This study attempts to determine the effectiveness of a self-appraisal guide in an inservice education program for elementary teachers as measured by pupil achievement on a standardized achievement test. In one public school system in Pennsylvania an inservice education program was designed using "A Guide to the Self-Appraisal and Development of…

The etiological approach to psychological research is discussed, particularly regarding research on visual and vocal behavior. Thirty-four adult female dyads discussed topics on which they agreed and on which they disagreed. Each subject's looking and talking was recorded by observers on a computer in a time frame data structure. Data were…

Examined was the feasibility of predicting the potential for abnormal child rearing practices, including child abuse and neglect among 350 mothers. Through interviews, questionnaires, and observations during labor, delivery and the postpartum period, 100 mothers were identified as at high risk for abnormal parenting procedures. Ss were then…

The first and second years, 1974-76, of a research project on the effects of filmmaking upon children who make the films are reported here. The aims of the research were to establish: (1) the processes through which the children proceeded in the acquisition of filmmaking mastery, (2) the relationship of instructional technique to these forms of…

Systematic observations of classroom behavior of both teachers and pupils are effective measures of process in education. Until a few years ago, the classroom process--what actually does and does not happen as a result of instituting a new program--went unmeasured for want of tools and techniques to do that job. In this article, examples of…

The main purpose of this study was to develop a procedure whereby teachers might improve their interpersonal transactions with students. Concomitant purposes were to develop a limited category coding system for easy use by classroom teachers and to develop a classroom observation system for research purposes. Sixteen teachers (three primary, nine…

An analysis system was developed to facilitate the comprehensive analysis of over 800 hand-written mathematics, communications, and social studies lesson transcripts. The coding scheme facilitates the reduction of qualitative data into categorical data. The heart of the analysis system is the Dominant Instructional Event (DIE) which facilitates…

This paper describes the development and first administrations of a survey of attitudes toward policies and procedures in the evaluating of classroom teaching. The instrument was cooperatively developed by teachers, administrators, and consultants. It provides a collective picture of an ideal system of evaluation and, simultaneously, a picture of…

Variables that schools can not directly control are predictors of a significant portion of the achievement differences of children, yet some schools seem to be operating significantly better or worse than predicted in regard to pupil achievement. This observation study represents an effort to look more closely at schools in which actual pupil…

This study observed the spatial distribution of activity in a second-third grade informal classroom and tested the general hypothesis that changes in the physical setting could produce changes in students' behavior. The experimenter observed for two weeks, using a time-sampling-by-child instrument. The activities and locations of the subjects were…

There are many barriers that present real problems in the process of documenting the development of a course, but if the system is kept simple and straightforward, documentation should give the professional information which will result in a better course. Documentation techniques used during the development of a course on the cultural history of…

An investigation to compare systematic behavioral observations made live with those made on television was conducted. The study was designed to answer three questions: (1) Is there a difference in the agreement between observers (Os) when both view an event Live and when both view the same event on Television? (2) Is there a difference in…

In recent years there has been an increasing demand for accountability and evaluation of teachers. One nonthreatening method that might be used by teachers to evaluate and improve their classroom performance is self-appraisal. The experiment in this document uses the Teacher Self Appraisal (TSA) observation system which divides the teaching act…

This group of papers was presented as part of a symposium entitled "Classroom Observation of Students and Teachers (COST): A Multiple Payoff Approach to Inservice Training." The first paper, "Films for Inservice Teacher Training: A Miniworkshop," outlines the rationale and development of the film series of which the film, Consequences of Behavior,…

Presented is a 60-item rating scale for measuring teacher and pupil performance on the Social Learning Curriculum (a program designed to improve culturally disadvantaged and developmentally disabled primary students' critical thinking and independent action). Scale items are explained to be observable classroom behaviors whose frequency and…