This study investigated person-situation relations of professional preparation and job classification of secondary school athletic training positions with core job dimensions and affective outcomes within Hackman and Oldham's 1980 Job Characteristics Model. Research focused on which relations show increased affective outcomes; relationships between core job dimensions and affective outcomes; and characteristics of the core job dimensions of task identification, task significance, and skill variety of athletic trainer tasks as defined by the National Athletic Trainers Association Board of Certification, Inc. 1995 Role Delineation Study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of restructuring associated with site-based management and the change in roles of central office personnel. The study also attempted to determine if districts had a plan with definitions of responsibility and accountability in place. The study included relationships between the decentralization process of site-based management and central office personnel's perception of job satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of selected characteristics on the outcomes of those special education due process hearings brought forth in the state of Texas from September 1, 1983, to September 1, 1992. A further purpose was to determine if district characteristics of size or location affect the likelihood of a district's becoming involved in a special education due process hearing. Data for the study was collected for all special education due process hearings conducted in the State of Texas from September 1, 1983, to September 1, 1992. A coding system was used to record the data for the study and the Chi-square test of independence was used to determine whether a relationship existed between the selected variable (hearing issue, disability classifications and restrictiveness of placement) and hearing outcome. The frequency of involvement in hearings for districts of various size and urban characteristics was displayed as a percentage.

The specific purposes of the study were (1) to determine the effectiveness of ECRI (Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction), as compared to "traditional" (basal driven) classroom instruction based on a comparative analysis of norm-referenced test data; (2) to determine if there was a significant difference between Blacks, Hispanics and Caucasians on the Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills among the third grade ECRI students; and (3) to provide valid information for those charged with the implementation of reading instruction in the Dallas Independent School District, Dallas, Texas.

The problem addressed in this study was whether middle level schools have adopted currently held research findings with respect to organizational structure and decision making processes promoted by the work of the Carnegie Foundation and various state agencies. Purposes included determining the perceptions of principals in schools utilizing interdisciplinary teams of teachers regarding the roles of principals and teachers in decision making processes, differences in campus performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills and specific demographic variables in comparison to perceptions of principals in schools not utilizing interdisciplinary teams on these same questions.

The problem of this study was to determine whether learning styles of students affect their math achievement scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Test. The research questions addressed relevant to this study were: 1. Is there a positive correlation between students' learning styles and their achievement test scores in mathematics? 2. Is there a positive correlation between specific sub group's (as deemed by the state of Texas) and gender's learning styles and their achievement test scores in mathematics? The Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient and the Point-biserial correlation analysis was applied to the data collected from 500 fifth grade students attending a North Texas Intermediate school. The significance level was established at the .05 level. Part of the data was the student's responses to the Learning Style Inventory by Dunn, Dunn and Price. The findings established that the learning style preferences of all students in the area of persistence significantly impacted their math achievement scores. Gender and ethnicity were mitigating factors in the findings. These learning style preferences significantly impacted achievement in the following ways: * Caucasian students' preference of a high level of persistence in completing a difficult task. * Hispanic students' preference for a warm learning …

The problem of this study was the conflict perceived by Texas Public High School Principals involving two roles which have been described as contradictory in nature; namely as an instructional leader and as a building manager. This study was also concerned with the level of job satisfaction of the Texas Public High School Principal. 1,205 Texas Public High School Principals identified by the Texas Education Agency and University Interscholastic League were mailed a three part questionnaire survey. 700 principals (or 58.09% of the entire population) returned the completed surveys. The questionnaire "Demographic Survey for Texas Public High School Principals" consisted of eight questions. The thirty-four statement "Questionnaire for Texas High School Principals" allowed principals to provide their perceptions of the roles and responsibilities for their present position as well as an ideal position. The final questionnaire, the four question "Survey of Job Satisfaction", assessed the level of job satisfaction for each principal. Hypothesis one was analyzed with a one-way ANOVA to determine if principals differed in their perceptions of their job roles and job positions. These positions included both the present job position and a more desired or ideal job position. The differences in these positions resulted in conflict. Hypothesis …

This study examined different funding methods for financing public education in order to solve the problems associated with large numbers of school districts and great disparities in property wealth without abandonment of property tax as the major revenue source. Using enrollment and State Property Tax Board data for the 1,061 school districts in Texas in 1986-87, four alternative funding plans were studied to compare the equity and fiscal impact of each on public school finance in Texas. The state and local shares of the total cost of education were computed using a combination of three per-pupil expenditure levels and four funding formulas. The per-pupil expenditure levels used were $3,850, $4,200, and $4,580. The formulas used were representative of a full state funding plan, a percentage equalization plan, a power equalization plan, and a foundation school program plan. Since each of the four plans used significantly higher per-pupil expenditure values, all required a greater monetary investment on the part of the state. However, all plans were found to be equalizing in nature if set per-pupil expenditure values were maintained and no local enrichment was permitted. In addition, each of the four plans, as studied, met the fiscal neutrality standard of the …

Public concern with respect to declining traditional values, character, and family structure in the midst of increased crime, violence, and drug use have brought American education into the political arena and under intense scrutiny. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not differences exist in the values fostered in private schools, public choice schools and public attendance-zone schools and whether or not there are differences in the values that are identified by students as compared with teachers. The theoretical framework for the study is based upon the beliefs that values form the foundation of human behavior and that schools influence the values of societies in which they exist.

A survey of Texas public schools was conducted to determine the state of their emergency preparedness programs with particular interest in hazard analysis, disaster experience, chain of command of responsibility, personnel training, and inter-agency cooperation. A model emergency management plan was proposed. A stratified random sample of all Texas public school districts was drawn from the twenty education service center regions and university interscholastic league district size classifications. Of the 275 districts sampled, 214 questionnaires were completed for a 78% return. The strong return justified a generalization to the entire population.

Using a case study approach, this investigation focused on the decision-making processes and leadership of a school district superintendent as he initiated and implemented the school restructuring effort of year-round education. The study was conducted during 1 school year period but was enhanced through a 3 year follow-up report. The research questions focused on the superintendent's decision-making processes and the impact that groups had on those processes. Questions also emerged during the data collection phase of the study about the superintendent's change-facilitation leadership behaviors. A Texas school superintendent committed to the implementation of year-round education was selected as the subject of this study. Data were collected for 1 school year by the participant observer who served as an unpaid intern to the superintendent. Data included field notes recorded during the day-to-day operations and interactions of the district, meetings which the superintendent attended, newspaper articles, district memoranda and documents, observation, and interviews. Field notes and interviews were triangulated with document analysis to identify patterns in the data and to identify the factors influencing the decision-making processes and the leadership behaviors of the superintendent.

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of Texas public school board members and to determine if there were significant differences in the profiles of board members according to sex, race, age, length of residence, length of board membership, type of community and superintendency tenure.

This study reviewed the literature on the struggle for equal educational opportunity of the 1960s and 1970s, the reform movement of the 1990s, the public/private school debate of the 1980s and 1990s, the issue of school choice in the 1990s, and a brief history of private schools. The literature revealed that since the Supreme court's ruling, in 1954, on the unconstitutionality of separate-but-equal public schools and decisions on the separation of church and state, during the 1960s and 1970s, the number of and enrollment in private and parochial schools have grown steadily. This study was conducted on a sample of 14,242 students attending 17 colleges (15 private colleges and 2 public universities) to determine if there was a difference in their academic performance (GPA) at the end of their freshman year. The independent variables of the study were the size of the student's secondary school graduating class, the religious affiliation of the secondary school, the gender enrollment pattern of the secondary school, and the residential pattern of the secondary school. In addition, using the student's SAT score, an analysis was conducted to determine whether or not the student's first-year college GPA exceeded their GPA predicted by the SAT.

The purposes of this dissertation were to determine the constitutional rights of parents to shield their children from exposure to parts of the public school curriculum that the parents find objectionable on religious, moral, or other grounds and to determine the statutory rights of parents to remove, or opt-out, their children from objectionable parts or all of the public school curriculum as set forth in the statutes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Many pivotal federal court cases dealing with parent rights and curricular issues, including Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education (1987), Vandiver v. Hardin County Board of Education (1987), Brown v. Hot, Sexy, & Safer Productions, Inc. (1995), Leebaert v. Harrington (2003), and Parker v. Hurley (2008) were surveyed using legal research methods. Specific types of curriculum opt-outs (e.g., sex education, comprehensive health programs, HIV/AIDS instruction) granted by each state were ascertained. States' statutes and regulations were categorized as non-existent, restrictive, or permissive based on the scope and breadth of each state's curriculum opt-out statute or regulation. A long list of federal court rulings have provided public schools the right to teach what school boards and administrators determine is appropriate. Parents did not have …

The purpose of this study was to investigate predicting student success on one example of a "high stakes" test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Exit Level Exam. Prediction algorithms for the mathematics, reading, and writing portions of the test were formulated using SPSS® statistical software. Student data available on all 440 students were input to logistic regression to build the algorithms. Approximately 80% of the students' results were predicted correctly by each algorithm. The data that were most predictive were the course related to the subject area of the test the student was taking, and the semester exam grade and semester average in the course related to the test. The standards of success or passing were making a 70% or higher on the mathematics, 88% or higher on the reading, and 76% or higher on the writing portion of the exam. The higher passing standards maintained a pass/fail dichotomy and simulate the standard on the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Exit Level Exam. The use of the algorithms can assist school staff in identifying individual students, not just groups of students, who could benefit from some type of academic intervention.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived effectiveness of specific advisory committee activities during a school bond proposal and election process. The study began with an extensive review of the literature on the use of advisory committee activities in school districts for the purpose of promoting a school bond issue. This revealed that school officials maintaining a low profile, the presence of a diverse community task force, focusing on YES voters, involving the committee in early planning, focusing on disseminating information, and focusing on benefits to children and the community are all important in the passage of a school bond election. A survey was developed and administered to committee members, school board members and school district administrators in a North Texas school district that had successfully completed a bond election. Survey respondents consistently supported the practices put into place by the studied school district, which closely mirrored the activities espoused in the research. Respondents believed the diversity of the task force and the roles of the committee members to be crucial to the passage of the bond. The only subcategory of questions that drew mixed reviews and positions of support was that of the need for the …

Prior to the development of interactive television, schools that were either geographically isolated or financially restricted were often unable to provide courses that may have been essential for students. Interactive television has helped such school districts provide appropriate courses for their students. Because student self-efficacy is a significant indicator of student success, the relationship between distance learning and students' self-efficacy requires research. The problem of the study was to examine the impact of site location in a distance learning environment on student self-efficacy in Spanish instruction. The participants in this study were junior high school students enrolled in distance-learning Spanish classes at two junior high schools in a north central Texas independent school district. All of the students were taught by the same instructor. The age range of the students was from 11 to 14 years of age, and all students were in either the seventh or the eighth grade. Students took a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire at the end of each treatment. Using the counterbalanced design, each subject was matched to themselves. T-tests for nonindependent samples were used to compare the two treatments. The findings indicate that there is no significant difference in the …

In their efforts to make the selection and hiring process more efficient, school administrators utilize teacher selection instruments such as the Web-based TeacherInsight™ assessment tool (The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ). Tools such as these instruments are now used regularly by school systems across the nation to assess teachers regarding their knowledge, talents, skills, attitudes, and values. According to Gallup, the TeacherInsight is a predictor of teacher talent and is based on 12 themes. This study utilized 132 elementary and secondary teachers and approximately 4,500 students currently enrolled in Grades 3 through 11 to determine if the TeacherInsight is a predictor of student achievement. This study considered: (1) the relationship between the TeacherInsight and student achievement as measured by the Texas Growth Index (TGI); (2) the relationship between teacher characteristics (years of experience, level [primary or secondary], gender, age, degree) and the TeacherInsight instrument; (3) the relationship between teacher characteristics (years of experience, level [primary or secondary], gender, age, degree) and student achievement as measured by the TGI; and (4) the relationship between student classifications (limited English proficient, economically disadvantaged, at-risk) and student achievement as measured by the TGI. The analyses found a very weak positive relationship between the TeacherInsight and …

This study examined whether the telementoring program had a positive impact on beginning teacher self-efficacy. Telementoring is an adaptation of mentoring, using telecommunications technology as the means to establish and maintain mentoring relationships between the participants. The program was intended to create an atmosphere of community; to provide expert training in the profession; to retain good teachers; and to offer support for the new teacher in times of self-doubt. A quasi-experimental design and mixed methods measures were used to determine the effect of a telementoring program on beginning teacher self-efficacy. Participants were members of a district induction/mentoring program. An experimental group of 20 first-year teachers that participated in a supplemental telementoring program were compared to 20 first-year teachers who did not. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale was used to collect data on beginning teacher self-efficacy. A pretest was administered prior to the treatment and members completed a post-test at the conclusion of the study. Results were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance. The experimental and control group results from both assessments were measured and compared. No statistically significant differences were found between the experimental group that participated in the telementoring program and those in the control group who …

Under No Child Left Behind legislation of 2002, school principals shoulder the burden of school success determined by test scores of students. Challenges principals face demand school leaders possess greater knowledge and skills than administrators of the past. The need for well-trained, skilled school leaders makes it important to study the subject of school leadership training. This study examined a school leadership preparation partnership between the University of North Texas and Dallas Independent School District. Primary supporting references include work by Bottoms and O'Neill (2001) calling for the 16-member states of the Southern Regional Education Board to train a new breed of principal to meet the current demands for student achievement in public schools. This research adds to the body of knowledge of school leadership development programs, particularly those that involve cohort-based study groups and shared service partnerships between school districts and universities. Major questions investigated: 1) How did participation in the program change the involvement of administrative interns in campus-based decision-making? 2) How has participation in the program changed the ways participants perceive themselves? 3) What actions have members of the cohort group taken in their teacher-leader/administrative positions to affect student achievement? 4) What are the strengths and weaknesses …

Public school per pupil costs and demands for better performance have increased over the past several decades. While the overall per pupil expenditures have increased, the percent of the educational dollar directed toward instructional activities has remained at approximately 60%. A grass-roots movement known as the "65% Solution" caught national attention by claiming that schools are not efficiently allocating resources into areas that have the greatest link to student achievement, such as instruction. Proponents of the 65% Solution claim that per pupil expenditures can be increased by shifting funds from areas considered non-instructional to areas that directly impact student instruction, such as teachers and instructional materials. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between district Panel Recommended and Commended Performance TAKS Reading/ELA and Math results and three measurements of instructional expenditures, Instructional Staff Percent; TEA Instructional Expenditure Ratio; and the NCES Instructional Expenditure Ratio (65% Solution), in Texas public schools. Data was collected from the 2003-2004 AEIS report. Multiple regression was used to conduct the analyses. In most instances, there was little, if any, relationship between TAKS Reading/ELA and TAKS Math, and the Instructional Staff Percent (ISP), TEA Instructional Expenditure Ratio (TIER), and NCES Instructional Expenditure Ratio …

This dissertation examined the effects of academic interventions on the development of reading academic competence in fourth grade students who performed at or below grade level as determined by TAKS reading scale scores. Fifty students in fifth grade were chosen to participate in the study from five elementary schools in the Fort Worth Independent School District in Fort Worth, Texas. Only 46 students completed the study. The study was conducted with a control (n = 23) and treatment group (n = 23). The fourth grade students were administered pretests and posttests using the ACES and the fourth grade TAKS reading test. This quantitative study used a quasi-experimental design to answer the research questions. The final data results did not indicate that the implementation of interventions significantly increased TAKS reading scores at the p > .05 level. In addition, there were no significant increases at the p > .05 level between the ACES pretests and posttests. Although there were no significant gains on the TAKS or ACES, there are implications the interventions had a positive effect on teacher perceptions of their students' academic competence and some growth was evident for the treatment groups on both TAKS and ACE.

The need to spur innovation and improve student performance initiated the formation of, under different legislative acts, charter schools that include variations of traditional public schools. With the enthusiasm and level of investment going into the formation of charter schools, it is necessary to explore whether these schools have achieved their objectives. This study explored whether Texas open enrollment charter schools perform bettered compared to Texas public schools. The study applied a causal comparative quantitative research design. School data on graduation and dropout rates, college preparation, attendance rates, and overall performance were analyzed quantitatively. Student achievement data available for statistical analysis includes student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) state assessment from 2007 to 2011. Data analysis for race, special programs, at risk, economically disadvantaged, and limited English proficiency was incorporated. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance techniques were included in the data analysis. The analysis extended to post hoc tests to determine variables that caused variation. The study found Texas open-enrollment charter schools had more African American students but fewer Whites compared to public schools. Students in public schools performed better than those in charter schools, and Whites yielded the best performance. Charter schools had …

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between high school campus accountability ratings, college readiness indicators, and the percent of students who achieved first year college success. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the relationship between the variables. Data was analyzed for two-year and four-year postsecondary educational institutions which were divided by eight school district types. Regression analysis of the relationship between high school campus accountability ratings and the percent of students who achieved first year college success for four- year post secondary educational institutions revealed statistically significant results ranging from R2 =.179 to R2 = .220. Similar results were found for two-year post secondary educational institutions with statistically significant results ranging from R2 = .049 to R2 = .218. The results indicated negligible to small relationships between the variables. Regression results of the analysis for the relationship between college readiness indicators and the percent of students who achieved first year college success revealed statistically significant results for 2 - year post secondary educational institutions ranging from R2 = .077 to R2 = .596 and for 4 -year post secondary educational institutions ranging from R2 = .048 to R2 = .304. These results indicated …