Urban problems have been discussed for so long and with so little effect that the litany of urban crisis is now a hollow incantation. One way out is to go back to the neighborhoods and experience "urban problems" as they affect particular people and places. The author's own street-level perspective was gained in five months of field work on the…

Methodological issues and results described in this paper originated from a Stanford Research Institute (SRI) evaluation of classroom observation data collected in Spring 1973. The main question addressed in this evaluation was whether each of seven Follow Through sponsors had successfully implemented his program in a variety of sites. The steps…

A strategy for comparing two sets of results (one based upon early childhood recollections (ECR) and another upon video taped (VT) group behavior) from the Perceptual Characteristics Rating Scale was developed. The null distribution of the mean deviation was estimated by randomly matching an ECR response vector with a VT response vector. To…

Coping is defined as the process by which the child attempts to control, synthesize, and make his world manageable. Coping behaviors found in the literature and observed in five preschool classrooms were behaviorally defined to facilitate their identification and observation by trained adults. An instrument designed for use in observation of these…

An educational intervention program for lower income children was characterized by parent involvement in all stages. Active dialogue between parents, teachers and the Boston University Head Start Evaluation and Research Center (BUER) was considered a primary purpose and encouraged by BUER training, research and service activities. An ethical code…

The ability to perceive such things as nuances of language, moods of people, and the temper of society may be the single most important ability students need to develop. One approach, which works well with upper elementary and junior high students, uses units involving community study with library research, observation, and interviewing as a base.…

A study was made to compare the effectiveness (determined by individual behavior change) of three sensitivity training conditions--spaced, massed, and combined--compared with each other and with a control group (no training); and to determine the relationship between 25 personal characteristics and the behavior change under the various conditions…

This study tests the hypothesis that disadvantaged children learn more from interaction with advantaged children in Head Start classrooms than when grouped solely with other disadvantaged children. Subjects were 32 disadvantaged children who were assigned to two experimental groups of eight each and a control group of 16. Eight advantaged children…

Eight Head Start centers which used the Responsive Model program during the 1968-69 school year were assessed to determine cognitive development of children, teacher performance in the classroom, adequacy of physical facilities, administrative support and the interrelationship between these variables. Teachers were observed at the beginning and…

This publication is intended to help teachers of young children in the informal preschool setting, particularly infant school teachers in England. Details of what 48 selected nursery and infant school teachers did and said during classroom "free time" periods were recorded by trained observers. This data is included in this book to…

Observational research was conducted in homes with a wide socioeconomic range to identify the major factors of experience that affect the development of a child's abilities. Thirty children, aged 12 to 36 months, were observed in three aspects of their environment: Human (family and peers), Static Physical (home and neighborhood), and Range of…

To develop a system for making systematic observations of classroom communicative interaction, to provide guidelines for its utilization, and to suggest applications of this system to problems in the development of communication skills, 94 deaf children were directly observed in class interaction. An evaluation instrument was developed from the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability of sociobehavioral principles and techniques for influencing or changing the behavior of adults in a learning group. The behavior on which this study focused was off-task behavior, defined as that behavior inconsistent or incongruent with the lesson plan for that particular day, or with…

This paper reviews two major advances in preschool evaluation strategy that developed as a result of trying to evaluate Head Start, and proposes another evaluation approach. The first advance in evaluation procedure was to conceive educational objectives in terms of processes rather than products; that is, there was a shift from achievement tests…

The various behavioral phases through which a child passes before he becomes adjusted to school are examined in this report on East Indian children. A program of observation was devised to answer three questions: (1) Do patterns of behavior change as children continue to attend school? (2) Are there different patterns of behavior during the…