Project Page: Mercer County NJ Action Research

This is the project page for an action research project that will begin in September of 2003 in selected K-12 public schools in Mercer County, NJ.

• check the project discussion board
• file an Action Research Report
• read the initial mailing in HTML or PDF formats.
• Use the online Reply Form to request information about this action research project.

Initial Mailing

August 4, 2003

Dear Educator:

I am writing to ask if you might be interested in participating in a local area (Mercer County) action research project involving reading comprehension skills instruction.

The research will focus on a graphic organizer technique that teachers can use to teach reading comprehension skills, study skills, and course content. It can be used in mainstream, special needs, and ESL classrooms, from elementary through adult levels. The technique is known as "Textmapping". We expect that teachers who use it will see measurable improvements in student performance on reading comprehension tests.

The purpose of the research is to learn more about what works and what doesn't, and to produce a record of clinical experience, teacher insights, and performance data that will help inform the design and implementation of studies by academic researchers.

The Textmapping Project is a non-profit organization that seeks to contribute to the improvement of reading comprehension skills instruction - to stimulate and encourage research, and to seed an online community where teachers, homeschoolers, and researchers can learn, network, and collaborate.

If you are interested in learning more about participating in this action research project, please:

• Complete and mail the enclosed feedback form
• or complete it online: http://www.textmapping.org/researchHub.html
• or call me at (609) 771-1781
• or email me at

Please share this information with your colleagues. This letter and attachments are available on the Web, and may be accessed through the following URL: http://www.textmapping.org/researchHub.html

I look forward to hearing from you.

R. David Middlebrook
Director

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You may be interested in Textmapping for the following reasons:

• It enables teachers to concretely and explicitly model reading comprehension and study skills in the course of regular classroom instruction. No other technique enables such concrete, explicit modeling. Textmapping is unique in this regard - and we expect that teachers who use it will see measurable improvements in student performance on reading comprehension tests.
• It can be used to support a wide variety of instructional techniques (for example, Think Aloud, Metacognitive/Questioning, Reciprocal Teaching, SAIL and the like) and key instructional components (for example, explicit description, modeling, collaboration, guided practice, and independent use).
• It can be used to teach course content in mainstream, special needs, and ESL classrooms, from elementary through adult levels.
• It is low-tech, easy to learn, easy to teach, requires no special equipment, and can be adapted easily to a variety of instructional scenarios.
• The only cost involved in using Textmapping is in materials - many of which you already have: tape or glue-stick; colored pencils, markers, or crayons; and a modest photocopying budget. Everything teachers need in order to learn about Textmapping, including implementation guides and lesson plans, will soon be available on the Web for free under an open content copyright license (see below).

More information is available on the Web:

About us and Textmapping:

About us: http://www.textmapping.org/project.html
An introduction to Textmapping: http://www.textmapping.org/overview.html
The six key benefits of Textmapping: http://www.textmapping.org/benefits.html
Information for researchers: http://www.textmapping.org/researchCall.html
Learn about Textmapping: http://www.textmapping.org/learn.html
About our open content copyright: http://www.textmapping.org/copyright.html

About action research:

About action research: http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/aandr.html
Action research resources: http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.html

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Reply Form:

August 4, 2003 mailing

This is an online form. For a print copy of this form, download and print the PDF of the initial mailing.

We will keep your contact information confidential. We will not sell, share, or rent it to anyone. Read our privacy policy.

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Please contact me about this action research project. My contact information and comments are below.
Please contact me about Textmapping. My contact information and comments are below.
Thank you for the information. Please do not contact me at this time. For future reference, my contact information and comments are below.

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This is an online form. For a print copy of this form, download and print the PDF of the initial mailing.