This manual was prepared to assist in the development of skills requisite to rating the performance of student or beginning teachers. The activities prescribed in the manual are intended to enable experienced teachers to describe the spectrum of performances indicative of the 18 competencies subsumed in the Teacher Performance Assessment Instruments (TPAI). The Teaching Plans and Materials Instrument (TPM) was designed to assess lesson plans, teaching methods, and instructional materials used by teachers in terms of their appropriateness to the students' ability levels, learning rates and styles, and learning problems. Data for the Classroom Procedures and Interpersonal Skills Instruments are gathered simultaneously during a single visit to a classroom. Discussions of TPAI include objectives, conditions of use, practice administration, interview questions, decision simulation, scoring procedures, school practice activities, recording and managing data, and test items. Data collectors should: (1) be teachers who can demonstrate the competencies described in TPAI; (2) have a minimum of three years classroom teaching experience; (3) have a strong grasp of psychological foundations and of methods and curriculum; (4) possess interpersonal skills; and (5) provide letters of recommendation from supervisors and peers. Practice lesson plans for TPAI data collectors are provided in TM 008 012. (Author/JAC)