This progress report describes the method used in acquiring the verbal behavior of teachers during class time. The method of acquiring this data is an important part of the larger study concerned with the evaluation and standardization of coding categories for use as an observation and research tool in analyzing teacher behavior. In fact, the…

This paper examines current forms and instruments of classroom observation and suggests directions for future research studies. The following topics are covered: the need for good criterion measures, the use of observational instruments in outcome measures, the development of procedures to code the content that is covered in a classroom, the…

This report describes the third year of the national Follow Through Classroom Observation study. The aims of the study were: (1) to assess program implementation at one site for each of 12 sponsors; (2) to search out the relationships between child outcomes and teaching-learning processes; and (3) to estimate which programs incorporate processes…

Observer reliability and the confusability of codes, two sources of error in the collection of classroom observational data, are examined. Confusability is defined as the extent to which one code is mistakenly recorded as another code. Observational data were collected in each of 172 first grade and 171 third grade Follow Through and comparison…

The Student Attributes Coding System has been developed for gathering data about the personal characteristics and classroom behavior of elementary school students selected for observation because they engender predictable attitudes and expectations in their teachers. This system is designed to systematically record and categorize all interactions…

Presented as a mini-course on the design of classroom observation systems, this report stresses the necessity of determining the goals of any study before designing the procedures. Only if the researcher has concretely formulated the questions to be answered, can an observation system be developed that will provide the appropriate data. The…

Findings from the Student Attribute Study, a two-year investigation designed to identify student characteristics and behaviors related to teacher expectations and attitudes are reported. Children in grades two through five who received consistent teacher rankings over a two-year period on one or more of 13 bi-polar scales describing student…

This coding manual was developed for the Texas Teacher Effectiveness Study and is intended to be self-contained. The coding system provides for extensive coding of student initiated questions and comments, opinion questions, and expanded private work contracts, both teacher initiated and student initiated, including extensive coding of quality and…

Time coding forms, rating scales, interview schedules, and a questionnaire were developed for use in the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study, a project designed to evaluate teaching effectiveness as demonstrated by student achievement in second and fifth grade reading and mathematics. The forms used to record data and the manuals detailing the…