The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which inter-rater agreement in classroom observation of teachers is affected by using a system where each scale point is defined by a descriptor particularly created for the quality being rated. Thirty-three subjects enrolled in two Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments training…

This paper describes the development of an instrument designed to obtain systematic data on the physical state, medical and social interactions of a woman in active labor. Observations were made of primiparous women who were accompanied in the labor room by the father. Women who had received childbirth training and those who had not were included…

Sociolinguists have recently demonstrated the value of directives in indicating the relationship between status and linguistic form. The purpose of the instrument developed for this study was to quantify the coerciveness of directives on the basis of the theoretical approaches in the literature to objectify the comparison of directive forms.…

In a study of the use of videotaping to modify teacher behaviors, five teachers in a reading and learning skills center were filmed in interaction with students; they then observed and measured their own "on-task" and "off-task" behaviors while viewing a series of taped sessions. A control group of two teachers had pretest and posttest filming…

This paper discusses the use of process-oriented research in early childhood programs. Process analysis is contrasted with outcome-oriented evaluation, the latter seen as prevalent in current research practice. Four functions of process analysis are: to describe current teaching practices, to train teachers, to monitor instructional programs, and…

Written to assist future researchers in conducting cross-national studies of classroom behaviors, this study indicates a number of factors which may reduce the validity of comparisons made. It is based on an investigation which explored the feasibility of using the Activities Categories Instrument and the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories…