This report describes a technique which can be used to provide both formative and summative evaluation of television programs designed to promote educational development in 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. The daily half-hour program evaluated is part of an Appalachia Educational Laboratory project, now in its second year. (Other project…

This pilot study addressed tension and anxiety states that may accompany reading readiness training in the kindergarten. Seventy-two children (36 boys and 36 girls) were randomly selected from three urban elementary schools. Six kindergarten classes were included, representing: (1) 2 classes conducting systematic reading programs; (2) 2 classes…

A dissertation proposal involved a study to observe spontaneous behavior of children in interaction with materials in order to gain understanding of the factors that influence classificatory and imaginative behavior in free play. Children at two levels of ability in terms of classification skills were observed in interaction with materials at two…

This paper presents an inner-city, elementary teacher education program which focused upon a) the acquisition of teaching techniques and skills in the urban learning setting, b) the learning of theory together with reinforced practice in functional field experiences, c) the reinforcement of principles of child growth and development through direct…

A series of studies on observer biases revealed that simply informing observers of experimental hypotheses does not produce observational data consonant with those hypotheses. However, questionnaire responses following an experiment with different induced expectations does produce global data consonant with experimental hypotheses. In addition, if…

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the CO-Plus project by organizing data to utilize the classroom as the basic unit of analysis. The study employed classroom observations, a variety of questionnaire responses from staff and pupils, achievement test scores, and related data. Questionnaire data were summarized using factor…

The need for common measures in research on teaching is legend, and the merits of teaching performance tests to meet this requirement are explored here. A regression study where teacher performance tests were used as dependent measures is described. Sixth-four subjects were given objective-based lessons to teach. During their lesson, they were…

Four successive years of Metropolitan Achievement Test scores for all second- and third-grade pupils in a large Southwestern urban school system were used to compute mean residual gain scores for 170 teachers who taught during the three focal years. Alternate regression models were compared for precision in estimating the magnitude and consistency…

The methodology discussed is used in ongoing research to contrast the effectiveness of several patterns of parental authority with the same children at different ages. The first characteristic of these methods is the use of trait and behavior ratings to assess dispositional tendencies. The construct of a dispositional trait is used to account for…

This study investigated the interdependence of teacher and pupil behavior in the elementary school classroom. Phase I of the study provided teachers with opportunities to observe their own classroom behaviors and to learn how these behaviors influenced the classroom learning environment. A Self-Perceptions Index was used to measure the impact of…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a document examining the objective connections existing between the system of training and the course of general development of students. It proposes a more effective system of education than the one in operation at the present time. The various contributors to the work…

The correlation between high-inference measures and low-inference observation measures was studied using two groups of social studies student teachers (25 students per group). The high-inference measure for two video-taped lessons was obtained with the 10-item Teacher Performance Appraisal Scale (TPAS), on which pupils rated the lesson on a scale…

This thesis is concerned with the development and appraisal of video-tape clips used in training pre-service teachers in mathematics. The video-tapes (on file in the television studio of the College of Education at the University of Illinois in Urbana) show high school mathematics teachers in real classroom situations illustrating seven different…

The power of the classical Linear Discriminant Function (LDF) is compared, using Monte Carlo techniques with five other procedures for classifying observations from certain non-normal distributions. The alternative procedures considered are the Quadratic Discriminant Function, a Nearest Neighbor Procedure with Probability Blocks, and three density…

This paper explores the effects of the childbirth environment and demographic variables on the laboring woman's expressions of tension and pain. Four observable physical measures were combined into a behavioral index of pain and tension: irregular breathing, tension of the upper extremities (rigid muscle flexion), vocalizations of pain (a cry,…