The purpose of this study was to determine whether preservice teachers can be trained to be more clear during instruction and whether a causal relationship exists between teacher clarity and student achievement. A review of literature in teacher education, business, and industrial training revealed that no intact, empirically verified training…

This paper reviews research which has focused upon teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors, and notes implications for additional research which considers culture as a key research variable. Specifically, the paper: (1) reviews and discusses previous research which has investigated nonverbal communication in classrooms, with an emphasis on teacher…

A study examined the competence of English teachers in an Anglophone country (Nigeria) and the types of classroom interaction in a Nigerian university. Subjects, 240 randomly selected first-year undergraduates who registered for a Use of English course, were divided into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group was taught by two…

This handbook describes procedures used by Alaska's Professional Teaching Practices Commission (PTPC) in dealing with matters of professional conduct and certification within the teaching profession. The handbook summarizes procedures for handling complaints, investigations, hearings, and appeals. Guidelines for screening complaints are listed. A…

An exploratory study investigated the relationship between perceptions and practices in reading and language arts, and examined whether teachers were using practices to develop students' literacy skills suggested in work by Marie Clay. Subjects, 16 out of a possible 22 kindergarten teachers in one southern school district, responded to a 138-item…

A study describes the process of two first-grade teachers incorporating the Reading Recovery process of "roaming around the known" in their regular classrooms. Their purpose was to assess what their students knew about print. Data collection for these case studies took place for 16 weeks late in 1992; participants included 49 first-grade…

A study determined the prototypical features of outstanding professors from the undergraduate student perspective (including verbal and nonverbal behaviors of outstanding professors) and whether female students placed different ranks on the prototypical features of the outstanding professors. The prototypical features of outstanding, or ideal,…

A study investigated ability grouping for reading within a heterogeneous classroom and the effect such grouping has on attitudes toward reading. Subjects, 23 students in an ethnically diverse third-grade classroom in central Virginia, completed reading attitude surveys. Classroom observations of the teacher and students were conducted. Results…

Humor can be an effective element of classroom teaching, serving to reduce tension, increase motivation, aid instruction and strengthen teacher/student relationships. A review of the literature reveals that research in this area is incomplete and inconclusive. This study surveys 5th- and 6th-grade teachers (N=50) for information on how they vary…

A study examined curriculum decision-making in the classrooms of accomplished teachers of English in grades 9 through 12, focusing on aspects of structure, content, and ways of knowing and doing that combined to create a sense of a "curriculum" rather than a series of disconnected lessons. Four classrooms were studied each semester for…

This article discusses theories of teaching that are part of teacher education programs and the teacher education experiences that best realize these theories. Various top-down and bottom-up approaches to teaching are compared. Top-down approaches, for example, may apply educational research to classroom teaching or use a methods approach based on…

Three private preschool classes, one with 3-year-olds and two with 4-year-olds, were observed to determine if there was differential treatment of boys and girls. The observer used an observational form developed to observe and assess sex equity or inequity in teacher-child interactions. The data obtained from the observations was processed through…

Three books represent the recent work of leading U.S. proponents of critical approaches to pedagogy: "Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education," by Peter McLaren; "Freire for the Classroom: A Sourcebook for Liberatory Teaching," edited by Ira Shor; and "Teachers as…

This study examined influences upon experienced teachers' course planning. Seven teachers were each intensively interviewed four times about their planning for courses they had never before taught; the interviews took place before, after, and twice during the semester of the "new" course in question. Findings were classified into three categories…

In the course of a longitudinal study that addressed the questions of how children learn to comprehend what they read and how they learn science concepts, many other research questions emerged. The original longitudinal study investigated how children learn to comprehend what they read. Three school districts with fairly stable student…