Observes literacy instruction in five first-grade classrooms. Finds classrooms headed by most-effective-for-locale teachers were characterized by excellent classroom management based on positive reinforcement and cooperation; balanced teaching of skills, literature, and writing; scaffolding and matching of task demands to student competence;…

Investigates validity and reliability of a teacher efficacy instrument designed specifically for the area of writing. Notes a factor analysis yielded two dimensions, and that both factors were reliable and only slightly correlated with each other. Finds reported classroom practices of high- and low-efficacy teachers differed, and that variation in…

Explores the relationship between the teacher's role and the students' participation within literature discussion groups in a third-grade classroom. Finds two salient themes: the problematic nature of students' transition from a teacher-led to a student-led discussion format; and the responsive nature of the teacher's interventions relative to…

Notes that research in three primary schools in Southern England draws attention to the ways in which the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) is prompting changes in contexts for writing and in the nature of teacher intervention. Concludes that developmentally appropriate, affirming strategies need not contravene the educational ideals of the NLS.…

Documents three key strategies that the teacher used in her transitional efforts to make discussions possible in her low-achieving high school English classroom: developing an ethos of involvement and respect, using scaffolding and specific ways of phrasing questions to encourage discussion, and acknowledging and making space for the presence of…

Examines the relationships among receiver apprehension, teacher clarity, and teacher immediacy in the instructional context. Examines the relationships between state receiver apprehension and student motivation, affect, and cognitive learning. Finds that, although state receiver apprehension is significantly related to negative instructional…

The Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (C. H. Hart & C. C. Robinson, 1996) was used to compare the withdrawn and sociable behaviors of 41 children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 41 typically developing peers. Three subtypes of withdrawal (reticence, solitary-active, solitary-passive) and 2 subtypes of sociable behavior (prosocial, impulse…

This paper discusses the trial of Thomas Hopley, accused of killing his pupil Reginald Cancellor in 1860 during an act of corporal punishment. The case provoked immediate sensational interest and became an important defining point in how corporal punishment is treated in British law. Established by this trial was the test that any corporal…

This chapter provides an overview of academic freedom and tenure as applied to the community college.

Within the domain of learning environments research many studies have investigated students' perceptions of their teachers' interpersonal behavior. The present study adds to this line of research by (a) focusing on primary education, rather than secondary education, (b) establishing associations between perceptions of teacher interpersonal…

Traditionally, teachers found job openings by "word of mouth" and often were hired with a rather informal set of interview questions. The old standard "tell me about yourself" was a question that started the interview, and it probably ended with "and where do you see yourself in five years?" Research supports the…

Researchers (Figone, 1986; Massengale, 1980; Darst & Pangrazi, 1996) assume that the dual role conflict of a teacher/coach results in role retreatism behavior; that is, one role becomes dominate over time, usually coaching over teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine if teacher/coaches demonstrated retreatism behavior in the areas…

Sexual harassment, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), is when any unwelcome sexual advances for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature takes place. For sexual harassment to take place there must be some type of behavior, language, or material of a sexual nature, which is offensive.…

This study explored the associations among perceived teacher confirmation behaviors (i.e., demonstrating interest, responding to questions, and teaching style) and student perceptions of teacher power use (i.e., coercive, reward, expert, legitimate, and referent power). Participants included 656 students from two Midwestern universities. Results…

Student perceptions of caring physical education teaching were examined. Critical incident forms eliciting descriptions of caring teaching were administered to 518 United States elementary and secondary students. The forms were content analyzed and coded inductively to reveal 11 clusters of perceived caring teaching: showed me how to do a skill,…