The present paper focuses on meaningful, task-related colleague interaction as a vehicle for improving the performance capabilities of teachers. (Author)

Discusses the premise that the environmental demands of teaching in classrooms interact with performance both to shape observed behavior and to establish limits on the range of response options. (SB)

Results suggest that knowledge of student learning outcomes and reduction of intent action discrepancy have minimal impact on teacher decisions to modify classroom procedures. (Author/BJG)

This article argues that researchers, in their efforts to refine measures of teacher behavior, have neglected many of those interconnected processes and events which impinge upon behavior in the teaching environment. This, in turn, has fostered inadequacies in the models used to explain factors influencing teacher behavior. (RC)

This report contains an analysis of the mechanisms that connect teaching processes to student achievement and the circumstances contributing to the establishment of treatment conditions in classrooms. The first section is focused on the way in which academic tasks operating in a classroom influence the quality of student learning. The second…

The interpretive review in this paper is directed toward a reformulation of teacher effectiveness questions. The analysis uses Kuhn's concept of paradigm to designate a framework which defines problems, methods, and solutions for a research community. The dominant process-pruduct paradigm in teacher effectiveness research is contrasted with two…

Published reports of curriculum innovation were used to develop an analysis of factors contributing to teacher reaction to change proposals. Premised on the theory that a more thorough understanding of naturally existing mechanisms operating in school environments would enhance the development of effective change strategies, the analysis focused…

Observation of student teacher behavior was undertaken to determine interpretive and managerial skills necessary for adapting to the environmental demands of classrooms. The five skills isolated were (1) "chunking" (grouping discrete events), (2) differentiation (distinguishing the importance of events), (3) overlap (handling several events at…

Potential contributions of research on classroom contexts to preservice teacher education curriculum are outlined in this paper. A review of traditional teacher effectiveness research cites studies that either extrapolated from laboratory research to design a teaching model or used direct classroom observations to correlate behaviors to outcomes…

This paper summarizes results of an ecological analysis designed to generate hypotheses concerning processes involved in learning to meet the demands of the classroom environment. Ethnographic data on student teachers indicates that classrooms are characterized by multidimensionality, simultaneity, and unpredictability. Teachers, in turn,…

These two reaction papers provide a synthesis of the issues raised by the papers presented in this issue of the "Elementary School Journal." Each reaction paper approaches student variables from a different vantage point, and each brings a novel and imaginative perspective to the study of students in the classrooms. (MP)

Educational research has begun to focus more on subject matter, grade level, and student characteristics as factors which influence the effectiveness of teaching practices. Research into classroom contexts has been useful in understanding classroom management and on-task behavior. (JN)

A design for analyzing the narrative records obtained in four studies examined the character of classroom activities and how they are managed by teachers. Focus was on controlling classroom behaviors, classroom rules, handling of disruptive or inappropriate behavior, instructional leadership, classroom organization, and student engagement.…

Research on classroom teaching is discussed within the conceptual framework of the analysis of student classroom tasks. Three types of learning tasks are illustrated: understanding; memory; and routine problem-solving according to an algorithm. It is contended that most classroom research projects study teachers' and students' actions, rather than…