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Three procedures are examined that educational researchers can use to analyze quantitatively the extent to which modifications of specific teacher behaviors lead to changes in student achievement. The task requires decent descriptions of the behaviors, appropriate statistical tools and measures of student outcomes that are worth while examining. The data, collected in the course of an evaluation of the relationship between the organizational structure of schools and student achievement, is not entirely appropriate for the issues dealt with here. Therefore, paths are suggested that this research might take in the future: (1) it is possible, using multiple regression analysis, to construct models of teacher behavior that reflect the view that some set of teacher behaviors affect student outcomes, and (2) these models can be applied at least three distinct ways, depending on the kinds of assumptions that one is willing to make about the data and the kinds of questions that one wishes to address. (Author/RC)

This paper reports a model of the impact of teacher behavior on student achievement. Estimates of the model's efficiency are obtained and its utility tested on a second set of data. Methodological and theoretical frameworks are from sociologists interested in contextual affects phenomena. Data were collected from 374 students during 1971-73. Using standard regression procedures, a model was constructed of the relationship between teacher behavior and student outcomes for 1971-72. The model was verified on 1972-73 data. The findings are ambiguous. The first year model is satisfactory as a post hoc predictor. It is less satisfactory applied to the second year data. The methodology, however, is an advance for the study of the consequences of administrative behavior on the part of teachers. (Author)

This paper describes a study that was conducted in the St. Louis elementary schools to examine the effects of environmental changes accompanying the relocation of black students to new schools. Students' academic gain in the year prior to relocation was compared with their growth rate in the year following relocation. The study produced five major findings: (1) increases in classroom mean achievement levels had a positive impact on black students' academic growth patterns; (2) moves to majority black classrooms improved academic growth rates, while moves to majority white classrooms depressed academic growth rates; (3) the optimal move for a black student originating in a majority black classroom was one in which the receiving classroom was between 50 percent and 95 percent black and had a higher level of academic performance than the sending classroom; (4) high achieving students tended to experience larger academic gains in receiving schools than in their sending schools, while low achieving students has smaller gains in their receiving as opposed to their sending schools; and (5) changes in teachers' education and experience, and teacher pupil ratios did not appear to be strongly related to academic growth. Limitations of the research are discussed at length and implications for administrative policy are suggested. (Author/APM)

In an attempt to link public school expenditures to educational outputs, achievement test results of 6,605 elementary students in St. Louis, Missouri, were analyzed to see whether training and experience of teachers has an impact on student outcomes. The researchers matched individual students with teachers for five-year periods during grades three through eight. Variables examined include students' testscores and race, school enrollment and attendance, pupil-teacher ratios, percentage of non-white students and teachers, ratings of teachers' baccalaureate and graduate institutions, and eight factors relating to achievement levels of students' classmates. The study found that previous achievment levels and student intelligence are excellent predictors of achievement; that teacher experience is occasionally a factor in student achievement; and that the effect of teacher and school variables is larger for black students than for white students. The study concludes that school level variables explain virtually none of the variation in student achievement and that it is unlikely that such factors as administrator intensity, teacher and pupil attendance rates, and resource allocation will have much impact on student achievement. (JEH)

In the direct and indirect effects of teacher characteristics on educational production of students over time, this study indicates that teacher characteristics were not critical determinants of student achievement. Characteristics include: experience, educational level, recentness of degree and degree nature, college quality, and other background. Positive indicators across the student sample groups were that the percentage of non-white teachers was the only consistently performing characteristic. After a review of the literature of cross sectional and longitudinal analyses, the present longitudinal model of educational production is discussed. Data, empirical results and structural equation estimates for the 3 sample groups are presented. Results within the operational five-period model are followed by conclusions and implications for theory and practice. An appendix of eleven steps in the data procedures is included. (CM)

Describes the urban decay and deconcentration process in the St. Louis metropolitan area and its relationship to changes in local public schools. Offers evidence suggesting that schools are as much victims of urban decay as causes of it. (CMG)

This study was conducted to see how schools allocate resources during periods of declining revenue. It assumed that the places where staff reductions are made may indicate where districts feel they have "extra" resources. The study was conducted between 1969 and 1983 in Missouri and also includes supporting data from British Columbia. The study examined six hypotheses. It found that reductions in budgets do cause the reallocation process to begin. This includes teacher layoffs first and administrative support personnel layoffs next. Large reductions in budgets alter administrative growth components. Withdrawal of federal support appears to lead to reductions in administrative staffing. The authors point to two interpretations: first, that there are areas of school budgets considered "frills"; and second, that educators have not documented the benefits from increased use of support personnel, and that, as fiscal pressures rise, school boards choose to reduce these areas. (MD)

Data are presented on four important aspects of the St. Louis education system's professional employee situation: (1) the pattern of movement from one part of the metropolitan area to another; (2) the survival behavior among the area's certified personnel; (3) the shift of personnel towards positions in administration as opposed to teaching; and (4) the side effects of these changes in salary payments in the system. The report concludes with a section on the effects of these four aspects on the school systems of large urban areas. (Author)

Little is known about the costs of setting up and implementing legislated minimal competency testing (MCT). To estimate the financial obstacles which lie between the idea and its implementation, MCT requirements are viewed from two perspectives. The first, government regulation, views legislated minimal competency requirements as an attempt by the state to regulate the school district. Regulatory actions may increase operating costs for regulatees (school districts). Costs are organized in these categories: legislation; implementation; excess burdens thrust upon schools from compliance with regulations (such as remedial instruction); restriction of desirable elements from the curriculum; and neglect of music, arts, humanities, and citizenship. The second perspective, cost benefit, presents a problem because benefits such as increased employability of students are almost impossible to measure. However, costs which have been estimated include test development, administration, state monitoring, and remediation programs. To make testing programs cost-effective, the following recommendations seem appropriate: (1) the state rather than local agencies should administer the programs; (2) testing should not focus on the individual student; (3) cooperatives should be established to share tests; (4) test results should be reported publicly; (5) school districts should be rewarded for high performance; (6) financial inequities should be reduced; and (7) federally run testing should be discouraged. Descriptions of MCT programs by state are included. (CP)

This report reviews recent research on the effects of changes in school environments on economically disadvantaged, minority group students, discusses methodological problems encountered in such research, and describes a longitudinal study designed to determine how pupil relocation policies might be used to improve academic achievement of black students. It was found that: (1) increases in classroom mean achievement levels have a positive impact on black students' academic growth patterns; (2) students originating in predominantly black sending classrooms benefit academically from moves into majority white classrooms; (3) the optimal type of move for a black student originating in a predominantly black classroom is one in which the receiving classroom is between fifty and ninety-five percent black and reflects a higher academic performance level than the sending classroom; (4) relatively high achieving students experience greater achievement gains in their receiving schools than in their sending schools, whereas low achievers tend to show academic losses in their receiving schools; and (5) changes in pupil/classroom ratios and level of teahcer education and experience are not strongly related to academic growth rate of black students. Limitations of the current research are discussed and implications for pupil assignment strategies are outlined. (Author/JCD)