Research on small group interactions indicates that children tend to adopt ideas shared by peers with higher status. This study explored whether this pattern exists in whole-class discussions. Using observations and surveys, children's status was not found to be a significant factor in students' evaluation of peer ideas during whole-class…

Student misbehaviors can threaten the effectiveness of a class learning environment. To understand misbehaviors and teachers reactions to it, one must examine teacher attributions, or beliefs about the causes of behavior. Participants in this study were 199 physical education teachers. Their attributions and strategy use were examined via survey…

This study examined activities used during elementary school math and reading instruction. Teachers reported their use of cooperative, competitive, and individual activities in math and reading, their subjective evaluations of teaching each subject, and their level of focus on promoting students' interests. Analyses indicated that teachers used…

Grade level and sex of student are important variables determining teacher attitudes and responses. (JD)

The concept of overlap between instruction and assessment is defined. The influence of tests on teaching and the teacher as curricular content decision maker is described. A model of how awareness of this overlap can move curriculum practice into alignment with an assessment system is presented. (Author/MT)

A process-product study examined the relationship between the percentage of teacher time on task and the percentage of teacher-centered instruction and the achievement of seventh- and eighth-grade students. (JN)

This article reports on the results of a descriptive study of wait-time in first-year high school foreign language classes. Over 7500 classroom events were recorded and coded in order to measure and find the variance in time of 3270 instances of post-solicitation and post-response wait-time. Results are discussed. (Author/DF)

This article describes a functional experiment designed to evaluate the ability of 128 preservice teachers to interpret pupil problem-behavior nested in two distinct learning settings (cooperative and traditional). (IAH)

In "A Case Study of an Educational Innovation: the History of Flanders Interaction Analysis System" (Flanders and Amidon, 1981), the research, development, dissemination, and utilization of the system is described. The parallels between the development and use of the system and the development of more recent educational innovations are explored.…

A study examined the effect of varying degrees of feedback on students' perceptions of classroom climate and the resulting reactions toward school. Students involved in feedback intervention showed positive gains in their attitudes toward the school environment. The Group Climate Survey given to the students is appended. (JN)

A study examined the relationship between teachers' theoretical orientations toward reading and the verbal feedback they give to students during guided oral reading. A major finding is that teachers' beliefs and behavior vary with the instructional situation; that is, teachers hold different beliefs for different student ability groups.…

Documents and journal articles in the ERIC databases are listed which explore relationships between teachers' theoretical orientations and feedback to students during oral reading. Specifically, the research concerns findings from the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile, the Propositions about Reading Instruction Profile, and the Feedback…

Researchers used simultaneous feedback, a means of modifying behavior through verbal cues transmitted via a transistorized ear plug, to improve the teaching skills of university faculty engaged in the act of teaching. Faculty identified areas they wished to improve after viewing videotapes of their teaching. (Authors/PP)

Three possible ways to link teachers with research on teaching and teaching practices are described: (1) rules, (2) evidence, and (3) schemata (which provide a way to "see" a phenomenon and to think about it). Illustrations are drawn from the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study. Schemata on classroom time and teacher behavior are presented. (PP)

The efforts of a principal who used ideas concerning use of classroom time generated by the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study to restructure programs at two rural elementary schools are described. Staff development efforts and teachers' reactions are highlighted. Changes in instruction and in scheduling are discussed. (PP)