A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Implementation of Texas House Bill 72 in Selected Texas Public School Districts (open access)

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Implementation of Texas House Bill 72 in Selected Texas Public School Districts

This study was conducted to analyze the effect of implementation of Texas House Bill 72 on budgets of selected Texas public school districts and to ascertain educational benefits to students derived from implementation of the bill as perceived by superintendents. Questionnaires were sent to superintendents of the Region 10 Education Service Center to determine perceived educational benefits to students. A demographic data sheet provided information for classifying respondents by educational experience, superintendent experience, and district enrollment classifications. Sixty-two districts responded. Official public school budget data for each district were analyzed for fiscal years 1983 through 1986 as were data from the questionnaire. Overall statistical information was gleaned through CONDESCRIPTIVE. Mean total expenditures, mean total tax rate, and state fiscal aid data were compiled, tabulated, and reported for each enrollment classification and entire sample. In addition, a t-test between the difference of two independent means at a probability level of .05 was applied. The two independent means were the averages of data for the two years prior to and after implementation of the law for expenditures, tax rates, and state fiscal contributions. Data comparing local and state expenditures were compiled, tabulated, and reported for each group to compare local and state …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Bradford, Ronald W. (Ronald Wayne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Strategic Planning and Strategy Implementation: A Study of Top Administration in Selected Institutions of Higher Education in Texas (open access)

Strategic Planning and Strategy Implementation: A Study of Top Administration in Selected Institutions of Higher Education in Texas

The purpose of this study was to analyze data from different sizes and types of higher education institutions in order to identify differences and similarities that may exist between the perceptions of top executives relative to idea generation and strategy implementation activities in the administration of higher education in Texas. In order to carry out the purpose of this study, two hypotheses were tested concerning the perceptions of top executives (presidents and vice presidents) relative to idea generation and strategy implementation activities in institutions of higher education in Texas. Type and size of the institution are the primary factors involved with these two hypotheses.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Afifi, Rasoul
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Funding and Expenditure Trends in Texas Community Colleges (open access)

A Study of Funding and Expenditure Trends in Texas Community Colleges

This study examined changes in funding and expenditures for the forty-seven public community college districts in Texas from 1974 through 1983. Expenditures data were subdivided into three parts: state reimbursable operating costs, nonreimbursable operating costs, and the cost of bonded indebtedness. Data on income for operations were aggregated in four parts: state appropriations, tuition and fees, local property taxes, and miscellaneous funds. For the purpose of determining differences in expenditure and income trends by institutional size, each of the forty-seven public community college districts was categorized as small, medium, or large in size. The findings indicate that for the period of the study some changes occurred in both expenditures and funding. In the area of expenditures, nonreimbursable operating costs increased as a proportion of total expenditures while the proportionate cost of bonded indebtedness declined. Small colleges experienced the largest increase in nonreimbursable costs, diminishing the dollars available for instructional costs.
Date: May 1986
Creator: Claunch, Jacqueline
System: The UNT Digital Library
India's Nonalignment Policy and the American Response, 1947-1960 (open access)

India's Nonalignment Policy and the American Response, 1947-1960

India's nonalignment policy attracted the attention of many newly independent countries for it provided an alternative to the existing American and Russian views of the world. This dissertation is an examination of both India's nonalignment policy and the official American reaction to it during the Truman-Eisenhower years. Indian nonalignment should be defined as a policy of noncommitment towards rival power blocs adopted with a view of retaining freedom of action in international affairs and thereby influencing the issue of war and peace to India's advantage. India maintained that the Cold War was essentially a European problem. Adherence to military allliances , it believed, would increase domestic tensions and add to chances of involvement in international war, thus destroying hopes of socio-economic reconstruction of India. The official American reaction was not consistent. It varied from president to president, from issue to issue, and from time to time. India's stand on various issues of international import and interest to the United States such as recognition of the People's Republic of China, the Korean War, the Japanese peace treaty of 1951, and the Hungarian revolt of 1956, increased American concern about and dislike of nonalignment. Many Americans in high places regraded India's nonalignment …
Date: May 1987
Creator: Georgekutty, Thadathil V. (Thadathil Varghese)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of the First Amendment on Academic Freedom (open access)

The Influence of the First Amendment on Academic Freedom

Academic freedom has gone through three distinct eras yet each era overlaps a great deal with the one following it. The first era was the bureaucratic. It was exemplified by the negotiations between administrators and professors in the 1920s. The American Association of University Professors and the American Association of Colleges began cooperating and a hierarchical structure emerged, with the tenured professor at the top of the faculty. The second era was the political era and it was mainly a result of loyalty oaths, which began after the first World War and then escalated again during the 1930s when communism became a major concern. The political era then gave way to the legal era when the first academic freedom cases went to the United States Supreme Court in the 1950s. The first cases were the result of political pressures that became legal pressures. Most of the early court cases were based on communism. The legal era has produced changes. There are now more rights; for students and teachers of all levels, including pre-college levels, are guaranteed some academic freedom rights. However, the First Amendment and academic freedom are not synonymous because a professor usually cannot win a case based solely …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Ferdon, Douglas Robert, 1945-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of Cooperative Education at the University of North Texas, 1976-1988 (open access)

Development of Cooperative Education at the University of North Texas, 1976-1988

The main purpose of the study is to describe the developmental story of one of the larger university cooperative education programs in the United States to provide the evidence of outcomes and to utilize selected elements of the program in other colleges and universities. The study utilizes historical methodology with a descriptive approach to investigate and analyze the program's establishment, its development of staffing, organization, students, employers, funding, and its evaluation by using primary and secondary sources, annual reports, federal grant request proposals, evaluation reports, and the on-campus newspaper. The information for this study was also gathered through personal interviews with previous and present staff members of the program. The study shows that the program was established in the dean of students' office, but in order to get more support from the faculty, the program was moved to the academic affairs office. As a result of the academic support by the faculty, the program expanded. The findings show that the federal grant, Title VIII, contributed significantly to the initiation and growth of the program. The investigator observes that the director's leadership and the staff members' commitment to the program were two of the most important factors in the continued growth …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Kim, Sang Kil
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Content Analysis of Texas and Thai High School Biology Textbooks (open access)

A Comparative Content Analysis of Texas and Thai High School Biology Textbooks

There were two purposes of this study. The first was that of determining, through an analysis of Texas and Thai biology textbooks, which objectives -- cognitive, affective, manual skill, processes of scientific inquiry, and orientation—were emphasized in three major and twenty-seven minor fields of biology. The second purpose was to determine if significant differences exist in the frequency distribution of these objectives. Only one biology program is used in schools throughout Thailand. This program, which was published by the Ministry of Education, consists of four textbooks with 1977 copyright date. The five Texas textbooks used in this study were those adopted under the provisions of the Textbook Law. The contents of each of the six texts included in the study were classified by using the criteria of Klopfer's Table of Specifications for Science Education.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Roadrangka, Vantipa
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Academic, Personal, Social and Financial Satisfactions of International Students at North Texas State University (open access)

A Study of Academic, Personal, Social and Financial Satisfactions of International Students at North Texas State University

The problem of this study was to determine the academic, personal, social, and financial level of satisfaction of the international students at North Texas State University. The subjects were 351 international students representing fifty-four different countries. These students were enrolled full time during the fall semester of 1981. The instrument used to gather the data was a questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated by a panel of experts and pretested on a small sample of international students.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Ahmadian, Ahmad
System: The UNT Digital Library
Type A Behavior Pattern: Its Relationship to the Holland Types and the Career Choice Process (open access)

Type A Behavior Pattern: Its Relationship to the Holland Types and the Career Choice Process

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the Type A behavior pattern to Holland's occupational types and the career choice process. The Type A behavior pattern is characterized by high levels of achievement striving, time urgency, chronic activation and hostility, and is an independent risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. It was hypothesized that Type A college students would be more attracted than Type B individuals to aspects of a future work environment which would reinforce their Type A behaviors. Previous research had suggested a relationship between the Type A behavior pattern and Holland's Enterprising and Investigative types (Martin, 1986). This study sought to replicate those findings, and further examine the nature of the Type A/B-Holland types relationship. Data were collected from undergraduate students in a variety of academic fields of study. Subjects completed a questionnaire packet consisting of the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey (Jenkins, Rosenman, and Zyzanski, 1965; Glass, 1977), the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985b), and a modified version of the Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (Rosen, et al., 1972) . The findings demonstrated that the Type A/B pattern is a significant factor in the career choice process. …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Martin, Kyle Thomas
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Weak-Form Efficient Markets Test of the Dallas-Fort Worth Office Properties Real Estate Market (open access)

A Weak-Form Efficient Markets Test of the Dallas-Fort Worth Office Properties Real Estate Market

Few areas of research in the finance literature have received greater attention than the efficient market hypothesis. Much of the research has been directed toward the securities market while very little research has been done in the real estate markets. The existing research on real estate market efficiency has been either descriptive or illustrative with very little empirical testing being performed. The major reason for the lack of empirical testing has been the inability to develop an adequate data base. The results of the empirical work that has been done do not support the widely held belief that real estate markets are inefficient. This study, using the autoregressive-integrative-moving average (ARIMA) time series analysis technique, tests the weak-form efficiency of the Dallas-Fort Worth office properties real estate market. According to the weak-form efficient market hypothesis, all price information should be capitalized into current real estate prices and not provide the basis for earning abnormal returns in trading. Price data formed from office building sales dating from January, 1979 to January, 1985 are used to test the market. The data was gathered from the files of several professional appraisal firms located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The transaction information includes (1) transaction …
Date: May 1987
Creator: McIntosh, Willard
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Perceived Role of the Post-Secondary Transition Team Leader in Special Education in Texas (open access)

The Perceived Role of the Post-Secondary Transition Team Leader in Special Education in Texas

The role for the transition team leader (TTL) has not been formalized at the state level in Texas. The purpose of this study was to determine the current perceptions of the public school superintendents in Texas for the roles, responsibilities, and functions of the TTL. The framework of the survey questionnaire was based on eight categories of expertise for the TTL derived from a review of the literature and from professional experience in preparing handicapped individuals for the world of work. The findings are listed as desirable and undesirable characteristics for the role or job description of the TTL. The desirable characteristics for the role of TTL were viewed as: (a) having experience with handicapped populations, (b) having skills to supervise others, (c) being a liaison between agencies, (d) making program adjustments as needed, (e) providing training, (f) knowing how to explain the transition program to staff, (g) being a liaison with parents, (h) being a liaison with community employers, (i) knowing pertinent regulations, (j) knowing the characteristics for each of the handicapping conditions, and (k) knowing the options and barriers to transportation for handicapped individuals in the community. The least desirable characteristics identified with the role of the TTL …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Davenport, Billy Gene
System: The UNT Digital Library
Career Paths and Perceived Success Levels of Women Superintendents of Public Schools in the State of Texas (open access)

Career Paths and Perceived Success Levels of Women Superintendents of Public Schools in the State of Texas

The purposes of this study were to determine the career paths of women superintendents in the state of Texas and their school board members' perceptions of their levels of success. All women currently serving as superintendents of public schools in Texas, as well as all school board members of districts with women serving as superintendents were surveyed. The findings of this study indicate that the "typical" woman superintendent was hired from inside the district, with a master's degree. She was 48.3 years of age. Her first administrative position was the principalship and she moved directly from the principalship to the superintendency. The typical woman served in one district as superintendent. Her teaching and prior administrative experience was at the elementary level. Women superintendents perceived the position of teacher as the most beneficial experience prior to the superintendency. Women superintendents perceived leadership as the most important area of her professional development. School finance was the area perceived by women superintendents as needing to be more extensive in their professional development. Of the women superintendents who responded to this survey, 68.1 percent reported that they did not perceive discrimination in attaining the superintendency. Of the school board members who responded to this …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Lea, Ray
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance Evaluation of Community College Management Instructors Using Student Achievement as the Criterion (open access)

Performance Evaluation of Community College Management Instructors Using Student Achievement as the Criterion

This study concerns the relationship between student evaluation of instruction and student achievement in the field of management at the community college level. Purposes of the study were to determine the subjective student evaluation of instructor performance in introductory classes of management, student achievement in the class upon completion of the course, and the relationship between the student evaluation of instructor performance and student achievement in knowledge of the course. The population studied was all 10 sections of the Principles of Management course taught by 8 instructors at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas during the fall semester of 1988. A pretest-posttest design was used to determine student achievement scores. The College Board provided sufficient copies of two versions of the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests for Introduction to Management for the pretest and posttest. A special statistical technique using multiple regression was used to calculate an achievement score for each student that was adjusted for entry level knowledge. Student evaluations of instructor performance were paired with the achievement scores and grades students received from the instructor. Additional confidential demographic data was obtained about the students and the instructors. Major findings of the study concluded there is no …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Jones, James McKernon
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Role of the Elementary School Counselor in Texas as Perceived by Elementary Principals and Elementary School Counselors (open access)

The Role of the Elementary School Counselor in Texas as Perceived by Elementary Principals and Elementary School Counselors

The problem of this study was to answer the question, of whether or not there is congruence between Texas elementary school counselors' and elementary principals' perceptions of the role of Texas elementary school counselors. Research questions were formulated to carry out the purpose of this study. A review of related literature revealed that only two studies of the role of the elementary school counselor had been conducted in Texas. Both studies polled only elementary school counselors; therefore, Texas elementary principals' perception of the role of the elementary counselor was unknown. Christian's Elementary Counselor Inventory (ECI) was the instrument used in this study. The ECI contains 60 items describing tasks likely to be part of the counselor's role. Respondents were asked to consider each task twice; once according to the ideal role (should this be part of the counselor's role?), and once according to the actual role (is the elementary school counselor actually performing this function?).
Date: May 1981
Creator: Sommerville, Reba M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Selected Characteristics of Minnie Stevens Piper Professors (open access)

Selected Characteristics of Minnie Stevens Piper Professors

The problem of this study was the identification of selected characteristics of Minnie Stevens Piper Professors. Purposes of the study were: (a) to determine characteristics of Minnie Stevens Piper Professors, and (b) to determine whether these professors possess characteristics which typify outstanding college teachers as described by the Selection Research, Incorporated College Teacher Perceiver interview. Forty subjects, 20 from community colleges and 20 from senior colleges, were randomly selected from the 1978 through 1988 lists of Piper Professors. Fifteen community college and 11 senior college professors agreed to participate by being interviewed with the College Teacher Perceiver. This interview identified 13 characteristics, or themes, of excellent college teachers.
Date: May 1990
Creator: Goodwin, Gary D. (Gary Duane)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Survey of the Use of Computers at State-Supported Senior Colleges and Universities in the United States (open access)

A Survey of the Use of Computers at State-Supported Senior Colleges and Universities in the United States

The purpose of this study was to determine the use of the computer in higher education at state-supported senior colleges and universities in the United States. The following findings and conclusions are based on the information gained from the study. 1. The average number of years computers have been used by institutions of higher education is ten. The length of time increases with both the level of offering and the enrollment of the institution. 2. A greater emphasis is placed on administrative use of the computer than on other uses. 3. A majority of the institutions have one centralized computer center that provides services to all users. Also, the majority of the individual computer users are provided the services without explicit charges or are only charged for a part of the services. 4. Policies pertaining to the use of the computer are most frequently formulated by the director of the computer center and a computer usage committee. 5. The amount of money spent for each of the different categories for expenditures (administrative, academic, and research) increases with the level of offering of the institutions. 6. Sixty-eight per cent of the institutions now offer an academic program in computer science and …
Date: May 1977
Creator: Anderson, John W., 1944-
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Politics of Expansion: Texas as an Issue in National Politics, 1819-1845 (open access)

The Politics of Expansion: Texas as an Issue in National Politics, 1819-1845

The American movement to acquire the region known as Texas has "been the subject of countless monographs and journal articles. Although the literature on the Texas movement is voluminous, no historian has produced an interpretive synthesis based on that literature and the extant documentary sources. This work is intended "to fill that void "by offering speculative analysis as well as a chronological narrative on the total movement. The scope of this work is comprehensive. It traces the American government's handling of the Texas issue from 1819—-the year President James Monroe agreed to drop the American claim to Texas in the Adams-Onis treaty—through 1845—the year President James K. Polk signed a congressional resolution granting Texas statehood. Throughout these years the countervailing political forces of antebellum America had more influence on the government's Texas position than did diplomatic considerations. Consequently, the theme of this dissertation is that the American movement to acquire Texas was primarily a political movement. Indeed, the Texas Republic became an American state only when the annexation issue became inextricably linked with the party trammels and political philosophies of Jacksonian America.
Date: May 1979
Creator: Saxon, Gerald D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Superintendents' and Special Education Directors' Perceptions Regarding a Minimum Competency Testing Framework in Texas (open access)

Superintendents' and Special Education Directors' Perceptions Regarding a Minimum Competency Testing Framework in Texas

The purpose of this study was to determine superintendents' and special education directors' perceptions regarding a special education minimum competency testing framework in Texas. Additionally, this study attempted to determine a relationship between school districts' demographic characteristics and superintendents'and special education directors' perceptions. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of seventy five superintendents, seventy-five special education directors of single districts and seventy-five special education directors of cooperatives in the State of Texas.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Clary, Elaine D. (Elaine Devenport)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characteristics of Development Directors in Charitable Homes for the Aged (open access)

Characteristics of Development Directors in Charitable Homes for the Aged

This study concerns the characteristics of fund development directors employed in selected homes for the aged. The first purpose of this study is to develop a profile of job functions, through task analysis, among development directors in charitable homes for the aged. The second purpose of this study is to develop a profile of personal characteristics of development directors of charitable homes for the aged based on the following characteristics: age, sex, educational background, experience outside development, membership in community organizations and amount of specific training in fund development. One instrument was used to gather data for the study. It was distributed to a population of 29 development directors in charitable homes for the aged in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. This population was predetermined by an initial survey form sent to 193 chief executive officers in the five states mentioned above. Twenty-nine reported formalized programs employing a full-time person with at least a part-time involvement in fund development activities. Of the twenty-nine development directors surveyed, fifteen usable instruments were received (52 percent). A program was used for the survey that included crosstabulation of social characteristics, success in fund raising, length of time in position and educational preparation. …
Date: May 1988
Creator: Wuenschel, Douglas F. (Douglas Ferdinand)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Achievement of Student Development Tasks by Male College Scholarship Athletes and Non-Athletes: A Comparison (open access)

The Achievement of Student Development Tasks by Male College Scholarship Athletes and Non-Athletes: A Comparison

The problem with which this study is concerned is to determine whether or not differences exist in the achievement of student development tasks by college student athletes and non-athletes. The investigation also tested for differences in the achievement of developmental tasks between athletes and non-athletes based on the variables of race (black or white), classification, and interpersonal behavior orientation. The sample was composed of 276 male students (201 non-athletes and 75 athletes) who attend a large private university in Texas. Each participant completed both a student developmental task inventory questionnaire, which measures individual achievement of the tasks of developing autonomy, purpose, and mature interpersonal relationships, and an interpersonal relationship orientation-behavior instrument, which measures an individual's orientation to others on the scales of inclusion, control, and affection.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Mills, Donald B. (Donald Bjorn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Assessment of Occupational Investigation Courses in Texas in Relationship to Mainstreamed Handicapped Students Served (open access)

An Assessment of Occupational Investigation Courses in Texas in Relationship to Mainstreamed Handicapped Students Served

The purpose of the study was to determine if occupational investigation teachers and vocational administrators held similar or differing attitudes toward the occupational investigation courses in relation to the mainstreamed handicapped students they served. The following conclusions were warranted from the findings of the analyses of the data. Findings derived from multiple T tests indicate that occupational investigation teachers perceive all survey item statements concerning Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) meetings and the content of Individual Education Programs (IEPs) as occurring to a significantly lesser degree than do vocational administrators. There is no significant discrepancy in their perceptions toward the current practices of occupational investigation teacher training, student assessment, classroom accessibility, course content, or special education assistance described in the survey items. The results of the multiple T tests indicate that there are no significant differences between the attitudes and perceptions of occupational investigation teachers and vocational administrators in Texas toward the future of any of the conditions reflected in the survey items. Teachers and administrators agree that all of the current conditions reflected by the items should be promoted to a higher degree in the future. The results of the multiple T tests indicate a high degree of significance …
Date: May 1988
Creator: Ragland, George B., 1953-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship of Bureaucratic Structure to Communication Satisfaction of Teachers in a Suburban Texas School District (open access)

Relationship of Bureaucratic Structure to Communication Satisfaction of Teachers in a Suburban Texas School District

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of bureaucratic structure to communication satisfaction of teachers in a suburban school district in north Texas. This study compared seven components of communication satisfaction of teachers in Authoritarian schools with those of teachers in Professional schools.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Williams, Everett M. (Everett Moore)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Objectives of Basic Political Science Courses in Texas Institutions of Higher Education as Perceived by Instructors of the Courses (open access)

The Objectives of Basic Political Science Courses in Texas Institutions of Higher Education as Perceived by Instructors of the Courses

The State of Texas requires the completion of all six semester hours of government for graduation from a public college, but does not provide detailed guidelines regarding content, and related objectives, for these courses. Thus instructors have considerable discretion in the setting of course objectives. The problem of this dissertation, therefore, is the determination of course objectives actually set and the general orientation within political education that the objectives may reflect.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Lauch, Michael Marsh
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationships Between College Aptitude, Race, College Hours Completed, and P-PST Scores for Education Students in Texas Public Colleges and Universities (open access)

The Relationships Between College Aptitude, Race, College Hours Completed, and P-PST Scores for Education Students in Texas Public Colleges and Universities

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between the scores of students on the Pre-Professional Skills Test (P-PST) and the scores of students on college aptitude tests, the race of students and the number of college hours that students had completed. The subjects who participated in this study were education students who sought admittance to Texas public colleges and universities and took the P-PST in March, 1984. A total of 642 students participated in the study, 512 White or other, 48 Blacks and 82 Hispanics. P-PST scores, race, number of college hours completed, and college aptitude scores were obtained from the student's college or university as a result of the signed release forms each student completed at the March, 1984 testing date.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Griffin, Annette T. (Annette Teer)
System: The UNT Digital Library