Intended for elementary teachers, reading specialists, curriculum directors, and teacher trainers, this book provides readers with conceptual and theoretical insights and compelling accounts of classroom practice. The book argues that teaching and learning work best when they occur within a community of learners. The book provides interpretations…

This paper offers practical procedures and suggestions on initiating and carrying out naturalistic classroom observation of the type used in the Learning in Science Project in New Zealand (1980). The initiation of the research requires sensitivity and patience. Once in the classroom the overriding aim is to be unobtrusive and to achieve acceptance…

Recommending that every state increase the duration and intensity of academic learning time (ALT) in schools, this working paper provides a rationale, discusses related research, offers guidelines for selecting and implementing activities, and describes actions schools can take to implement change. In the discussion, duration refers to the total…

Utilizing a behavioral approach to classroom management, this book provides effective methods for preventing and remediating student misbehaviors. These tested and proven management strategies are highlighted with actual case studies of behavior problems involving average and exceptional students from elementary and secondary settings. Teacher,…

A naturalistic study investigated writing-related teacher planning and classroom activities in a combined second and third grade classroom and a sixth grade classroom. Data were collected from participant observation, teachers' reflections on classroom writing, and naturally occurring teacher and student writing samples. The study, which was based…

Following a review of research endeavors in the area of teacher evaluation and performance assessment, some procedures which have been developed at the University of Toledo (Ohio) to discriminate between competent and incompetent teachers are described. The university's program is competency-based, and researchers have identified 49 competencies…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet reviews research and presents suggestions designed to improve the classroom communication climate. The first section of the booklet describes the process of building a supportive environment to reflect a range of…

To provide educators with an alternative perspective on discipline, this handbook examines the concept of discipline, presents four models of disciplinary strategy, and discusses factors related to classroom discipline. After briefly analyzing different definitions of discipline and their positive and negative outcomes, the authors discuss each of…

In order to compare the differences in cognitions of experienced and beginning teachers, the perceptions of six experienced teachers, six student teachers, and six probationer teachers (in their first year of teaching after college training) were studied at various times during the course of a school year, using a variety of methods (interview,…

This study of the Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT) environment focused on the potential of a computer-saturated environment to facilitate students' thinking processes. Four approaches were used: (1) a longtitudinal approach to study student growth and development; (2) observations of students' behavior while writing with the computer to study…

This paper advocates the use in the college reading classroom of Readers' Theater (a medium in which two or more oral readers, without memorization, special costumes, lighting, props, or sound effects, through creative oral reading cause an audience to explore drama, prose, and poetry). Sections in the paper discuss: the definition of readers'…

A longitudinal study examined the factors that facilitate or hinder Native American children's literacy acquisition. Subjects, 18 three-year-old children attending Headstart classes on the Lummi Reservation in northwest Washington, were observed during their daily hour of free play for an entire school year. The subjects' experiences with drawing,…

Plain talk is the cornerstone for creating a classroom atmosphere in which students want to learn to improve their writing. As much as possible, the jargon and technical terminology of the profession of English should be eliminated. Teachers will know what level of language to use if they determine the nature of their audience. Teachers have to…

It is argued that in order to make computer assisted instruction effective in the schools, educators should pay more attention to implementation issues (including modifying teacher attitudes, changing classroom routines, and offering realistic technical training and support) and to producing understandable product and performance evaluations.…

It is argued that the three basic issues that have typically been the concern of formative evaluation (comprehensibility, appeal, and usefulness) tell us very little about the role that an instructional product can play in the ongoing environment of the classroom. The focus in this paper is on the field test, i.e., on research situated within the…