A program to prepare preservice elementary school teachers at the University of Connecticut to work with urban youth is proposed. Unique features of the program include: (1) Students spend six weeks studying and observing the urban environment, followed by eight weeks of teaching in urban schools. (2) Two persons representative of the ghetto…

Teachers at the primary level should resume the neglected practice of diagnostic teaching. This means that the teacher should observe all aspects of a student's cognitive behavior in the teaching/learning act and then plan instructional strategies for subsequent lessons. Some significant cognitive behaviors observable in diagnostic teaching are…

This paper reports a pilot study of ecological variables in a kindergarten play area. Behaviors in ten complex categories were recorded for all children present in the area. The level of experimental control was similar to the level of control that the teacher would have in the manipulation of the normal classroom environment. Subjects were 20…

This longitudinal study attempted to assess how environmental factors affect the development of competence, as defined by White, by delineating in detail the everyday environmental transactions of a group of children from age 1 to 3. The key questions of this research were: (1) Are certain experiences encountered by the young child in his everyday…

This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a model for classroom observation designed to improve instructional supervisory skills and enhance teaching and learning. The project was carried out in 10 (Broward County, Florida) elementary schools with the principals and six teachers from each school involved. The aims of…

A 50-item observational instrument was used by cooperating teachers and college supervisors to evaluate the competencies of 77 home economics student teachers from two universities at two time intervals during the student teaching experience. Two analyses of variance (AOV) for each of the 50 items were used to identify items which judges could…

This package contains five home-based intervention curricula for families with children between 12 and 30 months of age. Three independent curricula (each emphasizing children's language, play or social development) enlist the mother's aid as observer, teacher and researcher, and promote a three-way interaction among mother, child, and…

This study investigates sociopsychological variables in an educational context. The question of interest concerns the relationship between the conceptual complexity of teachers and the type of teacher-student interaction in the classrooms. Specifically, this study asks if a teacher's belief system is related to a pattern of asymmetrically or…

To test theories presented in the sociology course "Social Policies and Community Power Structure," a team of undergraduate students and their instructor attended a national professional conference. The following are examples of those concepts the students observed in operation at the conference: Social structure affects social policies; the…

When repeated measures are obtained on the same subjects, interobservation dependencies frequently are generated. The major ways in which these dependencies can arise are illustrated and it is shown how these dependencies may invalidate the use of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and its extension, trend analysis, as methods of evaluating the data of…

Patterns of stability of behaviors in classrooms with varying types of structure were investigated by means of a low-inference rating scale applicable to both traditional and nontraditional classrooms. Utilizing a research design which controls for subject matter, period of day, and day of week, eighteen observations were made in each of six…

This speech presents the use of experimental designs and research procedures to help counselors develop effective treatment methods for clients. Baseline and treatment phases are delineated as the two basic phases occuring in most "N=1" designs. These designs are divided into the categories of single and multiple time series designs. The…

The development of a Competency Based Teacher Certification System is a cooperative effort of the Carroll County System and the School of Education, West Georgia College, supported by a grant from the Georgia State Department of Education. As a step toward solving the problem of recertifying teachers who possess basic credentials and have taught…

A model for evaluating the extent to which instruction is individualized is described. The model is based on a conceptualization of individualization which focuses on observable teacher behavior resulting in the manipulation of classroom environmental and instructional variables to meet the needs of individual learners. For evaluation purposes…

Observational instruments were developed for measuring the visual attention and verbal reactions of children watching "The Electric Company." Using the instruments, ten primary school classrooms, representing a broad range of classroom structures, were observed five or six times. The measures of attention proved to be reliable, and…