Over 100 systems have been developed that permit the recording and categorizing of teacher and student behavior. The cognitive processes of practicing teachers' decision making must be studied in order to deduce a common base whereby teaching decisions could be improved. (Author/JKS)

Results of this study reveal that well-trained observers report significantly lower levels of cognitive activity on all measures than raters who had no training or only moderate training. Consequently, interpretations of cognitive components of environmental and teacher evaluation scales must be questioned unless generated by trained student…

Observations by parents of 11 Down's syndrome infants and observations by parent advisors on a criterion-referenced checklist were compared to observation by trained evaluators using the standardized Bayley Scales of Infant Development. (CL)

A large-scale study of the extent of parent involvement on boards in preschool day care indicates that intensity of involvement, rather than the number of parents involved, is the key factor. The impact of parent involvement on staff and classroom environment also is examined. (MS)

The history and utility of category observation instruments are briefly traced; category observation instruments are defined and their essential properties stated; and a sequential strategy for their construction is discussed. (MM)

Results of this study indicate that programs designed to break down the barriers to cross-sex and cross-race association could be a powerful approach to increasing positive social interaction in the classroom. (MM)

Argues that what we need to do in the future is: (1) to continue to validate broader methodological approaches to evaluation; (2) to defend alternative scientific approaches and at the same time to indicate how they differ from essentially nonscientific views of the world; (3) to recognize the difference between methodological familiarity and…

Proposes a broader concept of college faculty peer evaluation, in which perspectives of teacher, learner, and observer are considered. Argues that three basic principles (intention/interpretation, advisement/appraisement, acceptability/accessibility) must necessarily and minimally guide peer evaluation. Presents a four-part, multidimensional peer…

Discusses the methodology used in the Models of Media Education research projects which examined media teaching styles of a group of secondary English teachers in the United Kingdom. Offers conclusions about the teachers' aims and focal concepts in their lessons. Considers the extent to which curriculum innovation involves pedagogical change and…

Investigated relationship between students' classroom experiences and how they construct mathematical meanings. Suggests that students determine meaning or correctness of mathematical activity according to teacher, intuition, familiarity, and procedural knowledge. The teacher emerged as playing the most valued role in sense making and ratifying of…

Examines ways that teachers' knowledge about teaching and their educational situations grow when they are engaged collaboratively with other teachers in inquiry on their own practice. Results indicate that mechanisms for enhancement of normal practice include anecdote telling, trying out ideas, and systematic inquiry. Contains 66 references.…

Examined time spent in interaction by students and teachers in the classroom and patterns of question and answer through classroom observations. Results showed that much of class time is devoted to teacher talk rather than to student talk. The majority of questions asked by the teacher were of the display type, while the responses of the students…

Draws on the authors' insider and outsider perspectives as teachers and researchers to examine a teacher's use of scaffolding in a preschool classroom for children ages three through five. Finds that through literacy scaffolding with an academic focus, an intellectual focus, and an emotional focus, the teacher was able to build bridges from the…

Presents results from a study that examined students' historical understanding by looking at five parent-child dyads in an inner-city high school, a college preparatory academy, and a Christian high school. Uses oral history interviews as well as other types of research methods. Focuses on results from interviews on Vietnam. (CMK)

Illustrates how autonomous learning, as a concept, guides the production of the English self-learning packages for young elementary learners (new arrival children). Explores how the children react to the process of improving their English standard by engaging in self-study as a way to achieve autonomous learning. (CMK)