An ethnographic study was conducted to determine what happens when teachers are placed in schools in which the students' cultural background differs dramatically from their own. Participants were five student teachers completing their internship in a low socioeconomic school in Tallahassee, Florida. Three methods were used to collect data:…

Historically, preservice teacher education programs have not provided their students, in a systematic manner, with knowledge, methods, or practice to produce effective classroom management. A systematic approach to classroom management is recommended that would deal with advance planning and preparation before the school year, and the…

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature regarding some of the past practices of discipline and to explore the changes in discipline that have been made in our schools, the alternatives that have resulted, and a specific approach--in-school suspension--that has taken root in contemporary education as a result of this change. A review…

From 1975 to 1978 the National Institute of Education conducted a national survey on school crime. They assessed the incidence and seriousness of the problem, the number and location of schools affected, the costs, the means of prevention used, and the effectiveness of these means. More than 4,000 elementary and secondary schools were surveyed and…

Paper presented at the 66th Convention of the International Association of Pupil Personnel Workers, October 23, 1980, Baltimore, Maryland, expresses concern about the future of education and the growing problem of school violence. Suggests corporal punishment amounts to child abuse and does little to help students learn problem-solving techniques.…

The problem of children's misbehavior in school is an urgent concern. Although misbehavior is not unique to the school, the whole of society suffers from violence. It is important to recall that those committing crimes today were yesterday's students. There are two modes for discipline in the schools. The "established" mode aims for teacher…

Data from the West Virginia Department of Education reveals that from September 1991 to January 1992, school districts reported 18,915 out-of-school suspensions involving 12,997 students. In 1995, the West Virginia State Legislature enacted the Safe Schools Act, which specifically mandates suspension for no less than 12 consecutive months for…

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between teachers' experience and their perceptions of and reactions to problematic classroom situations. The purpose was to assist teacher educators to more adequately train beginning teachers who then would be better prepared to deal with problematic classroom situations. Subjects (N=49) were…

Secondary school teachers in the Houston Independent School District were asked for their perceptions of variables that contributed to difficulty of teaching. A 60-item questionnaire included variables from school environment categories: student characteristics, managerial efficiency, instructional program, material resources, teacher personal…

In attempting to identify causes of the high rates of attrition of beginning teachers and possible solutions to their exodus, this study identified what beginning high school and middle school teachers in the Baltimore County Public School system found were their most urgent concerns and most valuable types of assistance. A questionnaire was sent…

A study was done of teachers' perceptions of support, resources, empowerment, autonomy, and discipline problems in Chapter 1 and non-Chapter 1 schools. The study used data from the Schools and Staffing Survey. Overall, most teachers in elementary schools, middle schools, junior high schools, and senior high schools with Chapter 1 programs agree…

A questionnaire describing 87 environmental characteristics of schools is administered to entering freshmen at a predominantly black university to study the relationships of racial composition to various dimensions of school environment and social climate. Both racial and nonracial aspects of school environments are examined. Correlation of the…

To investigate the effect of heterogeneous and homogeneous instructional groupings used in a middle school eighth grade on selected student behaviors, 120 students were assigned to a heterogeneous group and 120 students to a homogeneous group based on several factors. The heterogeneous group was comprised of all students enrolled in the school…

This qualitative study focuses on the classroom interactions of a high school science teacher and a resistant learner in a Grade 10 science class in Australia. Data are presented in the context of a creative nonfiction story based on experiences in a rural Australian high school. In the story, a science teacher lives up to the expectations of…

This paper reports on a study of effective classroom management in British primary schools, with particular emphasis on how teachers deal with deviant or disruptive behavior. The study was conducted through observation of 239 lessons and interviews with 60 teachers and through interviews with 430 pupils aged 5-12. The research found a lack of…