Assails Joseph Milner for presenting erroneous information concerning the North Carolina Teacher Performance Appraisal Instrument in his February 1991 "Kappan" article. Milner's technique for observing suppositional teaching does not reflect sound research methodology. Milner mistakenly claims that teachers are required to follow…

A brief ethnographic study of a metropolitan airport revealed that a relatively small number of people had taken up residence there, prizing the airport mainly for its survival utility and amenities. Policies and attitudes regarding the homeless and a critique of the pathological explanation for homelessness are explored. (CJS)

An observational study in a British nursery school examined effects of direct and indirect strategies in increasing interactions of four developmentally delayed young children with their peers. (DB)

This study investigated the educational process used in tumor boards (cancer case conferences) and whether the process varied based on type of board, frequency of meetings, and presence or absence of residency training programs in the hospital. These data were collected through observation of 715 board sessions of 37 hospitals and 43 tumor boards.…

Study 1 identified proximal processes in home environments of 78 children aged 6-9: maturity facilitation, use of stimulating materials, and parent-child relationship. Study 2 tested the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment instrument for consistency and construct and criterion-related validity with samples of 307, 171, and 73,…

Examined factors associated with young children's aggression. Observed 104 toddlers during free play with same-sex peer, with both mothers present. Found that early out-of-home care was not related to aggression. Boys were more aggressive than girls. Observed aggression and mother-reported externalizing problems were associated significantly with…

Paradox arising from the coincidence of observing and being observed has epistemological implications. Traditional science attempted to eschew the observer and avoid self-reference; modern physics finds this problematic. Educational administration theories must reflect the self-reference of an educational social system's identity and must practice…

Describes a course on communication skills in psychology that includes learning library research skills, writing research reports and term papers, making behavioral observation notes, and giving oral presentations. Shows that student performance in tests on knowledge of American Psychological Association principles improved during the course.…

Used naturalistic observation to study 242 first- to third- graders playing two games that varied in physicality and competitiveness. As predicted, children interacted more often with same-sex peers. Findings support the necessity of investigating social context as an influence on children's own-sex favoritism. (SLD)

Interprets data collected from multi-modal sources (ethnographic interviewing and non-participant observation) using an analytic-inductive method to construct a new Layered Model of Problematic Intercultural Communication. Provides a holistic view of the ways the macro-context, individual (in)competencies, and dyadic communication behaviors…

Explored the forms and functions of ritual in structuring teaching in preschool settings. Found that rituals have both invariant qualities that stabilize the framework within the school system and variant qualities that foster personalized and flexible approaches to teaching. When teachers attend to rituals, rituals have a greater pedagogical…

Multiple observations of 27 high school classrooms (academic, vocational, special education academic, or integrated academic/vocational) were used to validate an instrument measuring features of integrated curricula. Integrated curricula or vocational classes could be differentiated from academic or special education using the instrument. (SK)

Examines the impact of violence on high school dropouts in their relationships with peers, family, teachers, and school structure. The resistance to school and violence in schools are seen as the result of schools' and society's resistance to dealing with diversity and the impact of various types of violence inherent in this resistance. (MMU)

Discusses the use of anecdotal records to document young children's school behavior and accomplishments. Considers the use of informal records to capture daily events and formal records to document milestone behaviors. (JPB)

Considers the question: During classroom observation, what phenomena should be focused on, and what will be the focal points of the "snapshots"? Uses observations from a mathematics classroom to illustrate the need to modify traditional focal points to include student primary activity(s), teacher and student "misbehaviors,"…