This paper reviews research that shows significant links between specific teacher clarity behaviors and student achievement and satisfaction. Behaviors found to be most significantly related to student outcomes of interest are presented, possible instruments for assessing clarity are suggested, and appropriate applications of the research are discussed. While diabetes educators should attend to the results, they should compare and contrast their own situations with those described. The authors believe that knowledge of what has been learned about teacher clarity can be most useful in improving instruction in health care.
Field experiences have emerged as a critical dimension to the teacher prep aration process. indeed, in recent years much has been written regarding the efficacy and effects of field experience involvements for preservice teachers. In this article, Cruickshank and Armaline trace the origins of field experiences, present a taxonomy for use in thinking about them, and discuss selected issues and problems associated with teaching experiences occurring in the field. The authors make eight recommendations for improving how field experiences are structured for and included in the teacher preparation process, and they briefly describe factors that militate against the accomplishment of the recommended directions.
Relationships between the clarity behaviors of teachers and the dual outcome measures of student achievement and satisfaction were examined. Relatively reliable measures of clarity (both of a low-inference and high-inference nature) on 32 preservice teachers who taught the same lesson within a small-group laboratory setting were generated by (a) trained observers, (b) participating students, and (c) the teachers themselves. The high and relatively low-inference measures of teacher clarity correlated highly, and both were significantly and positively related to postinstructional measures of student achievement and student satisfaction. A number of specific clarity behaviors have been identified that appear to be strongly and directly linked to desirable student outcomes.
What are the current trends in teacher education? Cruickshank and Cruz use Teacher Education Reports to identify the issues, problems, and proposals that have had or will have significant impact on teacher preparation practices. The in stitutional winners and losers and the political anomalies of the recent reform rhetoric are identified and discussed by the authors.
A UNDENIABLE assumption underlying the educational reform movement of the past 10 years is that the school achievement of American children can be enhanced through better teaching. A related assumption, not so undeniable, is that improved teaching will follow from increased and more rigorous testing of practicing teachers and teachers in preparation. Most states have accepted the second assumption and have initiated teacher testing. So have colleges of education (“Survey Shows Rise,” 1990). While giving preservice or inservice teachers more or tougher tests may seem to be a logical idea, a more promising one may be to devise and use different kinds of tests. Our thesis here is that while formal testing of preservice teachers has such a high profile, we would be well advised to provide them with multiple forms of on-campus laboratory experiences whereby they would be engaged in job-related tasks. Performance on these tasks could be assessed at multiple points and for various uses, including admission, retention, and graduation.
The intent of the study was to describe and compare the perceived problems of beginning secondary teachers grouped on the baas of school location (i.e., inner-city, outer-city, suburban, and rural). Beginning teachers (N = 159) indicated whether certain specific classroom problems occurred frequently and if such problems were bothersome. These responses were factor analyzed, producing six factors for both frequency and bothersomeness data. Factor scores associated with frequency factors and bothersomeness factors were each compared across the four location groups by multivariate and univariate methods. Inner-city teachers reported a significantly greater frequency of problems associated with factors labeled Remediation, Professional Autonomy, and Control. However, with respect to the extent to which problems were reported to be bothersome, significant differences among teacher-location groups were not observed.
