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Abstract
This study investigated whether a formal educational intervention in classroom management would improve the classroom management knowledge and sills of beginning teachers. The independent variable was the completion of a formal unit of classroom management training using the Harry and Rosemary Wong video tape series, The Effective Teacher. The dependent variables were the domain scores on the Classroom Management Observation Instrument and the time-on-task of the students in the beginning teachers classrooms. Analysis of covariance was conducted. Post hoc interviews conducted with principals, host teachers, and student teachers from both groups revealed that the principals and the host teachers were serious about their job of teaching classroom management. The student teachers were placed by the university with host teachers who were effective classroom managers. As effective classroom managers, the host teachers were committed to helping the student teachers acquire the knowledge and skills needed in efficient and effective classroom management. The placement of student teachers by the college/university had provided the student teachers with their own personal coaches. The results of the ANCOVA indicated that the two groups of beginning early childhood educators were not significantly different on adjusted mean scores for the three domains on the Classroom Management Observation Instrument. The three domains are teacher behaviors that attempt to create and maintain a positive learning environment, teacher behaviors that attempt to restore the learning environment, and other behaviors not associated with classroom management knowledge and skills. The results of the ANCOVA conducted on the data concerning the time-on-task hypothesis indicated that the two groups of beginning early childhood educators differed significantly favoring the student teachers who completed "The Effective Teacher" video tape series.