The search for knowledge about effective teachers has produced a great deal of research activity utilizing a variety of research techniques. This paper discusses research on national Teachers of the Year (Shanoski and Hranitz, 1989, 1990, 1991) and relates it to the teacher effectiveness clusters identified by Donald Cruikshank (1990) in his study…

This paper reports the results of a survey that addressed the type of preparation faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln want to help them build appropriate teaching skills for distance education delivery. Specifically, it examined the type of education, assistance, and support faculty need to develop educational materials for distance…

This study examined whether teacher candidates' anxiety about teaching in accord with teacher development theory decreased through teacher preparation and the fifth year of teaching and whether changes in anxiety related to academic ability and personal attributes. Participants were 117 teacher candidates who completed approximately 5 years of…

This paper encourages teachers to consider teaching as a performing art. By using the theater as a metaphor for effective, innovative instructional methods, the author parallels various aspects of performing arts with various aspects of teaching. The "stage" represents the classroom and "sets" the teaching environment; the "set" characterizes the…

A study examined the meanings 20 student (physical education) teachers gave to their student teaching experiences. Investigated were the student teachers' definitions of role competence and incompetence. A critical incident report form, on which student teachers recorded two specific incidents occurring during student teaching (one dealing with…

The routinization and ritualization of school reflects, in part, an emphasis on acquisition of knowledge and technical mastery of skills rather than understanding and the ability to apply information to new situations. A societal environment needs to be created that promotes learning as more than an aggregation of facts and answers to test…

A study identified the competencies needed by and the inservice problems of vocational teachers involved in teaching disadvantaged students in self-contained classrooms. During the study, each of the 100 vocational education teachers instructing disadvantaged learners in state/federally funded self-contained programs for the disadvantaged in…

A study examined the inservice needs of vocational educators related to the inclusion of special needs students in vocational classes. Purposes were to determine the statewide enrollments of special needs students in vocational programs; to examine the instructional needs of vocational educators for working with these students at three schools; to…

Societal and political and economic forces that affect college instruction are considered. Classroom interaction is affected by the culture, the personalities of teachers and students, and the social situation (the physical and social environment). All the factors that influence the classroom are affected by political and economic factors both…

Secondary education majors participated in a one-week microteaching program in which they were trained to identify and quantify verbal behaviors that inhibit teacher clarity. Teacher clarity indicators were identified as vagueness terms and mazes. Vagueness terms are indicated by approximation or lack of clarity and assurance. Mazes are garbles,…

This paper discusses the use of occupational analysis techniques to describe and evaluate student teacher practice. Occupational analysis provides a proven procedure for improving the match between jobs and training programs. Teaching reports were analyzed to identify the criteria used by supervisors to assess the quality of student teaching. A…

Elementary and secondary school student teachers were tested before, during, and after their teaching experiences to determine if there were changes in their concerns about teaching. Three categories of concerns, each with eight items, were ranked: methods concerns, pertaining to instructional skills and content knowledge; cultural concerns,…

Results of a longitudinal study of graduates of a competency based teacher education program at Weber State College are presented. Selected for study were those who were in their first, third, fifth, or seventh year of teaching. Respondents were principals who assessed the work of the teachers, and teachers who evaluated their preparation program.…

A Parents as Resource Program was offered in eight elementary schools in an inner city school system. Approximately 160 parents, mostly mothers, completed a 10-week series of workshops constructed to increase parental self-confidence, to develop awareness of affective childrearing practices and to demonstrate creative use of materials available in…

In a study at the University of Illinois, student written comments to four open-ended questions in end-of-semester student evaluations of 60 courses from ten different fields, taught by instructors of different ranks, were analyzed and classified into 22 categories. Nearly two-thirds were about the instructor, and one of four comments were on…