Teachers are being encouraged to use observational strategies for a variety of professional purposes in assessment and evaluation. Observation differs from just "looking" in that the personal experience of looking is transformed into a public event by the systematic recording of what is seen and by subsequent analysis and interpretation.…

This report presents the current status of an ongoing qualitative case study of the implementation of the High Scope Curriculum in the preschool readiness program at one elementary school in Gordon County, Georgia. This program, provided for all 4-year-olds, includes home visits by a family services coordinator, parent involvement opportunities,…

This paper reports the development and evaluation of an observation guide that draws on qualitative techniques of participant observation and semistructured interviewing to help anyone interested in visiting and understanding schools to develop a "big picture" profile quickly and efficiently. The guide reflects the philosophy of E.…

This study explored how the leadership behaviors of an elementary principal in establishing school climate affects teacher productivity and teacher behaviors in the school. In addition, the facets of security and strength were explored as the underlying premise to school climate. The Organizational Climate Questionnaire for Elementary…

This conference paper describes an assessment model used by the graduate degree program at St. Mary College (Kansas). The degree program provides a cross-specialization in education, management, and psychology. Qualitative/Action Research for Authentic Assessment is a method for assessing students at completion of degree which provides an…

A study explored the use of poetry as a dramatic form with a group of 38 second-graders who chose and developed roles for performances which were videotaped and then critiqued by the class as a whole. The population for the study was two second-grade classes in a small rural school in Utah. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis led to the…

This autobiographical paper describes the teaching of an adjunct faculty member at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the doctoral and postdoctoral students he taught. The paper discusses the author's study of the area of biography and autobiography; the use of ethnography, history, and biography in qualitative research; the…

This paper presents a review of the literature on reliability in qualitative studies. Reliability is defined as the extent to which studies can be replicated, using the same methods, and getting the same results. It is the degree to which data are independent of the accidental circumstances of the research. The review includes the following three…

This paper outlines a classroom technique that conveys to students some of the complexities of naturalistic and systematic observation. Most research methods textbooks devote only a single chapter to all of the descriptive techniques of research. This activity involves students in the observation and recording of "fidgets" during a five-minute…

Although the demand for formal evaluation of alternative schools is greater than for conventional schools, the unique characteristics of these schools make evaluation especially challenging. Use of traditional instruments and methods may yield misleading results. Evaluators must understand the issues associated with the evaluation of alternative…

This paper reports on field research conducted by students in undergraduate methods courses for secondary social studies in 1996-97. Journal entries, lesson plans, oral history reactions, and interviews were used to gather data. Objectives were: to describe the role of the interviewer in an oral history setting; and to identify and clarify the…

This paper describes the way in which the author moved from what might have been a textual explanation of a narrative analysis of qualitative data to a poetic rendition. The focus is on the work of a female graduate student working collaboratively with another graduate student. The story emerged as a teacher-as-researcher study on graduate…

The objective of a graduate course at North Dakota State University was to move students beyond a prescriptive approach for conducting qualitative research to a holistic consideration of the ethical dimensions involved in qualitative methods. Successive discussions allowed students the opportunity to fully consider ethics in a multi-faceted…

A qualitative study of Head Start teachers sought to discover their perception of the impact of their life experience upon their professional pedagogy. The study focused on long-term Head Start teachers (16 to 28 years) who began their association with the program as parents and lived and worked in the classroom. Lessons learned about the…

When students use concept maps to construct and represent their understandings, these concept maps can be analyzed for representation of understanding from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. In this study, a qualitative approach was utilized to extend the interpretations from the quantitative analysis of students' conceptual…