Concerns have been expressed both in the popular press and in the professional literature regarding skills instruction and the literature-based movement. There is a growing perception that direct instruction in "basic" skills is discouraged within a literature-based philosophy. This booklet challenges this perception as a myth through…

This paper describes a program implemented at the James Madison University (Virginia), Department of Special Education, to train student teachers to manage aggressive and violent behavior. Training in the Alternatives for Handling Aggressive and Violent Behavior (A-HAV-B) Approach involves a three-credit behavior management course, certification…

Since the 1890s, researchers have been studying the impact of teachers' characteristics and styles on their students' progress. Many attempts to quantify basis of quality teaching have been made. The research into teaching styles has traveled through four distinct phases. The first was concerned with describing the characteristics of the effective…

Four preschool children with developmental delays were taught to name the numerical value of sets of geometric figures, the corresponding numeral, the corresponding number word, and the corresponding Roman numeral. Half of the stimuli were taught with instructive feedback and the other half without, as two conditions were established: the future…

A comparative study examined the literacy habits and attitudes of children in two sixth-grade classrooms in Hawaii, one with a learning-centered instructional approach and the other with a traditional transmission instructional approach. The majority of the 26 students in the learning-centered classroom and the 24 students in the traditional…

A study examined the classroom behaviors of prenatally drug-exposed children and assessed the effectiveness of instructional strategies used by their classroom teachers. Subjects, 13 current and former classroom teachers of 6 medically documented prenatally exposed children between the ages of 4 and 10, completed a two-part survey. The…

This book is designed to help early childhood teachers deal with common problems that arise in all aspects of their work. Part one addresses daily dilemmas such as schedule planning, meal and nap times, art, and outdoor play. Part two covers classroom concerns such as the physical environment, curriculum, individual student needs, field trips,…

The role of the instructor in the computer-based training (CBT) environment has typically not been researched. Yet, recent studies have shown that the behavior and the attitude of the instructor can affect achievement in CBT. Moreover, the importance of the instructor in traditional instruction (TI) settings has been well documented. This paper…

The thoughts that teachers have about the content and students they are to teach influences the way in which they will teach. This article briefly discusses the literature on teacher thinking with particular reference to recent work in science education to provide a framework in which to situate the research. The article describes the interview…

The purpose of this study was twofold: to validate a list of distance teaching behaviors; and to develop training guidelines on the most frequently observed and the most important behaviors of distance instructors. Respondents (distance coordinators at 30 college and university distance education sites in Georgia) were asked to indicate how…

Classroom teachers have stereotypes and myths about art education that seem to arise for various reasons including a range of backgrounds, interests, and lack of art experiences; diversity and contradiction of preferences; expectations for an easy course and high grades; and preconceptions about art and art teaching. This latter category includes…

The major purpose of the research reported here was to determine how teachers from middle school to high school levels acquired their understanding of cooperative learning, how they used it in the classroom, and how they kept students accountable for performance. Eleven teachers were interviewed and observed in five disciplines (language arts,…

As reflective teaching has been a major concern in education with the movement for increased teacher professionalism and involvement in all aspects of school decision-making, the 10 articles in this volume address reflective practice in the social studies with an emphasis on how reflection and inquiry can contribute to both teacher and curriculum…

Throughout the early years of the twentieth century, literacy education was based on the solid understanding of grammar. Yet as early as 1923, empirical data indicated that the link between knowledge of grammar and correct use of English was tenuous at best. Despite formidable evidence, some educators still advocate the use of grammar as a…

In this study, relationships were examined among three aspects of the implementation of complex instruction, an innovative approach to teaching in heterogeneous classrooms. These three aspects were: (1) teachers' use of the complex instruction strategies in the classroom; (2) systematic and comprehensive feedback received by teachers from the…