Action research can be a practical way to test new ideas and participate in professional development that goes beyond the "sit-and-git" inservice experience that teachers often view as a waste of time. It allows individuals or teams of teachers to follow their interests, their needs, and their problems, while expanding their repertoire of teaching skills. It puts a theoretical concept, teaching practice, or totally new hypothesis to the test in a classroom or school.

Action research is done by and for the people taking the action and relates to the action they are taking. Its purpose can be improving the practice of an individual researcher, or it can be collaborative and focus on school goals. (Richard Sagor, presentation at Seventh Annual Action Research Symposium, Kansas City, MO, April 14, 1997).

Teachers raise questions about classroom practice, carefully document procedures and gather data on student performance, then reflect on that data and practical experience to determine what to do next. Action research cycles often start with a question (e.g., Can I accelerate student learning by using cooperative learning groups?). The steps that often follow problem formulation are theory development, design intervention, data collection, and data analysis. The process is not a lock-step regime. More often than not, data collection and analysis lead to new questions or further data collection for the same problem/hypothesis, much like peeling away the layers of an onion.

In addition to being cyclic, action research tends to be

• participative--the clients and informants are involved as partners, or at least active participants, in the research process;
• qualitative--it deals more with language than with numbers; and
• reflective--critical reflection upon the process and outcomes are important parts of each cycle.

Perhaps the most important part of the process is the reflection on collected data. Having asked a question that begs an answer, and designed a plan for collecting that information, teachers reflect on their experiences and ask such questions as:

• What were the anticipated effects?
• Were there some unanticipated effects?
• What have we learned from this?
• What might we have to relearn or unlearn in our work?
• What are our next steps? Should we stop doing this because it doesn't work? Continue doing this because it is getting results we find desirable? Start doing something else that may be more likely to succeed?

One justification for action research methods is that they can be responsive, at least in the short term, to the situation in a way that many other research methods cannot.