Collaborative investigation of inclusive early education practices: A blueprint for teacher-researcher partnership

This paper describes the rationale, development, and first-year implementat ion of Wisconsin's Preschool Action Research and Development Initiative (PA RDI) which evolved from a desire to enhance the utility of research on earl y childhood inclusion through collaboration between teachers and researcher s. PARDI is a school-university partnership that creates opportunities for researchers and teachers to work collaboratively while examining issues rel ated to early childhood inclusion. Specifically, 38 teachers from 22 inclus ive early childhood classrooms in Wisconsin participated in 2 collaborative research activities: (a) systematic recording and analysis of critical inc idents (Cls); and, (b) quarterly meetings for analysis of Cls by researcher s and teachers. In addition to describing PARDI's collaborative research mo del and methodology, this paper presents preliminary findings concerning th e impact of PARDI on teachers' thinking and classroom practices.