The study of teachers as decision-makers is a recent paradigm in educational research. This decision-making approach considers the teacher as an active professional engaged in various decision-making activities prior to and during instruction. This paper describes a naturalistic research design employed in a recent dissertation that investigated…

A new construct, the Science Locus of Control (SciLOC) Orientation, was examined as a predictor of attitudes toward science teaching among 108 preservice elementary teachers. It is postulated that each person holds beliefs regarding the degree of his or her personal control in situations where decision, actions, or other modes of performance…

Three studies explored children's adoption of cultural forms of representation. Investigated were (1) children's judgments from students' drawings about the age of the artist; (2) children's preferences for drawings and the extent preferences match teachers'; and (3) differences between drawings children produce for themselves and those they…

Teachers with relatively high scores on the Defining Issues Test of moral development, contrasted with teachers with relatively low scores, had a more democratic view of teacher and student roles, and saw rules as protecting the rights of individual students as well as the group's rights. (NH)

Often too little attention is paid to the implementation of a new curriculum developed with considerable expenditure of both funds and energies. It is suggested that a greater fidelity of use would be achieved by a multilevel approach to implementation spanning several years. (JS)

Investigated implications of cognitive development of preservice teachers (N=91) as it related to their classroom teaching performance. Results obtained support a general portrait of teaching behavior specifically related to teachers of differing cognitive functional levels. Implications for professional training programs are discussed. (Author/JN)

This study was designed to investigate Nigerian elementary teachers' apathy towards use of equipment in instruction and to verify possible links with technophobia. Subjects demonstrated lack of knowledge of educational technology and only slight traces of technophobia. It was suggested that teachers should receive rigorous training in educational…

This study analyzes the cost effectiveness of the Radio Education Teacher Training Project in Nepal using the annualized total cost as a linear function of two independent variables, the number of teachers enrolled in the program, and the number of hours of radio lessons broadcast during the 1981-82 school year. (MBR)

Compared preservice elementary teachers (N=58) and geology students (N=51) on their ability to identify rocks and minerals. Anxiety levels were different between the preservice teachers (high) and the geology students (low). Further analysis of geology students indicated a reverse relationship between anxiety and exam performance. (Author/DH)

Describes strategy analysis procedures which enable preservice teachers to implement science lesson segments in a manner that was consistent with strategies incorporated into science teaching models. Conformity to the model was uniformly high for phases related to preparing the learner, investigation planning, and data processing. (JN)

Examined how preservice elementary teachers' (N=38) mathematical knowledge and mathematics anxiety affect their success in a mathematics methods course. Also examined the hypothesis that a mathematics methods course can reduce the mathematics anxiety of these teachers. One finding is that mathematics anxiety does not inhibit their learning of…

This study, with 45 elementary school classroom teachers and 64 elementary education majors, found that the classroom teachers were able to consistently identify children with disordered voices. Students were somewhat inclined to underrefer children with possible voice disorders. (Author/DB)

This document reports on the qualities of a good urban teacher as perceived by urban early childhood and elementary school teachers in 1988. A review of the educational literature indicates that the characteristics of good teaching reflected the time period in which the teachers lived and were prepared. This study focused on preschool, substitute,…

This paper begins with an overview of several instruments for assessing the school environment, focusing on Moos's Work Environment Scale (WES). Although the WES was designed for use in any work milieu, its 10 dimensions of work environment (involvement, peer cohesion, staff support, autonomy, task orientation, work pressure, clarity, control,…

Reports findings of a survey of elementary school teachers' preferences regarding the criteria and processes for master teacher selection and rewards for master teachers. Although there were variations in response, teachers valued extrinsic/ancillary rewards more than intrinsic rewards (professional, collegial, and creative). (NH)