Findings from a study designed to examine differences in ex pert and novice teachers' information processing are pre sented. Specifically, results are described which suggest differ ences in the ways expert, novice, and "postulant" teachers perceive, understand, monitor, and process visual information in classrooms. Expert, novice, and postulant subjects were asked to view a series of slides taken in science and mathema tics classrooms and to discuss their perceptions about and reactions to visual stimuli. Subjects were asked to respond to structured interview questions both orally and in writing; the responses were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Protocols and written responses were analyzed through a multi-step, itera tive process designed to determine patterns, trends, and differ ences in both kind and quantity of responses. Results suggested that experts, novices, and postulants differed with respect to their abilities to perceive and interpret classroom information. Experts appeared better able to weigh the import of one piece of visual information against another, to form connections among pieces of information, and to represent management and instructional situations into meaningful problem units. In general, experts appeared to possess comparatively richer schemata for ascribing meaning to visual classroom information.

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Expert, beginning, and novice teachers viewed three television monitors, each focusing on a work group of a junior high science class, simultaneously. Participants expressed their thoughts as they viewed the monitors, indicated the monitor to which they were referring, and answered questions about classroom management and instruction. Differences among the groups were found in their perceptions, monitoring, and understanding of classroom events characterized by simultaneity, multidimensionality, and immediacy. This study illustrates how more than content knowledge is required for successful teaching, and that learning to teach requires a great deal of time. Findings from this study have implications for the development of preservice and inservice training programs, which may require redesign to facilitate the development of pedagogical expertise.

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This paper reports a comparison between the performances of boys and girls on reading and mathematics objectives on a standardized achievement test, with each objective tested by a set of items. Differences in achievement between boys and girls from grades five through eight are discussed.