The Prekindergarten Head Start (PKHS) program employed five different instructional models: Bank Street (BS), Behavior Analysis (BA), Montessori (M), Open Classroom (OC), and Responsive Learning (RL). All program components: education, social service, health and nutrition, staff development, and parent involvement performed as expected. Data from…

Ninety-eight first grade children were observed and tested on measures of classroom behavior, task performance, and physiological arousal level. In general, sex differences were found to be minimal, and were significant on only three out of the eighteen variables investigated. Results indicated that males were rated by teachers and observers as…

It is proposed that in considering teachers' professional development, emphasis should be placed on teacher assessment as an intergral part of the developmental process, encompassing the total career of the teacher. An overview of the history of teacher evaluation is provided, as well as a review of background literature on professional…

The Stanford Research Institute (SRI) Classroom Observation Instrument was modified to study individual teaching configurations (teaching methods and styles) in adapting a criterion-referenced mathematics curriculum in grades 2, 4, and 6. Ten configurations characterized 72% of the 168 teachers who were interviewed. Although all teachers taught…

A study was undertaken to document, through data gathered from surveys, interviews, and observations, the approaches fourth grade elementary school teachers were using to teach reading comprehension. The study focused on the actual teacher behaviors, methods, and materials rather than on what reading methods, texts or basal series' manuals said…

Self evaluation may be one feasible approach to current staff development needs in the teaching profession. Some form of feedback is needed, such as cassettes, tapes, and the help of a teacher leader. For the purpose of discussion among teachers, one could play back selected interactions using a speaker, should videotaping not be possible. At the…

This volume, "Measurements and Measures" is the second of three Technical Appendices to the National Day Care Study (NDCS) and presents seven individual reports on a series of technical tasks undertaken to support the principal analyses of the effects of key center characteristics on children. Among the topics covered: analysis of…

Data were collected in a teacher effectiveness study on the interaction of teachers and first grade students while the students participated in reading groups within intact classrooms. The teacher behavior variables were then related to students achievement using three units of analysis: class means, reading group means within classes, and student…

The author describes the structure and methodology of "educational criticism" and provides excerpts from a study done in a high school art history class. Educational criticism is based on lengthy classroom observations and describes, interprets, and evaluates classroom life. The educational critic must be knowledgeable about classrooms and the…

Twenty children, one boy and one girl in each of ten second grade classrooms from four different experimental programs, were each observed over the course of a single school day. Each 30 second interval of approximately 80 hours of transcribed behavior stream observation was analyzed to determine whether the teacher, the learner, or the teacher…

This is the final report of a research project. The goal of the project was to record a large collection of mathematical performances by students and to develop a system for analyzing these performances. The subjects observed included students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 and three adult groups. Four specific results are reported: (1) a large…

To prepare for implementing competency based education, a system to categorize diagnostic and prescriptive materials was needed. The Annehurst Curriculum Classification System (ACCS), which provides access to curriculum resources for students and teachers, was applied at the elementary and middle school levels. Training programs on ACCS were held…

Classroom interaction may be described in terms of communication events, i.e., sequences of teacher-pupil communicative behaviors separated from preceding and succeeding sequences of behaviors by natural boundaries. Communication events may be institutional (related to managing the classroom and meeting the expectations of the institution), task…

This paper presents an evaluation of both process (program content) and outcome (effects on children) of a day care center and emphasizes the importance of considering process variables in order to understand program results. Subjects for the study were 25 control children who were not attending a preschool program, 25 children who attended the…

The primary function of classroom supervision is to effect changes in teacher behavior that will result in improved instructional skill. Among the problems associated with supervision are lack of time, lack of specific supervisory techniques, and poor interpersonal relations. Some observational techniques available for supervisors to employ are…