This observer training manual was developed as a central component of a research effort, Changing Teacher Practice (CTP), which was designed to increase the frequency of effective teaching behaviors and staff development strategies in an ongoing school system. The observations focused on two major aspects of classroom teaching--instruction and…

Effective schools research has delivered some relatively concrete findings on important issues facing this country's educators. The result has been an extensive collection of effective schooling practices which have potential for increasing performance in young people. In reviewing effective schools literature, implications of the data were found…

This paper examines, from the perspective of the teacher, the relatively unimportant place of science in the elementary school curriculum. Two case studies of science education (of eight commissioned by the Science Council of Canada) provided data about science instruction in the K-6 elementary setting. Data were collected by observations made…

A model of the influences on teacher practice and student learning is formulated and illustrated by analyzing the practice of 12 high school history teachers in 6 schools. Since the data base contains both observations of 228 lessons, as well as extensive interviews with teachers and department chairs, it is possible to assess the opportunity for…

An examination of cross-cultural toleration in South African university classrooms and speculation on the causes and effects of this toleration are presented in this paper. South African faculty attitudes are surveyed and compared against U.S. faculty attitudes. Findings expose the need for improvement regarding cross-cultural communication in the…

The technique of path analysis was used to test the role of student task engagement as a mediating process variable linking teacher behavior and student achievement in mathematics and social studies classes. Study participants included 40 teacher interns and their respective second-, third-, and fifth-grade classes from a school district served by…

This training manual presents information on the relationship between the educational environment and minority student underachievement. The materials presented are designed to assist teachers in establishing positive student-teacher relationships and to create a challenging and friendly classroom climate. The training package, designed to be used…

A study determined how direct instruction is being used and why it is being used the way that it is. Data were collected through observations and interviews from teachers and principals in 12 elementary schools involved in a school improvement project based, in part, on direct instruction. Results show that, in general, the elements of direct…

Teachers have the same rights as others, under the first amendment, to express their views outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, however, the teacher is obliged to meet the expectations of the job, and this implies reasonable restrictions on the expression of private views. United States Supreme Court cases have reviewed the teacher's right…

Generally, classroom discourse in foreign language teaching and learning is formalized and does not contain impromptu speech. However, analysis of classroom discourse in a German university foreign language course revealed that teachers' evaluative acts (followups) and "glides" linking one teacher-learner exchange to another do contain…

A study investigated how oral discourse affects the communicative process of teaching and learning and how that process influences and is influenced by the goals and expectations of college instructors and college students. Three college classes were observed for one semester. Data were collected in the form of field notes, cassette tapes of…

Conducted as the third in a series of four investigations of teacher explanation of reading skills, a study examined the relationship between explicit teacher explanation and student awareness of lesson content and reading achievement gains. Subjects were seven fifth-grade teachers and their respective low-reading ability groups. The teachers were…

This investigation sought to determine the extent to which examiners' evaluations of writing performance were influenced by the learning disability label and to identify mediating variables which modify expectancy effects. Forty-four preservice regular education teachers were randomly assigned to one of two expectancy conditions (learning-disabled…

A report is given of a study comparing the classroom, school, and community phenomena that secondary school teachers in the United States, England, and West Germany experience as sources of enthusiasm and discouragement in their professional work. The teachers were interviewed in groups of five to ten in their own schools. The open-end structured…

Competency Based Teacher Education (CBTE) is examined as a means of providing a systematic approach to handling educational complexity which will lead to modernizing teacher education. Analysis and discussion are offered on: (1) what CBTE consists of and how it functions; (2) CBTE as an educational reform movement in the United States; (3)…