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,…

Perhaps more than ever before, college teaching is being studied and evaluated. This paper describes the development of a simple descriptive instrument used to focus observers' classifications and ratings of college teachers' instructional behaviors as recorded on video tape. The need for such an instrument is reviewed, the methodology for testing…

In attempting to define the "ecology" of human development, the term's history and connotations are discussed. The ecological approach requires that the person, the environment, and the relations between them be conceptualized in terms of systems, and subsystems within systems. The experimental situation is not limited to being…

This study tests the proposition that selective behaviors of both mother and infant during feeding are predictors of weight gain during the first month of life. Forty normal mother-neonate pairs were studied, and the target behaviors were examined using an adaptation of the techniques developed by Brown and Bakeman (in which approximately 60…

The development of a category scheme for the systematic analysis of science classroom discourse is described. Three teaching models are discussed: the Impression Model, which depicts the mind of a student as receiving and storing external impressions; the Insight Model, which denies the possibility that ideas or knowledge can be conveyed by…

At Baruch College of the City University of New York, a study was begun using nontraditional, small group classroom techniques to determine if students' achievement in an intermediate accountancy course could be influenced. Quiz and examination results showed no significant difference between the traditional and nontraditional classes. (JMD)

The focus here is on category observation instruments which typically record classroom behaviors in the form of tallies, checks, or other marks which code them into predefined categories and yield information about which behaviors occurred and how often they occurred during the period of observation. Discusses the essential properties of the…

Twenty-one variables from the Texas Teacher Effectiveness Project Coding System were factor analyzed for morning whole class data, afternoon whole class data, and reading group data. Resulting factor scores were correlated with achievement gains. Although significant correlations were few, differences existed between lower and higher social status…