The usefulness of item sampling with unobtrusive measures and observational data is demonstrated. Particular emphasis is given to the question: Is item sampling appropriate for estimating the differences between means as well as the means themselves? A descriptive analysis is made of one aspect of a junior high school curriculum. Twenty four…

This paper describes Project on Involvement, which was designed to investigate student involvement in a task by defining it in terms of nonverbal behaviors and by identifying its dimensions. To accomplish these objectives, eight trained graduate students made 15-minute observations of each of 44 preschool children. The children were observed in…

This paper reports an exploratory study in nonverbal communication, which had two objectives: (1) to look closely at touching as a communicative behavior and to describe the categories of behaviors; and (2) to evaluate the "Form for Observation of Physical Contact," developed in a previous study. A total of 47 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds,…

The objective of the project was to unify the efforts of the classroom teacher and the college faculty in observing and guiding the teacher trainee in classroom teaching practice. Two coding systems, one on teacher behavior and one on pupil behavior, were used to establish a common language for professional dialogue on description of and…

The purpose of this study was to collect data on behavior, including educational media usage, in a wide range of educational settings through use of participant observation. Eight special education teachers and their classrooms were used. An instrument adapted from the OSTRAQ system was used to measure 12 categories of pupil-teacher interaction…

A nursery school teacher received three types of training in self-observation skills, which were compared with regard to their effects on the accuracy of the self-observations. Minimal training consisted of a brief description of the behaviors to be recorded. The feedback condition incorporated daily information about the accuracy of the…

This report is Part I of a study of program implementation in 12 models of Head Start Planned Variation. Chapters examine (1) how well models are implemented, using sponsor ratings of teachers as the data source; (2) the factors which may influence the extent to which models are implemented, such as sponsor input, staff reaction and input, and the…

This study was designed to identify stable and meaningful aspects of teaching behavior pertaining to the individualization of instruction in special classes for the retarded. Ten predominantly urban classes for intermediate educable mentally retarded pupils were selected from the total of 32 such classes in a large city. These classes were…

Several high inference ratings were made on a sample of 31 second- and third-grade teachers selected for study because of their consistency in producing student gains on the Metropolitan Achievement Test over three successive years. Data consist of scales, checklists, and percent estimates filled out by coders after or during classroom…

This manual for supervision addresses itself to those with responsibility for helping teachers develop into skilled professionals through use of a rational plan of feedback and assistance. It describes the supervision cycle and outline simple and practical techniques to collect effective data that will assist the classroom teacher. The manual has…

In this paper a rationale for the use of non-participant observation in curriculum development is presented. An assessment of the University of Georgia Anthropology Curriculum Project's Race, Caste, and Prejudice (RCP) provides a case example of the use of this qualitative model in educational research. The researcher's assessment of RCP focuses…

As part of an ongoing longitudinal study of early cognitive, affective, and social development in economically disadvantaged children, this investigation assessed the classroom behavior of 500 urban preschool children from Portland, Oregon, St. Louis, Missouri, and Trenton, New Jersey. The majority were black and enrolled in Head Start. Primary…

A paper and pencil instrument was developed consisting of statements about teaching practices appropriate for students of ages 10 through 14. The statements are to be accepted or rejected by the respondent teacher. This paper reports the procedures and results of a third field test and the design of a fourth field test. The third field test…

The guidance counselor is frequently seeking information from the classroom teacher about the overt behavior of a child in the classroom. In this study elementary school teachers were asked to rate their students on items describing specific observable classroom behaviors in two sessions with a two-week interval between ratings. The items used to…

The development of a new approach to the analysis of teacher behavior on the dominative-integrative dimension is proposed. The major characteristics of integrative behavior are flexibility of response and acceptance of individual differences, while dominative behavior is characterized by rigidity. The approach consists of a combination of direct…