Participant observation is a classic qualitative methodology in which the researcher is immersed in the particular setting as a participant, rather than an outside observer. In this pilot study of an Even Start program, the methodology was modified by using actual program participants as observers and reporters. This enabled the crossing of…

An observation study examined four dimensions of beginning teacher practice that had been heavily emphasized in the first year of a partial internship program and that typically pose problems for first year teachers. These dimensions included: (1) literacy instruction; (2) instructional planning; (3) positive classroom environments and management;…

A case study examined the beliefs and theories of a high school social studies teacher and the life experiences he used to explain how he came to hold those beliefs. Examining the teacher's beliefs and theories and also the experiential roots of these theories offers greater potential for illuminating the role of teacher biography in curriculum…

The Work Sampling System is a performance assessment system that is used in preschool through fifth grade to document and assess children's skills, knowledge, behavior, and accomplishments across curriculum areas. This teacher's manual explains the use of the Work Sampling System in the following chapters: (1) "Introducing the Work Sampling…

This book presents a new method for English Language Arts teachers to assess student learning using authentic assessment techniques. It instructs on the implementation of the processes of Hypothesizing and Testing on a one-on-one basis, in order to better understand how children learn. Section 1 ("What Is the Hypothesis-Test Process?")…

The Cynon Valley Project in Wales, United Kingdom, used funding from the Save the Children Fund and the Bernard van Leer Foundation to address consequences of economic decline in the two communities of Fernhill and Perthcelyn. The project's focus was on early childhood education and community development. Though starting at about the same time and…

Recent debates focus on literacy curriculum as if it is separate from teachers' other work, almost at times as if teachers and their contexts are irrelevant to what is the most appropriate literacy pedagogy. Perhaps learning to read and write is not hard work, but teaching is, no matter which theoretical orientation about literacy is adhered to.…

This paper considers how Australian young people living in relative poverty, per se, are portrayed in media reports and how a specific group of socioeconomically disadvantaged young people are constituted in teachers' classroom talk. The paper begins with the examination of several newspaper reports, part of an archive of articles concerned with…

Studied the effectiveness of using checklist-structured observations as a self-improvement technique for modifying teachers' verbal behaviors in the classroom. Concluded that significant changes were found in analyzing pre- and post-treatment audiotape recordings of participating teachers' regular classes. (CC)

This article describes the methods and initial results of a pilot program (conducted by a team of psychologists and special educators in a rural school district) to demonstrate and evaluate the feasibility of a multidisciplinary, early-identification assessment program for handicapped children. Families were interviewed and on Community Clinic Day…

This report describes a systematic teacher training program at the University of Minnesota for graduate student instructors involving an integrated series of student evaluations, videotaped lecture observations and instructional seminars. This program when evaluated showed a significant and measurable impact on both student and instructor…

It is the purpose of this paper to discuss one qualitative research method, participant observation, which describes and analyzes a setting based on data that has been laboriously and systematically collected and analyzed. (Author/RK)

Compares the frequency of peer and adult interactions, mean duration of social interactions, and amount of misbehavior in children attending Montessori, university laboratory and parent cooperative preschools. (DP)

Objectives of the study were to determine the relationships among behaviors defined within each of several observation systems; and to examine relationships across systems in order to derive some empirical dimensions of classroom behavior. (Authors/CB)