Deprecates accountability because it is unfair to hold teachers accountable for outcomes they cannot control, the application of the concept tends to escalate teachers' concern for easily measured outcomes, and continuation of the trend is likely to narrow and harden the school's responses to the society. (Author/IRT)

Marginal teachers have three common behaviors that have questionable or negative effects on student learning: failure to create an appropriate classroom atmosphere, lack of personal insight and motivation, and unwillingness to accept responsibility for problems. When mentoring and improvement programs fail, collaborative programs with the right…

Identifies seven strategies that will help strengthen the bond between parents and teachers of children with learning disabilities. Strategies include celebrating children's individuality, identifying with parents, providing information, talking with parents, avoiding stereotyping, reaching out to parents, and warning about media portrayals of…

Administered a specially developed instrument, the Homework Attitude and Behavior Inventory (HABIT), to 120 teachers in two middle schools with a clear homework policy and two without. Schools with a well-defined homework policy had teachers who gave, collected, marked, and returned homework significantly more often and believed in the usefulness…

Outlines perspectives on literacy evident in the mass media: the business perspective, the deficiency perspective, and the combat perspective. Reflects on other literacy metaphors, and argues that, as knowledgeable participants in the public debate, teachers should use literacy labels that reflect more authentic and legitimate viewpoints. (SR)

Examines use of behavior alteration techniques (BATs) to gain student compliance in the Chinese context. Finds that Chinese college teachers use most the BATs that United States college teachers use; use many BATs even more frequently; but communicate behavior alteration messages that differ from those used by United States teachers. Notes that…

Discusses a teacher's reactions when a student commented on the teacher's short story. Discusses dealing with feedback, the vulnerability of writers, and attitude changes. Claims that writing with students shifted the focus of the teacher's writing instruction and the focus of students' writing. (RS)

The Perceived Faculty Support Scale was completed by 300 associate degree students who persisted to completion, 83 who withdrew voluntarily, and 75 who withdrew due to academic failure. Factor analysis yielded the dimensions of psychological and functional support. Students who perceived greater faculty support were more likely to persist.…

Investigates the amount of classroom time devoted to actual text reading and writing or talking about what was read during the reading period in elementary classrooms. Finds that students spent only half as much time learning about reading and writing as actually reading and writing. (RS)

Discusses why it is important for teachers to demonstrate positive reading/thinking behaviors throughout the school year. Discusses five examples of such demonstrations in the classroom. (SR)

Examines teachers' narratives concerning their relationships with children in relation to teacher's characteristics and observations of teachers' behavior with children in the classroom. The feature of teachers' responses to interview questions most frequently associated with classroom behavior was expressed negative emotion. Results are discussed…

Provides results of a survey given to 150 educators across 5 school Direct Instruction implementations. Proposes that this survey is an initial step in the direction of determining teacher preferences with regard to levels of support and coaching provided in school. Finds teachers identified the team-teach method of coaching as the most effective.…

Suggests the best method of teaching short fiction is maieutic. Argues that students need to strengthen their thinking ability and can most effectively do so by responding to exploratory questions that relate to analysis. Suggests that the questions must be thoughtful, specific rather than general, and phrased in a way to encourage response. (SG)

Examines how experienced high school English teachers defined and gauged effective literature instruction. Finds teachers used differing models for literature instruction against which they gauged their effectiveness. Notes the kinds of models the teachers used determined whether or not they were willing to listen to feedback from students and to…