This report explores the use of reading comprehension instruction as a gateway for developing oral-language proficiency in language-minority students. Based on classroom observations, analyses of videotapes of literacy teaching sessions, conversations with teachers and administrators, and analyses of teaching demonstration lessons, six…

This book, a research-based text, describes peer observation and assistance (POA), a method designed to isolate behaviors and skills shown to raise student achievement levels and the process by which teachers can help their peers improve performance in these areas. The volume is organized into 10 chapters: (1) Teachers Helping Teachers: The…

The Environmental Improvement Project at Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting in Flin Flon, Manitoba, presented a unique opportunity for field observation and assessment. Field observation of the approximately 70 carpenters employed with various companies provided information on the types of communication used and the circumstances in which the…

A Future Teachers' Autobiography Club discussion group/research project invited six elementary teacher candidates to read, write about, and discuss ethnic autobiography in order to foster and investigate the potential of peer discussion in teacher learning. Using a selected list of six autobiographies, the researcher hosted monthly dinner…

This paper develops the idea of "the authority of experience" to explain the unease about teacher education represented in comments of 19 graduate students enrolled in a preservice physics education methods course which combined on-campus classes and teaching placements. Interviews with the student teachers after the first half of the…

To assist instructors with software development efforts, the Behavioral Learning Center at Pennsylvania State University's Smeal College of Business implemented a method to pilot test instructional software. The developed method was required to collect multichanneled information and was not limited to students' verbal responses to questions.…

This study sought to determine how retained first grade students function in a whole language classroom after meeting with failure in a traditional first grade setting. Data collection for the five retained students, plus six "at-risk" students, involved naturalistic observation. Reading began from language experience stories that the students…

This study examines parenting in 290 of the 2,322 families studied in the New Chance Demonstration, a national research and demonstration program operated between 1989 and 1992 in 10 states. The demonstration project sought to improve the economic prospects and overall well-being of low-income young mothers (ages 16 to 22) and their children…

A study was conducted at a new elementary school in central Virginia to investigate influences on teachers' choices of seating arrangements and to determine the best seating arrangement to use. Four classroom teachers, each with an average class size of 20 students, volunteered to be observed and interviewed. The teachers taught at different grade…

Studies have shown that preservice teachers do modify their knowledge and value dispositions for teaching culturally diverse student populations. Continuing this line of research, this study focuses on pedagogical and methodological conditions in the education of preservice teachers. A class of preservice teachers was assigned to various public…

Historically minorities, especially African-Americans, have been underrepresented in the mathematics and science fields. In order to attract more minorities as mathematics majors, these students must first experience success in the pre-calculus sequence and enroll in higher-level mathematics courses. The Georgia State University (GSU) Atlanta…

This study evaluated the effect of two different supervisory conferencing strategies on preservice teachers' reflective practices. Two questions guided the investigation: (1) "what effect does type of supervisory dialogue have on preservice teachers' reflective practices?" and (2) "what effect do different post-lesson tasks have on…

Recognizing the demand for a knowledge base to use to enhance the redesigning of the American educational system, this study adds to that base by identifying factors that are likely to lead to successful redesign. Two public elementary schools undergoing restructuring as part of the Indiana 2000 initiative were selected. One served over 180…

An investigation focused on communication demands of the workplace, specifically those placed on checkout operators at a supermarket in Queensland, Australia. Key questions organized the investigation: What is the nature of communication in this workplace? How can this information be obtained? and How can the information be used to develop…

Designed to identify teaching-learning strategies that can be facilitated by the use of technology and to specify factors and configurations that have impact on computer use in the classroom, this second-year study of computer use in Indiana schools focused on the effects of computer use on students and on teachers, the curriculum implications of…