Robert S. Soar

Research on Teaching: Opening the Door to Special Education Classrooms

Although much research has been done on the effectiveness of teaching for nonhandicapped students, relatively little analysis has been made of teacher effectiveness in special education. Most of the recommendations about what special education teachers should do to be effective are based on the following: inferences from basic research showing exceptional students learn more slowly, with greater difficulty, or in different ways from normal learners; conclusions from applied research showing that specific groups of exceptional students respond more favorably to particular “packages” of instructional methods and materials; and analysis of opinions about what teachers should do to be effective. In this article, the results of teacher effectiveness research in general education are summarized, the best practices in special education are hypothesized, and the discrepancies between prevailing and actual practices are discussed. Areas for further research are suggested based on discrepancies that exist between levels of current practice.

Assessing Teacher Performance from Observed Competency Indicators Defined by Classroom Teachers.

AbstractThis study was concerned with the measurement of a set of indicators of teacher competence, defined by the teachers themselves as observable in their classroom behavior. The question it sought to answer was whether scoring keys for existing low-inference observation schedules could be developed that would measure any or all of these indicators objectively and reliably. Multiple observations were made with four such instruments in 100 classrooms in a single rural school system to provide data relevant to the question. Forty-two scoring keys were developed to measure one or another of 26 indicators identified by the teachers and used to score the records made in the 100 classrooms. An analysis of variance was made of the scores on each key to estimate its reliability and to isolate and assess errors of measurement due to lack of internal consistency and to instability confounded with observer disagreement. It was concluded that keys could be constructed to yield stable and consistent measures of mos...

Accountability: Assessment Problems and Possibilities.

to date has been an assessment of the quality of the program within which the teacher was trained (i). The aspects of that strategy have led to the movement for competency-based teacher education (CBTE). As a part of traditional evaluation in teacher preparation, measurement of the teacher’s knowledge continues to be relevant. Two other strategies appear to be viable ones within the broad context of evaluation of teacher competence: measuring the growth of pupils taught by the teacher and measuring the teaching behavior of the teacher.