Design education encompasses various teaching strategies with classes typically evaluated by students at the end of the term. This evaluation is often perfunctory; in contrast, the observational research presented in this paper examines a variety of design classes as they are taught, then analyzes the observations through three perspectives:…

This paper reports on the application of Q-sort methodology to the development of the Preschool Classroom Practices (PCP) Q-sort. The PCP Q-sort was tested in a sample of 66 preschool teachers and assistants. Results demonstrated the existence of a 2-cluster structure within the Q-sort, comprised of Cognitive Development Activities and…

A strategy used by many principals to gather classroom information and frame that interaction is the classroom "learning walk" or "walk-through." The walk-through can be defined as a brief, structured, nonevaluative classroom observation by the principal that is followed by a conversation between the principal and the teacher…

The experiences of middle school science teachers at two schools in the southeastern US who participated in collaborative, sustained, whole-school professional development and their implementation of standards-based instructional practices are the focus of this study. Participants were involved in their second year of the professional development…

Peer coaching is a method for improving instructor effectiveness in which educators work together to implement experiential strategies or achieve individual educational goals through a systematic process of classroom observation and feedback. Peer coaching has two main goals: the improvement of experiential education and the development of an…

This practicum report describes an intervention to increase teachers' skill and confidence in the use of classroom observation techniques in a school serving children from kindergarten through second grade. Goals of the intervention were that teachers would: (1) recognize six types of observation; (2) implement two types of observation in their…

In an effort to determine the underlying roots of kindergartners' unruly behavior during dismissal time, this study examined the children's conversational topics during classroom dismissal routines. Using participant observation as the primary method of data collection, researchers observed seven dismissals, each lasting approximately 45 minutes,…

The papers in this collection are based on the document "Perspectives on Performance-Based Incentive Plans" and offer brief overviews of the following issues in education: (1) performance-based evaluation in relation to incentive pay plans; (2) recommendations for success of performance-based evaluation systems; (3) the use of classroom…

This study compared obtrusive observers and self-reports to a criterion, unobtrusive observers, to assess how accurately they measured tutor performance. Unobtrusive observers were used as a criterion for comparison because it was assumed that their measures were free of biases. Participants were 55 college-level peer tutors. Course sections were…

This booklet is designed to help teachers begin documenting in the classroom and is a supplement to "Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work." In that book, three "windows" were used to provide a framework for thinking about documentation: a Window on a Child's Development, a Window on a Learning Experience, and a Window for Teacher…

A quality evaluation program is needed to determine student progress in the language arts. Evaluation procedures emphasized should appraise in terms of stated objectives. A variety of procedures should be used since no approach is perfect. Approaches include: instructor observation of student progress; completion of checklists or rating scales;…

This handbook provides suggestions for gathering and interpreting information about students' reading behavior; planning instruction that develops students' reading skills; and planning instruction that reinforces and extends students' reading skills in areas where they are successful. After a brief introductory section, the handbook presents a…

This paper presents a scale to evaluate the social interactions between students with severe disabilities and nondisabled students in integrated settings. The Educational Assessment of Social Interaction (EASI) was developed to be used with relatively little training but still be sensitive to the following major dimensions of interactions: (1)…

The Third College at the University of California, San Diego developed a peer observation program in which first-year composition instructors (mostly graduate teaching assistants) observe each other once per quarter. The peer observation program is not part of the process by which the writing program directors evaluate the instructors, but…

Designed to study individual use of time spent in reading during regularly scheduled language arts instruction in a natural classroom setting, this coding sheet consists of nine categories: (1) engagement, (2) area of language arts, (3) instructional setting, (4) partner (teacher or pupil(s)), (5) source of content, (6) type of unit, (7) assigned…