THE PRINCIPAL AS TRAINER OF TEACHERS IN ATTAINING SEX EQUITABLE AND EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM INTERACTION

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the principal as trainer of classroom teachers in sex equitable and effective classroom interaction skills would cause a reduction in sex bias and increase variation in precise teacher feedback to student response. A second purpose was to assess the impact of the trainer-of-trainer's design on the role of the principal as trainer in attaining sex equity in classroom interaction. The major research questions were: (1) Does principal-directed training in sex equitable and effective interaction skills increase frequency of student-teacher interaction? (2) Does principal-directed training in sex equity and effective interaction skills affect the frequency of teacher praise, acceptance, remediation, and criticism? (3) Does principal-directed teacher training in sex equity and effective interaction skills affect the distribution of teacher interaction to male and female students? (4) Does principal-directed teacher training in sex equity and effective interaction skills affect the distribution of teacher interaction to male and female students in the categories of praise, acceptance, remediation, and criticism? (5) Do principals involved in a trainer-of-trainers design effectively implement teacher training in their schools?; Data were obtained from a sample of ten elementary principals and forty classroom teachers from an urban school district. Teachers were observed once during the early Fall (pre-observation); then after the principal-directed training program (October) they were observed two times in late Fall (post-observation). Data were obtained from interviews with the experimental principals after the PEPA program was completed. Observer-raters were trained to code classroom interaction using the INTERSECT Observation System. Raters were tested for.85 inter-rater reliability. Analysis of covariance and median tests were the statistical procedure used. Post-observation findings indicated there were no significant differences between the trained and the untrained teachers in the frequency of total teacher-student interaction and distribution of precise teacher feedback to male and female students, though posttest scores on praise and acceptance were moving in the direction predicted. Findings from the principal interviews reflected the value of the principal as trainer in reducing sex bias. Findings on sex-segregation in classrooms indicated that the experimental group showed a significant difference in their move toward little or low sex-segregated classrooms. Results suggested that principal-directed training to promote sex equitable and effective classroom interaction may be a viable means of reducing bias in classroom interaction.