Classroom observations of first-graders and teachers in an experimental reading program

Abstract

Although the large number of classroom observation instruments Simon and Boyer (1974) collected 7 9 and Galton ( 19 7 8) 41, in addition to countless individual studies and reports—certainly testifies to a wide spread interest in looking at what actually goes on in classrooms, it seems fair to say that systematic observational data are far from routinely collected as part of the assessment of educational interventions. Indeed, Horowitz and Paden (1973), in their review of the effects of intervention programs, could cite very few examples. It appears to be primarily in the clinical, methodological, or even political context, rather than the simply educational, that behavioral observations in the classroom are most likely to be carried out: in contrasting a deviant group with normal peers (e.g., Werry and Quay 1969, for conduct problems, and Bryan 1974, for learning disabilities), in interventions specifically aimed at altering class room behavior (e.g., Gittelman-Klein, etal. 1976), and, most impressively, in some of the Head Start and Follow Through evaluations (Stallings 1975; Miller and Dyer 1975). In the present study, systematic behavioral observations were made of classroom reading groups set up to test the effectiveness of reading instruction thought to be particularly suited for children predicted to be high-risk for reading failure (Jansky, this issue). The ultimate test of such a program is of course the children's reading achievement. Nevertheless, it