A Study of Goal Congruence within and Among Public Leisure Service Organizations (open access)

A Study of Goal Congruence within and Among Public Leisure Service Organizations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether goal congruence exists among administrative, supervisory and direct service personnel within public leisure service organizations and among public leisure service organizations of different sizes,. The source of data for the study was a Goal Study Questionnaire distributed to 344 employees of selected leisure service organizations. The results indicated that goal congruence was not established either among duty levels within public leisure service organizations or among public leisure service organizations of different sizes.
Date: August 1979
Creator: O'Brien, Kevin Joseph
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attitudes of Selected Authorities Toward Policy Statements Relative to School-Municipal Recreation Cooperation (open access)

Attitudes of Selected Authorities Toward Policy Statements Relative to School-Municipal Recreation Cooperation

This study seeks to determine the attitudes of public school and municipal recreation authorities in the state of Texas with respect to policies pertaining to the joint acquisition, planning and development, and use of school areas and facilities for school and recreational use. This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the attitudes of selected public school and municipal recreation authorities toward certain policy statements pertaining to the joint acquisition, planning and development, and use of public school areas and facilities for school and recreational use. The second is to develop guidelines for public school and municipal recreation authorities for the resolution of possible conflicts.
Date: August 1973
Creator: Atkinson, Ralph Henry, 1933-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison Between the Interactions of Multi-Age Constant Caregiver Groups and Same-Age Multiple Caregiver Groups in Day Care Centers (open access)

A Comparison Between the Interactions of Multi-Age Constant Caregiver Groups and Same-Age Multiple Caregiver Groups in Day Care Centers

Interactions of children and adults in two child care groups were observed and examined. Each group was observed as a same-age multiple caregiver group and eight months later as a multi-age constant caregiver group. Twenty indicators were used to evaluate positive interactions. Analysis showed positive interactions occur in multi-age constant caregiver groups. Multi-age constant caregiver groups enhance the interest of caregivers in children and promote development and interaction of language between caregivers and peers. This study indicates a multi-age constant caregiver group is an alternative to meet the needs of young children by increasing and enhancing positive interactions with caregivers and peers.
Date: August 1979
Creator: McGauley, Diane P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Certain Factors in Students with and without Financial Aid at Austin College (open access)

A Comparison of Certain Factors in Students with and without Financial Aid at Austin College

This study compares certain factors of Austin College financial aid recipients to the same factors in their classmates who received no financial assistance. First, this study attempts to determine whether there are significant differences in selected variables between these two groups. Second, the study seeks to identify the causes for students' withdrawing from the College. Subjects were randomly selected from two groups: (l) 100 subjects receiving financial assistance; and (2) 100 subjects not receiving such assistance. The sources of data for this study were students'. records located in the Educational Advising Center, the Records Office, and the. Counseling Center.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Winder, James Boyd, 1935-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Three Approaches to Preservice Human Relations Training for Teachers (open access)

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Three Approaches to Preservice Human Relations Training for Teachers

This study was an investigation of the different effects of three procedures of human relations training in changing the personality characteristics and attitudes of preservice teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a difference between a structured group laboratory experience, a non-structured group counseling experience, and a regular classroom lecture experience on the development of interpersonal attitudes of preservice teachers, and to ascertain the extent to which attitudinal and personality changes take place.
Date: August 1974
Creator: McWilliams, J. Hudson
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development of a Rating Scale for Use by Texas School Board Members to Evaluate a Superintendent's Performance (open access)

The Development of a Rating Scale for Use by Texas School Board Members to Evaluate a Superintendent's Performance

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of developing a scale for rating a public school superintendent in Texas in terms of his adherence to selected characteristics of administrative leadership. A secondary problem is to verify the hypothesis that very few schools in Texas, if any, use a rating scale to evaluate the performance of the superintendent. The purpose of this study will be to identify a set of administrative leadership characteristics which are accepted by members of Boards of Trustees, professors of educational leadership, and superintendents.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Craighead, Carl H., 1934-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Status of Industrial Arts Programs in Texas Secondary Schools in Regard to Physically Handicapped Students and Attitudes of Industrial Arts Teachers Toward the Physically Handicapped (open access)

Status of Industrial Arts Programs in Texas Secondary Schools in Regard to Physically Handicapped Students and Attitudes of Industrial Arts Teachers Toward the Physically Handicapped

The problem of this study was to ascertain the status of Texas secondary school industrial arts programs in regard to serving physically handicapped students and to analyze the attitudes of industrial arts teachers toward the physically handicapped students in industrial arts classes. The purposes of this study were, (1) to describe the nature and extent of participation by industrial arts programs in Texas secondary schools in complying with federal and state laws concerning the education of handicapped children, and (2) to acquire and interpret information which may be included in college courses for preparing industrial arts teachers and/or in-service programs for industrial arts teachers. Among the major findings revealed by an analysis of the data are the following. 1. Of the 366 industrial arts teachers surveyed, 86 per cent had no pre-service courses and 79 per cent had no in-service instruction concerning handicapped students; however, 67 per cent had experience teaching physically handicapped students. 2. Of the 37,659 students who were served by 355 industrial arts teachers during the 1977-78 school year, 727, or 2 per cent, were physically handicapped; 171 students were in separate special classes and 566 were integrated into regular classes. 3. Of the 727 physically handicapped …
Date: August 1978
Creator: Swanson, Robert D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Certain Personality Traits Between College Student Cigarette Smokers and Nonsmokers (open access)

A Comparison of Certain Personality Traits Between College Student Cigarette Smokers and Nonsmokers

This investigation seeks to determine whether certain personality traits of college students are related to their smoking habits. The purpose of the study is to determine whether significant personality differences exist among college students who can be classified as light smokers, heavy smokers, ex-smokers, and nonsmokers and to determine the nature of the differences. The study involved four male experimental groups and four female experimental groups, assigned on the basis of sex and cigarette smoking habits as ascertained from a questionnaire. A total of 191 subjects from two junior colleges comprised the sample. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS), the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS), and a questionnaire to obtain information on each subject's smoking habits were administered to the subjects at one sitting. Comparisons of the group means of each of the four classifications of smokers and nonsmokers were accomplished by a one-way analysis-of-variance design.
Date: August 1974
Creator: Harter, James W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Impact of a Death Laboratory on Self-Concept, Generalized Anxiety and Death Anxiety (open access)

Impact of a Death Laboratory on Self-Concept, Generalized Anxiety and Death Anxiety

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a death education laboratory approach on the participants. Measures of death anxiety, general anxiety, and self-concept were thought to be of particular importance and thus were used as dependent variables. The study was designed to obtain measures of the variables through appropriate testing administered immediately following participation in a death lab and one month after participation in the 16-hour death lab. This design was selected because the possibility exists that anxiety levels may increase during a workshop on death and dying. None of the eight hypotheses in this study were statistically validated. Thus the assumption that the death lab as used in this study would have a positive impact on the participants was rejected. However, non-statistical observations and inferences from analysis of covariance and t-test data suggested that the use of a waiting list control group may have biased the results of the study. A second observation made in this study was that high death anxious treatment group members tended to have reduced anxiety scores on post-testing and low death anxious treatment group members tended to have increased death anxiety scores on post-testing. It is not known if this …
Date: August 1978
Creator: Thomas, Bruce M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Correlates of Vocational Bias in Elementary Students (open access)

A Study of the Correlates of Vocational Bias in Elementary Students

The purpose of this study was to determine if any correlation exists between the presence of vocational bias in elementary students and (1) the presence of bias in the textbooks they use, (2) father's occupation, (3) student grade level, (4) level of intelligence, and (5) sex of the student. The population for the study consisted of 368 kindergarten, third-grade, and sixth-grade students from two North Texas school districts. The instrument used to measure student vocational bias was the Were I a Worker attitude inventory developed by P. K. Yonge Laboratory School at the University of Florida under the direction of the Fusion of Applied and Intellectual Skills Research Project. The instrument used to categorize the father's occupations into professional and non-professional groups was the "Two-Factor Index of Social Position" developed by A. B. Hollingshead. The data were collected by having each student respond to the attitude inventory under the supervision of the participating classroom teacher. In addition, the student's I.Q., grade level, sex, and father's occupation were recorded on the test booklet. A notation was also placed on each instrument indicating the type of textbook used by that student. After all the data were collected, the attitude inventory was hand …
Date: August 1974
Creator: King, Francis Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Concept of Teaching Undergraduate Adults in Freshman and Sophomore English (open access)

A Concept of Teaching Undergraduate Adults in Freshman and Sophomore English

The problem was to develop a concept of teaching English for the adult (24 years old or older) undergraduate. The purposes were to make a statement on teaching the adult, survey adults for their perceptions of their needs and the ways the courses met them, review findings of schools offering special adult degree programs, and develop a typology of the adult undergraduate in English with teaching implications. Chapter I states the problem, purposes, significance, and limitations of the study. Chapter II develops the historical background. Chapter III covers the survey and its implications. Chapter IV presents teachers' views of teaching English for adults. Chapter V summarizes the study and sets forth a conceptual structure for teaching the adult undergraduate in such courses.
Date: August 1974
Creator: Luke, Eugene C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Experimental Study of the Effect of a Career Education Program on Academic Achievement and Attitudes of Fifth-Grade Students (open access)

An Experimental Study of the Effect of a Career Education Program on Academic Achievement and Attitudes of Fifth-Grade Students

This study was designed to determine the effects of the infusion of career-education concepts into the language arts and social studies curricula of fifth-grade students. Hypotheses related to differences in mean scores of students in the experimental group and the control group on the Reading Test, Language Test, Study Skills Test of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, as well as on the total battery scores. Additional hypotheses were formulated concerning the difference between proportional mean scores on the Career Education Questionnaire and three self-concept inventories designed by Instructional Objectives Exchange. The following conclusions are based on the findings of this study: (1) Infusion of career-education concepts into content areas of the curriculum can result in the increased academic achievement of-students. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that, statistically, the arithmetic mean scores for the experimental and the control groups were not significantly different. Gains in language expression and mechanics, reading vocabulary, and references study skills can result when students relate academic knowledge to the world of work; (2) Students' attitudes toward career education can be altered through the provision of factual information and meaningful experiences; and (3) The self-concepts of students are relatively stable and not altered appreciably …
Date: August 1975
Creator: Bryant, Rita S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effectiveness of a Structured Mathematics Program with Culturally Deprived Kindergarten Children (open access)

The Effectiveness of a Structured Mathematics Program with Culturally Deprived Kindergarten Children

This study is limited to the mathematics performance of two intact groups of culturally deprived kindergarten students, mostly blacks, with a few whites and Mexican-Americans, who were enrolled at Robert E. Lee Elementary School (Denton, Texas) for the entire school year of 1970-1971. The purposes of the study are to compare the effectiveness of two methods of teaching mathematics to culturally disadvantaged children and to check for interaction of treatments when these children are classified by sex.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Fairman, Billie Jack
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Process Used to Select High School Principals in the Large-City School Districts of the Nation (open access)

The Process Used to Select High School Principals in the Large-City School Districts of the Nation

The problem of this study was to examine the selection process used in the appointment of high school principals in the forty-eight large-city school districts of the nation. The purposes of this study were (1) to examine how principals of high schools in large-city districts are selected, and (2) to determine the criteria considered important in the selection process. In order to conduct this investigation a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was validated by a twelve-member panel composed of eleven public school administrators and a former United States Commissioner of Education. Significant findings which tend to be supported by the data are: 1. Human relations skills were considered as being most important in selecting principals. 2. Superintendents placed little value on the personal traits of candidates. 3. Instructional skills ranked third in importance. 4. The selection process depended heavily on biographical data and the use of the interview. 5. Teaching experience and a master's degree are essential. 6. Assistant superintendents are involved in the selection process more often than any other group, but superintendents are most influential in the selection process. 7. School facilities, pupils, and parents are seldom involved in the selection process, and when involved, their influence is …
Date: August 1975
Creator: Kudlaty, Frank
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of Drug Education Programs in Selected Oklahoma Schools (open access)

Perceptions of Drug Education Programs in Selected Oklahoma Schools

This study was an investigation of teaching strategies and student outcomes of the drug education program in five pilot schools in Oklahoma as these programs relate to the "ideal" program recommended by drug education experts. This study had a twofold purpose. The first was to determine the differences of the perceptions of students, teachers and administrator toward the drug education program in their own school. The second was to compare this perceived "actual" program with the "ideal" program as described by selected drug education experts. The study centers on five exploratory questions. With the completion of the five exploratory questions, it was concluded that the factors that are descriptive of the "ideal" and "actual" drug education programs can be identified from opinions of persons who have an interest in or responsibility for effective information concerning the drug scene.
Date: August 1978
Creator: Marker, Dan E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Standardization of the Basic Movement Performance Profile for Profoundly Retarded Institutionalized Residents (open access)

The Standardization of the Basic Movement Performance Profile for Profoundly Retarded Institutionalized Residents

The problem of this study was to standardize the Basic Movement Performance Profile with male and female profoundly retarded residents from the ten Texas state schools for the mentally retarded. To standardize the Basic Movement Performance Profile, the following objectives were formulated: 1. To determine if the test items found in the Basic Movement Performance Profile were valid and appropriate items to measure the basic movement skills of profoundly retarded residents of state institutions. 2. To establish the reliability of the Basic Movement Performance Profile test items utilizing the test-retest method with thirty profoundly retarded males and thirty profoundly retarded females at the Denton State School for the Mentally Retarded. 3. To establish performance level norms utilizing percentile ranks for both sexes on the Basic Movement Performance Profile.
Date: August 1974
Creator: Ness, Richard A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Competencies Necessary for the Public School Superintendency as Perceived by Texas Superintendents (open access)

Competencies Necessary for the Public School Superintendency as Perceived by Texas Superintendents

This study was concerned with which competencies are considered necessary for success as a Texas public school superintendent, and the results were derived from responses to a questionnaire by practicing school superintendents in Texas during the spring of 1975. Summary of Findings: The literature reviewed and the data obtained from the survey instrument appeared to indicate that school superintendents in Texas do need certain competencies in order to adequately fulfill their role in the educational setting. This study was limited to seventy-five school superintendents in Texas. There were variations in their responses depending on: 1. Size according to pupil population. 2. Wealth according to the amount of taxable value located in the school district subject to taxation backing each pupil enrolled. 3. Experience of the superintendent surveyed. There was no effort to develop historically the concepts related to the competencies necessary for success as a school superintendent in Texas. Only opinions of writers and school superintendents of schools serving in Texas schools were used in this study.
Date: August 1975
Creator: Douglas, Marion Eli
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analysis of Nursing Functions and Preparation (open access)

Analysis of Nursing Functions and Preparation

The problem of this study was an analysis of the differences between associate degree and baccalaureate degree nursing school graduates in relation to the functions they were currently performing, their perceptions of the adequacy of their educational preparation for these functions, and their apparent readiness for these nursing functions as reported by employers of nurses. A questionnaire was devised and mailed to a random sample of employers of nurses and to recent graduates of two associate degree and two baccalaureate degree nursing programs in Texas. Graduates were asked to report on the extent of their performance of each of eighty nursing activities as well as their perception of their preparation for each activity. Employers were requested to report the readiness of recent graduates to perform each nursing activity, The eighty activities were categorized into the following five functions: (1) physical care and technical skills, (2) interpersonal relationships, (3) leadership, (4) decision making, and (5) community health care.
Date: August 1974
Creator: Hogstel, Mildred O.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Counseling and Religious Groups upon Selected Personality and Behavioral Variables (open access)

The Effects of Counseling and Religious Groups upon Selected Personality and Behavioral Variables

This study investigates and evaluates the effects of an eighteen-hour weekend encounter group and three twelve-week groups--a weekly counseling group, a Bible discussion group, and a church attendance group, upon selected personality and behavioral variables, group morale and social integration. Subjects were forty-eight volunteers from a 250-member Protestant, evangelical church in a suburb of a Texas city of five-hundred thousand people. Six men and six women were randomly assigned to each of the four groups. Data analyzed were the pre-, post-, and post-post-experiment scores of the Personal Orientation Inventory, the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, and the sociometric variables based on Bonney's "Criteria for a Better Group on Sociometric Scales". The .05 level of significance was required for rejection of the null hypotheses. The statistical analyses were accomplished by applying a one-way analysis of co-variance design to the raw scores from the Personal Orientation Inventory, the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, and two of the three sociometric variables--mutual choices and opposite sex choices. The sociometric variable, choices between upper and lower quarters, was computed with the z formula. The sociometric data, mutuals and opposite sex choices on the encounter group, were further analyzed using the single-factor analysis of variance with repeated measures. …
Date: August 1974
Creator: Brendel, Harold J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Necessary Job Competencies of Secondary School Principals as Perceived by Selected Texas Educators (open access)

The Necessary Job Competencies of Secondary School Principals as Perceived by Selected Texas Educators

The problem of this study was to determine competencies which are necessary for effective administration by secondary school principals. The sources of data included a review of the literature and supplemental materials. The survey technique, employing a jury-validated questionnaire, was used to collect the perceptions of superintendents, principals, teachers, and college professors in the State of Texas. A total of 316 educators responded to the questionnaire. The development and findings of this study are presented in five chapters. Chapter I presents an introduction to the study. In Chapter II, a survey of the literature is reported. Chapter III contains details of the procedures employed in collecting data for the study. Chapter IV presents the data gathered through the use of the questionnaire. Chapter V presents the summary, findings, conclusions, and recommendations resulting from the study. The study identified eight general areas of competency for secondary school principals. Those competency areas were (1) organization and administration, (2) curriculum design and improvement, (3) the instructional process, (4) business and financial management, (5) student management, (6) personnel management, (7) facilities, equipment, and supplies, and (8) communications. A total of ninety-five competencies was identified from the literature and from communications with college professors and …
Date: August 1974
Creator: Austin, Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Follow-Up Study of the First Generation of Graduates of an Experimental Curriculum Program at Bishop College (open access)

A Follow-Up Study of the First Generation of Graduates of an Experimental Curriculum Program at Bishop College

This study investigates two undergraduate curriculum programs at Bishop College in Dallas, in an effort to determine their effects upon selected groups of graduates, as measured in selected areas of their achievement before and after graduation. Conclusions of this study are as follows: 1. Neither curriculum program has attained a statistically significant degree of greater efficiency over the other in areas of students' undergraduate academic achievement, concepts of self and undergraduate academic experiences, and career involvement after graduation. 2. More stringent measurement than that of this study could possibly reveal that the Experimental Curriculum attained greater results to a statistically significant degree in more areas than did the Regular Curriculum. 3. Through achievement of a higher percentage of student retention, the Experimental Curriculum has attained greater effectiveness than the Regular Curriculum. 4. A need exists for increased relevancy of curriculum experiences to community problems. 5. A need exists for increased emphasis upon the student's development of effective self-expression and adequate self-confidence.
Date: August 1974
Creator: Wells, Bobbie Franklin
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Effectiveness of the Intensive and Concurrent Scheduling Plans for Teaching First-Semester English Composition in the Community College (open access)

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of the Intensive and Concurrent Scheduling Plans for Teaching First-Semester English Composition in the Community College

The purpose of this study was to observe the differences in English achievement, critical-thinking ability, and attitude toward subject attributable to two scheduling approaches -- "Concurrent" and "Intensive"--in the teaching of first-semester freshman English composition to community college students. Further, the study was initiated in order to provide factual information as a basis for administrative and instructional judgments affecting future planning for accelerated scheduling at the experimental institution. Two classes of first-semester freshman English composition, meeting three hours weekly for fifteen weeks, comprised the control group (Concurrent); two classes of first-semester freshman English composition, meeting nine hours weekly for five weeks, comprised the experimental group (Intensive). The same form of three criterion instruments was administered to both groups before and after the experimental treatment. The instruments were the Cooperative English Expression Test, the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and the Purdue Attitude Scale, Part A -- Attitude Toward Any Subject. Three instructors were involved in the experiment during the fall and spring semesters of the 1973-74 school year. Conventional methods of instruction, using the same course of study, were duplicated in all situations. Statistical analyses utilized in the study were analysis of covariance and multiple linear regression. It was felt that …
Date: August 1974
Creator: Allen, Floyd A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Characteristics of Successful and Unsuccessful School Bond Election Campaigns in Texas, 1976-1977 (open access)

The Characteristics of Successful and Unsuccessful School Bond Election Campaigns in Texas, 1976-1977

The purposes of this study were to 1) compare the characteristics between the elections that were successful and unsuccessful; 2) identify the purpose of the school bond issue (demographic characteristics); 3) identify the financial resources and structure of the school districts (economic characteristics); 4) analyze the public relations and publicity techniques used in the school bond campaign (communications variables); 5) determine the degree of responsibility assumed by individuals and groups for the educational, building, and bond needs of the school districts (group involvement); 6) ascertain personal and professional information about the district superintendent as it related to voter influence in the bond campaign; 7) determine prior bond election experience. The major conclusions were that the trend of large or small eligible voter turnout was inconclusive, urban districts had more difficulty than rural or suburban districts in passing bond issues, and bond issues were passed mainly for new facilities. School districts with large assessed valuation per resident student had better results than others. The newspaper, "general talking it up," speakers, public meetings, and telephone committees were effective means of communication. The superintendent, board of education, faculty, principals, P.T.A., and lay groups assumed the most responsibility in the elections.
Date: August 1978
Creator: Martin, K. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Influencing Difficult Special Education Referral Recommendations (open access)

Factors Influencing Difficult Special Education Referral Recommendations

The present study is concerned with selected factors that may strongly influence classroom teachers to refer young children for possible placement in special classes when the children are functioning near the borderline for placement on the basis of intelligence test scores. Particular attention was given to the contribution of student attributes (i.e., sex, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, and classroom behavior) and teacher attributes (i.e., age, sex, ethnic background and teaching experience) to the referral patterns of teachers. Also considered were the size of school enrollment, school locale, and interactions among student, teacher, and school variables. It was concluded that the teachers in the population studied responded to the case histories on the basis of certain selective biases. However, the relationship of these biases to referral decisions was less obvious and considerably more complex than has been suggested previously in the professional literature. At the same time, the presence of any bias in the referral process seemingly warrants careful consideration and points to the -need for greater emphasis in pre-service and in-service training programs upon the objective evaluation of students as an integral part of educational planning.
Date: August 1975
Creator: Luckey, Robert E.
System: The UNT Digital Library