Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore opportunities to develop higher-order thinking for students in social studies, with a focus on teachers' content coverage and support for engaging in social studies analysis. Design/methodology/approach: A video study using naturalistic classroom observations of 80 social studies lessons was conducted…

Despite the prevalent use of observational measures in teacher evaluation systems, research has only recently begun to take into account how aspects of the instructional environment and lesson sampling design may interact with teachers' scores on these measures. Instead, one assumption guiding current evaluation systems is that the variation in…

Teacher evaluation systems commonly rely on observation of teaching practice (OTP) by school principals. However, the value of OTP as evidence of teacher effectiveness depends on its psychometric quality. In this study, we address a key aspect of the psychometric quality of principals' OTP ratings. Specifically, we investigate the degree to which…

Classroom observation is a crucial aspect of any system of teacher evaluation. No matter how skilled a teacher is in other aspects of teaching--such as careful planning, working well with colleagues, and communicating with parents--if classroom practice is deficient, that individual cannot be considered a good teacher. Classroom observations can…

The National Research Council (NRC) has indicated that effective instruction in colleges of agriculture should prepare students to enter a dynamically changing workplace by helping students learn to be proficient in 21st century skills. The NRC suggested that effective instruction in colleges of agriculture should encompass a hospitable learning…

This "Rating a Teacher Observation Tool" identifies five simple questions and provides an easy-to-use scorecard to help policymakers decide whether an observation framework is likely to produce fair and accurate results. The five questions are: (1) Do the criteria and tools cover the classroom performance areas most connected to student outcomes?…

Observation measures of instructional quality tend to fall into two broad categories--those for use across subject areas and those intended for use in specific subject areas. The move toward content-specific measures is a result of research suggesting that effective teaching looks different across subject areas and that both content knowledge and…

This manual on teacher evaluation is limited to selected aspects of instruction that are evident in classrooms, including teaching behaviors, pupil perceptions about instruction, classroom transactions involving pupils and teachers, and evidence of short- and long-term planning. The focus is upon those aspects of instruction that research has…

The effect of instructors and of using two different methods of teaching tennis on skill acquisition was investigated. Two hundred twelve subjects received beginning tennis instruction in either the traditional groundstroke (using a full grip) teaching method or the volley (using a graduated length grip) teaching method. To control teacher bias…

This study examined relationships among teachers' management effectiveness ratings, student achievement, social and academic participation structures, patterns of instructional sequencing, and teachers' contributions to thematic development in classroom lessons. Representative case samples were selected to explore effective and less effective…

Stresses the need for more research into the actual instructional behavior of English teachers and discusses current findings of research of this sort. (SW)

BASED IN PART ON A SKINNERIAN LEARNING ORIENTATION, 4 DIMENSIONS OF THE TEACHER'S BEHAVIOR ARE HYPOTHESIZED AS IMPORTANT IN MEDIATING CLASSROOM LEARNING--(1) INFORMATION GIVING (IG), (2) RESPONSE ELICITATION (RE), (3) FEEDBACK (F), AND (4) TEACHER CONTROL (TC). FROM 34 TO 42 5-MINUTE OBSERVATIONS WERE OBTAINED FOR EACH OF THE 4 TEACHERS IN A…

Includes a brief summary of numerous existing systematic observation schemes. (RD)

There are differences in how preservice, novice, and expert teachers view effective teaching. This study traced conceptual changes among preservice teachers at different points in their preparation; investigated whether there were differences in perceptions of students in the elementary and secondary programs; and examined how second and fourth…

The goals of this study were: (1) to develop a methodology for describing competent classroom teaching performance; and (2) to analyze components of competent classroom decision making to be used in improving preservice and inservice teacher training programs. The study investigated differences in: (1) experienced and novice teachers' reports of…