A study describes the process of two first-grade teachers incorporating the Reading Recovery process of "roaming around the known" in their regular classrooms. Their purpose was to assess what their students knew about print. Data collection for these case studies took place for 16 weeks late in 1992; participants included 49 first-grade…

A study determined the prototypical features of outstanding professors from the undergraduate student perspective (including verbal and nonverbal behaviors of outstanding professors) and whether female students placed different ranks on the prototypical features of the outstanding professors. The prototypical features of outstanding, or ideal,…

A study investigated ability grouping for reading within a heterogeneous classroom and the effect such grouping has on attitudes toward reading. Subjects, 23 students in an ethnically diverse third-grade classroom in central Virginia, completed reading attitude surveys. Classroom observations of the teacher and students were conducted. Results…

Humor can be an effective element of classroom teaching, serving to reduce tension, increase motivation, aid instruction and strengthen teacher/student relationships. A review of the literature reveals that research in this area is incomplete and inconclusive. This study surveys 5th- and 6th-grade teachers (N=50) for information on how they vary…

A study examined curriculum decision-making in the classrooms of accomplished teachers of English in grades 9 through 12, focusing on aspects of structure, content, and ways of knowing and doing that combined to create a sense of a "curriculum" rather than a series of disconnected lessons. Four classrooms were studied each semester for…

This article discusses theories of teaching that are part of teacher education programs and the teacher education experiences that best realize these theories. Various top-down and bottom-up approaches to teaching are compared. Top-down approaches, for example, may apply educational research to classroom teaching or use a methods approach based on…

Three private preschool classes, one with 3-year-olds and two with 4-year-olds, were observed to determine if there was differential treatment of boys and girls. The observer used an observational form developed to observe and assess sex equity or inequity in teacher-child interactions. The data obtained from the observations was processed through…

Three books represent the recent work of leading U.S. proponents of critical approaches to pedagogy: "Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education," by Peter McLaren; "Freire for the Classroom: A Sourcebook for Liberatory Teaching," edited by Ira Shor; and "Teachers as…

This study examined influences upon experienced teachers' course planning. Seven teachers were each intensively interviewed four times about their planning for courses they had never before taught; the interviews took place before, after, and twice during the semester of the "new" course in question. Findings were classified into three categories…

In the course of a longitudinal study that addressed the questions of how children learn to comprehend what they read and how they learn science concepts, many other research questions emerged. The original longitudinal study investigated how children learn to comprehend what they read. Three school districts with fairly stable student…

This paper proposes a reorientation of classroom practices in the teaching of literature, a reorientation proceeding from new understandings of literary reading. The first section of the paper reviews convergences in current theory and research on literary reading that teachers ought to consider when rethinking classroom practice. The second…

Papers generated for a symposium entitled "Effectiveness of Stallings' Use of Time Training for Teachers in Washington, D.C." are presented. The intitial presentation, "Academic Learning Time: The Current Status of the Stallings Training" (Geraldine Williams Bethune), reviews the Stallings research and describes the Academic…

This monograph presents an assessment instrument that utilizes teacher and student behavioral indicators to assess the quality of inquiry instruction. The instrument provides teachers with feedback which not only assesses the presence of critical teaching skills, but also serves as a valuable training aid for helping them perceive how their own…

The overall purpose of this project was threefold: (1) to gather task descriptive data concerning engagement rates of students across grade levels, abilities, classrooms, contextual factors, subject areas and task structures; (2) to link various teacher behaviors with student engagement rates, focusing on correlational results between a number of…

Teachers can engage in practical reflection through collaboration that enriches their sense of what is feasible and possible, and they can transform their understanding of those realities. Critical reflection, however, requires various forms of assistance. The use of "clinical supervision" over 6 months in 1982 with 14 teachers in 4…