Presents four questions from teachers regarding "classroom dilemmas" (such as seating assignments, requests for bathroom visits, and parent/teacher communication) with the responses by "Ms. Affirmation," a middle-school guidance counselor who collaborates with teachers to assist them in working with students. (SR)

Notes that to work at the cutting edge of children's reading development, primary-grade teachers need to consider some important questions about materials and curriculum. Discusses why word-recognition prompts are important, describes research on word-recognition prompts, and discusses teachers' materials and word-recognition prompts. Considers…

Explores the nature of first-grade students' oral narratives and the connections between teachers' instructional practices and students' narratives. Presents six case studies that describe students' school achievement, their oral narratives, and teachers' practices. Finds certain classroom practices, which either support or narrow opportunities…

Notes that literacy engagement (proportion of time spent reading and writing) was much higher in two of the classes compared to five others. Finds that the teachers in the two classes with high engagement did much more than the other teachers to motivate literate behaviors; they also did little that potentially could undermine literacy engagement…

Focuses on teacher dismissal for either indictment or conviction under state criminal statutes for crimes such as possession of a controlled substance, theft, embezzlement, public intoxication, and bribery. (MLF)

The Adult Classroom Environment Scale measures seven dimensions of teacher behaviors or style: involvement, affiliation, teacher support, task orientation, personal goal attainment, organization and clarity, and student influence. Comparison of profiles of students' actual and ideal environments showed that students most wanted involvement,…

Findings from 43 in-depth interviews with college students about sex and sexism in school are reported. Implications for teacher and administrator preparation are discussed. (IAH)

Discusses the situation of men in early childhood education in Australian society. Focuses on societal perceptions, sex roles, gender bias, and expectations for professional growth. (RJC)

Responses from 135 (of 245) secondary industrial education teachers were used to assess their attitudes and practices toward special needs students and the effects of selected factors on those attitudes. Results indicated that their attitudes were moderately positive and unaffected by age, educational level, or years of teaching experience. (JOW)

Identifies three reading processes that instructors can model for college level developmental readers: what people do when they read; how people think and talk about what they read; and how people incorporate what they learn from their reading into their own lives. Presents examples and descriptions of modeling these processes. (RS)

The attempt to reduce teaching to discrete, observable behaviors is impractical. Checklists fail to capture the intangible qualities (sense of humor, enthusiasm, compassion) differentiating an effective teacher from an ineffective one. For skilled supervisors, the ultimate observation instrument is a blank sheet of paper accompanied by informed…

Summarizes findings of a large-scale, multisite, multimethod descriptive study of student teaching. Sample included 93 student teachers, 88 cooperative teachers, 17 professors. Examines a large number of variables such as site characteristics and participants' personality constructs. Discussion of findings is based on the interaction of variables.…

What teachers believe and how they behave is a result of socialization in the culture of teaching. If long-term school reform is a goal of staff development, then strategies and mechanisms must be developed which focus on changing the culture of teaching. (JD)

Finds that teachers used more than one activity to teach new words but typically did not use activities identified in the research literature as effective; teachers' stated purposes for vocabulary instruction were congruent with the requirements of the basal reading series used; and teachers defined the importance of vocabulary knowledge in terms…

Because ready role models for today's children are media-created superheroes and celebrities of television and film, children need real-life role models who guide them into realistic personal and social pathways. As principal adult contacts, teachers can be such role models. Specific strategies for encouraging teachers in this role are presented.…