In 1990, a study was conducted of Pima Community College (PCC) associate (i.e., part-time) faculty and department heads to determine current practices and perceptions regarding the utilization of part-time faculty. Questionnaires were mailed to 1,500 faculty members and 65 department heads. Highlighted findings, based on a 51% response rate from…

The first major purpose of this paper is to show the ways in which teachers can benefit from research and the application of research findings to classroom interactions with children. The second major purpose is to examine research findings on the quality and characteristics of teachers' interactions with children by looking at findings on…

The editors of "Practical Application of Research (PAR)," a newsletter of Phi Delta Kappa's Center on Evaluation, Development, and Research, reviewed all of the research done since 1971 on the subject of instructional clarity. Instructional clarity was defined as the interaction between what a teacher does or says and the student's…

Prepared by members of the Institute for Research on Teaching and the Center for the Study of Reading, the papers in this collection examine reading comprehension as an interactive process and explore how comprehension instruction occurs in the complex workplace of the classroom. Specific topics discussed in 20 papers include the following: (1)…

Twenty years ago, anyone proposing to help teachers with the problem of classroom discipline had few resources at hand. It was approximately at that time that Jacob Kounin began a series of investigations that have changed our way of talking and thinking about classroom discipline. He changed our focus from a sterile concern with exercising…

An ethnographic study of 12 student teachers in an elementary school field-based program determined, through observation and interviews, how they reacted to the socializing process that is an integral factor in practicum experiences. Institutional and social forces that shaped these preservice teachers' behaviors and ideas were the elementary…

This paper presents a complex causal model of teacher stress based on data received from the responses of 1,466 teachers from Malmo, Sweden to a questionnaire. Also presented is a method for treating the model variables as higher-order factors or higher-order theoretical constructs. The paper's introduction presents a brief review of teacher…

This article describes how Michigan State University developed and implemented an institutional framework that identifies outreach and engagement as a scholarly, crosscutting function. These efforts sought to elevate the valuation of outreach and engagement across the institution and to ensure that outreach and engagement complemented the other…

In an attempt to review and, if necessary, update the curriculum, a study investigated the prevalence of problem-solving and design approaches in the teaching of woodworking courses in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Woodworking classes in forms one and three were studied in an urban secondary school where woodworking is taught up to form four and…

One of a series of six portraits of high school literature classrooms, this paper gives a detailed, evocative characterization of how one "master teacher" introduced, undertook, and guided the study of literature, focusing in particular on how the teacher interacted with students in the context of discussion of a literary work in class.…

One of a series of six portraits of high school literature classrooms, this paper gives a detailed, evocative characterization of how one "master teacher" introduced, undertook, and guided the study of literature, focusing in particular on how the teacher interacted with students in the context of discussion of a literary work in class.…

Research assessed the effectiveness of the Utah Pupil/Teacher Self-Concept Program in changing specific teacher verbal behaviors related to self concept. Subjects were secondary school teachers in the Logan City and Cache County School Systems, Utah. An experimental pre-post control group design was employed with 12 teachers in the experimental…

The influence of day-to-day variation in teacher performance on the reliability and validity of teacher assessment was examined. An attempt was made to identify and quantify sources of score variation attributable to differences in teacher performance, day of observation, observers, and test subscales; and to determine their effects on reliability…

The effects of faculty training in sex equitable and effective interaction skills were assessed. Twenty-three professors participated in a two and one-half day training workshop that focused on (1) the elimination of sex-biased teacher-student interactions in the classroom; and (2) the distribution, precision, and quality of teacher responses to…

Kindergarten children in three school districts were observed to measure the variance in their abilities upon entering school as well as the variance in the literacy-related instruction they received. The school districts differed in their early childhood education philosophies, as reflected in their kindergarten programs, their choices of…