One measure of the program's success is that teachers who use CGI are now running workshops and helping others learn about the method. WCER staff work with schools to put research into practice. Attempting to reform schools without respecting teachers' knowledge and capabilities as professionals will not work. In action research, teachers interact with academic researchers and influence their work. The action research professional development program in the Madison Metropolitan School District, which began in 1990, has involved nearly 400 staff conducting research in areas that range from enhancing Hmong parental involvement in school to incorporating spreadsheets into the elementary math curriculum.
Teachers formulate a research question and carry out their inquiry over the course of a school year.
Each month the teachers meet in small groups to discuss their research progress. In action research teachers interact with academic researchers, and we influence their work. Zeichner, who provides technical assistance to schools that want to start a teacher researchprogram, helped organize the Madison Area Action Research Network several years ago to make action research more visible and to help participants exchange the insights gained through their research. The network includes teachers, researchers, teacher educators, administrators and student teachers throughout Wisconsin. Zeichner's current WCER project is looking at what conditions support or impede teacher research, how this form of professional development affects teachers' practice, and what are the best ways to disseminate teacher-produced knowledge to other teacher and academic communities.