This study was designed as an effort to understand how student-directed small-group discussions can further student thinking about issues related to social studies. The study utilized participant observation to collect data two to three times weekly as students engaged in a literature-based reading program called Book Club. The specific questions…

This study of 119 preschool programs in 5 states was designed to describe the classroom experiences of economically or educationally disadvantaged 4-year-old children and to examine linkages between characteristics of early childhood programs and the activities of the children and teachers in the classroom. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the context…

This list contains 95 instruments designed to record or analyze behaviors of teachers and students as they interact in the classroom, including teacher-student and student-student interactions. Several of the tests measure overall social skills of the individual. Preschool grades through higher education are covered. This document is one in a…

This qualitative study used questionnaires, interviews, and observations to assess what having children with disabilities means to three families. The disabilities include severe mental retardation and seizure disorder, Down syndrome, and neurofibromatosis. Interview data were categorized into the following five areas: the children,…

Action research is a way to examine purposes and practices in teaching. One way of conducting action research is to engage in participant observation, which may be seen as a systematic attempt to discover the knowledge that a group of people has learned and is using to organize the group's behavior. Participant observation has a great deal of…

Each fall, the Department of Natural Sciences at Calhoun Community College (CCC) integrates a field trip to the Great Smoky Mountains into two of its biology courses. Two preliminary class meetings culminate in a 4-day visit to the park. A fee is charged to cover accommodations, breakfast each day, two picnic lunches, and transportation. Course…

In 1989, the Hawaii State Department of Education initiated a study of the practices of successful kindergarten teachers involved in the Early Provisions for School Success (EPSS) program. Seven teachers identified as having a large percentage of students with language needs who progressed to the non-needs category were recruited from seven school…

Barriers to the implementation of technology-based materials in elementary school mathematics classrooms were studied using naturalistic inquiry and multiple methods of data collection in keeping with ethnographic principles. Qualitative data were gathered from interviews with teachers and administrators, reviews of school documents, observations…

This paper presents the results of ongoing analyses of the reliability of the System for Teaching and Learning Assessment and Review (STAR) as a comprehensive measure of classroom teaching and learning for making teacher certification decisions. Focus was on the effects of high stakes assessment conditions for certification on the generalizability…

The National Core French Study developed four syllabuses and assessed their applicability in Core French classes in Canadian elementary and secondary schools. In this segment of the report, options in student evaluation are discussed and their relevance for monitoring student learning and perceptions in this context are considered. It is intended…

Offering insights into the effective use of writing to teach students to think like professionals in various fields, this book is the result of a 7-year naturalistic study. The book documents how a writing specialist paired with an experienced professor in another discipline (business, history, psychology, and biology) to study: (1) teachers'…

This portrait of a high school literature classroom is one of a series of several such portraits which depict diverse classroom settings of high school literature, and which result from the second year of a teacher-research project in the greater Albany, New York area. This article portrays teacher Tony Carrera and his sophomore honors English…

The Zimbabwe Secondary School Science Project (ZIM-SCI) developed student study guides, corresponding teaching guides, and science kits for a low-cost science course which could be taught during the first 2 years of secondary school without the aid of qualified teachers and conventional laboratories. This teaching guide contains instructional…

A system designed to assist training managers or evaluators in increasing the effectiveness of military training programs has been developed, tested, and refined. The Training Program Evaluation (TPE) system offers advantages over traditional approaches of assessing program effectiveness. TPE involves the direct observation of training and testing…

Using technology to enhance student learning in social studies has become an important area for discussion and study within the field of social studies education. Handheld devices are one of the recently emerging technologies. This article describes an initial study of the TI-83 handheld device in the education of preservice social studies…