A study was conducted in the City College of Chicago and replicated in three other urban community college districts to investigate the instructional methods of a sample of exceptional community college teachers and to look for alterable teaching behaviors and techniques that could be presented to other teachers who wanted to improve their teaching. The subject pool for the study included full-time and permanent part-time teachers of introductory English composition, biology, math, and social science courses who were identified by administrators as exemplary teachers and whose students had high achievement rates. Interviews conducted with 90 of these outstanding teachers revealed: (1) the effective teachers had a strong sense of educational and instructional goals and purposes which they transmitted to their students; (2) they showed respect for and interest in their students which was exemplified in their learning the students' names; (3) they encouraged student participation in the learning process by asking questions in class, arranging for students to work cooperatively with each other, and promoting active "hands on" learning; (4) they carefully observed their students' progress and achievement levels and used the information to adapt class instruction and plan individual remediation; and (5) the teachers had adapted well to the special conditions and circumstances of their colleges and developed a set of teaching techniques suited to the needs of their students. The interview schedule is appended. (HB)