Reflective models of supervision have shifted the emphasis from teaching observations as primarily evaluative events to events intended to promote teachers' reflective practice. This paper presents a longitudinal action research study investigating post-observation interactions between language teachers and their supervisors in an American…

It has been reported that the students' level of mathematics when entering university has changed in recent years. A surprising number of students struggle with mathematics or have a mathematics anxiety. Although this was widely reported within the UK, there was some uncertainty if colleagues in other countries were experiencing the same…

Along with the bright hues of orange, red, and yellow, the season of fall represents significant changes, such as day length and temperature. These changes provide excellent opportunities for students to use science process skills to examine how abiotic factors such as weather and temperature impact organisms. In this article, the authors describe…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to the University of Dayton (UD) on November 5-7, 2008, to conduct interviews with individuals who played significant roles in the university's teacher preparation program (see Appendix A). These interviews, along with additional materials provided by UD and identified by the AED…

Recent CALL research suggests that the arrival of new technologies in the language classroom has led to an increased dominance of the socio-constructivist paradigm (Felix, 2006). Borg (2006) suggests, however, that the hegemony of this paradigm may not extend beyond well-researched university and private ESL contexts. The present study tests this…

We have been exploring the potential of a web-supported professional development system, the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), that integrates videotaped classrooms and discussion forums for use in preservice science methods classrooms. This article examines pre- and inservice teachers' perceptions about using the ILF and how their participation in…

This Policy Research Brief explores the strengths of qualitative research and the types of information it can make available to policymakers concerned with issues affecting persons with disabilities. The naturalistic methodology employed in qualitative research is described. Three specific studies using qualitative methodology are excerpted and…

The Mississippi Teacher Assessment Instruments (MTAI) for the evaluation of beginning teachers has been adopted by the Mississippi State Board of Education. The MTAI assesses on-the-job performance and consists of 16 competencies measured by 3 separate instruments, which are to be administered twice during the beginning teacher's first year of…

The classroom behaviors recorded during three second grade reading lessons provide suitable evidence for comparing the relative merits of using narrative observations versus videotapes as data collection techniques. The comparative analysis illustrates the detail and precision of videotape. Primarily, videotape gives a true picture of linear time,…

A number of assessment measures are available for measuring affective growth in reading. Among the factors involved in affective response to reading are attitude toward reading, interest in reading, and attitude toward specific reading programs. The most commonly used of the reactive measures of affective reading growth (those in which…

This manual consists of lesson plans developed to train data collectors in the use of the Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments (TPAI). Each set of plans was designed for one of three purposes. Lesson plans developed for the Teaching Plans and Materials Instrument (TPM) simulate a portfolio prepared by the teacher. One-day plans developed for…

This report presents an overview of the history of the Junior High Classroom Organization Study, designed to answer questions concerning effective instruction in junior high school English and mathematics classes. Nineteen trained observers were sent to 52 classrooms in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Observers kept written records…

This report contains a complete record of the methodology and instrumentation of the Junior High Classroom Organization Study. The purpose of the study was to delineate specific effective teacher behaviors. Included in this report are a description of the selection and training of observers, and guidelines for writing narrative descriptions,…

The urban neighborhood, long of interest to city planners and sociologists, has in recent years become of increasing concern to public policy-makers. This new concern has called attention to a large gap in the municipal policy-maker's information resources. Social scientists have employed a field method, participant-observation, that can…

A SUMMER PROGRAM WAS CONDUCTED FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTHS TO ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES OF CREATIVE THINKING AND EXPRESSION, WIDE EXPLORATION, FREE QUESTIONING, AND SELF-ESTEEM DEVELOPMENT. FORTY HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE BOYS (PREDOMINATELY NEGRO) WERE COUNSELED, GUIDED, AND INSTRUCTED IN SUCH SUBJECT AREAS AS LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. THE RESEARCH…