The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA) mission is to enhance knowledge about education systems worldwide, and to provide high-quality data that will support education reform and lead to better teaching and learning in schools. In pursuit of this aim, it conducts, and reports on, major studies of student…

Physical activity (PA) during physical education is important for health purposes and for developing physical fitness and movement skills. To examine PA levels and how PA was influenced by environmental and instructor-related characteristics, we assessed children's activity during 368 lessons taught by 105 physical education specialists in 42…

Research on teaching has begun to yield important distinctions between the teaching performances of more effective and less effective teachers. More effective teachers are shown to use a wide variety of teaching behaviors at appropriate times. Teaching behaviors comprising Direct Instruction are most effective for keeping students on task. (JN)

Discusses the seven fundamentals of effective instruction: (1) time use, (2) diagnosis, (3) direct instruction, (4) transfer of skills, (5) flexible grouping, (6) positive mind set, and (7) classroom management. (FL)

Year-long observations of 51 teachers in 11 junior high schools resulted in identification of 2 groups of teachers who were rated as either more or less effective in classroom management during the year. Subsequently, these groups were observed and comparisons were made of their behaviors and activities during the first three weeks of school.…

This executive summary of the multiyear Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES) focuses principally on the findings of Phase III-B of this research program on teaching effectiveness. One outcome of the BTES study was a concept that makes it possible to measure individual student learning by noting observable variables of student behavior in the…

The major emphasis in the studies considered in this paper is on the role of the teacher as a professional with particular expertise and specific but limited responsibilities to students and parents, and with certain rights as the instructional leader and authority figure in the classroom. According to research studies, a comprehensive approach to…

Teachers in this high school "shadowed" selected students to see the school through students' eyes. The teachers noted both strengths and weaknesses. The latter included class interruptions, low expectations of low achievers, and inadequate learning time. (JM)

Under consideration in this conference was the idea that prospective teachers should be assessed on the ability to perform teaching skills relative to each other and that overall patterns of skill performance, not separate skills, should be used as the organizing focus of teacher certification. James Raths, in "Teacher Traits Revisited:…

Nineteen junior high school teachers of English, social studies, and mathematics for low-achieving students participated in a study of the process of teacher change resulting from inservice training in effective teaching techniques. The purpose of the training was to increase student time on task and interactive instruction. Participants were…

This review of the literature highlights research-based ways to improve schools and classrooms. Emphasis is on student time-on-task, effective teacher behaviors, and positive teacher supervision. (JM)

This paper consists of an examination of current thinking on the factors influencing teacher training effectiveness and of a report of preliminary findings from a study of inservice teacher education. Previous research identifies five major components of training common to most inservice programs as presentation of theory, demonstration or…

The simultaneous effects of two instructional variables of degree of teacher direction (student- versus teacher-directed) and time allowed for study and the student variable of general ability are described for student achievement (N=912) in three life-science instructional modules. (Author)

The Teaching-Learning Interaction Study tested the separate and interactive effects of teacher and student entry characteristics on their subsequent classroom behavior, and the effect of that behavior on students' regressed gain, over a school year, in achievement, attitudes toward school, self-esteem, and coping skills. Fifty-three tri-ethnic…

Examples are cited of educational research and development findings that have specific implications for improving classroom management and school effectiveness in a comprehensive educational program. Described is the West Virginia Department of Education's current use of research on brain growth as one basis for realigning the curriculum. Patterns…