The validity of interval and time sampling methods of measuring student engaged time was investigated in a study estimating the actual time students spent engaged in relevant motor performance in physical education classes. Two versions of the interval Academic Learning Time in Physical Education (ALT-PE) instrument and an equivalent time sampling…

While presenting a critical look at selected aspects of relationship change research and theory, this essay argues that researchers need to investigate a broader range of relationship types, develop a more comprehensive conceptualization of relationship change, and develop more appropriate research methods. The first section deals with the need to…

Several approaches to reading assessment, based on the whole language approach, can provide teachers with a frame of reference to guide them in making decisions about selecting and planning classroom activities. The more traditional approach to reading assessment, usually referred to as reading diagnosis, focuses on the final product (the test…

The School Resource Center (SRC) in Austin, Texas, is intended to provide a system to link teachers and parents with various public and private information sources in order to improve instructional practice and eliminate unnecessary and costly referrals to special education services. It will collect information from private education agencies,…

The study evaluated the effectiveness of an adaptation of the Behavior Rating Scale (BRS), a child observation form, as a screening device for identifying learning disabled children in the primary schools of Botswana. Children (N=620) in two different primary school grades (standards 5 and 7) and two different types of schools (Setswana Medium and…

Abstracts are presented of research studies on various methods of teacher evaluation. The purpose of this study was to seek out those factors in evaluation programs that are necessary for enhancing teacher effectiveness. The research studies are organized by four categories: (1) status of teacher evaluation; (2) attributes of successful evaluation…

The collection contains six papers of studies which investigated the social ecology of the workplace and associated implications for friendship formations between adults with and without mental retardation. The papers' authors, Janis Chadsey-Rusch, Frank Rusch, Patricia Gonzalez, Jeffrey Tines, Kathleen Minch, and Carolyn Hughes, observed…

A study of spontaneous language use by elementary school children and teachers in a wide range of classroom activities used a combination of observation, audiotaping, videotaping, and interviews to examine more closely the role of dialect diversity in elementary education. The study provides a more accurate and complete record of classroom life…

As part of a new teacher evaluation program initiated by the local school board, the Charleston County School District (South Carolina) adopted the Assessments of Performance in Teaching (APT) as a major evaluation tool to assess the teaching performance of annual contract teachers. Since evaluation procedures can ultimately lead to teacher…

The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the nature of classrooms where students perceive high and low amounts of differential teacher treatment between high and low achievers. The Teacher Treatment Inventory was used to measure students' perceptions of the frequency of 30 teacher behaviors towards a hypothetical male or female high…

Two methods of researching second language learning are described, analyzed, and compared: student diaries giving a first-person account of the second language learning experience; and participant observation, in which the observer is in the language learning situation recording in descriptive terms all possible data about the situation.…

The seven studies reported in this paper represent successive attempts to explain the inability of observers to differentiate "good" counseling from "bad" counseling. Essentially, the researchers found that subjects, both undergraduate education majors and graduate counseling students, did not rate a videotaped counselor's performance as more…

Meaning does not reside in the text or the reader but results from interactions between text, reader, and the interpretive communities that the readers belong to or that influence them. These interpretive communities are those communities or authorities that influence the reader/writer in interpreting texts, with resulting ideational,…

Recognizing that no single evaluation instrument or procedure could provide a genuine measure of teaching effectiveness, the University of Southern Mississippi devised an evaluation system specifically designed for composition that consists of four components: student evaluation, observation of classroom activity, evaluation of a set of marked…

The study was designed to assess the impact of high school community service programs on students' social development. These programs enable students to earn academic credit through volunteer work in various agencies. Their work is supervised by teachers and on-site supervisors. Frequently a seminar or class is part of the program. Eight community…