Chapter 1 of the textbook describes four types of knowledge that research contributes to education: (1) description, (2) prediction, (3) improvement, and (4) explanation. Using the examplesof action research in Chapter 18 or obtained from your own reading or experience, identify a claim that an action researcher made involving one of these types of knowledge based on having collected and analyzed data to support his findings that would otherwise have been difficult to make.

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2. Prediction: A teacher education student we know of conducted action research for her final masters paper involving efforts to predict which parents of students at her school could be counted on as volunteers in classrooms or for school activities. While parents' income, age, or number of children in school did not correlate with the number of hours the parent completed as a volunteer, three items on a checklist administered to parents at the start of the school year positively predicted parent volunteering: "I've always liked schools and being in school" "I think teachers are heroes and deserve all the help they can get from community members," and "I'm glad my child attends this school."
3. Improvement: In the action research study conducted by James Lytle, a new school superintendent (described in Chapter 18 on pp. 602-603), the author describes his efforts to involve the district's principals in shadowing students, collecting varied forms of data, and reporting and sharing their findings with other principals "as a way of deepening our shared understanding of why students behave and perform as they do." Lytle noted discernible improvements in student performance over the three-year period of his action research project, and also made it clear that his efforts to foster other administrator's participation in data collection involved actions to transform district leadership.
4.  In the action research study conducted by Ellen Agosta, Janet Graetz, and Margo Mastropieri (described in Chapter 18 on p. 610) the authors describe their study of teacher-researcher partnerships to improve the social behavior of a 6-year-old boy with autism. The intervention utilized was tested through single-case experimental research and was found to be successful in reducing instances of the child's screaming and increasing instances of his sitting quietly during group class activities.

Chapter 1 of the Textbook Describes Four Types of Knowledge