Discusses new strategies for conceptualizing teacher effectiveness at the elementary/secondary levels, to be used as a basis for improving the usefulness of research on teacher effectiveness. The aim is to shift away from one-dimensional assessment of individual teachers toward a multidimensional approach that can inform improvement of both…

Compared traditional teacher certification program graduates with those completing an alternative certification program, examining behavioral and teaching practice differences, the effects on their students' achievement, and their perceptions of their own teaching abilities. Data from observations, interviews, and students' achievement scores…

Uses illustrations from a graduate seminar in the teaching of writing, a high school classroom, and a seventh-grade classroom to show the value of teacher-student dialog over teacher monologue, and to show teacher responses that resist the impulse to launch into the teacher's monologue, and instead invite dialog and turn the work of meaning-making…

Outlines what reading educators can do in this time of opportunity and change, the best and worst of times for education, to stop, stretch, focus, and then boldly step out again with students, parents, colleagues, and the public. (SR)

Investigates techniques of highly effective teachers of Year 12 English in New South Wales, Australia. Concludes that successful teachers saw themselves as operating in positive school environments and overwhelmingly saw themselves as functioning as part of a team. Notes they used a range of teaching strategies, but emphasized having students…

Investigates differences in literacy teaching and learning between classrooms following a literacy program and classrooms using standard practice. Reveals that in literacy program classrooms children devoted more time to reading, teachers used "direct teaching," and a greater amount of peer literacy learning occurred. Includes references and…

Describes the author's experiences and their relation to the notion of educating the "whole student" expounded by student development theories. Suggests that one role educators must explore is that of assisting students in determining their own parameters and learning to accept responsibility for their decisions. (MAB)

Investigates what specific teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors are most associated with students' evaluations of their teachers. Uses data from Australia, Finland, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Compares the relationship between nonverbal immediacy and teacher evaluation across diverse cultural and linguistic communities as well as…

Discussion of academic freedom and college teacher dismissal first examines the expectations that institutions should have of faculty, traces the history of academic freedom in America, and looks at conditions that might constitute adequate cause for teacher dismissal. Examples are drawn from court litigation. Catalysts in the institutional…

Sexist teacher behaviors fall heaviest on female minority college students, who often choose silence over interrupted responses. Racial and class differences serve to magnify this silence. Since same-sex segregation merely perpetuates marginalization, colleges must increase female faculty's numbers, enhance their political visibility, and change…

This paper suggests that there is a rigorous argument, advanced through philosophical psychology, which shows that the phenomenology of professional practice can shape phronesis (goodness) in creative ways. The paper seeks to make sense of professionals' action in the classroom and acts of judgment endemic to professional work. (SM)

Describes the author's experience of teaching three composition courses--Women Essayists, Language Awareness, and Advanced Argumentation. Explains how she turned much of the teaching over to the students and how most everyone benefited from it. (TB)

Finds that more formal dress (business suits, dress shoes) was associated with increased ratings of teaching assistants' competence, particularly for female students rating female instructors. Shows, however, that contrary to common assumptions, the most positive influences of instructor dress were found in the highly casual condition (faded…

This article argues that to reduce adaptation of questionable interventions more emphasis needs to be placed on the history of special education, specifically effective and ineffective interventions. It further suggests that educators more familiar with special education history will be better prepared to discriminate effective from ineffective…

Explores the effects of a high-stakes, direct writing test on three teachers and their students. Suggests that an emphasis on test preparation diminished the likelihood of the teachers' engaging in reflective practice that is sensitive to the needs of individual students, and that the high-stakes assessment process discounted the validity of…