TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of variation in teacher organization on classroom functioning
AU - Cameron, Claire E.
AU - Connor, Carol Mc Donald
AU - Morrison, Frederick J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development R01HD027176. The authors would like to thank members of the University of Michigan and Loyola University projects as well as the parents, children, teachers, and school district personnel, without whom this study would not have been possible.
PY - 2005/1
Y1 - 2005/1
N2 - This study examined effects of variation in teacher organization on how time is spent in classrooms, focusing on time spent in transitions and instruction, including child skill by teacher organization interactions. Forty-four first-grade classrooms were observed three times over the school year. Timed narratives of each activity were recorded. "Orient-organize" referred to time teachers spent orienting students to classroom procedures or organizing the class for specific assignments, and included instructional clarity, where teachers described objectives of activities to students. Using hierarchical linear modeling, substantial variation across teachers in orient-organize was observed. Overall, classrooms spent less time in organization as the school year progressed. In addition, spending more time in organization was related to less time spent in transition. Students in classrooms that spent more time in organization in the fall also experienced greater amounts of time in child-managed activities in the spring. There was also an interaction between child vocabulary and amount of orient-organize in the winter. Students with lower vocabulary scores were more likely to be in classrooms that spent more time in spring child-managed activities if they continued to receive substantial amounts of orient-organize in the winter. The opposite was the case for students with high vocabulary skills.
AB - This study examined effects of variation in teacher organization on how time is spent in classrooms, focusing on time spent in transitions and instruction, including child skill by teacher organization interactions. Forty-four first-grade classrooms were observed three times over the school year. Timed narratives of each activity were recorded. "Orient-organize" referred to time teachers spent orienting students to classroom procedures or organizing the class for specific assignments, and included instructional clarity, where teachers described objectives of activities to students. Using hierarchical linear modeling, substantial variation across teachers in orient-organize was observed. Overall, classrooms spent less time in organization as the school year progressed. In addition, spending more time in organization was related to less time spent in transition. Students in classrooms that spent more time in organization in the fall also experienced greater amounts of time in child-managed activities in the spring. There was also an interaction between child vocabulary and amount of orient-organize in the winter. Students with lower vocabulary scores were more likely to be in classrooms that spent more time in spring child-managed activities if they continued to receive substantial amounts of orient-organize in the winter. The opposite was the case for students with high vocabulary skills.
KW - Child-managed
KW - Classroom organization
KW - First-grade
KW - Hierarchical linear modeling
KW - Transitions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=13344275153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=13344275153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jsp.2004.12.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jsp.2004.12.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:13344275153
SN - 0022-4405
VL - 43
SP - 61
EP - 85
JO - Journal of School Psychology
JF - Journal of School Psychology
IS - 1
ER -