Provides one account of a "messy," critical research process, drawn from a dissertation project: a study of students' and teachers' responses within three university writing courses which were focused on "The American Experience" and which fulfilled the institution's diversity requirement. Aims to achieve some degree of…

Acknowledges the varied ways that teachers respond to student writing, and the varied ways that students influence and interpret those responses. Narrows the gap between teaching practices and research questions. Reevaluates the metaphor of conversation that has been repeatedly used to describe teacher response, arguing that the implications of…

This paper reviews some of the findings of research on classroom questions, and considers ways in which sociolinguistic theory may help resolve some questions it leaves unanswered. The paper is divided into three sections, which correspond to three features of questions. The three features are the "context" of questions, the "content" of…

An expert reading instruction teacher was studied for one academic year to explore his interactive decision making processes. Previous lines of research have indicated that, for some teachers, interactive decision making involves more than simply maintaining established routines that assure smooth activity flow and involves deviating from the…

The influence of students' behavioral definitions on subsequent teacher behaviors was investigated with a simulation which allowed teachers using a microcomputer and video display terminal to verbally interact with four simulated students programmed to vary on knowledge and initiative. These "students," in turn, responded to teacher…

Describes a qualitative action research study that investigated the effectiveness of an assignment for tenth graders that required primary research methods and an essay. Topics include authentic research; constructivist theory of learning; performance-based assessment; student journals; peer editing; teacher-librarian collaboration; and student…

The 3-year research and development project described in this paper was conducted (1) to develop new knowledge about sex equity in classroom interactions, and (2) to develop successful techniques for reducing or eliminating sex-biased interaction. Two interventions were developed to train teachers in more equitable instructional behaviors. In the…

This paper, prepared as a chapter for the "Handbook of Research on Teaching" (third edition), reviews correlational and experimental research linking teacher behavior to student achievement. It focuses on research done in K-12 classrooms during 1973-83, highlighting several large-scale, programmatic efforts. Attention is drawn to design, sampling,…