The Florida Online Reading Professional Development (FOR-PD) program is funded by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) and is housed at the University of Central Florida (UCF). FORPD is an online staff development project designed to help teachers improve reading instruction for learners in grades preK-12. Developed collaboratively with…

The future of instructional evaluation will probably involve responding to changes in the goals of both teaching and evaluating teachers. The inadequacies of student achievement tests as measures of educational effectiveness will lead to a shift of interest away from tests and toward the abilities of students to solve problems, use learning…

Student grades and student evaluations of teacher performance are unrelated. Demographic variables, e.g., student interest, class rank, are significantly related to instructor ratings. A teacher's overall rating is directly influenced by ability to stimulate interest and present course matter clearly, and indirectly influenced by organization and…

An experimental program designed to test an inservice method for introducing the practical aspects of John Dewey's educational philosophy to teachers was received positively by 17 of the program's 20 volunteer participants. The program used a limited version of R.A. Gibboney's "Toward Intellectual Excellence: Some Things to Look for in…

The factors that influence the formation and development of teacher perspectives among preservice social studies teachers were studied. Answers were sought to two questions: (1) what linkages exist between the development of teacher perspectives and the experiences provided by university teacher education?; and (2) what role does the individual…

This paper reports on the promises and pitfalls of the recently legislated basic skills testing requirement for teaching or service credential applicants in California. The California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST), developed by Educational Testing Service from specifications set by Advisory Board to the State Department of Education, tests…

Criticizes reports on educational reform for possessing an ideological climate in which inquiry and dissent are quieted, and vocationalism (packaged as academic courses) is rampant. The reports compromise between influence and insight and neglect fundamental problems such as inability of schools to provide students with critical abilities needed…

Reports on a study of the impact of student evaluations of higher education economics instructors on faculty behavior and grades. Finds that initially grades increased but then declined over a nine-year period. Recommends further research on this issue. (CFR)

By exploring the question of whether teaching begins and ends in contemplative thought, this essay suggests that conceptions of teacher thinking must be expanded beyond planning and decision making. People's ordinary conception of thinking includes imagining, remembering, interpreting, and caring. In order to understand the full scope and meaning…

In spring 1983, a study was conducted at the City Colleges of Chicago to design and implement a treatment to increase student success at the beginning of the semester and to assess teachers' reactions to this treatment. Seven teachers from three departments and a team of researchers worked together to develop a plan that included activities to…

Teachers are a potentially helpful resource for abused children, but generally lack training in child abuse identification and intervention. Elementary and junior high school teachers (N=104) were surveyed concerning their abuse-related experience, knowledge and attitudes. Sixty-eight percent of the teachers reported 3 or fewer hours of education…

The booklet summarizes information about projects taking place in the 1986 academic year through grants awarded in the Humanities Instruction in Elementary and Secondary Schools Program. The booklet has two specific purposes: (1) to help elementary, middle, and high school teachers and administrators from public, independent, and parochial schools…

This paper considers the kinds of interventions that elementary school principals make for the purpose of improving practice in their schools. Findings are derived from the Principal-Teacher Interaction Study being conducted at the University of Texas at Austin, which has categorized interventions hierarchically at the following levels: policy,…

Collecting time-on-task data is necessary in order to research methods for increasing student time-on-task and to provide feedback to teachers on what teaching behaviors produce high levels of on-task behaviors in students. A student and a teacher behavior data collection instrument developed for research in the area of academic learning time is…

Instructional evaluation by students is viewed as one of the main vehicles to improve teaching-learning processes in higher education. There is also a growing trend to use this information for administrative purposes such as tenure, promotion and merit pay. On the other hand, reviews of research show almost consistently that written feedback from…