Researchers as well as others evaluating teachers or programs are often interested in the verbal and non-verbal behaviors related to the learning of students in classrooms. The Student Record of Behavior (StRoBe) is a classroom observation instrument designed to provide simple low inference information concerning student behaviors related to…

A description is given of an orientation program for freshmen in a college elementary education program. One of the major components of the introductory course is a school field tour. During this activity, students may observe elementary classrooms, and visit with teachers and other school personnel. The tour enables them to see teaching as a…

This study investigated the differences in secondary preservice teachers' perceptions of school climate before and after completion of a field-based practicum experience. It also sought to determine if there were significant relationships between their perceptions of school climate and their grade point average in selected standardized tests. The…

Every school, no matter how urbanized, has an outdoor locale that can be used to expand and enrich classroom learning. It may be the school yard, the surrounding grounds, or the managed and landscaped lawns or garden. Or perhaps a park or overgrown vacant lot is within walking distance. This guide will help elementary and junior high school…

An approach to the assessment of classroom thoughtfulness is presented. The approach recognizes the importance of in-depth knowledge, intellectual skills, and dispositions; it also emphasizes general qualities of discourse such as teachers posing higher order challenges and students giving reasons. The approach is contrasted with those that…

This study employed a classwide peer recording (CWPR) program to demonstrate the efficacy of peers as behavior change agents in a physical activity setting. The study sought to determine whether or not the frequency of stimuli conditions presented by a game changes when a CWPR procedure is in effect, and whether or not the frequency of actual…

The argument underlying the ongoing paradigm shift from logical-positivism to constructionism is briefly outlined. A model of evaluation planning, implementation, and management (the P-I-M model) is then presented, which assumes a complementarity between the two paradigms. The P-I-M Model includes three components of educational evaluation: a…

This module, intended for use by special education teachers, defines pragmatics as the ability to use verbal and nonverbal language to take part in a conversation, based on the situation and the conversational partner. It provides responses to seven frequently asked questions about pragmatics and the transition from school to working life for…

The ways in which teachers and administrators manage their time is the focus of this four-part study, which includes: (1) an introductory overview of a 1984 study of K-12 teachers' use of time; (2) a study of special education teachers' use of time in two counties in Georgia; (3) a study of successful elementary principals' time budgeting; and (4)…

The paper is a description of how one teacher structured a classroom for five seriously disturbed violent boys (ages 5.5 to 8 years) at a private residential and day school for emotionally disturbed students. Anecdotes are reported as well as the teacher's reflections. Changes in the teacher's original planned class structure while maintaining the…

To understand the origins of demonstrated tracking deficits possessed by parents of problem children, a study examined in detail possible differences between a sample of parents with behavior-problem children and a sample of parents with "normal" children. Subjects were 48 mothers who had children between the ages of 4 and 10. While…

The findings from a series of case studies of nine successful demonstration programs are summarized. The programs, funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission, included child development, vocational education, technology, economic development, and housing. The primary purpose of the case studies was to discover what makes programs successful. A…

Social events are constructed in two senses. First, each participant's understanding of the event is an active construction arising from his or her current level of understanding and from information provided in the environment. Second, events are social interactions that are negotiated between participants. Both of these senses of construction…

The literature on the practice of educational evaluation is reviewed, and internal and external evaluations in a school setting are compared. The paper states that the typical external evaluation is conducted as if school districts were rational organizations, a view which permeated 19th century evaluation activities. The internal evaluator, on…

Divided into four sections, this monograph focuses on effective evaluation in the whole language classroom. The first section discusses the whole language philosophy and classroom, and lists the beliefs that proponents of this approach hold about whole language teaching and teachers, language, and language learners. The second section addresses…