The problem under investigation in this research is the development of a general approach that will establish a students knowledge level so that the student's learning can be optimized by beginning it at the most effective point. In preparation for this study, an active test with an acceptable CT3 homogeneity index was found. Two computer programs, RightOrder and MathTest, were written in Visual Basic. The latter administers the test, producing a file or responses that serves as input for the former, which performs the calculations and matrix manipulation necessary to determine the CT3 of a set of test items and construct a difficulty strata scale. The test was administered twice to the same population, the first time in the original item order. In the second administration, one item from each successive level of difficulty, beginning with the easiest, was given until the respondent answered incorrectly. Then all the remaining items were presented in order of difficulty, beginning with the easiest. The three hypothesis of this study are (a) the difficulty strata scale generated from the computerized retest, using a z-score to be determined as critical value, is congruent with that derived from the analysis done on the data of the …

This research attempted to ascertain whether the ratings of applicants in the admissions-evaluation process of Dallas Theological Seminary (Admission Committee Rating, or ACR) were related to persistence in seminary study sufficiently to allow reasonable prediction of completion based on the strength of the ratings. Five ACRs were examined - the total ACR and its four components, strength of previous academics, personal references, potential and promise for ministry, and previous ministry experience. Other non-admissions factors were also examined to see what relationship they had to persistence. Those factors were years of matriculation, age at matriculation, gender, marital status, ethnicity, nationality, types of previous higher education, whether or not financial aid was received (if known), and the total amount of financial aid received (if known). Persistence in the study was defined as graduation from the seminary's major four-year master's degree program (Th.M.) within the time limits published for the degree. Analysis results indicated that only two of the five ACRs were statistically significant, ministry potential and ministry experience, but the relationship with completion was weak. The conclusion reached was that the relationship between the strength of the admission evaluation and persistence was practically insignificant and contributed little to the ability to predict …

Populations that utilize deep water running (DWR) are described in Chapter I. A review of the literature concerning maximal and submaximal responses during DWR, shallow water running and swimming is presented in Chapter II. The protocols to elicit maximal responses during DWR and treadmill running (TMR), subject characteristics, and statistical methods employed are described in Chapter III. The results, presented in Chapter IV, indicate that the DWR protocol is a reliable test for eliciting peak oxygen consumption and heart rate. Furthermore, the metabolic responses during DWR are lower than TMR. Chapter V discusses factors which might limit maximal responses during DWR. Chapter VI contains suggestions for further research. Raw data are presented in Appendix A.

The focus of this study is a comparison of the perceptions and expectations of the leadership role and function of the department chairpersons in the faculty of education by the respective department chairpersons, deans, and all faculty members from each of the six public teacher colleges in Bangkok, Thailand. In conclusion, role conflict between the department chairpersons can be reduced if the department chairpersons concentrate on the expectations of faculty members. The department chairpersons need to reevaluate their leader behavior in relation to both deans and faculty members in order to fulfill the organizational goals and personal needs.

Utilizing ethnographic methodology, this study examined and described the filial therapy process to provide an in-depth understanding of the process, the relations in progress, and effects on the parent, child, and parent/child relationship. This study supports filial therapy as a viable option for educating parents in effective parenting and training as agents of change. The results appear to be generalizable to other parents engaged in learning filial therapy since previous research reported similar findings.

The purpose of this study was to trace the development of education, including higher education, in the United Arab Emirates. In order to complete this study, a computer search of available literature in the English and Arabic languages was constructed. The findings of this study revealed that although education at all levels has been expanded and improved, enrollment in vocational education and science remains low at the secondary level. Students also seem to avoid science and education at the college level. Based on the results of this study, further research should be conducted to determine the perceptions of alumni educational experience, community involvement in education, the role of national and multi-national cooperations in education, and women's education in relation to their participation in the labor force.

The purpose of this study was to describe senior-level hospitality programs and assess hospitality administrators' opinions concerning specialized accreditation during the 1990-91 academic year. Overall, administrators characterized the typical full-time faculty member as: being in a small program (1-3 members); being a non-ethnic minority; having a minimum four years industry work experience; having attained a doctoral degree; and holding the rank of associate professor. Part-time faculty members were described as: being in a small program (1-3 members); being a non-ethnic minority; having at leas one to three years industry work experience; having attained a master's degree; and holding the rank of instructor. Administrators characterized their programs as: located at public institutions; beginning after 1970; requiring graduates to acquire work experience; expecting increased enrollments; having placement services available; and not offering continuing education courses. Administrators indicated they were seeking accreditation or were accredited currently. They agreed slightly that accreditation would improve program image, help them meet their programs' missions and objectives, and provide assistance in planning.

The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of reading instruction in a program using children's trade books instead of basal readers, and to identify patterns resulting in hypotheses regarding the nature of instruction. The study informs practitioners by providing descriptions of actual instruction, enabling readers to envision how reading instruction is accomplished using children's trade books, and it informs the research community by developing grounded theory concerning the nature of instruction in one literature-based reading program. The study can help bridge the polarization between traditionalists and whole language advocates through the descriptions of how traditionally accepted academic domains of reading instruction were accomplished. Also, it provides a model of a successful way to structure instructional time so that students spend more time actually reading, and it documents the social dimensions of instruction as important domain of reading instruction.

The problem of this study was an examination of the relationship between low achievement and physical abilities.This study focuses on the areas of musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial and bodily-kinesthetic abilities. This correlational study found that low achievers as a group, identified by achievement test scores, scored above the mean on a measure of motor ability. For children who are struggling to achieve in school, it would seem prudent to explore their strengths in other areas of intelligence. Further research is suggested in the areas of high and average achieving students' motor development.

When selecting a method for testing variance equality, a researcher should select a method which is robust to distribution non-normality and dissimilarity. The method should also possess sufficient power to ascertain departures from the equal variance hypothesis. This Monte Carlo study examined the robustness and power of five tests of variance equality under specific conditions. The tests examined included one procedure proposed by O'Brien (1978), two by O'Brien (1979), and two by Conover, Johnson, and Johnson (1981). Specific conditions included assorted combinations of the following factors: k=2 and k=3 groups, normal and non-normal distributional forms, similar and dissimilar distributional forms, and equal and unequal sample sizes. Under the k=2 group condition, a total of 180 combinations were examined. A total of 54 combinations were examined under the k=3 group condition. The Type I error rates and statistical power estimates were based upon 1000 replications in each combination examined. Results of this study suggest that when sample sizes are relatively large, all five procedures are robust to distribution non-normality and dissimilarity, as well as being sufficiently powerful.

This is a study conducted in Zimbabwe which compared a group of 50 zvirvere zvechivanhu patients and a group of 50 non-patients in age, sex, marital status, level of education and claims of spirit possession. Claims of spirit possessions and types of spirits, as pointed out by Bennel (1982), were used as symptoms of zvirwere zvechivanhu. The two groups were also compared in symptom dimensions of the SCL-90-R used in the study. The SCL-90-R, developed by Derogatis (1975), is a 90-item symptom check list used to screen people for psychological problems reflected in the nine symptom dimensions of somatization, obsessive/ compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism and in the three global scores of Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index and Positive Symptom Total. The subjects were chosen from two different sites, using a systematic sampling method. Three statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The Chi-square was used to analyze data on descriptive variables. The T-test and 2 x 2 analysis of variance were used to analyze the data on symptom dimensions and global scores. The study had one main hypothesis and nine subhypotheses. The main hypothesis was that zvirwere zvechivanhu patients were …

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the marketing strategies for attracting students who have nonreligious vocational goals (NRVG) that are employed by Bible colleges that are either accredited or candidates for accreditation of the American Association of Bible Colleges (AABC). Primary subpurposes were to determine the AABC's interest in marketing themselves.to NRVG; practice of educational marketing strategies toward NRVG; career planning programs and placement services available to NRVG; approaching employers with placement services for NRVG; making available seminars, placement services, and alumni networking for NRVG; and difference in marketing to NRVG according to a colleges' denomination, size, three year growth pattern, and estimated percentage of NRVG. An overview of the literature pertaining to educational marketing and marketing for a liberal arts education was given. The population chosen for this study was the accredited (87) and candidate for accreditation (15) Bible colleges of the AABC (102). Eighty (78.4%) colleges actually responded. The design of this study was survey research using a mailed questionnaire as the principal source of data collection. The statistics utilized were parametric (e.g., one-way analysis of variance and t test) and nonparametric (e.g., chi square). The results of the study indicated that AABC colleges were …

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 …

Using a case study approach, this investigation focused on the decision-making processes involved in developing budgets in two Texas school districts following a tax limitation, or rollback, election. Factors influencing the decision-making processes included the rollback election's outcome in each district, the participants, the perceptions participants held of themselves, the perceptions participants held of others in the district and community, the decisions made, and the factors influencing participants' decisions. Two Texas school districts were selected as subjects of this study which used qualitative data collection methods. In one school district, the rollback election passed. In the other, it failed. Data collection included observations of school board meetings and budget workshops. Structured interviews of school board members and administrators, pro- and antirollback proponents, and newspaper editors were conducted. Questions focused on the budgetary decision-making processes before and after the rollback elections. They also solicited information fromsubjects regarding rollback elections, the factors precipitating the rollback elections and the impact of the rollback election campaign upon each school district. Document analyses were triangulated with the observations and interviews to identify the factors influencing the budgetary decision-making process. Following the rollback elections, school officials in both districts adopted a conservative approach to budgetary decision-making. …

This study examined the academic achievement of national social fraternity pledges compared to non-fraternity students at the University of Texas at Arlington. It was done to determine whether significant differences existed between the grade point averages of pledges of social fraternities and those of students who did not pledge a social fraternity, and to determine whether significant differences existed among fraternities when compared with each other with respect to academic achievement. This study was meant to provide a research design that could be used by other colleges and universities with fraternities to conduct the same comparison of academic performance. In the fall semester of 1989, 164 pledges were selected as the population for the study to be matched with non-fraternity students based on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, age, sex, classification, academic major, and number of hours attempted. A T-test of like groups was performed on the entire population with no significant difference found at the .05 level between all the fraternity pledges and all the matched pairs. A T-test of like groups was performed on the pledges from each separate organization and there was a significant difference among three of the fraternities. Two of the fraternities had significantly higher …

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect on selected Upward Bound students' vocabulary retention rate and attitude toward computers when using color in a computer assisted instructional (CAI) program. Past research on the use of color in the educational process does not answer questions about possible effects it may have when used in CAI programs. Specific areas addressed by this study include: (1) differences in color computer assisted instructional software and achromatic versions of the lesson, (2) differences in the short-term vocabulary retention rate for color versus achromatic versions, (3) differences in the long-term vocabulary retention rate for color versus achromatic versions, (4) differences on the affective attitude scale for color versus achromatic versions, (5) differences in short-term memory based on gender and computer experience, (6) differences in long-term memory based on gender and computer experience and (7) differences on the affective attitude scale based on gender and computer experience. Subjects in the experiment were high school students participating in Upward Bound programs at Texas Christian University and the University of North Texas. A pretestposttest design was used and data were obtained from seventy-one students. A CAI program presented students with twenty words and definitions via a …

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 …

The problem of this study was to describe and compare the relationship of learning style and leadership style upon the selection of instructional strategies by nursing educators in associate and baccalaureate degree nursing programs. Data were collected using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, Hersey and Blanchard's Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description, a researcher-developed Instructional Strategies Inventory, and the Personal Data Form. It was found that leadership style was highly correlated between the associate degree and baccalaureate degree faculty groups. More of the associate degree faculty members had basic leadership styles of Low Relationship/Low Task and High Task/Low Relationship. Most of the baccalaureate faculty members had Low Relationship/Low Task leadership styles. The following conclusions were developed: (a) Nursing faculty in associate and baccalaureate degree programs have similar learning and leadership styles; (b) nursing faculty tend to use the traditional instructional strategies such as lecture, discussion, and case studies at the same frequency of use? and (c) the selection of instructional strategies in nursing education may be affected by variables other than the instructor's learning and leadership styles. In view of the findings of this study, the following recommendations for further study appear to be warranted, (a) Further research should be conducted to …

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 …

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 …

The juvenile justice system is society's response to juvenile misconduct. In spite of numerous federal, state, and local programs, the problem of juvenile delinquency persists. An increasing number of juveniles are being taken into custody and placed in institutional settings. Although juvenile delinquents share a number of common general characteristics (e.g., sex, minority, lower socioeconomic status, a history of school failure), they are not a homogeneous group. Effective educational interventions with delinquent juveniles can meet their unique academic, vocational, and social skills deficits. Handicapped juveniles are disproportionately represented among juvenile correctional facility populations. The identification of handicapped juveniles among delinquent populations is compounded as they share many of the same general characteristics. Federal statutes require individualized educational programs for all handicapped juveniles. This research investigated academic, behavioral, and social competencies of non-handicapped and handicapped adjudicated youth. Specifically, this investigation assessed measures of academic performance, classroom behavior, self-esteem, and social behavior. ANOVA indicated statistically significant differences between non-handicapped, learning disabled, and emotionally/behaviorally disordered adjudicated juveniles in reading achievement, mathematics achievement, and teacher generated measures of classroom behavior.

The purpose of this study was to construct portrayals of teachers7 work conceptions in various career stages from the stories they told and the metaphors they used to describe the ways in which teachers learned about their work. Specifically, the study included preservice teachers, first-year teachers, third-year teachers, and teachers with more than four years of teaching experience at the elementary and secondary school levels. Thirty-five elementary and secondary school teachers from the North-Central area of Texas participated in this study (nineteen inservice and sixteen preservice teachers). Qualitative techniques were employed to collect data. The preservice teachers filled out a questionnaire and wrote short stories about their preconceptions of their first year of teaching. Inservice teachers were interviewed using a short questionnaire and a long interview schedule. Nine inservice teachers participated in a storytelling workshop/focus group session. Group stories based on predetermined scenarios were constructed, tape-recorded and transcribed. The focus group session was videotaped and transcribed. Fifteen categories emerged from the analysis of the data: cyclical, ritualized, hierarchical, reciprocal, developmental, experiential, reflective, cumulative, body of knowledge, folkloric, individualized/personalized, order/control/manage, disciplinarian, facilitative, and replicative. These categories represent a summary of the constructs, images, contextual maps and metaphors held by these teachers …

This study was a comparison of the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan at Srinakharinwirot University-Phitsanulok, Thailand. The study also investigated whether the demographic classifications of administrators and faculty members were related to their perceptions regarding the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan. Forty-one administrators and sixty full-time faculty members completed the survey instrument. Statistical tests used to summarize and analyze the data included mean, standard deviation, t test, chi-square, and correlation ratio. The results and findings of this study showed that (a) there were no major differences between administrators and faculty members related to their perceptions of a faculty development plan; (b) faculty members perceptions of the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan were consistent to a greater degree than were the perceptions of administrators; (c) significant differences between the perceptions of administrators regarding the actual and expected role of selected components of a faculty development plan were found for only one item: study leaves; (d) there were significant differences between the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the actual role of …

The purpose of this study was to determine Bonaro Wilkinson Overstreet's significance and development as a leader in adult education. This study provided information on her life, her individual and collaborative contributions with Harry Overstreet in adult education, and her interest in poetry. Data were collected using online database searching; review of published, unpublished, and informal documents of Bonaro Overstreet; and correspondence and interviews with professional colleagues, employers, and personal acquaintances. Interviews were conducted with current authorities in the field of adult education for informational purposes. Bonaro Overstreet did not influence or alter the course of adult education as a field of study. Her strength was in her role of practitioner and contributor to research, theory, and professional development of the adult education field. She broadened the depth of adult education as an advocate of knowing oneself and acting responsibly in the context of democratic responsibility.