Since the end of World War II, the number of returning college students aged twenty-five years or older has increased so rapidly in American colleges and universities that college administrators, either through lack of interest and understanding or through failure to function as proactive change agents, have not kept pace with the needs of older student populations. In recent years, as enrollment among traditional younger students has declined, enrollment among mature returning students has grown to the extent that they presently constitute more than a third of all college and university students in the United States. As a result of findings obtained in the study, the following recommendations are offered for consideration; (1) institutions of higher learning should place major emphasis upon development of Services and Programs for Returning Students; (2) colleges and universities should give greater priority to orientation program(s) for returning students; (3) returning students should be given credit for life experience and independent learning; (4) financial resources for returning student services should be standardized as line items in the institution's budget; (5) existing programs should be evaluated in order to determine their effectiveness; and (6) a follow-up study should be conducted in five years to provide statistical …

This study investigated whether Reality Therapy classroom management techniques could be used effectively to improve teacher attitudes, student attitudes, student achievement, and student classroom behavior. The findings of the study support the following conclusions. 1. Reality Therapy inservice education and implementation of Reality Therapy Teaching techniques in classrooms produce significant changes in the way teachers regard student discipline. 2. implementation of Reality Therapy practices in junior high classrooms produces positive changes in attitude toward school environment. 3. Implementation of Reality Therapy techniques in junior high classrooms does not seem to be effective in producing changes in student attitude toward self. 4. Implementation of Reality Therapy techniques in junior high classrooms can be effective in producing higher student grade point averages. 5. Reality Therapy techniques in junior high classrooms are not effective in producing lower rates of student misbehavior.

The purposes of this study were to identify the problems and issues encountered in the development of an educational information and counseling brokering service for adults and to determine their relative significance to the success of an educational brokering service. To accomplish this, the relevant developmental issues were identified by a search of the literature. These were sent to a consultant of the National Center for Educational Brokering who selected forty issues and problems as salient. These statements were formulated into a questionnaire to determine their significance in each stage of development. The initial questionnaire was submitted to four additional consultants for recommendations. The questionnaires were then mailed to the directors of 135 educational brokering centers listed in the Directory of the National Center for Educational Brokering. Based on the findings of the study, eleven issues were considered very significant by the total population of respondents. The three most significant issues were: flexibility and responsiveness in service, maintaining clarity of purpose while attempting to meet diverse needs, and insuring continuing financial viability.

Interest in this study was evoked by concern over the small percentage of women employed as school administrators. Despite recent legislation, this situation has not changed markedly. This study was needed to determine the current status, attitudes, and concerns of women certified as administrators in Texas with those of the superintendents of Texas public school districts? and to compare the differences of the two concerning this situation. It was concluded that not only did a larger percentage of the women prefer to be employed as elementary school administrators, but also the superintendents felt they would be more likely to be employed at that level. It was further concluded that a majority of the superintendents were likely to give women substantial consideration for employment as elementary school administrators, but were unlikely to hire them as chief administrators of their secondary schools. Many of the women also perceived that Texas school districts are still "in effect" participating in sexually discriminatory hiring practices whether or not the superintendents are aware of the situation. The attitudes of the women and the superintendents very clearly differed concerning opportunities available for female administrators in Texas.

This study was undertaken to identify the differences in cognitive behaviors expected of graduating students in two and four-year nursing education programs as perceived by instructors. The problem to which this study was addressed was the uniformity of assignment for graduates of the two programs as they enter initial employment in episodic care agencies. Of concern also was the lack of uniformity in the admission requirements for two-year graduates seeking a baccalaureate degree in nursing. The identification of significantly different expectations of the two groups of nurse educators for their graduating students indicates a need to examine the assignments of graduates in their initial employment. Further, there was greater agreement in the expected behaviors among the four-year program respondents than among those from the two-year programs as groups viewed their respective graduating students.

This study dealt with the effect of low-level noise and high-level noise, of white noise and varied noise, and of high manifest anxiety and low manifest anxiety on college students' performance on a coding task. The conclusions of the study, based upon the hypotheses, were as follows: 1. Level of anxiety does not affect performance on a coding task. 2. The level of white and level of varied noise does not affect performance on a coding task. 3. Varied noise has a positive effect on performance on a coding task.

This study investigates the relationship between the school climate, as perceived by the professional staff, and specific leadership behavior, as reported by the school principals in a selected school district in the state of Washington, The purpose of the study is to determine the extent to which the leader behavior of the principal correlates with- the total school climate as well as with the individual factors comprising the school climate. There are no statistically significant relationships among the variables studied. The hypothesis that the higher the leadership skills of the principal the more beneficial would be the climate of the school is not supported. The results suggest that the school climate is independent of the leadership behavior of the principal. Since no difference was found when the factors of climate were considered cumulatively, the individual factors were analyzed for significance. The seven factors of climate, identified by James Tunney and James Jenkins from the CFK Ltd. School Climate Profile, were independent of the leadership ability of the principal.

This study assesses the continuing education needs of social caseworkers employed by the Community Care for the Aged, Blind and Disabled Program Division of the Texas State Department of Human Resources. A model by which needs assessments and discrepancy evaluation can be conducted was identified. The study was designed to answer three major questions. These were (1) What are the behavioral competencies critical to the effective practice of C.C.A.B.D. social casework within the Texas State Department of Human Resources? (2) What are the current continuing education needs of C.C.A.B.D. caseworkers with respect to these competencies? (3) What significant discrepancies exist as to the perception of these needs among caseworkers, supervisors, and administrators that hold implications for continuing education program planning. The needs assessment model developed in this study is designed to overcome many of the limitations of traditional approaches to needs assessment by defining critical job requirements from the perspective of current practice as well as administrative policy, establishing a profile of the successful worker as a model for staff development, and integrating the perceptions of administrators, supervisors, and workers in identifying continuing education needs.

This study was concerned with determining the effect of two levels of electromyogram (EMG) induced physiological arousal and therapeutic instructions on self-reported test anxiety, test performance, and on-task behavior. The rationale for such a study is the fact that treatments of test anxiety have presented inconsistent results. Little research has been undertaken with regard to the effect of EMG biofeedback as a treatment for test anxiety or non-specific effects associated with such a treatment. Results indicated that self-reported test anxiety was significantly higher (p<.05) under the high physiological arousal condition than under the low physiological arousal condition and that self-reported on-task behavior was significantly greater (p < .05) for the positive therapeutic instruction group. Physiological arousal levels did not have any significant effect upon test performance or self-reported on-task behavior. Also, therapeutic instructions did not have a significant effect on self-reported test anxiety or test performance. The results indicated a cognitive change with regard to test anxiety which was not reflected in test performance. Also, on-task behavior did not enhance test performance

This research study was developed to investigate a group of Outstanding college personalities in Iran. The purposes of the study were: (a) to identify a "frequently nominated" group and an "infrequently nominated" group of University of Isfahan students based on the social criterion of "outstanding personality development"; (b) to determine whether or not "friendship nominations" unduly influenced the selection of "frequently nominated" students; (c) to determine whether or not "frequently nominated" and "infrequently nominated" students could be reliably differentiated on stressful life events, developmental histories, mental health adjustment, expressed needs, and descriptive data; and (d) to present a summary of the most striking and consistent findings on personality development of the "frequently nominated" students. This study concludes that 1. A "frequently nominated" group and an "infrequently nominated" group of normal Iranian student personalities, based on the social criterion of "outstanding personality development," can be identified and statistically differentiated. 2. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities have greater affiliative capacities than other normal Iranian student personalities. 3. "Outstanding" Iranian student personalities possess ego strength, as evidenced by their desire to make decisions from inner self evaluations and to break parental standards, to a greater extent than other normal Iranian student personalities. 4. "Outstanding" …

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is the ascertainment of the attitudes of members of the Texas film industry toward the film curriculum offered in Texas institutions of higher learning. Based on the findings the following conclusions have been reached. There is not a high regard overall for film-studies programs in Texas institutions of higher learning within the film industry. This may be overcome by an interaction of the professional film community as an active participant in curriculum planning and development. Of prime consideration should be an association of film schools coordinating programs in cooperation with the Texas Film Commission. An effective curriculum for film-studies education may be organized by utilization of learning modules. This plan would organize the learning experiences in a functional manner and would move toward involvement of a career nature.

This study reports on an investigation of the effectiveness of the "Positive Approach to Discipline" (PAD) system for classroom management. The data from the study were analyzed by the analysis of variance with repeated measures. The data indicate several implications for the utilization of the PAD system for classroom management. The findings of the study indicate that, 1) teachers utilizing the PAD system significantly reduced the number of students referred to administration, and 2) teachers utilizing the PAD system significantly reduced the number of Black students referred to administration, and 3) the PAD system was effective in reducing the number of students suspended from school.

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 …

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 …

The problem of this study is differences in perceptions of priorities in selected areas of student teaching existing within the governance set, i.e., university directors of student teaching, public school administrators charged with implementing Senate Bill Eight, and presidents of local units of the Texas State Teachers Association. Six areas were chosen as the focal point of the study: selection of student teachers, selection of cooperating teachers, selection of college coordinators, placement of student teachers, evaluation of student teachers, and expenditure of Senate Bill Eight funds designated for the support of student teaching programs. The study concluded that the governance set is in overall agreement concerning the ordering of priorities. However, some significant differences were manifested concerning the implementation of specific priorities. Disagreements were noted in the following areas: selection body for student teachers, selection body for cooperating teachers, selection body for college coordinators, minimum grade point averages in education courses, and minimum grade point averages in major area courses.

This dissertation reports research into the problem of how to teach mastery of the English writing system (MEWS) to students of English as a second language (ESL). The problem involves the relatedness of English orthography and phonology. The research had two purposes. First was development of classroom instructional materials for improving reading proficiency in ESL students by application of generative phonological principles. Second was use of the instructional materials in a pilot study of fifty-three ESL college freshmen. A major finding was that subjects' reading proficiency was far below that of native speakers at the college level. Another was that the subjects had more difficulty with English vowels than with consonants. The subjects' scores on nonsense-word tests correlated significantly with five other criteria, including measures of ability to use ESL. A uniform disparity between ESL-student and native-speaker scores on tests of nonsense words was identified. Native-speakers generally had perfect scores, and ESL students had low scores. A chief implication is the importance of understanding orthography in reading English. Recommendations are that ESL proficiency be determined by nonsense-word tests and that the MEWS program be used by students of English as a second dialect.

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.

This study investigates the differences in receptive language of kindergarten children who are taught by different language systems. This study compares the effectiveness of the three most widely adopted oral language systems in the state of Texas. The systems used were (A) Alpha Time, (B) Beginning Readiness Kit; Beginning to Read, Write, and Listen Kits I and II, and (c) McMillan Series R, Bank Street, Threshold K. S. Analysis of variance techniques were used to analyze statistically pretest and posttest scores derived from the sample. The .05 level of significance was used throughout the statistical analyses for rejection or retention of the null hypotheses. Preliminary analysis of data determined no systematic bias for teacher variability or for within group variability. Hypotheses 1, 2, 3, and 5 were tested using a 2 x 3 analysis of covariance. The pretest was used as the covariant in this analysis. No statistically significant differences in the classroom mean scores were determined between teaching methods, teaching methods with only girls as subjects, teaching methods with only boys as subjects, and boys and girls. Hypothesis 4, concerning the pretest differences between boys and girls, was tested using a t-test for independent samples. No statistically significant differences …

The problem of this study was to compare performances of college students given relaxation instructions and those not given those instructions on a paired-associate learning task. The results indicated that relaxation instructions alone produced a decrement in recall. When subjects received relaxation instructions as well as the suggestion that relaxation enhances learning, the decrement did not occur. Thus, situational demand characteristics appeared to be a significant variable in determining what effect relaxation instructions had on recall.

This problem was designed to evaluate the work performance change effected by each of three training programs; stepping, running, and bicycle ergometer riding. The study determined the specific work improvement of each training program by using a stress test designed from each of the training modes. Two of the purposes of the study were to determine the work performance effects and the specificity of training effect of each of the training procedures. The effect of body weight and leg strength were also measured in relation to performance, and the relative value of each of the three training procedures was evaluated. An analysis of the data showed that no training method was statistically superior to the others, but in order of improvement they ranked (1) bicycle ergometer riding, (2) stepping, and (3) running. Training by each method did appear to be specific to the type of work involved. In each method of training, the most significant improvement was in the work performance test related to that particular training procedure.

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.

The problem with which this study is concerned is an investigation of the feasibility of using a questionnaire for determining perceived needs of students to improve the planning and programming process in student development in higher education. The study was designed to accomplish two purposes: to examine the feasibility of such an approach and to present an example of how such a study can be accomplished. The study concludes: a perceived needs survey can be accomplished with minimal difficulty and is effective in improving planning; documented student need should provide the bias for determining service philosophy and for planning student development programs for all students and for student subgroups; documented student need and preference should provide the basis for determining times of service offerings and staff utilization and deciding on methods of publicizing programs; the use of the perceived needs survey should reduce planning time.

One of the outgrowths of legislation enacted during the 1960's has been the deinstitutionalization of mentally retarded persons and the retention of others within the community. This study addressed the problem of nurses' perception of their competency to deal with this population wherever they might be encountered within community health care settings. The first hypothesis looked for differences in perceived competency based on the level of basic nursing education. Since sample sizes were not equal, the Kruskal Wallis test was utilized and a significant difference at the .001 alpha level was found. Hypothesis two looked for a relationship between perceived competency and degree of clinical contact with a mentally retarded population provided by the basic nursing preparation. Hypotheses three through six looked for relationships between perceived competency and adequacy of samples of content related to mental retardation provided by the basic nursing education: (1) risk factors; (2) etiology; (3) skills and techniques; (4) support systems. Hypothesis seven looked at the relationship between perception of competency and the adequacy of continuing education offerings to which nurses have been exposed. Hypothesis eight looked for a relationship between perceived competency and sustained personal contact with a mentally retarded person. A Pearson product moment …

The problem of this study is the effect of two training models on personnel who teach moderately and severely retarded children. The subjects of this study were sixty-two staff members who work with the moderately and severely retarded pupils in two large metropolitan school systems. Eighteen teachers, eighteen aides, and twenty-six volunteers participated in the study. Two observation instruments administered by trained observers were used as pre- and post-tests to measure the trainees' competencies in applying operant conditioning techniques in both group and one-to-one instructional situations. The purposes of this study were (1) to compare the effectiveness of an experiential model and a didactic model in preparing personnel to deliver cues and reinforcers when working with moderately and severely retarded children; (2) to compare the costs of equipment and supervisory personnel; and (3) to examine the relationship between the trainees' effectiveness of delivering cues and reinforcers to a group of moderately and severely retarded youngsters and the on-task behavior of those students. This report concludes that the trainees' self-evaluation of the training models indicated that they prefer simulated techniques and feedback, which denotes that the Experiential Model may foster certain kinds of incidental learning such as physical mannerisms and visual …