Teacher-Student Interaction Patterns In Mainstreamed Classrooms

In two studies regular classroom teachers were observed as they interacted with (1) nonhandicapped high achievers, (2) nonhandicapped low achievers, and (3) mildly handicapped students. In the first study 12 third-grade mainstreamed classrooms in two Utah cities were observed for eight one-day sessions. Twenty-one mainstreamed classrooms (12 third-grade and 9 fourth-grade) in South Dakota and Iowa were observed for four one-day sessions in the second study. The results indicated that the groups were significantly different on 8 of the 16 dependent measures in the Utah study and 7 of 16 dependent measures in the South Dakota/Iowa study. Five of the differences found were the same for both studies. The overall conclusion of the two studies is that, although there is substantial evidence that teacher-student interaction varies among the student groups observed, there is no strong evidence that general preferential treatment (i.e., treatment likely to result in better educational gains or a more effective learning environment) is consistently provided to any single group of students.