Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of "Perceived Success" And "Union Militancy" On The Opinions Of School Principals, Michael Roy Williamson

Dissertations

The impact of the growth of teacher union militancy on the leadership process in public schools is not reflected by the organizational models commonly applied to schools. The impact of teacher unions on the leadership process, consequently, has not been widely studied.

A Procedure For Monitoring Individualized Education Programs For The Handicapped, George T.L. Holt

Dissertations

Public Law 94-142 mandates that each handicapped child have an individualized education program (IEP) which must be based upon the unique needs of the child. Federal legislation requires that IEPs be developed and implemented if state and local education agencies are to receive federal funds. A review of literature indicated that the procedures currently being used to monitor the IEP mandate do not have documented validity or reliability. The purposes of this investigation were to develop, validate, establish reliability, and field test the utility of a checklist designed to monitor IEPs.

To establish content validity, recognized individuals in the area …

Needs Assessments For Technical Assistance: A Conceptual Overview And Comparison Of Three Strategies, Tanya M. Suarez

Dissertations

Technical assistance agencies designed to provide assistance to social programs and projects which have been created by legislation are a relatively recent organizational phenomenon in the United States.

Developing A Verbal Repertoire Using Sign Language And Skinner's Analysis Of Verbal Behavior, Mark L. Sundberg

Dissertations

A series of experiments on the use of sign language with hearing, non-vocal, mentally impaired individuals was conducted. Several researchers have shown that such persons can acquire signs; but in a recent review of the literature (Pulton & Algozzine, 1980), the authors conclude that there was no evidence that a "functional communication system" was acquired and in only one case had manual signing become a primary mode of communication. The problem may be related to the issue that most of the previous work on sign training has been based on traditional programs of language instruction. Such programs often place an …

An Analysis Of Cadmium And Lead Uptake In Hydroponically Grown Corn Seedlings, Julie Jones Medlin

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze selected growth parameters of hydroponically grown corn seedlings (Zea mays) in relation to the uptake of the heavy metals, lead and cadmium. The corn seedlings were treated with various concentrations of lead and cadmium at different levels of pH, and phosphate and ferric ion concentrations. Root and shoot lengths were measured before and after heavy metal treatment to determine the relative growth in the different treatment solutions. Wet and dry weights were also obtained. The plant material was digested with nitric and perchloric acids in preparation for analysis for heavy metal content …

A Test Of A Sociological Causal Model Of Alcohol And Deviant Drinking Patterns, Ruby E. Ivens

Dissertations

There is no widely accepted comprehensive sociological theory of the etiology of alcohol use or misuse. More generally, there are frames of reference in which are found statements about the nature of the relationship between societies or groups of people and specific drinking behaviors. This study will present a theoretical model which is derived from available descriptive literature and empirical research.

The review of pertinent literature reveals two general social factors that seem to be associated with drinking patterns. First, members of a society are socialized from an early age to drinking norms and behavior. In a simple society socialization …

Feasibility Study For A Comprehensive Community College System In The United Arab Emirates, Kadhim Abdul Rassool-Ali

Dissertations

The problem in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) is the shortage of trained personnel in technical and middle management among its nationals as demonstrated by the importing of 98% of its labor force from abroad.

The purpose of the study was to determine if the community college system, as designed in the United States, would be feasible in the U.A.E. in assisting the government to meet the demand for trained middle level technicians and managers. This system with its open door policy has been very successful in the United States and has extended higher education opportunities to the public from …

A Study Of Four Year State University Related Foundations, Timothy Arthur Reilley

Dissertations

The Purpose. The purpose of this study was to define the organizational and operational structures of four year state university related foundations. An additional purpose was to compile a listing of all four year state university related foundations in the United States.

Methodology. Data were obtained through the use of a questionnaire mailed to all four year state universities in the United States. The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part one included a series of three demographic questions which identified the respondent at a certain level in each of three categories, number of students, kinds of degrees and number …

Differential Implementation Of A Performance Objective Directed At The Reduction Of Suspensions At Five Desegregated Junior High Schools, Walden A. Baskerville Jr.

Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the efforts of a desegregated urban public school district to reduce the incidence of student suspension over a three-year period. More specifically, it examined the efforts and results five middle school staffs achieved in reducing the incidence of student suspension from school as a method of dealing with disruptive behavior.

Category I suspensions, i.e., suspensions resulting from disruptive behavior not requiring legal action, constituted the data base for the study. These data were obtained from central office files maintained by schools for the three-year period 1972-75 following a directive issued by the superintendent of …

A Discrete Trial Choice Procedure For Assessing The Periodic Equivalent Of Aperiodic Ratio Schedules, Michael Joseph Boivin

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Alternative Diffusion Channels And Alternative Organizational Positions Of Receivers Of Diffusion Information Upon Receiver Understanding And Practitioner Utilization Of An Educational Innovation, Howard T. Major

Dissertations

This study investigated selected effects of diffusing an educational innovation via one of two diffusion channels, either print or dyadic exchange, to one of two organizational positions of the receivers of diffusion information, either the building principal or the building media professional. The selected effects included a cognitive effect and a behavioral effect. The cognitive effect consisted of receivers' understanding of the innovation and the principles of its effective utilization. This understanding of the innovation was measured with a 10-item instrument developed for this study. The behavioral effect consisted of an actual utilization of the innovation by individuals in the …

Effect Of Participation In Cooperative Education On Level Of Career Maturity Attitudes Of Senior Students In Selected Muskegon County High Schools, William Howard Pendell

Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the effect of participation in a cooperative education work-experience program on the level of vocational maturity attitudes of senior high school students. The post-test only, control group design was utilized. A sample of randomly selected senior students from 11 Muskegon County, Michigan, high schools volunteered to be participants for the study. This sample population consisted of one control group of 98 students with no previous cooperative education experience, one experimental group of 100 students with 1 year of cooperative education experience, and a second experimental group of 100 students with 2 years of experience …

Relationship Of Educational Values And Attitudes Toward "Double Sessions" In A Rural Community, Patrick Clayton Harrington

Dissertations

The Purpose. The purpose of the study was to examine a community currently experiencing a double-sessions school organization. The citizens, students, graduates, and staff of the Yale School District, Yale, Michigan, were surveyed to determine their attitudes toward double sessions and their opinions on selected educational values. The data were examined to determine if there was a direct relationship between the opinions held on these selected values and agreement-disagreement with double sessions and to determine differences among participants regarding their opinions.

An additional purpose was to determine if there were any differences among eligible voters regarding their attitudes toward eliminating …

The Structured Meeting System: A Procedure For Supervising The Completion Of Nonrecurring Tasks, Barbara J. Fulton

Dissertations

Supervision of delegated tasks is often a source of organizational problems, because workers do not complete tasks as efficiently as managers expect. Analysis of the work setting suggests that behaviors of both supervisors and supervisees are governed by overlapping contingencies; different supervisor behaviors probably result in different contingencies for supervisee behavior. The analysis also reveals two categories of tasks: recurring tasks and nonrecurring tasks, with the latter type requiring frequent supervisor attention to assign new tasks and monitor previous ones. Contingencies for nonrecurring tasks were targeted for study in the present research, because of indications by managers that productivity and …

Effects Of Thioridazine (Mellaril) On Titrating Delayed Matching To Sample Performance In Mentally Retarded Adults, Timothy Theodore Wysocki

Dissertations

Four mentally retarded adults participated twice daily in assessments of their performance of a titrating delayed matching to sample discrimination. Trials began with the center of three response panels illuminated by one of three colors. Depression of the center panel terminated the light on the center panel and, following a delay, resulted in the presentation of two comparison colors on the side panels. Pressing the side panel illuminated by the same color which had been presented on the center panel yielded a reinforcer, while incorrect responses produced a brief timeout. The delay between depression of the center response panel and …

The Effects Of Sex-Role Attitudes On Womens' Self-Actualization And Life Satisfaction, Mary Ann Vigilanti

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sex-role attitudes on levels on self-actualization and satisfaction with life among a group of randomly selected women. This study also explored the relationships between occupational primacy as defined through paid employment and homemaker on overall life satisfaction, and employment commensurate with education/training and its relationship to self-actualization. This relationship between overall life satisfaction and measures of self-actualization was also investigated.

Data was collected from 264 women of which 236 responses were included for final hypotheses testing. All subjects were women 18 years and older who lived within the City …

Creating Deviance: The Collective Stigmatization Of Cigarette Smoking, Ronald Jay Troyer

Dissertations

This study focused on the changing norms regarding cigarette smoking. Banned by a number of states in the early 1930s, the behavior was socially and legally accepted during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s only to once again become the object of public approbation and official sanctions in the 1970s. Examining events in both time periods, this research attempted to determine how and why this behavior came to be defined as deviant.

In explaining the negative public attitudes toward and official restrictions of the habit some commentators had cited the medical evidence that smoking has deleterious health consequences while others had …

Grievance Procedures In Teacher Negotiated Contracts In Selected School Districts In The State Of Michigan And Frequency Of Grievances Filed, Patricia Carr Portwine

Dissertations

The study sought to relate elements of grievance procedures contained in Michigan teacher negotiated contracts to grievance frequency. This was an attempt to identify grievance procedure elements that contribute to excessive or unsatisfactory use of the procedure.

The elements in the grievance procedures were identified and the following research questions were developed: (1) Is the number of steps in the procedure related to the number of grievances filed? (2) Is the board of education step of direct appeal related to the number of grievances? (3) Does the board of education, as the ultimate step of appeal, affect the number of …

An Analysis Of The Decision-Making Process Used By Chief Student Personnel Administrators, Lawrence Anthony Pfaff

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the decision-making (DM) process used by chief student personnel administrators within universities from the perspective of both the chief administrator and his/her subordinates. The relation between DM method and several situational variables was examined. A comparison was made between the chief student personnel administrators' perceptions of their DM methods and the subordinates' perceptions of the chiefs' DM methods, and subordinates' perceived and preferred DM methods were compared. Also, the chief administrators' DM methods were studied in relation to: the importance of the situation as judged by subordinates and chiefs; span of control …

The Repeated Acquisition Procedure As A Means Of Analyzing Rule-Governed Behavior, Margaret E. Peterson

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Development And Use Of A Film On Public Art In The City Of Kalamazoo, Michigan, For The Purpose Of Building Community, Sesta V. Peekstok

Dissertations

The goals of this study were: (a) to produce and test the impact of a film on public art in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and (b) to demonstrate through development and use of a film on public art how public art can contribute to the building of community.

A survey of public art in the United States suggests that people's commitment to their community can be influenced by their relationship with the public art in the community. In 1965 Congress created the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities. Stimulated by that support over the past 15 years, works of art, funded …

Stereochemistry And Circular Dichorism Of Some Cobalt(Iii) Complexes With Ethylenediamine-N, N’-Diacetic Acid And N, N'-Dimethylethylenediamine-N ,N'-Diacetic Acid, Godfrey Chinenye Mbah

Dissertations

Two series of complexes trans-{Co(LL')EDDA}('+) and trans-{Co(LL')DMEDDA}('+), LL' = Meen, 2-Mepn, udmeen, sdmeen, R-dmepn were prepared. EDDA was reacted with cobalt(II) carbonate and the resulting solution combined with the diamine of choice. For the DMEDDA complexes the ligand DMEDDA was first prepared by adding neutralized chloroacetic acid to sdmeen and precipitating out the ligand as the barium salt. The DMEDDA complexes were prepared by reacting the barium salt first with cobalt(II) sulfate and then with the diamines listed above except udmeen. The DMEDDA complexes with R-pn were also prepared. For both series the oxidation of the Co(II) to Co(III) was …

A Comparison Of Three Operational Definitions Of Job Satisfaction, Thomas J. Kuieck

Dissertations

The major purpose of the study was to provide to educational leaders information pertinent to the selection of job satisfaction instruments. The Need Satisfaction Questionnaire created by Porter, as modified by Trusty and Sergiovanni, and the Quality of Employment Job Satisfaction Survey developed by personnel from the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan were compared with the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by Weiss, Dawis, England, and Lofquist to investigate the concurrent validity of the instruments. The study focused primarily on the psychometric aspects of the Need Satisfaction Questionnaire, an instrument used by earlier investigators to assess individuals' …

Professionals, Bureaucrats, And Radicals: A Study In The Sociology Of Social Workers, David Russell Joslyn

Dissertations

This study seeks to initiate a much needed reassessment of social work practice. Recognizing the criticisms and contributions of recent radical critics of social work, a theoretical model is constructed. This model incorporates aspects of both the professional and the radical perspectives. Specifically, the model focuses upon social work treatment planning as the dependent variable. Ideological, organizational structure, and perceptual variables are assessed as potential determinants of treatment planning.

A questionnaire was mailed to a sample drawn randomly from a list of certified social workers in Michigan. This selected sample received three mailings which resulted in a response rate of …

An Examination Of Potential Problems That May Be Encountered In The Administration Of An Educational Corporation In The Management Of Medical Doctors, Kathy Anne Hulst House

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine various management problems that may exist in the administrative setting when the group being managed has as much or more education and/or experience than the manager. Specifically, the nature of medical training and education in medical schools was proposed to affect the groups of medical doctors, both salaried by the corporation and volunteers, in the managerial setting when the manager was required to operate the educational facility as a business in the profit-making sense as opposed to the hospital setting where the doctors may be less concerned about cost factors. The congruence …

An Investigation Of "Spirituotherapy": An Approach To Christian Counseling, Robert Q. Hendershott

Dissertations

The Christian counseling field as known today is a relatively new professional practice. Little evaluative research has been undertaken on the various counseling approaches which corporately make up the Christian counseling movement. This research studied one of these new Christian approaches, "Spirituotherapy" (Christ-centered counseling).

Spirituotherapy's thrust and teachings are directed towards individuals who are seeking biblical answers for the problems for which they are seeking psychological help. This study sought to identify what effect Spirituotherapy had on past clients of Grace Fellowship International (GFI), the organization pioneering Spirituotherapy. The clients' perceptions of the effect of counseling at GFI was the …

The Development Of A Special Education Procedures Manual, Duane H. Greenwold

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a special education procedural manual which: (1) Has been validated and field tested. (2) Informs special education administrators through the use of sequential procedures of the statutory and regulatory requirements for implementing Public Law 94-142 and Public Law 198. (3) Provides a model for procedural implementation which ensures legal compliance to Public Law 94-142 and Public Law 198. (4) Assists special education administrators as a resource in examining the decision-making process as it relates to special education program implementation.

The procedural manual was developed by special education professionals responsible for program implementation …

A Limnological Investigation Of A Tropical Fresh-Water Ecosystem: The Belize River, Belize, Central America, Victor J. Gonzalez

Dissertations

The limnology of the Belize River, from the region of Spanish Lookout to the region of Belize City, was investigated from 1977 through 1979. The investigation was done primarily during the months of May through August, covering the two seasonal changes--wet and dry--that occur in this tropical region. The investigation sought to describe various parameters of the Belize River so as to gain an understanding of this tropical fresh-water ecosystem and to provide basic information needed for the development of management programs.

Water samples were collected from eight stations and analyzed for acidity, alkalinity, carbon dioxide, chloride, sodium chromate, hexavalent …

A Strategy For Inservice Education Of Junior-High/Middle-School Science Teachers In The Grand Rapids Public School System, David Andrew Degraaf

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Method For Community Education Directors To Identify Activities Which Are Potential Time Wasters, Frank Glenn Cookingham

Dissertations

This study was designed for three purposes. First, an instrument, called the Time Allocation Inventory (TAI), was developed for community education directors to use in estimating the effects of allocating time to activities often classified as time wasters. Second, the reliability and types of information produced by two methods of scoring responses to the instrument were compared. Third, the effects of two different sets of conditions on responses to the instrument were investigated.

A time waster was defined as an activity which, in relation to another activity, is less effective in accomplishing desired goals or objectives within a specified time …