New Images of Teaching

The two studies are complementary, Mr. Stevenson said recently, because the videotape study offers specific information on teachers, while the case studies provide background on those countries' education systems and cultures--the context in which the teaching takes place. The department expects to release the case-study work in about six months, Ms. Peak said.

Mr. Stevenson noted that Mr. Stigler's study builds on earlier work in the field. "The video studies are the natural culmination--in a technological era--of observations made in classrooms for a very long time."

They add vitality, Mr. Stevenson added, to what could have been simply a written account of classroom activities, and they...