The problem with which this investigation was concerned was the development and implementation of a school-community informational system useful to administrators in planning and decision-making. From the data gathered it can be seen that: (1) Parent, teacher, and student groups were not unified in their perceptions and attitudes toward themselves, each other, and the school. (2) Teachers and the administration must share the responsibility for the learning program. (3) The administrative staff must promote faculty unity, teamwork, and teacher-administrative relationships. (4) The Administrative Team agreed that the data indicated the necessity of the principal, teachers, parents, and students participating in improving the school program. Ultimately the study concluded that: (1) the Campus Level Information System assists administrators in securing information to identify areas needing improvement, and (2) the Campus Level Information System assisted the Administrative Team in identifying and defining their role. This system promises to be useful in the assessment of student, parent, and teacher attitudes and perceptions.

The problem of this study was to identify a means for improving the administration of curriculum and instruction by exploring the utilization of leadership personnel in addition to the principal. This study focused on the determination of the responsibilities that should be delegated chairpersons and the degree of autonomy that should be associated with each responsibility. Major implications were as follows. 1) Job descriptions should be developed for department chairpersons listing responsibilities and specifying guidelines within which department chairpersons should function. 2) Effective communication channels must exist between principals and department chairpersons and between department chairpersons and teachers to insure that department chairpersons perform their duties in accordance with the will of the principal. Teachers must understand the position of department chairperson for optimum use of the departmental organization. 3) Another implication is that department chairpersons should be provided in-service training to assist them with understanding and fulfilling their responsibilities . Additionally, evaluation procedures should be developed based on assigned responsibilities to provide a means of improving effectiveness. 4) A major implication is that by effectively utilizing department chairpersons, principals will experience some relief and assistance . This would allow principals to function more effectively in supervising the instructional program …

This study addressed superintendents' value perceptions of nineteen component parts of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. In addition, the study sought to determine whether relationships existed between superintendents' value perceptions of P.L. 94-142 and (1) school district size and (2) total years experience as a superintendent. As a result of this research, twenty-one conclusions were drawn, consisting of Texas superintendents' perceptions of several aspects of P.L. 94-142 such as: its effectiveness, appropriateness, process hearing costs, funding, time/cost efficiency, feasibility, and ultimate goal. Additionally, there was no significant relationship between the total number years served as a superintendent, or the size of school districts served, and the superintendents' value perceptions concerning P.L. 94-142. In summary, twenty-one conclusions were reached regarding superintendents' value perceptions of P.L. 94-142. A total of seven implications were drawn from the conclusions. Finally, seven recommendations for future study were made.

The findings of this investigation support the following conclusions concerning junior high schools. 1. A positive approach to discipline can be expected to have a significant positive impact on students' opinions of school. 2. A positive approach to discipline can be expected to have a significant positive impact on teachers' opinions of school. 3. A positive approach to discipline can be expected to have a significant positive effect on school atmosphere as evidenced by fewer discipline cases and increased student involvement. 4. A positive approach to discipline will result in increased teacher participation in areas such as sponsorship of student clubs, mini-courses and other extracurricular activities. 5. A school-wide positive approach to discipline will result in increased direct teacher involvement with students. 6. A school-wide positive approach to discipline will result in increased parent-school communication. 7. A school-wide positive approach to discipline will result in fewer truancy problems. 8. A school-wide positive approach to discipline will result in fewer serious behavior problems resulting in Reassignment School or suspension.

The problem of this study was to measure, to compare, and to analyze the amount of stress, as indicated by heartbeat rate, experienced by students during teaching-learning activities in sixth-grade mathematics in a regular classroom. The bases for comparison were the heartbeat rates of selected students as recorded by a cardiotachometer and achievement scores on pretests and posttests dealing with verbal problems. All data were analyzed using the t-tests for the significance of the difference between the means. Findings of the study showed that students did experience increased heartbeat rates while solving verbal problems in sixth-grade mathematics. Also, during the teaching-learning activities, students who solved verbal problems using the realistic approach did not experience more stress than students who solved problems using the standard approach. The standard group did not perform significantly better than the realistic group on the standard pretest-posttest. However, students who were involved in the realistic method achieved better on all types of problems than did students who were taught by the standard method.

The purposes of this study were to ascertain the relationship between the treatment and creativity post-test gains with independent variables of sex, grade, group, and Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills total battery scores. Major conclusions include the following. 1. Girls appear to benefit more than boys from the Multiple Talent Approach to Teaching. 2. Fifth grade students appear to benefit more than third grade students from the Multiple Talent Approach to Teaching. 3. The creativity test score gains favoring the experimental students seem to justify the conclusion that it is potentially possible to enhance creative thinking through a teaching process.

The problem of this study is a comparison of minimum competencies needed for high school graduation as perceived by local professional educators to those perceived by the local school community. The source of data is Community Survey of Essential Student Skills. This survey instrument is a rating of the importance of minimum competencies by 1,931 patrons in the local school community. A total number of 401 professional educators had previously rated these competencies. The following conclusions are based on the analysis of each hypothesis and observations during the study. 1. There is an increasing amount of emphasis in the literature that major perceptual differences exist between professional educators and school communities. Educators need to identify and act upon the perceptions of their patrons. Increased emphasis upon community involvement is supported by findings of this study. For example, the community could be involved in curriculum development for life skills. Patrons, students and parents could serve on advisory committees to school boards. 2. There is evidence that increased communication efforts are needed to narrow the gap between perceptions of educators and school communities. Educators perceived the reading and writing skills in this study as Essential but patrons did not. Better clarification to …

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the components necessary to develop a State Level Management Plan for Vocational Education. As background for developing the plan, research was done to identify what State Directors of Vocational Education perceive to be the best composition of a Management Plan for Vocational Education. Information was obtained concerning which components of the Management Plan were made operational by the state directors. Also, this study determined the relationship between the components which are made operational and the perceived importance of each component. The two specific conclusions resulting from this study are as follows. 1. The perceived importance of the components identified by state directors that should be in a Management Plan is indicative of the components that are functional in the planning process. 2. Related literature and findings indicate that an effective Model State-Level Management Plan for Vocational Education can be developed based on the components perceived by the state directors. Based on the identified perceptions, a Model for a State-Level Management Plan for Vocational Education has been developed. Included in the appendix is an example of the model adapted for implementation in the Department of Occupational Education and Technology in the Texas Education …

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of the gross under representation of females in educational administrative positions. Answers to the following questions were sought. (1) What are the reasons there are not more female administrators in education? (2) What are the reasons that more female educators do not aspire to become administrators? (3) What are effective means by which capable female educators can be encouraged to qualify themselves for positions in educational administration? Findings showed that the participants perceived that administrators are drawn from a predominantly male candidate pool and that women are not encouraged to compete for administrative jobs by their school district administrators. Most effective means for encouraging women to become administrators were encouragement by various people who have personal contact with the teacher, provision of role models, awareness of opportunities through on-the-job work, appointment of women to legitimate rather than token administrative positions, provision of financial encouragement, and administrative internship programs. Conclusions included (1) Women teachers do not perceive that women have chosen administration as a career field to the extent that men have. (2) Women teachers do not perceive women as lacking in ability to become administrators. (3) People who have personal …

The problem of this study was to determine the perceived needs of selected Texas public school administrators in the areas of competence addressed in the PEEL (Performance Evaluation of the Educational Leader) definition of administrative competence. The conclusions included the following: 1. Between levels of administrative activity, differences were indicated in the high indexes of perceived need on the competency statements between the superintendency-level staff members (superintendent and his advisory staff who hold "line" positions) and the building-level administrators (elementary principals, junior high principals, and senior high principals). 2. Superintendency-level staff members tend to exhibit higher perceived needs on the competency statements relating to instruction and student-oriented responsibilities than do building-level administrators. 3. The size of a school district in which an administrator is employed, the number of years that an administrator has in educational administration, and the highest degree earned by an administrator cause no significant differences to appear in the manner in which an administrator assesses his perceived need on a particular competency statement.

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if 4th grade students improve in computation efficiency being taught Chisanbop; (2) to determine if 4th grade students show an increase in application skill efficiency being taught Chisanbop; (3) to determine if 4th grade students show an increase in concept skill efficiency being taught Chisanbop; (4) to determine if 4th grade students show an increase in problem solving skill efficiency being taught Chisanbop; and (5) to determine if 4th grade students show an increase in composite skill efficiency being taught Chisanbop. The conclusions drawn from the findings of this study were that Chisanbop instruction assisted students in the experimental group in scoring significantly higher than students in the control group in application skill efficiency, concept skill efficiency, problem solving skill efficiency, and composite skill efficiency. Other indications are that Chisanbop instruction did not significantly affect students in the experimental group in regard to computational skills. In regard to the composite skills of the students in the upper one-third and the lower one-third of the experimental group, there were no statistically significant differences from their counterparts in the control group. In light of these findings, it is recommended that school districts utilize …

The purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of music and sound effects to recorded stories increased the comprehension and retention of information for fourth grade students. The data were analyzed by a two-factor analysis of variance, with repeated measures for both comprehension and retention tests, for the total population. Each reading level group was analyzed separately by an analysis of variance. Of eight hypotheses tested, six showed a significant difference. The conclusions drawn from this study indicated that the addition of music and sound effects 1) Increases the listening comprehension and retention of fourth grade students; 2) Is more effective for retention for students with a high reading level; and 3) Is more effective for initial listening comprehension for students with low reading level but the effect is not significant for retention.

The purposes of this study were to determine the perceptions selected school personnel had of public school teachers' fulfillment of the code of ethics for Texas educators, if these perceptions differed significantly, and if the code had any significant impact on teachers' behavior. The subjects consisted of board members, superintendents, principals and teachers within seven urban, fourteen suburban, and fifty rural Texas school districts. Subjects’ responses to an instrument derived from the Code of Ethics for Texas Educators provided the data for testing. The findings of this study included the following: 1. Board members perceived teachers as fulfilling the code to be slightly higher than did teachers and principals and significantly higher than did superintendents. 2. Superintendents perceived teachers as fulfilling the code to a lower degree than did the other subjects surveyed. 3. Subjects selected within urban and suburban school districts are in perceptual agreement concerning teachers' fulfillment of the code. 4. Rural board members perceived teachers as fulfilling the code to a slightly higher degree than did rural superintendents. 5. Urban teachers perceived teachers as fulfilling the code to a significantly higher degree than did suburban teachers. 6. The code of ethics was perceived as having low to …

The problem of this study was to determine teachers' perceptions of their school organizational climate, to determine teachers' perceptions of their principal's leadership behavior, and to ascertain the relationships between teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate and principal's leadership behavior. The study had three major purposes. The first was to determine teachers' perceptions of their school organizational climate as measured by the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) across selected variables. The second was to determine teachers' perceptions of their principal's leadership behavior as measured by the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) across selected variables. The third was to ascertain whether significant relationships existed between teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate and their principal's leadership behavior. Based on the analyses of data, the conclusions could be drawn that: 1. The school organizational climates as perceived by secondary school teachers tended to fall into the closed end of the open-closed climate continuum. It is interesting to note that teachers with more years of teaching experience perceived their school organizational climates as being open. 2. All of the teachers in this study perceived their principal as an effective leader. 3. There was a significant relationship between organizational climate and principal's leadership behavior; however, …

The problem of this study was to identify a minimum competency-testing framework for the state of Texas, based upon perceptions of superintendents of schools. Additionally, this study attempted to determine whether relationships existed between school district characteristics and the superintendents' perceptions of minimum competency testing. In summary, eight conclusions were reached with regard to minimum competency testing. Two implications have been presented which would direct the application of a minimum competency framework within the state of Texas. Finally, six recommendations have been made. Five recommendations dealt with additional studies, while one recommendation dealt with the Texas Education Agency's use of results from the five recommended studies.