In this study, aspects of space and time in German and Swedish classrooms are observed and compared to characterize differences and similarities in classrooms and lessons in different contexts. The organization and control of individuals and their actions in relation to time and space are analysed using categories derived from "Discipline and…

This study investigates problem-solving difficulties of novices in a classroom setting, using a German instructional tool, the Fischertechnik kit of approximately 400 parts. In order to analyse the students' thinking processes as they solved the problems, verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to record the students'' thinking processes and…

Multilevel modeling was used to investigate the relationship between poverty status, mathematics achievement gains, and behavioral engagement in learning over kindergarten. Data included information on 11,680 poor, low-income, and non-poor kindergartners from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K). Results…

Increasing the number of hours students spend in school each year, on the assumption that this will improve student achievement, has become a widespread trend. However, the analysis reported here suggests that this trend can be misguided: the time students spend in the classroom is not always positively related to their academic achievement.…

There have been a number of earlier investigations, using differing methodologies, into the extent to which teachers in the secondary school interact with boys and girls and the results have suggested an imbalance in the teachers' verbal behaviour towards the genders that is quite similar to the imbalance found in teachers' behaviour in the…

Classrooms are complex societies. Teachers are the leaders of these societies and the way they exercise their leadership abilities greatly affects the interactions that take place between teachers and students as well as interactions between the students themselves. These interactions, both social and instructional, have a great impact on the…

This article examined the efficacy of a primary-level, standard-protocol behavior intervention for students with externalizing behavioral disorders. Elementary schools were randomly assigned to treatment (behavior intervention) or control (business as usual) conditions, and K-3 students were screened for externalizing behavior risk status. The…

Much demand remains for teacher education programs to produce highly qualified teachers. Current trends show that almost half of today's preservice teachers are considered nontraditional in terms of age and life experience. The purpose of this study was to determine whether secondary education teacher preparation programs should differentiate…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the variability of principals' classroom observations across schools and to relate classroom observations to the schools' instructional climate. This helps identify the conditions under which classroom observations effectively improve instruction in some schools and not in other schools.…

This study examines the classroom experiences of 192 children followed longitudinally from kindergarten to 1st grade. Time-sampled observations of children were conducted to compare learning formats, teaching activities, and children's engagement in activities between kindergarten and 1st grade. Classroom observations also were conducted to…

This study presents time-and-task records of faculty and teaching assistants' time for comparable computer-aided design courses at two state universities in the midwestern United States. One course was taught at a distance and the other course was a conventional face-to-face course. Results indicate a distance course takes less time to teach than…

This study examined two kindergarten literacy frameworks (environment and events) and their effect on kindergartners' literacy development. Observations, interviews, and pre- and postmeasures of literacy achievement indicated that students in the emergent literacy kindergarten made significantly more literacy gains than those in the reading…

A three-year project was undertaken by the National Center for research in Vocational Education (Ohio State University, OH) to investigate time on task in vocational and technical classes. During the first year of the project, researchers used the direct observation method to collect time-on-task data pertaining to 10 teachers and 186 students in…

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 is the most recent in a very ambitious series of international assessments conducted in nearly 50 countries to measure trends in mathematics and science learning. The aim of TIMSS, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, is to improve the teaching and…