Research Findings: The purpose of this article is to examine how dimensions of the preschool instructional context predict child-teacher relationship quality. A total of 118 low-income, predominantly Latino/a children and their teachers participated in this study. Children were observed in their 1st preschool classroom. Measures of instructional…

Students who are expelled from school often demonstrate the need for alternative learning environments that respond to their academic disengagement as well as their behavioral challenges. Teachers in such environments contend with a variety of student needs while attempting to engage students in the learning process. This grounded theory study…

This qualitative study examined aspects of the inclusive program in an elementary school in a rural section of the upper Midwest of the United States. This article describes a university and elementary school research partnership to study collaboration among the general education teachers and the special education staff (teachers and assistants)…

The purpose of this document is to describe two process-oriented classroom observation scales and to report a research study which offers further support for the validity of these instruments. The two observation scales, developed by Harvey, et al., are (1) Teaching Rating Scale, devised specifically as a measure of classroom atmosphere, and (2)…

This study focused on the Instructor-Group Interaction Scale, formulated by Hildebrand, Wilson, and Dienst (1971), to explore the feasibility and usefulness of an instrument for recording instructor-group interaction in the college classroom. It was hypothesized that data from the scale would (a) provide the instructor with the pattern of…

Nine eighth grade classes were examined to identify the nature, distribution and patterning of verbal discourse. Included are a description of the categories used (Smith and Meux), a description of the nature of the verbal interaction in science lessons, and a resulting comparison between Australian, American, and New Zealand teachers. (DS)

Some suggestions for improving the selection of prospective teachers of young children based on the identification of specific observational characteristics of effective teachers. (CS)

Studied the effectiveness of using checklist-structured observations as a self-improvement technique for modifying teachers' verbal behaviors in the classroom. Concluded that significant changes were found in analyzing pre- and post-treatment audiotape recordings of participating teachers' regular classes. (CC)

This report describes variables that differentiate the classrooms of more effective and less effective teachers. Teacher effectiveness is defined as the ability of second- and fifth-grade teachers to teach specially constructed reading and mathematics curriculum units over two weeks. Twenty more effective and twenty less effective teachers were…

Discusses the number of observations necessary to obtain a trustworthy sample of classroom transactions by reanalyzing existing data. Eleven to twenty observations appear necessary for teachers' questions which require students to hypothesize. The reliability of a single observation was zero for four other questioning types. (CC)

A method for analyzing instructional techniques employed during reading group instruction is reported, and the characteristics of the effective reading teacher are discussed. Teaching effectiveness is divided into two categories: (1) how the teacher acts and interacts with children on a personal level and (2) how the teacher performs his…

Positive, neutral, and negative verbal interaction data were collected from 2 schools in which 15 elementary summer school teachers interacted with 261 migrant and non-migrant students. These pupils were specifically identified as migrant or non-migrant. These data were then mpared with the teacher's perception of the pupil as migrant or…

This study investigates sociopsychological variables in an educational context. The question of interest concerns the relationship between the conceptual complexity of teachers and the type of teacher-student interaction in the classrooms. Specifically, this study asks if a teacher's belief system is related to a pattern of asymmetrically or…

In this module, developed by the Research Applications for Teaching (RAFT) project, preservice teachers study the major types of classroom interactions which occur between teachers and students and review the research findings showing how these interactions are related to effective teaching. Much effort is spent on describing procedures for…

The general method of observation of education for preschool children, and the conceptual dimensions underlying the categories of experience are discussed. The technique used for measuring preschool experience is the Inventory of Children's Preschool Experience (ICPE). The scale provides a description of the experiences of specific children in the…