Action Research In Teacher Preparation: An Inclusive Seminar

Abstract

The article focuses on a teacher education program at a Carnegie I Research Institution in the southwestern part of the United States; also, classified as a minority-serving institution. Teacher candidates in elementary, special, and bilingual education were enrolled in a combined student teaching seminar which is a collaborative initiative between the Departments of Special Education/Communication Disorders and Curriculum and Instruction. The authors of this manuscript are the researchers, seminar instructors, and directors of their student teaching components. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of action research with teacher candidates during the student teaching semester. The research question that guided this research is: How effective is the use of action research with teacher candidates to determine evidence of student learning in the K-12 classroom?