A study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the life values of community college faculty and selected demographic variables (i.e., college location, age, teaching experience, highest degree held, and other employment). A stratified random sample of 984 Oregon community college instructors was asked to identify "guiding…

A study of the experiences of a literacy teacher in the prison classroom chronicled the daily routine events and experiences that make up the life world of a teacher in the prison classroom. The introduction of this study emerged through the technique called opportunistic surveillance. The researcher, a prison teacher, engaged in…

In order to better evaluate bilingualism in deaf children, this study examined whether observers (N=37) from different backgrounds would agree on deaf children's use of either American Sign Language (ASL) or English signing. Observers represented a range of background experience in a variety of schools and programs; 6 were deaf; 31 were hearing;…

In promoting integration of exceptional children into regular classes, much emphasis has been placed on inservice and preservice preparation of teachers to develop skills and attitudes conducive to implementation of mainstreaming. Review of the literature indicated that structured inservice education programs were usually effective in providing…

Data from the Joint Council on Economic Education's National Assessment of Economic Education (NAEE) Survey, gathered during the 1986-87 school year, provide material for a large-sample study of a broad variety of determinants of economic understanding and attitudes at the precollege level. The NAEE Survey, consisting of four questionnaires,…

This paper presents the results of a survey that examined elementary school teachers' attitudes about social studies (particularly geography) instruction. The responses of newly-hired elementary teachers were compared to those of experienced elementary teachers. The survey included questions such as: Have you ever taken a social studies methods…

Research about student attitudes toward preservice teaching experience focused on two primary questions: (1) What do undergraduate education students expect from early field experiences? and (2) What underlying construct can be inferred from these expectations which may be useful in shaping future experiences? Two types of data were collected from…

In certain skills and attitudes, expected competencies of new teachers may be unreasonable in relation to both their college preparation and in terms of what they confront in their first classrooms as professionals. This study was undertaken, in part, to assess how first-year teachers may fare in relation to proposed competency testing models.…

A study was conducted to examine the job attitudes of public two-year college instructors of developmental/remedial courses. The study used a path-analytical theoretical model to examine the relationships among the instructors' self-role congruence and length of service (the independent variables); total job satisfaction and organizational…

This paper draws on data from a larger case study of teacher development to identify what knowledge teachers value most highly in their professional development. The study found that teachers appraise the sources of knowledge available to them through formal, informal, and personal means according to three main criteria: relevance, capacity for…

To explore the previously neglected relationship between teacher transfer and job satisfaction, the authors of this case study divided 12 teachers from a single school district into 2 groups. Group one, consisting of eight teachers recently selected for transfer, was subsequently interviewed four times over the course of the first year after…

A review of studies on early field experiences centers on John Dewey's belief that pre-practice teaching laboratory experiences should foster reflective criticism of educational purposes and instructional methods and result in more effective student teaching experiences. Current studies have indicated that early field experiences, by focusing on…

The purpose of the study was to identify external and internal influences that affected the decision making of four secondary teachers regarding the content of a family living course and to describe their decision-making strategies. Because the course had been shortened and a new textbook and new state guidelines had been received, the teachers…

Comparison was made of the results of three analyses of teacher judgments concerning the selection of curriculum materials for the teaching of writing in elementary school. Twenty-five male and female fourth and fifth grade teachers, with teaching experience ranging from 4 to 33 years, responded to questions on their judgments of the value of…

A nationwide survey was conducted of humanities and liberal arts instructors in spring 1983 to obtain information on instructors' age, ethnicity, degrees held, teaching experience, professional activities, goals, full-/part-time status, institutional support, and emphasis on various classroom activities. A comparison of survey results with…