Describes program of testing kindergarten children to discover, as early as possible, potential impediments to learning. Parent conferences foster home interest for children who need special help. (CJ)

Examines the consistency between two methods of measuring sex-role differentiation: verbal-objective tests and classroom observation. Preschoolers (N=494) were given five verbal-objective tests and their aggressive, dependent and cooperative behaviors were observed in the naturalistic environment of their classrooms. (Author/CM)

Two groups of junior high teachers were identified as being more or less effective in their classroom management practices. Observational data collected from these teachers in the first three weeks of the year indicate that the beginning of the year is a crucial time for establishing effective classroom management. (Author/BW)

In Australia, outside inspectors no longer assess teachers for promotion and advancement, but public concern has stirred interest in new forms of teacher evaluation. More teachers now accept the desirability of being observed by fellow teachers. (Author/JM)

Observational data were collected on 10 industrial education student teachers in laboratory settings. Successful classroom management practices were judged as those in which a maximum amount of time is spent with students actively working on the tasks set by teacher. (SK)

The shortcomings of the three main approaches to measuring teacher effectiveness (systematic observation, participant observation, and questionnaires) are discussed and problems of research design and analysis considered. The development of better measures of educational benefits to complement the emphasis on test scores is suggested. (Author/SK)

Observation data from 46 classrooms demonstrated the importance of context in understanding teacher behavior. Student-teacher interactions for explaining and giving directions occurred a statistically different number of times in self-paced and other-paced (group or interactive) settings. (Author/GDC)

Reviews the results of a study which examined verbal classroom interaction between White teachers and their Black and White students. Suggests that, although on most measures teachers did not differentiate their behavior between Blacks and Whites, differences which did occur indicate that White teachers have significantly lower expectations of…

The thought processes involved in students' answers to different kinds of teachers' questions were investigated using data obtained from a previous study. It was found that the chances are about even that there will be a correspondence between the cognitive level of the question and of the response. (Author/GDC)

Teachers viewed interactions with low-expectation students as less controllable than those with high-expectation students and teacher initiations were perceived as more controllable than child initiations. In addition, less perceived control over a student was associated with less feedback from the teacher. (Author/GDC)

The targeted evaluation approach (TEA) combines student ratings, administrator observation, and measurement of student learning. TEA's five steps are (1) writing learning objectives; (2) developing a plan of instruction; (3) setting performance standards; (4) pretesting and posttesting; and (5) analyzing and judging results. (SK)

The author notes a trend in educational research away from the scientific model and toward new designs emphasizing process, context, personal, and qualitative concerns. He describes the approach he uses at Stanford, educational connoisseurship or educational criticism, and outlines its basic components: discernment, description, interpretation,…

Describes a method to determine whether particular strategies and materials are being used in classrooms as a result of inservice training. (Author/MLF)