Childhood Classrooms Research Articles

Using Longitudinal Data to Model Teachers' Ratings of Classroom Behavior as a Dynamic Process

Simple Markov models are fitted to a small sample of longitudinal categorical data of teachers' ratings of children's classroom behavior. Although the data consist only of observations at 5 occasions, it was possible, after dividing the data into two groups, to fit plausible models in continuous time. Measurement error and alternative longitudinal designs are discussed, and some possible educational implications are noted.

Understanding Sex Differences in Children's Classroom Experiences

Despite the common theme that sex-role messages pervade children's schooling experiences, surprisingly little is known about the differences in day-to-day classroom interactions that turn girls into girl students and boys into boy students. Within the public school system, attempts to reduce or eliminate sex inequities have dealt mainly with developing nonsexist instructional materials and providing activities that raise teachers', administrators', counselors', parents', students', and community leaders' awareness of inequitable practices (Lockheed, Finkelstein, and Harris 1979; Womens' Educational Equity Act Program, n.d.). While there has clearly been a need to eliminate sex stereotyping and discrimination in course materials, recent research into classroom interaction patterns shows that the existence of sex bias in curricular content does not sufficiently explain differences in girls' and boys' attitudes, behavior, and achievement in school. Yet a review of this research indicates that these findings are unclear and often con-

Carryover effects of a summer therapeutic daycamp program on children's classroom behavior: A one-year follow-up

The study investigated the impact of a Summer Therapeutic Daycamp on the subsequent classroom behavior of behaviorally disordered children. Pre-post assessment of the maladaptive behavior of children participating in the program and of a control group one year subsequent to the program demonstrated the differential impact of the program, consistent with the notion of intensive, time-limited intervention as an effective alternative to extended treatment.

Quality of text recall as a function of children's classroom competence

This study demonstrated that the manner in which children, as students, chose to devise their recall was a function of the type of response register they maintained with their teachers. Students (mean C.A. = 10.4 years) who used an Imitative Response Register recalled significantly more referential propositions than students using either a Contingent or Noncontingent Response Register. In this sense, students employing an Imitative Response Register were more likely to reproduce text than the other Register Groups. Students (mean C.A. = 10.3 years) who used a Noncontingent Response Register recalled significantly more pragmatic inference propositions, i.e., either elaboration or distortion inference propositions, than students using either Imitative or Contingent Response Registers. In this sense, students employing a Noncontingent Response Register were more likely to embellish text than the other two groups. Finally, students (mean C.A. = 10.6 years) who used a Contingent Response Register recalled significantly more text-structured propositions, i.e., propositional and enabling inference propositions, than students using either Imitative or Noncontingent Response Registers. In this sense, students employing a Contingent Response Register were more likely to reconstruct text than the other two groups. These findings are discussed in terms of a classroom competence model of student behaviors.

Behavioral validity of a brief teacher rating scale (the AML) in identifying high‐risk acting‐out schoolchildren

This research investigated the behavioral validity of the acting-out subscale of the AML, a quick screening device designed to detect early school maladaptation. Teachers' AML ratings of acting-out school maladjustment were compared with independent observations of children's classroom behavior. Significant positive correlations were obtained between AML ratings and individual behavior codes reflecting disruptive, off-task, and social approach behaviors. Comparisons of children grouped according to high, medium, and low AML scores provided group behavioral profiles illustrating these findings. Highs displayed twice as much off-task and approach behavior and five times as much disruptive behavior as lows. Mediums demonstrated more off-task and disruptive behavior than lows although the latter between-group mean differences did not reach significance. Four behaviors emerged in a multiple regression analysis to account for approximately 50% of the variance of teacher AML ratings. The best predictors consisted of child in-seat and out-of-seat off-task behaviors, child-initiated teacher contact, and teacher social attention (negative beta weight). The latter data offer the provocative suggestion that low rates of teacher attention may contribute to higher rates of children's acting-out classroom behavior.

The Use of a Relaxation Curriculum and Biofeedback Training in the Classroom to Reduce Inappropriate Behaviors of Emotionally Handicapped Children

This study assesses the effect of a relaxation curriculum including biofeedback training upon inappropriate behaviors of five severely emotionally handicapped boys aged 12 through 14. The five boys were assigned to a self-contained classroom for emotionally handicapped children in the Alpine School District in Orem, Utah, during the 1977–78 school year. The children involved were placed on a program of relaxation and biofeedback training over a 16-week period. Three times a week, under the direction of their teacher, the children were trained in relaxation procedures, including isometric exercises, autogenic training, and other mind-body relaxation techniques. Biofeedback therapy was conducted with each child once a week over the 16-week period using electromyographic training (EMG) procedures for muscle relaxation. A pre- and post-evaluation of each child's inappropriate classroom behaviors and level of muscle relaxation as measured by the electromyograph were obtained. Inappropriate behavior was reduced on the average by more than 50 percent in four of the five children. Muscle tension as measured by the electromyograph was significantly reduced. Implications of the study warrant further research into the use of relaxation therapy with larger populations of emotionally handicapped children.

Test anxiety and evaluation threat: Children's behavior in the classroom

Children differing in test anxiety level were observed in two art classes, one immediately preceding a classroom examination, the other when no examination was expected. The observational analyses indicated the following: (a) When an examination was expected there were general increases both in children's task orientation and in their concern with other's evaluations, and a decrease in general activity level. It was suggested that future research examine the effects of additional situational variables on children's classroom behaviors. (b) Highly test-anxious children were generally hardworking and inactive. They reacted to examination expectancy with a decrease in task orientation, reduction in communications, and attentional constriction. Less anxious children reacted to examination expectancy by working harder, eliminating task-irrelevant behaviors, and seeking feedback. These results were interpreted as supporting a cognitive theory of test anxiety.

Maternal Perceptions of Urban Navajo and Caucasian Children's Classroom Behavior

Maternal Perceptions of Urban Navajo and Caucasian Children's Classroom Behavior

Learning Disabled Children's Classroom Behaviors and Teacher—Child Interactions

Studies of the behaviors of learning disabled children in the classroom consistently find that these children spend less time engaged in on-task behavior and more time engaged in off-task behavior than academically successful children. However, generalizations concerning their attending behaviors are limited to regular classrooms insofar as learning disabled children's on-task behavior increases markedly when they are in special education resource rooms or self-contained classrooms. The interactions of learning disabled children and teachers are likewise affected by several factors such as the type of teacher and setting, and the grade, sex, and race of the child. While learning disabled children receive more praise from regular classroom teachers, they also receive more criticism. Special education teachers, however, have interactions with the learning disabled which are consistently more positive. However, most of our data are based on White, middle-class males; when other subject variables are examined there are intriguing differences which suggest that sex, race, and grade of the learning disabled child interact with teacher expectations and behavior.

The Relationship between Learning Disability and Simultaneous-Successive Processing

A heterogeneous group of learning disabled children and a relatively homogeneous group having specific reading deficits were compared with normal children in two studies. In the first experiment the learning disabled children were subdivided into hyperactive, hypoactive, and the balanced types as judged from teachers' ratings of the child's classroom behavior. Whereas the learning disabled, as a group, performed poorly in a few of the simultaneous-successive tasks in comparison with the normal children, there were no distinct differences among the groups. In the second experiment only those children who demonstrated specific reading deficits were selected. They were comparable in age and IQ with the normal children. On the simultaneous-successive tasks they were inferior to the normals, as they were also in dichotic listening. Since IQ was not a variable, it was concluded that the inferior performance of the reading deficit group was not due to poorer intelligence; rather, the difficulty may lie in the strategies that need to be chosen when the child is faced with a somewhat unfamiliar task.

Consultant cues and teacher verbalizations, judgments, and expectancies concerning children's adjustment problems

Teacher verbalization about children's classroom problems were studied as a function of medical-model or behavioral-model cues. Medical-model or behavioral-model cues elicited descriptions of problem behavior congruent with their respective assumptions about human behavior. In addition, medical-model cues elicited more pessimistic expectancies about an instructor's ability to solve classroom problem behavior in the classroom setting than did behavioral cues.

Classroom interaction: Two studies of severely educationally subnormal children

An experimental study of go/no-go discrimination learning had previously indicated that individual differences in learning relate to childrens’ scores on the excitation/inhibition factor of a classroom assessment scale. The current paper reports two observational studies which show that this scale factor also relates to aspects of the children's classroom behaviour. In particular, the frequency of initiation of interaction, amount of speech, number of approaches and likelihood of interacting with the teacher, were positively and significantly related to the degree of excitation of the children. These results were interpreted as indicating that excitable children are more reinforcement seeking than inhabitable children, and that this tendency leads to the differences observed in the classroom.

Relationship between Cognitive Perspective Taking and Teachers' Ratings of Children's Classroom Behavior in Grades One through Four

Summary The relationship was explored between cognitive perspective taking (the ability to infer another person's thoughts, attitudes, or intentions) and teachers' ratings of classroom behavior of 96 boys and girls in grades one through four. Good cognitive perspective taking skill was related to classroom behaviors that involved active peer interactions, particularly fighting/ quarrelling. This finding is interpreted as supporting Piaget's contention that the decline in egocentric reasoning is brought about through peer involvement. Although the present evidence suggests that cognitive perspective taking may be a cognitive prerequisite for various social behaviors, the investigation of the link between social cognition and social behavior would proceed more fruitfully if the motivational systems underlying the social behavior of interest could be identified and accurately assessed.

Stimulus control in the classroom as a function of the behavior reinforced.

Eight fifth- and sixth-grade children with behavior problems performed in a classroom under three conditions: (1) unreinforced baseline, (2) reinforcement for being on task, and (3) reinforcement for the accuracy and rate of math problems solved. The teacher was absent for a portion of the class session under each of these conditions. In the teacher's absence, on-task behavior declined markedly and disruption markedly increased, regardless of the reinforcement condition in operation. In addition, the teacher's absence resulted in fewer problems attempted and decreased accuracy. However, the extent to which the children became disruptive was reduced and the number of problems attempted increased when reinforcement was contingent on academic accuracy and rate, instead of being contingent on being on task. The results suggest that by providing contingencies for the products of a child's classroom activities, rather than for being on task, the child will become more independent of the teacher's presence, and more under the control of the academic materials.

Relationships between neurological, behavioral, and academic variables

Abstract This study investigated relationships between specific neurological findings and discrete measures of children's academic and behavioral classroom variables. Highly significant relationships were found on 114 correlations between neurological and academic and behavioral variables, suggesting that neurological impairment is highly specific in its relationships with given classroom phenomena.

Dimensions of Children's Classroom Behavior, as Perceived by Teachers

Dimensions of Children's Classroom Behavior, as Perceived by Teachers

Development and evaluation of a resource teacher program.

The critical features of the resource specialist model include a commitment to provide (a) service on core school tasks, as defined by the classroom teacher, (b) close cooperation with the child's classroom teacher, (c) one to one instruction through cross age and peer tutors, (d) direct and daily measurement of student progress, and (e) daily instruction where direct services are required. Components of the model were examined individually in controlled settings and only those components which proved effective were incorporated into the model. Finally, summative evaluations were conducted, which tested the efficacy of the entire model.

Sex of Teacher and Academic Achievement: A Review of Research

Previous articleNext article No AccessSex of Teacher and Academic Achievement: A Review of ResearchKaren VroeghKaren Vroegh Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Elementary School Journal Volume 76, Number 7Apr., 1976 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/461002 Views: 3Total views on this site Citations: 10Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1976 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Elien Sabbe, Antonia Aelterman Gender in teaching: a literature review, Teachers and Teaching 13, no.55 (Sep 2007): 521–538.https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600701561729James C. Stroud, Lawrence L Smith, Lenore T. Ealy, Rosemary Hurst Choosing to Teach: Perceptions of Male Preservice Teachers in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Early Child Development and Care 163, no.11 (Jan 2000): 49–60.https://doi.org/10.1080/0300443001630104Beverly I. Fagot Peer relations and the development of competence in boys and girls, New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development 1994, no.6565 (Jan 1994): 53–65.https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219946506Shoshanna BenTsvi-Mayer, Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz, Marilyn P. Safir Teachers' selections of boys and girls as prominent pupils, Sex Roles 21, no.3-43-4 (Aug 1989): 231–246.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289904JERE BROPHY Interactions of Male and Female Students with Male and Female Teachers, (Jan 1985): 115–142.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-752075-9.50011-8Dominic F. Gullo, Douglas H. Clements Differences in Achievement Patterns for Boys and Girls in Kindergarten and First Grade: A Longitudinal Study, Psychological Reports 54, no.11 (Sep 2016): 23–27.https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1984.54.1.23Gita Kedar-Voivodas The Impact of Elementary Children’s School Roles and Sex Roles on Teacher Attitudes: An Interactional Analysis, Review of Educational Research 53, no.33 (Jun 2016): 415–437.https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543053003415Dolores Gold, Myrna Reis Male teacher effects on young children: A theoretical and empirical consideration, Sex Roles 8, no.55 (May 1982): 493–513.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287715 Steven T. Bossert Understanding Sex Differences in Children's Classroom Experiences, The Elementary School Journal 81, no.55 (Oct 2015): 255–266.https://doi.org/10.1086/461228Dolores Gold, Myrna Reis, Charlene Berger Male Teachers and Development of Nursery-School Children, Psychological Reports 44, no.22 (Aug 2016): 457–458.https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1979.44.2.457

Children's problems and classroom interventions from the perspective of classroom teachers.

Children's problems and classroom interventions from the perspective of classroom teachers.

Do Teachers Bias Children’s Learning?

The publication of Pygmalion in the Classroom by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) stirred heated professional controversy and considerable public interest in the notion that teachers' expectations regarding a child's ability influence the child's classroom learning and test performance. Indeed, a number of articles have appeared in the popular press in which the data in Pygmalion were interpreted to imply that children's school performance could be improved simply by making the teacher think better of the child's ability (e.g., see Yunker, 1970). At the same time serious doubts about the reliability and validity of Rosenthal and Jacobson's findings were being raised in the professional literature (e.g., Snow, 1969; Thorndike, 1968, 1969). Since the publication of Pygmalion, the professional literature dealing directly with the issue of teacher-bias effects has grown rapidly (see Baker & Crist, 1971). This type of research is concerned with the possibility that teachers might intentionally or unintentionally suppress the learning of some students simply because they subjectively feel these students are not capable of grasping certain material as quickly or as well as most students. The term bias is used to describe this phenomenon when objective measures do not indicate differences in learning potential between the students expected to do poorly and the remainder of the class. The major purpose of this paper is to review the