This article describes one urban classroom and the language and literacy practices jointly constructed by a veteran urban teacher, Lynn Gatto, and her 3rd grade students. Drawing from two ethnographic studies of Gattos 2nd-4th grade looped classroom, we argue that Gatto and her students use the interplay between strategies and tactics (De Certeau,…

Photographs taken by urban students, along with the associated interview transcripts, were provided to their teachers partway through the subsequent school year. The teachers were prompted to describe their impressions of the photos relative to their knowledge of the students. In addition, the teachers were asked how these insights might shape…

Objective: To survey teachers' beliefs about mental health service needs in inner city elementary schools. Method: A total of 119 teachers from six elementary schools in a major city in the midwestern United States were surveyed to assess their beliefs about the major mental health problems facing their schools, the major barriers to surmounting…

Horizontal teacher evaluation increases understanding of teaching through the critical examination of educational goals and classroom practices. This examination includes teachers' classroom observations of one another coupled with in-depth teacher conversations or dialogue about teaching aims and practices. A qualitative case study of a…

This study examined how different elementary school teachers learn to observe and make practical sense of what happens in their classrooms daily. The major focus of the study was on: (1) how teachers' ways of seeing are learned and how they change across years of experience in teaching and within each school year; (2) how what teachers come to…

A brief questionnaire examining how teachers' rules of conduct facilitate learning was answered by 20 teachers in a Northeastern urban elementary school. Only two of these, from the upper levels, posted written rules. Verbal rules regarding inappropriate talking and seat leaving behavior were most frequently issued across all grades. Also issued…

An evaluation was conducted to examine the extent to which the District Mathematics Plan (DMP) initiatives of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), California, such as adopting standards-based textbooks and professional development opportunities, have led to improvement in classroom practices and student outcomes. The evaluation…

This paper reports on a study of the impact of an integrated teacher education program for diversity on two beginning teachers and considers the challenges involved in investigating the impact of such programs. The study examined four elementary school teachers in their first or second year of teaching who were working in schools that served high…

A survey of urban Kansas elementary teachers found that although 93% of teachers had 16-25 students, 50% had 1-10 computers, 93% of which were Apple II series; that the most used technology was TV-VCR; and that 50% of teachers spent less than 30 minutes of class time using technology. Includes the survey instrument. (PEN)

Investigated the interaction patterns of teachers and students in public and private urban elementary schools to explore higher order teacher questioning. Data from observations of elementary classrooms indicated that there were no gender differences in students' responses to higher order questioning. The 16 teachers observed used predominantly…

The purpose of this article is to present findings from a case study of two urban elementary teachers' classroom management practices and students' interactions during science instruction. The two teachers had antithetical (i.e., one intrinsic, the other authoritarian) classroom management styles, yet substantial negative student classroom…

The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts--SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program…

Recent debates about the utility of teacher education have raised questions about whether certified teachers are, in general, more effective than those who have not met the testing and training requirements for certification, and whether some candidates with strong liberal arts backgrounds might be at least as effective as teacher education…

Teachers from an urban public high school and from a preK-12 private school in one metropolitan area discussed selections from John Dewey's works on education, art, and experience, in small study groups between 1996 and 1998. I facilitated these study groups as a joint inquiry with teachers about connections between Dewey's aesthetics and thinking…

This study was a continuation of an in-process research effort to further refine the Inventory of Classroom Management Styles (ICMS), an instrument designed to measure teachers' perceptions of their classroom management beliefs and practices. Using preliminary data analysis based on partial data collection, the primary objective of this study was…