This paper discusses three methods of assessing student teacher performance: checklists; measurable objectives; and teaching performance tests. Checklists, recommended by some schools of education, need to contain a comprehensive set of knowledge, skills, and attitudinal behaviors pertaining to quality student teaching. Checklists permit a…

The process of focus-finding in qualitative research is ongoing and dynamic, involves researcher choices and decisions (rather than pure discovery), and is a process of social construction in which the researcher interacts with the research setting. Focus-finding is discussed in the context of a qualitative research study of the integration of…

To develop a more accurate and functional definition of "real communication" in the second language classroom, research into the language of teachers and students in their interactions was undertaken through classroom observation. The results show that the assumption that second language classroom language can be described as focusing either on…

A process evaluation was conducted of the Saginaw, Michigan Public Schools' Prekindergarten Program. During the 1985-86 year, 454 children participated, based on their Prekindergarten Readiness Screening Device scores. The half-day program was funded through Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act to develop the school…

With increasing frequency, school readiness tests are used to determine a child's potential for kindergarten and/or the child's placement in a certain type of kindergarten program. This study compared two teachers' predictions of test results for 20 children with the scores children achieved in actual testing situations. The study also queried the…

The project guide for 4-H leaders and teenage club members in 4-H community development projects consists of two components, a set of leader materials and a Teen Notebook. The leader materials are presented in this document and provide one preparatory unit and four experiential units of instruction on aspects of working with young children in a…

This paper outlines some of the issues that emerged from guiding student teachers through the experience of conducting action research. Action research was used a a way of working toward a student teaching experience that would provide opportunities and structures to facilitate and enhance the students' development as reflective teachers. Several…

A "thick" description of teaching is referred to as the uncovering of the meaning of what is being said or done by knowing the structure in which it is said or done. In this ethnographic study of teachers' experiences with microcomputers in their classrooms, George Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory was used to develop a clinical interview…

Examined were differences between 36 Tennessee kindergarten and first-grade teachers' us of student groupings and instructional time. Teachers were observed twice at the beginning of the school year and once again approximately 8 weeks later. Eight observers collected data using the Stallings Observation Instrument, a measure consisting of: (1) a…

This paper describes a procedure used to locate pretend play episodes in streams of play activity of 4- and 5-year-olds. A story grammar was used to compare pretend play episode activity with story construction. Participants were five girls and three boys attending the same preschool. Pretend play schemes and episodes were defined in terms of…

This document describes approaches in conducting naturalistic studies in two different countries with contrasting educational settings. Naturalistic research methodology is described by one of the writers as "an explicit undertaking to lay aside our ideas and concern ourselves with finding the subjects' perspectives in their non-theoretical…

In 1985-86, the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Public Schools, through Chapter 1 funding, entered the final year of a 3-year pilot of Early Learning Programs (ELPs) at four sites in the district: (1) Lavaland; (2) Longfellow; (3) Tomasita; and (4) Alamosa. Four- and five-year-old children (N=272) participated in the pilot program. Seventy-five percent…

The purpose of this study was to identify effective and ineffective strategies for teaching Title I students. The data collection took the form of direct observations of teacher-student interactions and classroom activities in the classes of 79 Oklahoma City Public Schools Title I teachers. The data on achievement gains came from the California…

To learn how basal reading program manuals affect teacher behavior during the time scheduled for reading, classroom observations were made of 16 teachers from first, third, and fifth grade classes. The first grade teachers were observed for a total of 605 minutes; the third grade teachers for 780 minutes; and the fifth grade teachers for 535…

Within the evaluation of a curriculum program for student teachers, the curriculum as an influencing factor in the effects of the teaching-learning process was investigated. Qualitative and quantitative research models were used. The Look and Listen I (LLI) program was the subject of the study. It is an individualized program to instruct student…