A study was designed 1) to develop and test a conceptual model for viewing teacher-pupil communicative relationships in the classroom, 2) to determine if systematic observations of teacher behavior are useful in analyzing communication events, and 3) to determine if data on teacher nonverbal and verbal behavior are more useful than on verbal behavior alone. The PIT Model was developed as a communication framework for use in identifying classroom communication events by their function. Each event is classified as "institutional (I),""task oriented (T),""personal (P)," or "mixed (M)"; then each is further identified as "individual" or "group" and its duration recorded. Videotapes of 36 lessons (three class periods by each of 12 junior high teachers) were coded using the PIT Model and then the IDER system (French and Gallagher) which utilizes the 10 verbal categories of the Flanders interaction analysis system, adding appropriate nonverbal dimensions for each. Data treatment included plotting both IDER and PIT data into one matrix as well as separate analyses for IDER and PIT data for individual teachers and lessons, for males and females, and for all subjects. Findings include these: 1) nonverbal behavior cannot be ignored; 2) the PIT Model is both meaningful and useful; 3) in these classrooms there is lack of emphasis on personalized communication and more focus on the group than the individual; 4) use of more than one instrument in observing and analyzing the same classroom behavior is valuable. (JS)