Three studies were conducted by Sandefur to examine
whether the content of teacher education affects the behavior of teachers in the classroom. The most important result obtained was that teaching behaviors are significantly modified by experience (55).
In the early evaluation studies at the University of
Nebraska, two major findings were reported: teacher education students like PBTE better than traditional instruction and children taught by teachers instructed in PBTE can achieve more. "Cooperating teachers who have had Nebraska Secondary Teacher Education Program students as student teachers report that the new program yields prospective teachers who use a wider range of teaching behaviors and employ more innovative practices than do student teachers who have gone through the traditional course sequence" (59:303).
Nine specialists in educational research were consulted by the Florida Education Research and Development Department to describe the research processes, mechanisms, or strategies which could aid educational decision makers at state, district, and institutional levels as they design PBTE programs. Their recommendations that relate to this study were:
1. Do not use student learning measures for evaluating
individual teachers. However, it is critical to use change in student performance as a criterion