The purpose of this study was to explore the sociological forces which have been identified in teacher development and to inquire into their role in teacher evaluation. To that end, a series of teacher development intervention programs and teacher interviews were conducted. This report describes the programs and interviews and highlights the most…

Based on 18 months of extensive research and study, the New Mexico State Department of Education developed the Staff Accountability Plan to address the issue of teacher accountability and certification. One of the provisions of the plan (a written assessment of general and professional knowledge for initial certification) will be fulfilled by…

This study examines the perspectives that second career teachers with prior military career experience bring to the profession of teaching and specifically to the teaching of social studies. The study was organized around five questions relating to the life and career histories of second career teachers, the commonalities in the educational…

The Student Evaluation of Teaching instrument (SET) was administered in grades 4 through 12, to examine its construct validity and usefulness for grades 4 to 6. The original SET was developed for grades 7 to 12. This sample included 419 students in grades 4 to 6, and 612 students in grades 7 to 12. Teachers were graduates of Western Kentucky…

As part of a larger research progam on learning to teach, this paper reviews 15 empirical studies that followed students through one or more components of their student teaching program. The review focused on teacher development, constructivism (which ascertains how initial experiences in teacher education interact with the preconceptions held by…

This paper describes the effects of science teacher subject-matter knowledge on classroom discourse at the level of individual utterances. It details one of three parallel analyses conducted in a year-long study of language in the classrooms of four new biology teachers. The conceptual framework of the study predicted that when teaching unfamiliar…

This paper is an exposition and comparison of the objectives, methodology, and findings of two research projects entitled "An Occupational Analysis of Training in Industry" and "An Occupational Analysis of the Work of Beginning Teachers." The relevance of these studies to the design and evaluation of teacher education…

As part of the evaluation of the College of Education at the University of Tennessee, an annual survey is conducted to obtain principals' ratings of graduates who are certified beginning teachers. This survey has enjoyed a response rate in excess of 90 percent. The survey is conducted by mail, with one mail followup, and occasional telephone…

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.…

The theory underlying qualitative research design and a specific formative evaluation study that includes qualitative methods are discussed. The focus is the data analyses methods and procedures employed in the evaluation study, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the inquiry. Qualitative research focuses on the idiographic and operates on…

The investigation examined relationships among scales for observing and rating teacher performance. Beginning teachers with varying levels of professional experience (2, 9, and 16 months) were rated by pairs of observers on two occasions. Intercorrelations across occasions fell between .5 and .8. Interrater agreement ranged between .5 and .9.…

In 1977, the Dallas, Texas Independent School District modified its teacher selection criteria. In addition to the previously used evaluation criteria involving transcripts, references and evaluations, three new measures were employed: (1) a test of verbal and quantitative ability, the Wesman Personnel Classification Test (WPCT), which was later…

The experiences of beginning teachers (female and male teachers in urban and rural areas) in Manitoba are examined in this study. Questionnaires were mailed to the approximately 300 beginning teachers identified. The 148 who responded constitute the sample: 107 females--61 at urban schools, 46 at rural schools; and 41 males--32 at urban schools…

Teacher competency tests are being used more frequently to assess the knowledge and skills of prospective teachers. Educational policymakers face the dilemma of setting passing standards for these tests which will satisfy the desire for meaningful quality standards for teachers while meeting the necessity for making available a reasonable number…

The study examined whether there were differences in the reasons first-year teachers in rural, urban, or suburban schools (1) accepted their present teaching positions and (2) might consider a teaching position in another school district. Subjects were 99 teacher graduates of the Universities of Iowa and Vermont who were teaching in suburban…