Discusses the need for those involved in the education of young children to adopt a reflective stance toward their work. Considers the value, in research done by practitioners, of making observations and keeping records, studying unfamiliar topics, doing background reading, and interpreting and communicating research results. Applies these…

Discusses areas where teachers may harbor mistaken assumptions about their students' understanding when using graphing calculators: (1) confidence and competence with order of operations, (2) integration of algebraic and graphical knowledge, and (3) scaling a graph. (MKR)

Criteria to guide classroom assessment practice are determine the extent to which assessment practices are based on tasks and activities that are representative of instructional intention and translate into specific information collection, interpretation, evaluation, and reporting procedures; address the accuracy of the assessment; and consider…

Suggests guidelines for observing young children's developing control over their thinking and text-making knowledge. Presents evidence of distinct, observable differences between at-risk and non-at-risk preschoolers' knowledge of what a literary piece should be and how to monitor the product to make sure it meets an audience's needs. Discusses…

An observation procedure that can be used to observe cooperative learning in French instruction is presented. The procedure consists of setting up the cooperative learning activity and observing whether the cooperative group displays the second-language discourse found to foster second-language learning. Forms for recording observations are…

Head Start caregivers' positive and neutral interactions with nonhandicapped, and mainstreamed handicapped, children were observed while the caregivers engaged in caregiving and instructional activities. Caregivers were found to have higher positive and neutral interaction rates and higher negative interaction rates, with handicapped than with…

Outlines a method of direct supervision which has been applied to group employment counseling. Focuses on a means of supervisory observation. Suggests emphasizing the development of a positive context, minimizing the intrusiveness of the observation, and formulating the debriefing using a strength challenge format to effectively utilize this…

Describes a study that was designed to gather information about teachers' perspectives on achievement testing and to describe where the competency-based testing in the CUES (Continuous Uniform Evaluation System) program fits into the teachers' overall plans for teaching and assessing students. Recommendations for instructional design and teacher…

Discusses the purposes of assessment in programs for young children and the role of assessment in the context of children's lives, parents' concerns, and teachers' and administrators' situations. Also discusses how observation-based assessment can be used as part of a developmentally appropriate assessment process serving children, parents,…

This observational study of three preschool children with profound disabilities in an integrated setting revealed frequent opportunities for peer social interactions and indicated that subjects engage in interactions of comparable length to those of nondisabled peers. The importance of helping young nondisabled children understand and respond to…

Using ethnographic methods and taking a sociocultural perspective, examined preschoolers' social competence. Focused on the interactions of two children who were members of a peer group and one who sought membership in the group but was rejected. Discusses the importance of the sociocultural perspective to understanding children's social…

In 24 third and sixth grade classrooms, 78 percent of instructional time involved quiet work or teacher talking, whereas 1 percent involved brainstorming, discussion, oral problem solving, and role playing combined. Talk structures were affected by subject and teacher sex but not by grade or teacher experience. Contains 71 references. (Author/SV)

Advantages of direct observation are prominent in assessment of dietary intake by children, particularly those too young to recall diet accurately, and in situations in which self-report bias exists. The article describes the direct observation method (focusing on institutional settings) and reviews literature on the subject, noting methodological…

Conducts a naturalistic study in a first grade remediation classroom to study language in use and to consider the transactive nature of spelling. Finds that spelling is a social/transactive process in which the learner makes meaning through interpretations of transactions among themselves, others, and the environment. (MG)

Examines gender differences in the nurturant interactions of an older child with an infant sibling and the maternal socialization of the older child's behavior. Finds that older girls interacted more with their infant siblings with virtually no evidence of maternal socialization of the gender difference. (FMW)