An action-research account of a successful improvement to practice presented for assessment within a taught MA in education was given a fail grade. The paper presents an extract from the original action-research account. The paper then presents the story of the assessment and notes how it exemplifies some of the key issues relating to the way action-research can and should be assessed within credentialed academic programmes. Finally, the paper suggests that Elliott's formulation of quality criteria can resolve the central dilemma of marking action-research reports within credentialed programmes of study.