This guide is designed to present a variety of techniques that can be used in conducting classroom observations. Observation techniques are clustered under four major teaching/learning variables: time on task, teacher talk, classroom interaction, and organization and management. Techniques are presented with an overview that details the rationale…

A model is presented for the improvement of compensatory early childhood education through more effective use of student and staff time. A framework for research to test the model is also suggested. Sections of the document prefacing discussion of the model include (1) an overview of the historical antecedents and development of early childhood…

This handbook provides guidelines for enhancing the use of time in secondary and postsecondary vocational-technical classes. It is intended to guide teachers, administrators, supervisors, inservice coordinators, and teacher educators through conducting time-use analysis. It is part of BASICS, a package of integrated materials developed to assist…

The financial health of the education system of most states is not good; those seeking to improve educational quality will have to find inexpensive methods. Areas of the American educational system in which quality standards are not being met include time spent in learning, curriculum content, appropriate use of new technology, and personnel.…

In a survey of 1,500 administrators, most of the 400 respondents agreed by an 8 to 1 margin that reforms to raise academic standards in public schools are necessary. In high schools, a decline in reading, vocabulary, and math skills is due basically to a decreased academic emphasis. Solutions include more required courses, more opportunities for…

The reactions of social studies educators to "A Nation at Risk," the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education that examined the quality of education in the United States, are discussed. The survey was an informal one that asked educators, mainly teachers and professors, what their reactions were to the report in…

This review of the literature highlights research-based ways to improve schools and classrooms. Emphasis is on student time-on-task, effective teacher behaviors, and positive teacher supervision. (JM)

This book contains 10 essays on the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education that include extensive, specific examples of how the principles have been applied at many colleges and universities. It also includes faculty, institutional and student inventories for self-assessment under the Seven Principles. Following an…