Manual Arts Based on Home Repair

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine if remarks about a teacher’s ability made by an authority figure prior to observation of that teacher would significantly influence the evaluation of that teacher’s effectiveness. Thirty-four graduate students in educational supervision rated a videotaped lesson; seventeen were led to believe the teacher was an excellent teacher and the other seventeen that the teacher was less than effective. Results confirmed that there was a significant difference in the ratings of the videotaped lesson by the two groups, with the group led to expect better performance rating the videotaped lesson higher. It is concluded that those making evaluations of teaching behavior are highly influenced by verbal comments that led them to expect either excellent or less than average performance.