The pursuit of multiple educational outcomes makes teaching a complex craft subject to potential conflicts and competing commitments. Using a data set in which teachers were randomly assigned to classes paired with videotaped lessons, we both document and unpack such a tradeoff. Upper-elementary teachers who excel at raising students' math test…

This study assesses the reliability of two observation rubrics, one in math and the other in science, and documents how the rubric data were used to inform a teacher education program. Classroom observations are typically considered essential for assessing teaching practice, yet many popular observation frameworks, while comprehensive in aim, do…

The purpose of this case study was to examine a beginning elementary teacher's development of identity for science teaching from her first year at university, her field experience, and through her first year of teaching. Several kinds of data were collected over a period of 5 years through different sources: interviews, journal entries,…

The authors report on three experiments designed to (a) test under increasingly more favorable conditions whether judges can correctly rate teachers of known ability to raise student achievement, (b) inquire about what criteria judges use when making their evaluations, and (c) determine which criteria are most predictive of a teacher's…

In this article, the authors examine the effect of a National Writing Project professional development model on a group of middle school writing teachers. The authors examine how contact with other professionals in intensive week-long sessions as well as mentoring from the professional development coach affected the teachers’ concept of themselves…

Study concluded that supervisory process had no significant effect on student teacher behavior and that closed circuit TV feedback did not make supervision more effective. (RT)

The studies discussed investigate the concept of teacher effectiveness and attempt to determine whether different educational treatments have had different effects on student improvement. (MM)

It appears that successful teaching is based upon a large number of variables that must be present to at least a minimum degree, rather than one or two critical factors. (MM)

Before researchers can adequately establish empirical relationships between teacher behavior as an independent variable and student achievement as a dependent variable, when studying teacher effectiveness, they must deal with the problems of instrumentation, methodology, and statistics. (MM)

Several questions are raised about what appear to be universal prescriptions for increasing teacher effectiveness. (MM)

A study is described that examined the outcomes of implementing peer clinical supervision in one urban elementary school over a semester's time. (JMK)