Interviews were conducted with 20 out of 40 primary teachers who, 3 or 4 years earlier, had participated in inservice workshops on Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI), a research-based approach that emphasizes using children's mathematical knowledge to teach mathematics and who had consented to do the interviews. Although all but one teacher were…

This study examined the ways in which teachers of English as a second language (ESL) perceive the semantic and syntactic constraints that govern word use and the strategies they use to explain lexical anomalies to students. Twelve native speaking ESL teachers from 2 university-level intensive English programs were asked to identify, categorize,…

This study identified the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed by teachers and other school staff to encourage high levels of parental involvement. It also developed an evaluation instrument of these factors for future use. The first phase of the project encompassed a review of the literature on teachers' roles in encouraging parental…

An action research study examined a teacher's developing collaborative practices in her secondary curriculum development and instructional methods class. The class was composed of 14 women ranging in age from 21 to approximately 50 in a medium sized southwestern university. Data were collected through a reflective journal and from certain student…

A case study examined implementation of a critical literacy perspective (in both course content and course processes) in a Master's level course in the supervision of reading. Subjects were 10 married, white, female teachers. The course engaged in the interrogation of the teachers' literacy beliefs, teaching approaches, and schools' curricula in…

A study examined the kinds of skills that minority students felt prepared them for college and helped them to succeed. All 80 minority students enrolled at Illinois' Millikin University (enrollment, 1,800 students) were interviewed for 20 to 30 minutes each. Results indicated that: (1) students reported that English composition/writing classes,…

A study examined classroom discourse in three literature class discussions among 15 high school juniors and their teacher as they tried to make sense of "Hamlet" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." Participants' moves (what the students and teacher were trying to do with their language during the discussion);…

This study sought to determine Australian attitudes toward men working in the early childhood profession. Subjects were 100 first-year and 100 third-year female early childhood undergraduates and 22 practicing early childhood teachers and caregivers. Survey respondents were asked to describe how three imaginary early childhood teachers named Mary,…

Examples are drawn from an ongoing research program conducted in Australia and the United States to help explain how metaphors and images are associated with salient teaching roles and belief sets. This document is partitioned into five sections: (1) method; (2) metaphors and images; (3) teacher change; (4) what we learned from these studies; and…

This paper describes the role of analogy in science instruction and presents new research on the Teaching-With-Analogies model. After an introductory section, the paper discuses learning science meaningfully, including constructing relations, strategies for learning conceptual relations, the definition of analogy, effectiveness of analogies, and…

As part of a larger examination of teaching and learning within the social context of high school biology classrooms, a case study examined the enactment of literacy events as social processes in two high school biology classrooms. Two veteran high school biology teachers in an urban high school used identical first-year biology textbooks and…

A case study of teachers' activity design processes presents early findings from an ongoing study that intends to contribute to a practical theory of activity design that captures and reduces the complexity of integrated activities. The study also points to the kind of support teachers need to reflect a more constructivist perspective in their…

Research by Darkenwald and by James and Day supports the contention that instructor behavior is a critical factor in shaping the kind of classroom environment desired by adult learners. Darkenwald developed the Actual and Ideal Adult Classroom Environmental Scale (ACES), which measures seven dimensions: involvement, affiliation, teacher support,…

A description is given of the Classroom Organization and Management Program, designed to help teachers in grades 1-9 and staff developers improve their overall instructional and behavioral management skills through planning, implementing, and maintaining effective classroom practices. It also seeks to improve student task engagement and reduction…

The concept of knowledge utilization and the nature of practical decisions are analyzed to investigate how research knowledge and effective teaching practice are related. It is argued that the personal commitments of teachers, common sense, and normative requirements can also be valid bases for action. The author points out that an over-reliance…