical model that encompasses all domains of learning, and as a learning process. The chapter highlights the different models of the te...
This chapter considers the application of action research (AR) to the development of inquiry skills for students participating in professional practice doctorate (PPD) programs. It focuses on the need for solid inquiry skills, characteristics of AR that make it appropriate as a means for developing inquiry skills in PPD program participants, and ho...
The idea to investigate the relational culture among faculty grew out of the existence of an explicitly formulated template for student culture within Hughes designed by the planning team that designed the new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) school. Structured ethical reflection (SER) provides researchers with a comprehensi...
This chapter provides supportive contexts to conduct action research, more specifically advices about how to successfully gain access to appropriate educational institutions and maintain the research agenda in collaborative research relationships within these pre‐kindergarten through higher education partnerships. It discusses avenues to create bri...
The arts‐based action inquiry is an attempt to capture the imagination of students, the public, and educational stakeholders through the simultaneous creation of a novel addressing concerns about what schooling, teaching, and learning are and could be in an era of intense privatization. Educational partnerships that make story and counter‐narrative...
This chapter begins by framing the issue of dissemination of action research by considering what the educational research‐practice gap means and why it is important, along with related issues of rhetoric, transferability, and dissemination. It asserts that more action research be disseminated to allow innovations, lessons learned, and empirical res...
This chapter describes early influences on the creation of the broad field of action research, from Collier to Lewin, to the connection of action research to education by Corey, and then to the curriculum projects in the United Kingdom that influenced the practitioner research movement. For both Collier and Lewin, it was authentic problems and the...
This chapter analysis the underlying importance of context and voice in action research based on some 50 years of professional engagement in education and educational research. In recognizing and understanding sociohistorical and sociocultural influences in different contexts of action research, the author draws on the ideas of de Sousa Santos and...
In the United States (US), PK‐12 education refers to elementary and secondary education for students aged 4‐18. Designed to engage youth in social change processes, as they are often not sought as change agents, youth participatory action research (YPAR) connects practice and reflection. Community‐based educational AR requires immersion into the AR...
This chapter looks at a form of action‐based enquiry, known as action learning. It explores how action research and action learning are related by identifying their similarities and differences. The chapter starts with an overview of action learning, where it came from, and its place in educational contexts and then looks at similarities and differ...
This chapter explores the nature of the relationship between social justice and the history, theory, and practice of action research. It begins by developing a definition of social justice and its relationship to the notion of rebellion and renewing the demand for active engagement by action researchers as radical change agents. The chapter discuss...
This chapter describes how collaborative action research functions as a professional learning experience, citing three illustrative examples, and elaborating on the intersection of action research and professional learning. It focuses on three large‐scale and multi‐year research projects that involved professional learning through action research....
This chapter examines the process of becoming an expert teacher; the basics of action research; traditional professional development for teachers; strategies for developing teacher expertise; proposals, products, and presentations; and effective professional development and action research. There are four kinds of knowledge necessary for teaching e...
Students tend to have more difficulty in online courses if they have poor time management skills or weak educational backgrounds. An important concern raised about online courses pertains to course‐level retention. This chapter aims to seek a better understanding of ways to help more students succeed in online statistics courses, and explore the ex...
One of the attributes of action research is that it is context specific to the needs of a local school and/or district, while its inquiry processes protect against narrow, insular perspectives. This chapter focuses on action research that occurs within educational institutions, which are hierarchical organizations, regulated and governed by multipl...
This essay describes one institution’s struggle to grow its EdD program by adding an equivalent online version of a successful face-to-face program. One of the challenges faced was that of creating a comparable experience for online students to share their ongoing action research, an activity that had long been part of the face-to-face version of t...
Ideal for non-math majors, Advanced and Multivariate Statistical Methods teaches students to interpret, present, and write up results for each statistical technique without overemphasizing advanced math. This highly applied approach covers the why, what, when and how of advanced and multivariate statistics in a way that is neither too technical nor...
This study attempted to describe the current status of teacher motivation, job satisfaction, and retention among teachers in the state of Arizona. All PK-12 public and charter school teachers in Arizona were asked to respond to a web-based survey, which included items about their overall job satisfaction, the motivational levels of various school-a...
Due to the magnitude of NCLB, the pressure on teachers has increased to perhaps immeasurable proportions. One could argue that NCLB has ramifications for nearly all aspects of the teaching- learning process, including classroom-based assessment. The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which K-12 teachers perceive that NCLB has influ...
Assessing student performance is one of the most critical aspects of the job of a classroom teacher; however, many teachers in the United States do not feel adequately prepared to assess their students' performance. These feelings of inadequacy are exemplified when placed against the context of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, especially with...
A study was conducted to compare the psychometric qualities of two forms of an identical survey: one administered in a paper-and-pencil format and the other administered in Web format. The survey addressed the topic of college course anxiety and used to survey a sample of 236 undergraduate students. The psychometric qualities investigated included...
This study attempted to (1) expand the dichotomous classification scheme typically used by educators and researchers to describe teaching incentives and (2) offer administrators and teachers an alternative framework within which to develop incentive systems. Elementary, middle, and high school teachers in Ohio rated 10 commonly instituted teaching...
This paper discusses the results of a study comparing the psychometric qualities of two forms of a survey, one administered in paper-and-pencil format and the other administered in Web format. The survey addressed the topic of college course anxiety and was used to survey a sample of undergraduate students (n=36). The psychometric qualities investi...
This paper discusses the advantages and limitations of administering a survey questionnaire via the Internet (i.e., using both Web-based and e-mail platforms). It also addresses particular issues faced by one researcher as a reflection on the use of this methodology. Highlighted are problems associated with the use of listservs, e-mail addresses, f...
Asks 710 middle and high school teachers to respond to several questions including their overall level of job satisfaction, teacher motivation in general, and performance incentives. Finds differences in job satisfaction based on gender, age, and career stage. Also discusses gender and location (suburban, urban, rural) differences in knowing unmoti...
Rubrics are rating scales-as opposed to checklists-that are used with performance assessments. They are formally defined as scoring guides, consisting of specific pre-established performance criteria, used in evaluating student work on performance assessments. Rubrics are typically the specific form of scoring instrument used when evaluating studen...
This study attempted to expand the dichotomous classification scheme typically used by researchers to describe teaching incentives and to offer administrators and teachers an "alternative" framework within which to develop incentive systems. This study is built on a previous one, but used a much larger sample (n=969). Elementary, middle, and high s...
This study examined the current state of teacher motivation and job satisfaction, building upon previous research by substantially increasing the sample to 969 participants. Participants were predominantly white, female elementary, middle, and high school teachers. They responded to a Web-based survey that examined their overall level of job satisf...
This paper describes the methodology used in a research study involving the collection of data through a Web-based survey, focusing on the advantages and limitations of the methodology. The Teacher motivation and Job Satisfaction Survey was administered to K-12 teachers. Many of the difficulties occurred during the planning phase, as opposed to the...
A study of methods used to ensure validity and reliability in classroom assessments surveyed 625 elementary and secondary teachers in Ohio. Results indicate teachers spent little time conducting statistical analyses of their student evaluation data, and many techniques used were poor and inadequate. Additional professional development and improved...
Using the Student Evaluation of Teaching and Teaching Techniques (SE3T) instrument, 600 students in five high schools evaluated 14 teachers' performance. Teachers surveyed about students' feedback found these evaluations useful, feasible, and appropriate and felt they should occur twice yearly. Many modified their behavior as a result. (38 referenc...
The "Student Evaluation of Teaching and Teaching Techniques" (SE3T) instrument, designed for this study of student evaluation of teacher performance, was administered twice to students in seven high schools in north Florida. Each time, results were tabulated and feedback provided to each teacher within one week; each teacher received only his or he...