This collection contains Child Development Associate (CDA) training materials from the Fall River, Massachusetts, training program, including a booklet for trainers, a chapter on curriculum planning, and three modules covering the areas of preschool environment, daily schedule and transitions, and observations of children. Each module contains a…

This paper describes data collection procedures for the part of the New York City Infant Day Care Study concerned with day care environment and caregiver-child interaction. This study is a 5-year, longitudinal investigation in which infants in group and family day care programs and infants reared at home are compared. Study data will be collected…

This exploratory study clarifies the goals and functions of long day and short day preschools, as related to the requirements of the client groups being served, and analyzes their effects on children's socialization and elementary school achievement. It was hypothesized that low socioeconomic status children who had attended long day preschools…

In this paper on research into teacher behavior, the author considers first the current status of such research and the fact that the problem is so complex that no one knows or agrees what a competent teacher is. The difficulties of identifying and measuring teacher behaviors are discussed. The four broad areas of measurement (observation, student…

The methods and validity of evaluations of cognitive development, in language and numbers, of children ages three through six, by use of classroom observation inventory lists are discussed. The Evaluation of Cognitive Development--Pre-Reading Skills, an observational instrument (teacher completed), was administered to 134 first grade students in a…

A method of evaluation of prereading skills in preprimary school children is described. The method, employing a check list, can provide either a record of class performance, or a cognitive profile of an individual student. The instrument is divided into 8 major task areas that may be seen as plateaus of cognitive development of prereading skills.…

This is a preliminary report of two years participant observation in four elementary schools. The study began with the objective of trying to discern the characteristics differentiating the atmonspheres of elementary schools in the metropolis. Case studies are presented in order to arrive at hypotheses concerning what gives different schools their…

This document is a progress report on effecting educational change in a kindergarten program and its interim research findings. A general description of the program and its background are given, followed by an explanation of the diagnostic-prescriptive approach taken in the program. This explanation includes descriptions of the rationale for…

Although the role of the supervisor in education is seriously being challenged by complicated social forces, and the traditional method of simply observing or inspecting classroom performance has lacked guiding conceptual frameworks, the solution does not lie in the election of supervisory representatives or committees, but rather in an intensive…

In studies of classroom behavior modification, the experimenter or educator attempts to make valid judgments about desirable behavioral outcomes. Instruments of assessment to be used with behavior modification treatments must be sensitive to the behavioral goals of principals, teachers, and public school officials. Moreover the treatments used in…

This document describes, in four progress reports, the development and initial projects of a 6-year study, the Montessori Research Project, which is seeking to determine the benefits to preschool children of various educational programs, specifically, Montessori programs versus non-Montessori programs. The study is being conducted by the…

Thirty classrooms (10 preschool, 10 kindergarten, and 10 first grade) in New York and Chicago were observed in this study of teacher and student verbal behavior. The study investigated the extent to which pupils imitate a rewarding teacher's verbal style when talking among themselves. From the 10 classes at each grade level, the six that showed…

This report describes Head Start classroom activity, contains data on the children from a testing program, and includes teacher ratings of pupils on a Classroom Adjustment Checklist. (Individual data is being preserved for follow-up studies.) Classroom observations were made in 13 of 27 Head Start classrooms, while testing activities and teacher…

The Classroom Attitude Observational Schedule (CAOS) is designed to detect pattern shifts in a classroom during the absence of controlling adults. It is concerned with the independent learner who will continue school related tasks in a socially acceptable manner without supervision. The CAOS recording form notes activities and inappropriate…

The purpose of this study was to compare aspects of educational environments in elementary schools which differed in the degree to which programs were individualized flexible, and diverse; and architectures were open. Fifteen classes were assigned to the cells of a factorial design, and data on educational environments were collected from teachers…