Chapter VII: Assessment of Teacher Behavior and Instruction

Abstract

tTHERE HAS BEEN a large quantity of research reports dealing with teacher behavior during the five-year interval since the topic was last covered in the REVIEW. A wide range of variables has been investigated. An overview of the reports suggests that investigations have been piecemeal and fragmentary for the most part; only occasional attempts have been made to conduct coordinated programmatic research or to relate studies to some theoretical model.In the reviewer's opinion, several general trends are in evidence: 1. Research on teacher behavior appears to have improved in quality in recent years. The state of the art seems to have changed since 1952, when, in introductory remarks to the June issue of the REVIEW, "Teachers and Nonacademic Personnel," the present reviewer deplored the scarcity of well-designed research and the relative dearth of significant investigations. Although 10 years later poorly designed research continues to be reported, a larger proportion of the output seems to meet reasonable standards. Moreover, many of the studies deal with problems of basic importance. Assuming the validity of the reviewer's opinion that a change for the better has taken place, one is tempted to surmise the influences involved. It would be difficult to assess the reasons with any assurance; nevertheless, one does have the impression that generally more sophisticated researchers are being granted advanced degrees, that there is improved understanding of research design and methodology, and that more efforts are being extended toward relating empirical results to organized theoretical positions. Undoubtedly, one influence for improved research has issued from federal support through the Cooperative Research Program and the National Defense Education Act Title VII Program of the U.S. Office of Education.2. A second trend, which is undoubtedly related to the improvement in the quality of research, has been an increase in attention given to methodological problems. The criterion problem is no longer neglected as much as it was a few years ago; methods for observation and data collection have been refined and improved; and relatively sophisticated design and analysis techniques increasingly have been employed. 415 at Monash University on June 3, 2015 http://rer.aera.net Downloaded from REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHVol. XXXIII, No. 4 3. A third general trend has been a lessening of attention to the topic of teacher effectiveness, which often has been elusive in its ramifications because of the incomparability of evaluative criteria. Instead, one may note an increase in attention to the fundamental problem of the description of teacher behavior and to the conditions with which various teacher behaviors are correlated. One serious impediment to the understanding of teacher behavior has been the frequent failure of researchers to recognize that before progress can be made in any field of science there must be a long period of investigation devoted to (a) the identification of the elements or components that make up the ph...