Purpose: The success of schools fundamentally depends on teachers' willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, namely, to exhibit organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Attempts to understand the causes of OCB frequently focus on individual characteristics; only recently have researchers begun to direct their attention to more…

This article describes a four-year project undertaken to develop a set of performance tasks that could be used for assessing hands-on science in Irish primary schools. It begins by considering some of the literature on performance assessment and concludes with a discussion on the potential of the tasks to support teaching and learning in science.…

There is a growing effort to make "proof" central to all students' mathematical experiences across all grades. Success in this goal depends highly on teachers' knowledge of proof, but limited research has examined this knowledge. This paper contributes to this domain of research by investigating preservice elementary and secondary school…

Investigated how eight teachers untrained in holistic scoring rated elementary school students' compositions about baseball. Teachers varied in knowledge level about baseball and were classified as having either an academic or a cognitive-developmental teaching approach. Findings are discussed in terms of a classroom competence model of writing.…

Through observation, interviews, and a review of school documents in a small suburban elementary school, researchers sought information concerning how faculties make sense of a changeover in the principalship. The research was conducted from a cognitive perspective. The study found that teachers' views of administrative succession and the norms of…

Based on teacher estimates, this discussion focuses on the importance of test content coverage in terms of instructional and curricular validity; students' opportunity to learn test content; and the relationship between test content covered in class and student performance on a standardized achievement test in reading. (JS)

This paper reports on the needs identified as important to 27 novice elementary mathematics teachers and examines how Connect-ME, an online mathematics community, provides these supports. Qualitative data were collected using two focus groups and 16 telephone interviews. Findings validate the need for alternative teacher professional development…

Recognizing the importance of collegiality in professional growth, this descriptive study examines one aspect of interaction among teachers--the information that teachers exchange about classroom teaching. Suggestions are offered for the development of collegiality and interview guide questions are presented in the appendix. (JS)

Determined (in separate studies conducted during 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81) what changes in teachers' anxiety about teaching science occurred as preservice elementary teachers completed science courses designed to meet their professional needs. Significant findings from these studies (which used the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) are…

Many studies have demonstrated that a teacher has a substantial impact on how much pupils learn. However, research on the long-term effects of teachers is scarce, and the results obtained so far are inconsistent. Some studies have concluded that teacher effects are relatively permanent, while others claim that they fade away more or less rapidly…

Previous research has suggested that many elementary school teachers have a firmer understanding of addition and subtraction concepts than they have of more complex topics in elementary mathematics, such as division. In this study, (n=24) prospective elementary teachers' understanding of aspects of division involving remainders was explored by…

To examine how knowledge of history and politics informs the early education and child care field, this paper identifies sources of historical knowledge and unexamined underlying presuppositions frequently held by early childhood professionals which, if allowed to remain unchallenged, contribute to professional burn-out, repeated frustration at…

This review presents evidence that student nonverbal behavior may be an important component in the formation of teachers' impressions, attitudes, beliefs, and reciprocal behavioral expressions. Results of the studies are considered within the research on impression formation, communication theory, and classroom activity and participation…

Explores strategies used by fifth-grade teachers who exemplified three different classroom orientations (learning-oriented, work-oriented, or work-avoidance) toward student motivation and learning. Raises questions for future research and highlights strategies that support motivation to learn. (NH)

This paper reports on a part of a study of factors that contribute to science anxiety and science teaching self-efficacy among preservice primary and early childhood teachers. The experience and beliefs of primary and early childhood preservice teachers at an Australian University were explored in an ethnographic research tradition. In all, 366…