Research is described which explores the hypothesis that different classroom situations may be optimal for different individuals. The approach used cluster analysis to identify student and classroom "types" whose interactions were then examined in an analysis of variance framework. About 1,300 fourth graders from 50 classrooms were…

Although classroom "openness" has been much discussed in recent years, there has been little effort to investigate to what degree this openness occurs within a general sample of classrooms. The purpose of this study is to identify significant attributes of classroom activity and organization relevant to the concepts of "traditional" and "open" and…