This paper presents a profile of Vermont's STep Ahead Recognition System (STARS) prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for All Child Care Programs;…

This article investigates how culture shapes instruction in a bilingual early care and education program serving migrant and seasonal farm worker families in rural Wyoming. Interviews with eight early childhood teachers as well as classroom observations were conducted. The investigation is framed around the following research question: How does…

Systematic observation is a foundational skill teachers use in order to document children's reading development and plan developmentally appropriate instruction. However, a variety of challenges make it difficult for teacher educators to help preservice teachers develop systematic observation skills. The purpose of this study is to tell two…

This article reports barriers to transfer from the community college to bachelor's degree-granting institutions encountered by Hispanic students in the Dallas County Community College District. These Hispanic students were enrolled in a cultural studies course preparing them to transfer. Ethnographic methods--principally participant observation of…

The experiences of middle school science teachers at two schools in the southeastern US who participated in collaborative, sustained, whole-school professional development and their implementation of standards-based instructional practices are the focus of this study. Participants were involved in their second year of the professional development…

Reliance on quantitative work has led to understudy of the "underlife" of the classroom. We observed six 11th and 12th grade history and government classrooms, twice a week, for a semester in order to explore whether and how teachers express their personal opinions, permit students to express their opinions, discuss political participation, and…

A three-year project was undertaken by the National Center for research in Vocational Education (Ohio State University, OH) to investigate time on task in vocational and technical classes. During the first year of the project, researchers used the direct observation method to collect time-on-task data pertaining to 10 teachers and 186 students in…

In response to environmental degradation, the Lesotho government, in collaboration with the Danish government, introduced an Environmental Education Support Project in schools in 2001. In order to optimise the achievement of the project goals the, Monitoring and Research Team was established to formatively evaluate the project as it unfolded. The…

African teachers in general and South Africans in particular face tremendous challenges, several of which are curriculum related. These challenges manifest themselves at various levels and in various areas, that is, from national level to within the classroom. There are various role players who may make a contribution towards overcoming these…

Riparian ecosystems are an exciting and dynamic subject for study. These areas are valuable lands and important wildlife habitats, and they contribute greatly to the environmental health of an area. Definitions for the term "riparian" vary, but in this curriculum, the land called the "Green Zone" lies between flowing water and upland ecosystems.…

The study uses Foucault's framework of governmentality to understand the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on teachers' writing instruction and attitudes toward writing in high- and low-income schools. Using interviews and observations of 18 teachers, the study identified four themes: emphasis on testing, curricular effects, awareness of…

This kit presents the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) as a tool to identify behavior disorders in elementary-aged students. The SSBD procedure is a three-stage, multiple-gating mass screening system. In the first stage the teacher systematically ranks all students according to either externalizing or internalizing behavioral…

A study was conducted to provide information for setting two separate standards, the accuracy score and the documentation score, for the Praxis III: Classroom Performance Assessment (Praxis III). Praxis III is intended for making instructional and licensing decisions about beginning teachers. This standard-setting study was a person-judgment…

This paper presents preliminary, but statistically significant, findings from a study that compares two methods of measuring instructional effectiveness: global evaluation by experts and systematic observation using the SCRIBE Ob.2 software developed at the University of Texas at Austin. Hierarchical instruction of a performance skill…

This study compares affiliative and attachment behaviors of nontraditional fathers who are their infant's primary caregivers, secondary caregiving fathers, and primary and secondary caregiving mothers. Subjects were 28 mobile infants and their middle-class American parents. In half of the families, the father was the primary caregiver; in the…