Differences in School Districts' Decision-Making Processes Before and After Tax Limitation Elections: A Case Study (open access)

Differences in School Districts' Decision-Making Processes Before and After Tax Limitation Elections: A Case Study

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. …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Travis, Rosemary Fechner
System: The UNT Digital Library
Inter-Rater Reliability of the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (open access)

Inter-Rater Reliability of the Texas Teacher Appraisal System

The purpose of this study was to determine the interrater reliability of the Texas Teacher Appraisal System instrument. The performance indicators, criteria, domains, and total instrument were analyzed for inter rater reliability. Five videotaped teaching episodes were viewed and scored by 557 to 881 school administrators trained to utilize the Texas Teacher Appraisal System. The fifty-five performance indicators were analyzed for simple percentage of agreement. The ten criteria, four performance domains, and) the whole instrument were analyzed utilizing Ruder-Richardson Formula 20. Indicators were judged reliable if there was 75 percent or greater agreement on four of the five videotaped exercises. Criteria, domains, and the whole instrument were judged reliable if they yielded a -Ruder-Richardson Formula 20 score of .75 or greater on four of the Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions v/ere drawn: 1. Forty-eight of the fifty-five performance indicators were reliable in evaluation teacher performance. 2. Seven of the performance indicators were unreliable in evaluating teacher performance. 3. None of the ten performance criteria appeared to be reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 4. None of the four performance domains appeared to be reliable in evaluating teacher performance. 5. The whole instrument was reliable in evaluating …
Date: May 1990
Creator: Crain, John Allen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Job Satisfaction of Principals and Perceived Superintendent Leadership Style in Selected Schools in North Central Texas (open access)

Job Satisfaction of Principals and Perceived Superintendent Leadership Style in Selected Schools in North Central Texas

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between principal job satisfaction and the principal perception of superintendent leadership style in six school districts located in North Central Texas.
Date: May 1987
Creator: Brewer, Larna V. (Larna Vee)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationships Between Student Alienation in the Secondary School and Student Attitudes Toward Selected Factors in the School Environment: An Exploratory Correlational Study (open access)

Relationships Between Student Alienation in the Secondary School and Student Attitudes Toward Selected Factors in the School Environment: An Exploratory Correlational Study

The problem of this study was to identify relationships which might exist between variables measuring alienation feelings in high school students and variables measuring attitudes exhibited by those students toward the school environment. Mackey's Adolescent Alienation Scale was used to obtain student scores on three dimensions of alienation—Personal Incapacity, Cultural Estrangement, and Guidelessness. The Minnesota School Attitude Survey (MSAS) was used to obtain scores on attitudes toward factors in the school environment: School Curriculum, Self at School, Others at School, Support Received at School, Pressure at School, and Personal Development at School. Pearson Product moment correlations were computed for each dimension of alienation and the attitude clusters. Correlations were computed for each of nine statistical subgroups which comprised the sample group of 294 students— ninth-, tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade subgroups, male and female subgroups, and Anglo, Black, and Hispanic subgroups. Students in the population for the study were enrolled in a traditionally-organized, comprehensive curriculum, racially-integrated urban high school in a large-city public school district. Findings revealed that the single most influential environmental factor related to student alienation in this study was a feeling of pressure in the school setting. Pressure was related directly both to feelings of Personal Incapacity and …
Date: May 1986
Creator: MacQuigg, Georganna
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Inservice Education Programs for Members of Local Boards of Trustees in Selected Texas School Districts: A Descriptive Study (open access)

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Inservice Education Programs for Members of Local Boards of Trustees in Selected Texas School Districts: A Descriptive Study

The problem of this study was to describe inservice education programs for members of local boards of trustees and to assess the knowledge and attitude toward inservice of participating and non-participating board members. The major purposes of this study were to describe training programs carried on in selected school districts, and to assess and compare the knowledge and attitudes toward inservice education of board members who do and do not participate in those training programs. The project involved the identification of skill areas necessary for board members, the development of instruments to measure knowledge and attitudes toward inservice, the selection of boards of trustees from six school districts for an experimental and a control group, the description of inservice education programs in operation in districts comprising the experimental group, and the assessment of knowledge and attitudes of members of the experimental and control groups.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Meeker, Nancy Ruff
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Economic Effects of the Tax Relief Amendment of 1978 and Subsequent Finance Legislation on the Public School Districts of Texas with an Average Daily Attendance of 500 Pupils or Less (open access)

The Economic Effects of the Tax Relief Amendment of 1978 and Subsequent Finance Legislation on the Public School Districts of Texas with an Average Daily Attendance of 500 Pupils or Less

The primary purpose of the study was to determine if the funding and revenue conditions which existed prior to the passage of the Tax Relief Amendment of 1978 continued after the enactment of public school finance legislation by the Sixty-Sixth and Sixty-Seventh Texas Legislatures. Analyses of four research questions were used to accomplish the purpose of the study.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Brewer, David R. (David Ray)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of Texas Public School Teachers and Principals Regarding Recommendations for Educational Reform (open access)

Perceptions of Texas Public School Teachers and Principals Regarding Recommendations for Educational Reform

The problem of this study was the perceptions of Texas public school teachers and principals regarding recommendations for educational reform made in April, 1983, by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Purposes included determining those perceptions and investigating differences between them, differences among teachers1 perceptions, and differences among principals' perceptions relative to specific categories of recommendations and specific biographic variables. A random sample of 460 teachers and 180 principals, stratified equally among the state's twenty education regions, was selected from the population of public school teachers and principals on computer at the Texas Education Agency, Austin, Texas. The actual number of respondents included 224 teachers and 91 principals, or 49 percent and 51 percent respectively. The instrument used was an attitude scale developed by the investigator. The thirty-nine original recommendations made by the Commission were converted into 118 specific recommendations, more precise and easier to read according to a jury of experts. An. analysis of variance was calculated for hypotheses one, two, five, and six, and t values were calculated for hypotheses three and four. The study was organized into five chapters including the "Introduction," "Review of the Related Literature," "Procedures for Collection and Analysis of Data," "Analysis of …
Date: May 1985
Creator: Sellers, John Paul
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between Leadership Style and Communication Satisfaction of Selected Principals in High Schools with an Enrollment of 125 to 265 Students (open access)

The Relationship Between Leadership Style and Communication Satisfaction of Selected Principals in High Schools with an Enrollment of 125 to 265 Students

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the leadership style of high school principals and their faculties' level of communication satisfaction. The study was also concerned with the relationship of the respondents' biographical data with leadership style and communication satisfaction. Subjects were selected from a population that consisted of thirty—two high schools in the North Central Texas Area. Each school that participated in the study had its faculty respond to the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire and a teacher biographical data survey. Each school's principal responded to the Least Preferred Co—Worker Scale, principals' Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a biographical data survey. The results were then analyzed using simple and multiple regression.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Monaco, James A. (James Anthony)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationships Between College Aptitude, Race, College Hours Completed, and P-PST Scores for Education Students in Texas Public Colleges and Universities (open access)

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

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

A Simulation Study for a Computerized Approach to Teacher Certification Information

The concern that prompted this study is the inadequacy of the present system of handling teacher certification information, especially as it involves the movement of information between Texas' teacher-certifying universities, local school districts, and the Texas Education Agency. Since it was found that no computerized certification system presently exists in any state, the primary purpose of this study was to develop a model for a computerized teacher certification information system; a secondary purpose was to determine the major factors involved in regard to the feasibility of such a model. The model is written from an education administration viewpoint and is limited to in-state elementary and secondary teacher certification, 1972 certification standards, and existing computer capabilities.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Davis, Buddy L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attitudes of Teachers Toward Women as School Administrators in Phisanulok Province Thailand (open access)

Attitudes of Teachers Toward Women as School Administrators in Phisanulok Province Thailand

The problem with which this study is concerned is to determine the attitudes of teachers toward female public school administrators in the province of Phisanulok, Thailand. The purposes of this study are (a) to identify the attitudes of public school teachers on the elementary and secondary levels toward women in administrative positions; (b) to identify whether or not there are significant differences between the attitudes of men teachers toward women in public school administrative positions and the attitudes of women teachers toward women in public school administrative positions according to age, level of education, years of experience, marital status, and previous experience working for a woman administrator; and (c) to identify whether or not there are significant differences between the attitudes of elementary school teachers toward women in public school administrative positions and the attitudes of secondary school teachers toward women in public school administrative positions according to age, level of education, years of experience, marital status, and previous experience working for a woman administrator.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Bunthirasmi, Somphong
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of an Instrument for the Evaluation of School Administrative Staff in the Republic of Korea (open access)

Development of an Instrument for the Evaluation of School Administrative Staff in the Republic of Korea

This study develops an instrument for evaluating the effectiveness of educational administrative performance in Korea. The purposes of this study are to determine the attitudes of 272 respondent Korean school administrators (elementary, middle, and high school principals and vice principals) toward the purposes of administrative evaluation, the elements of an administrative evaluation system, and the competencies that are needed for successful administrative performance. The survey instrument used is a two-part questionnaire that addresses the purposes and elements of administrative evaluation and administrative competencies. Four research questions are answered both by comparing the responses of position and school groups (utilizing a two-way analysis of variance) and rank ordering each item within each category by position and school groups.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Kim, Jung Han
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship of Bureaucratic Structure to Communication Satisfaction of Teachers in a Suburban Texas School District (open access)

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

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of bureaucratic structure to communication satisfaction of teachers in a suburban school district in north Texas. This study compared seven components of communication satisfaction of teachers in Authoritarian schools with those of teachers in Professional schools.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Williams, Everett M. (Everett Moore)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Changes in Perception of Organizational Climate by Elementary Teachers and Principals During One Academic Year in Established Elementary Schools (open access)

A Study of the Changes in Perception of Organizational Climate by Elementary Teachers and Principals During One Academic Year in Established Elementary Schools

The purpose of this study was to (1) report changes in elementary teachers' and principals' perceptions of organizational climate as climate was perceived by (a) elementary teachers in individual schools, (b) elementary teachers as a total group, (c) elementary principals in individual schools, and (d) elementary principals as a total group. The subjects in the study included 13 elementary principals and 247 elementary teachers. Each principal had a least two years tenure in the elementary school. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) was administered at the beginning of the school year, at midyear, and at the end of the school year.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Herndon, John P. (John Pratt)
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness (open access)

An Analysis of Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness

The study was designed to determine and compare the perceptions of various groups with regard to the most and the last important characteristics and behaviors of effective teachers. The population for the study included (a) four groups of high school graduates selected at five year intervals beginning with 1980, (b) four groups of high school dropouts selected from the same five year intervals, (c) high school teachers, (d) high school principals and central office administrators, and (f) teacher educators. The instrument used to determine perceptions was a 28 item Q-sort. The items of the Q-sort were developed from a review of the literature on teacher effectiveness and from a review of the criteria for the evaluation of teacher effectiveness as used by the school district in which the study was conducted. The Q-sort items were deemed valid by a panel of teacher educators.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Adams, Byrtie Baker
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions of Texas Public School Superintendents on Occupational Sources of Stress (open access)

An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions of Texas Public School Superintendents on Occupational Sources of Stress

The purpose of this study was to determine the stress factors which create the most difficulty for the superintendent; to determine which, if any, groups are most responsible for generating these stress factors? to determine if variables in the personal life of the individual superintendent are related to the amount of stress felt by him; and to suggest ways in which the amount of stress may be reduced. The population of this study was the school superintendents in Texas. The instrument used in this study was a two-part questionnaire consisting of thirty-five items designed to elicit perceptions of superintendents toward those situations that were most bothersome on their job.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Myers, Thomas C. (Thomas Clay)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Merit Pay for Classroom Teachers (open access)

Merit Pay for Classroom Teachers

The purposes of this study were to identify factors commonly used in teacher merit pay plans, to compare perceptions of administrators and teachers concerning these factors, and to determine the elements that should be used in a teacher merit pay plan. A review of the literature was conducted to identify factors commonly used in teacher merit pay plans. A questionnaire was utilized to gather data pertaining to the perceptions of administrators and teachers concerning these factors.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Pruitt, Sid C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Relationships Between Leader Behavior of Private Secondary School Principals and Teacher Morale in Bangkok, Thailand (open access)

A Study of the Relationships Between Leader Behavior of Private Secondary School Principals and Teacher Morale in Bangkok, Thailand

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between principals' leader behavior and teacher morale in the private secondary schools of Bangkok, Thailand. This study also determined whether significant relationships based upon the factors of age, sex, educational level, years of teaching experience, salary, and size of school existed between the morale of teachers and their perceptions of the principals' leader behavior. The sample of the study was comprised of 400 teachers in private"secondary schools in Bangkok, Thailand. Each teacher was asked to complete the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire (PTO), an instrument designed an instrument designed to identify a principal's leader behavior which consists of two dimensions: initiating structure and consideration. Of the 400 returned questionnaires, 399 were usable. The statistical treatments applied to the data thus obtained included the Pearson product moment, Multiple regression, and Canonical correlation. A .05 level of significance was the criterion for accepting or rejecting each hypothesis.
Date: May 1983
Creator: Sinprasong, Sukanya
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Comparative Relationship of Adequate Attendance and Inadequate Attendance to Grade Point Average (open access)

The Comparative Relationship of Adequate Attendance and Inadequate Attendance to Grade Point Average

This study was concerned with the comparative relationship of attendance to grade point average. The first of five purposes was to determine if there was a relationship between adequate attendance and grade point average. The second and third purposes concerned the relationship between attendance and grade point average among students from different localities. The fourth and fifth purposes were to determine if there was a relationship between attendance and grade point average among students of different sex.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Jones, Will Stevens, 1948-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Determination, Using Super's Career Development Theory, of the Nursing Career Preferences of Twelfth Grade Students in Health Occupation Courses in Texas (open access)

A Determination, Using Super's Career Development Theory, of the Nursing Career Preferences of Twelfth Grade Students in Health Occupation Courses in Texas

This study's purpose (May, 1980) was to determine nursing career preferences of twelfth-grade students in health occupation courses in Texas. Super's theory of career development provided the theoretical framework. Data collected via researcher-developed Nursing Career Survey (NCS) administered to students and a teacher questionnaire concerning course content were analyzed and reported by frequencies and percentages. The population (n=379): females, ethnic groups (Whites, Blacks, and Mexican-Americans), all levels of social classes (I/II, III, and IV/V), and preferrers of VN, ADN, Diploma, and BSN nursing programs.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Fabricius, Valeda C. (Valeda Clareen)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Grade Retention on the Academic Achievement of Elementary School Pupils (open access)

The Effects of Grade Retention on the Academic Achievement of Elementary School Pupils

This study was undertaken in order to assess the effects of elementary school grade retention on the academic achievement of pupils. For each analysis in the study, norm-referenced standardized achievement tests were used as the dependent variable. Percentile rank score means in reading, language, and mathematics served as achievement indicators.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Powell, Edwin Dan
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship Between Tax Relief Implementation and Public School Finance in the State of Texas (open access)

The Relationship Between Tax Relief Implementation and Public School Finance in the State of Texas

The problem of this study is to determine whether or not Texas public schools lost revenue when constitutionally mandated tax relief measures were implemented. The study also traces the evolution of tax relief legislation in Texas from 1969 to 1980. Superintendents from randomly selected school districts identified educational program adjustments required if revenues were reduced. Superintendents also identified educational and property tax issues of concern to district constituents.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Johnson, Scherry F. (Scherry Faye)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Attitudes of Classroom Teachers in Selected North Texas School Districts Relative to Collective Bargaining (open access)

The Attitudes of Classroom Teachers in Selected North Texas School Districts Relative to Collective Bargaining

The problem with which this study is concerned was that of developing an understanding of teacher attitudes toward collective bargaining. The investigation was initiated so that members of school boards, administrators, and those associated with professional organizations could have the needed knowledge to permit them to deal realistically with employer-employee relations. There were two purposes for conducting this study. First, an effort was made to determine the specific attitudes these teachers possess toward collective bargaining. The second purpose was to analyze the teachers' background characteristics to determine whether classifications such as sex, academic degree, experience, assignment level, professional memberships, or age have an impact on these attitudes.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Nichols, Jeffery Brian
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Role of the Elementary School Counselor in Texas as Perceived by Elementary Principals and Elementary School Counselors (open access)

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

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