Kentucky teachers (N=209) were given scenarios of students exhibiting problematic behavior to determined whether they considered the function of a behavior when determining a classroom intervention. Results found that few teachers considered the behavioral function when deciding upon an intervention. Discusses implications for school…

Policy initiatives from Kentucky to California are espousing curriculum based on NCTM-backed core concepts that students understand through induction rather than memorization, teaching based on guided mastery rather than didactic instruction, and assessment that is open-ended rather than machine-scorable. This article highlights obstacles to…

Provides a qualitative analysis of the Kentucky school-based performance award program at four elementary and two secondary schools. Teachers were motivated to modify teaching approaches to enhance student performance, but seemed to be experiencing high stress levels. Teachers and principals at the six award-winning schools reported attitudes and…

This paper reports on a research project to identify school program criteria producing the highest teacher stress levels for three new middle schools. The middle-school environment embodies specific concepts endemic to educating adolescents. The new middle schools opened with teachers who were unfamiliar with both middle-school concepts and with…

The high levels of anxiety, apprehension, and apathy of students in college algebra courses caused the instructor to create and test a variety of math teaching techniques designed to boost student confidence and enthusiasm in the subject. Overall, this proposal covers several different techniques, which have been evaluated by both students and the…

Examines the response of one high school to three of the explicit aims of the Kentucky writing portfolio assessment. Suggests limitations to the presumed validity of the assessment by revealing some of the intended and unintended consequences of the state's attempt to use the assessment to shape school writing programs, to encourage classroom…

Summarizes four reports to enliven administrators' summer reading. A U.S. Office of Technology report blames teachers' resistance on equipment age and lack of training. A Kentucky report underlines teachers' need for thinking time away from classes. A 1993 CDC survey of 2,000 high schoolers presents school safety statistics. Hugh Megan's report…

Conflicting policy decisions, scaling difficulties, teacher resistance, and mediocre results are slowing adoption of authentic student-evaluation measures. With more conservative state leadership, California and Arizona rejected performance assessment, and other states have followed. Despite various setbacks, new assessments are becoming the norm.…

This research studies task-based stress among teachers in a rural setting. A 51-item instrument was administered to teachers in 12 schools to determine (1) the extent of differential reactions to a wide range of task-based teaching events, as correlated with situational characteristics (sex, age, elementary or secondary affiliation, school size);…

This report describes what schools and educators across Kentucky are doing to implement school reform in performance assessment based on the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA). It provides research-based suggestions about how implementation of programs can be enhanced and how the benefits of reform increased for the Kentucky youth.…

A study examined teacher-student interaction in Kentucky's secondary and postsecondary vocational education classrooms. It investigated whether sex bias or inequities were present and what might explain such differences. A literature review focused on studies conducted at different grade levels with relation to sex bias and classroom interactions.…