The handbook presents guidelines for cross-cultural understanding and communication to assist teachers in culturally and linguistically diverse classes. The guidelines are presented in the form of suggestions in ten areas: (1) become familiar with basic concepts in anthropology, sociology, and related disciplines, and use the knowledge to build an…

Those who try to deal with violence in U.S. communities and schools have tended to concentrate on suppression of violence, rather than real prevention, particularly as violence is associated with youth gangs. This discussion focuses on multiculturalism as a policy for reducing gang violence, rather than strategies that have been used to deal with…

Teacher-student classroom relationships and behaviors at the University of Alaska's Fairbanks campus are compared with instruction by audioconference and computer conference, with attention to instruction of Native Alaskan students. Classroom behaviors of Natives and non-Natives are contrasted, particularly with regard to participation and signs…

To examine the hypotheses that differences exist between Indians and non-Indians in the nonverbal regulation of conversation and that these differences cause functional difficulties in classroom interaction, the study quantitatively examined differences in the nonverbal repertoires of students and teachers in an American Indian school system and a…

This publication describes the first phase of the Classroom Environment: Teaching for Learning Study in Australia, a six-year international research effort to identify correlations between teaching practices and student achievement. The report's first chapter presents a resume of the study and reviews research findings on managerial and…

A study examined the extent to which perceived teacher status differentials influenced students' perceptions of teacher self-disclosure. This study involved a two-step procedure. Initially 30 students in a basic speech section were asked to recall examples of teacher self-disclosure that had occurred in classes in which they were enrolled. Then 13…

Twenty third-grade teachers and their low ability reading group students participated in a naturalistic study to test how teachers' explanations during a year of reading instruction affected either metacognitive awareness or student use of strategies while reading. The 10 teachers in the treatment group were trained to be explicit when teaching…

Cross-school observation, which is part of a joint project involving a college education department and two large suburban high schools, is described. The Collaborative Project for School Improvement (CPSI) involves a joint steering committee and joint inservice sessions, as well as shared resources and a student teaching center. Program planning…

Project MAFEX (Meta-Analysis of Field Experience) used standard meta-analysis techniques to synthesize the available body of research concerning preservice field experience programs. Several important questions were considered: (1) What types of field experience programs are most and least effective? (2) Are there common characteristics of field…

Teachers are exposed to many varieties of inservice education throughout their careers. It is critical to evaluate the success of such programs. One criterion of success must be the degree to which teachers effectively implement what they have learned. This study examined the effects of an inservice education program emphasizing problem solving on…

Four general problems (two substantive, two methodological) were addressed in a research project: (1) Does the nature of the pupil or the setting make a difference in the teaching style which is most effective? (2) Does the cognitive level of the learning objective make a difference? (3) How can relationships within the classroom be analyzed? and…

There are a number of issues involved in the validation of measures of teacher effectiveness, that is, a teacher's ability to promote student learning. Teachers' characeristics may be assessed at five different points: (1) pre-existing teacher characteristics--knowledge, skills, and attitudes which are necessary for success in the teacher…

This study examined the work-related stress experienced by principals and teachers in public schools. The researchers worked under the assumption that some of the stress related to a job situation comes from the environment. Condensed versions of two questionnaires developed by Williams (measuring stress experienced by teachers) and Jankovich…

The Student Attributes Coding System has been developed for gathering data about the personal characteristics and classroom behavior of elementary school students selected for observation because they engender predictable attitudes and expectations in their teachers. This system is designed to systematically record and categorize all interactions…

This study examines the relationship between selected teacher and student verbal behaviors occuring during social science concept instruction and the residual class mean scores of third, fourth, and fifth grade students on a test of the social science concept specialization. Twenty pre-service teachers and two experienced teachers were the teacher…