Describes a multifaceted evaluation of the Brandeis model of reference services, which included how the model was defined, direct observation of librarians, unobtrusive study, and a focus group project to gauge patron response. Results of the study and needed improvements are discussed. A sidebar article describes the Brandeis model. (22…

Observations of children's writing on the computer include an anecdote concerning a five-year-old's use of a word processor to write a story at the University of South Carolina's Children's Center. Also discussed are general literacy growth and four patterns of risk taking with computer writing. (BB)

Presents an annotated dialogue between two teachers concerning a teacher's observations of children's play. Discusses teachers' practice of representing children's play for the children and the results of this practice. (BB)

Sixty-two preschool and kindergarten programs were examined with regard to various instructional practices. An observations protocol was developed to assess social and motivational effects of instructional practice in early childhood education programs. Program participants who had relatively high scores on the social context subscales had…

Stresses the danger of sociological fieldwork in Latin America for researcher and subject. Recommends that the researcher build a network of contacts for support and protection. Discusses the interpersonal relations, problems of security, and field entry techniques involved in sensitive research situations. Suggests unobtrusive methods of research…

Discussion of computer-mediated communication focuses on a study of undergraduates in computer science courses that used observational and self-report techniques to examine the content of electronic mail messages. Work-related and various social uses are described, and examples of messages are included. (42 references) (LRW)

Maintains that new practices such as performance-based assessment that are consistent with the early childhood profession's process goals need to be developed and that testing of young children that is not developmentally appropriate constitutes misassessment. Promotes observational assessment that uses anecdotal notes and that complements…

Discusses the Management and Planning System (MAPS), a developmental assessment system initiated in Head Start. The system consists of instruments which assess preschoolers' and kindergartners' development of math, science, literacy, and social skills and children's motor development. Describes the use and benefits of MAPS observational…

Presents a hands-on activity in which students try to identify 15 unknowns using only their sense of touch. This method reinforces the science process skills of observing, collecting and recording data, and analyzing data tables while requiring few reading skills. (MDH)

Infants' home-based Q-sort scores of security, dependency, and sociability were compared to laboratory Strange Situation classifications of secure, anxious-resistant, and anxious-avoidant. Secure classification was associated with Q-sort security and sociability, but not dependency. (BC)

A case study illustrates the ways in which local reactions to a program evaluation directly threaten its validity, and shows that not all participants in a qualitative evaluation study understand or defer to the commitments of democratic evaluation. Ethical concerns in program evaluation are considered. (SLD)

Considers student-teacher observation and evaluation as processes that define proper behavior and construct social forms of teaching behavior. Discusses documentary records on student-teachers' development. Analyzes nineteenth-century Training Registers of the Ontario Provincial Model School in terms of students' characteristics and evaluations,…

Critically assesses the methodology and conclusions of two British studies concerning gender imbalances in classroom participation. Finds the studies' generalizations too broad, and suggests that type of teacher attention would be more influential than quantity of attention, which these studies observed. Recommends a more cumulative development of…

Teachers in Tennessee are using the Classroom Ecological Inventory (CEI) to prepare students with mild disabilities for moves into mainstream settings. The CEI was field tested as part of the Peabody Reintegration Project and involves observation of the regular classroom, regular teacher interview, comparison of the special and regular classrooms,…

This study investigated the differential effects of three laboratory experiences on preservice teachers' knowledge of specific teaching behaviors and ability to observe and report teacher behaviors. Results indicated knowledge of teaching behavior was significantly higher for the live telecast observation group than for the interactive video…