Process–Product Research

Process-product research is a term that is used to describe a line of studies that attempted to identify teacher behaviors that were correlated with student gains in achievement. The term processproduct was first used by Donald M. Medley and Harold E. Mitzel in 1963. This research flourished from 1955 to 1980 and the results remain relevant today. Two summaries of this research can be found in the work of Jere Brophy and Thomas Good in 1986 and Barak Rosenshine and Robert Stevens in 1986. Process-product research has been used by practitioners interested in classroom dynamics as well as school reformers who are focused on enhanced student achievement.

Process-product (p-p) research begins by observing the “process” of teaching. Classroom observers rate or count teacher and student behaviors that might be important for student learning. In some studies the observers counted variables such as the number and type of questions that were asked, the correctness of a student's response, the teacher's [Page 728]response to a student's answer, the use of praise and criticism, and the amount of time spent practicing new material. In other studies, the observers rated a teacher's “clarity” or “warmth” or “enthusiasm” or “organization” on a 1–5 scale.

The second part of p-p research involved obtaining the “product,” which entailed a measure of student achievement. Typically, this was done by giving two tests to the students in the classes in the study—one test, usually in reading or in mathematics, was given to students in all the classes at the start of the semester or at the beginning of a unit. A second test was given at the end of the unit or semester. The investigators then calculated the amount of achievement gain in each classroom after adjusting for where each class began. These achievement gain scores represented the “product” in process-product research.

The third and final step in p-p research involved computing the correlations between the process—the observed ratings or counts, and the product—the measure of student gain in each classroom. The significant results were then used to form a pattern of effective teaching. In many cases, the investigators continued their work by conducting experimental studies in which another group of teachers was taught to use the specific positive findings from the p-p research and other teachers were asked to continue with their usual teaching method. These experimental studies were summarized by Nathaniel Gage and Margaret Needels in 1989. The majority of these experimental studies validated the findings from the correlational research.

During the process-product or “teacher effects” era between 1955 and 1980, more than 100 correlational and experimental studies were conducted using a common design and the different observation instruments shared many common instructional procedures. Brophy and Good in 1986 provided detailed descriptions of individual studies. The p-p results might also be called “master teacher” results in that the results represent the classroom behaviors of those teachers whose students made the greatest achievement gain after adjusting for initial scores.