This paper reports the results of a doctoral research pilot study that paired a researcher with an experienced classroom teacher for a 12-week time span with the goal of effectively integrating the use of Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) into the classroom teacher's practice. Using a teacher development experiment, the researcher created an…

A study examined when, how, and with whom literacy acquisition occurs in the school setting. The study developed an observation technique, focused on how it evolved, how it could be applied to the classroom setting, and how data from classroom observations over time can be interpreted. Subjects were 243 children deemed to be at risk of future…

This practicum attempted to provide five teachers in a preschool special education program with improved strategies for systematic and consistent instructional planning. The objectives included improvement of classroom environments, improved planning for small and large group interactions, and development of methods of individualizing instruction.…

This paper describes a program for beginning teachers in rural areas offered by Eastern Illinois University. The primary goal of the program is to assist beginning teachers in becoming independent decision makers in the classroom by providing survival skills and initial support and gradually introducing means for continuing professional growth. An…

This study explores beginning elementary teachers' instructional computer use, with emphasis on the ways in which these teachers use the computer, influences on these uses, and the impact of these uses on their teaching and socialization into the profession. A qualitative case study research design, drawing on ethnographic methods, was used to…

This book offers a collection of essays on teaching, written by teachers who, though they represent high school to professional school levels and diverse fields of interest, favor teaching by discussion. Part I introduces key principles in "Barriers and Gateways to Learning" (David A. Garvin) and "Premises and Practices of Discussion Teaching" (C.…

This project book, part of a set of materials written by the members of the Making Thinking Visible Project, reflects the discoveries of 30 elementary, high school, college, and community teachers' collaborative inquiry into students' thinking and the process of classroom observation and reflection. The document explains collaborative planning--a…

A description is given of the Classroom Organization and Management Program, designed to help teachers in grades 1-9 and staff developers improve their overall instructional and behavioral management skills through planning, implementing, and maintaining effective classroom practices. It also seeks to improve student task engagement and reduction…

The brief paper summarizes the 1983 report, "Social Integration of Moderately Handicapped Students through Cooperative Goal Structuring: Influence of Teacher Instruction on Cooperation" by JoAnne Putnam. Techniques for constructing group learning activities using cooperative goal structuring are broken down into the following steps: (1)…

This paper illustrates how organizational theory can be usefully applied to issues of classroom management. A review of research findings on the relationship between the teacher's use of authority and the implementation and outcomes of "complex instruction" is offered. "Complex instruction" refers to instruction in which different groups carry out…

Teachers' knowledge of effective use of time research can be examined via a paper/pencil test; however, the degree to which teachers used the identified effective practices can only be observed and recorded. What is proposed here is an objective observation of teaching practices. Based upon research findings, criterion levels would be established…

The drawbacks of the common practice of using check-lists for teacher evaluation include inadequate measurement that emphasizes evaluation only, lack of objective data gathering techniques, and lack of reliable and consistent teacher performance criteria. An inservice program for school principals was designed to improve their observation and…

Teachers emitted more disapprovals in lower ability classes than in higher ability classes; extra disapprovals in the former were predominantly of the managerial type. Teachers seldom praised pupils for behaving well socially, but approved of instructional behaviors more frequently than they disapproved of these behaviors. (Author/BJG)

This paper analyzes both Flanders' and the Foreign Language Interaction (FLint) methods of classroom observation and concludes that both systems are deficient in accuracy, reliability and practicality. Observing, recording and decision-making difficulties are inherent, and system complexities and teacher biases add to the problems. (CHK)

The classroom behaviors of male and female elementary school teachers were observed over a 3 month period and related to the classroom behaviors and school attitudes of their male and female students. (GO)