A study examining teacher decisions, as exhibited by teachers' behaviors, and their relationship to teacher concerns

The purpose for this study was to investigate whether the concerns of teachers are related to the observable behaviors of teachers in the classroom. The sample population was divided into four subgroups: inservice (teachers with three or more years of classroom teaching experience), preservice (student teachers), elementary teachers (grades 1-6), and secondary teachers (grades 7-12). All teachers in the sample field responded to the Teachers Concerns Checklist (TCCL) prior to and following the six-week interval of time designated for the study. A random sample of those teachers was observed four times for 20 minutes to determine the number of times they demonstrated 18 teaching behaviors identified as fostering creative, cognitive, and affective pupil behavior. Pearson Product-Moment correlation procedures and Multiple Analysis of Regression procedures were applied to the data secured from the TCCL questionnaire and the frequency counts for observed behaviors.