Education Commons^™

Reader-Text Match: The Interactive Effect Of Reader Ability And Text Difficulty On Comprehension Monitoring, Kathryn Maelou Baxter

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of text difficulty on the comprehension monitoring of above- and below-average readers. The most of the good reader/poor reader comprehension monitoring research, students have been given identical passages. Consequently, the poor readers must read text that is relatively more difficult for them than it is for the better readers.

In this study, 36 fourth graders, 18 above-average readers and 18 below-average readers, were given text on three levels of difficulty, as determined by the Fry readability formula: (a) a second-grade passage for all students, used to reflect the standard practice …

A Study Of Teaching About Religions In Selected Iowa Public High Schools, Douglas W. Sprague

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated public high school teachers perceptions about religions in the curriculum, and practices of public high school teachers when teaching about religions in public high school classrooms. The study used a modified version of the analytical induction model of qualitative research presented by (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982). Three pre-selected high schools in the state of Iowa were identified by the researcher for study. A common departmental structure was used to identify teachers from across the curriculum as participants in the study. The schools were of three different enrollment sizes. Thirty-four teachers who taught 79 different courses made up …

Principals' Perceptions About Regular Education Teachers' Attitudes Toward Integration Of Students With Handicaps, Susan Kay Posekany Sherwood

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As the movement to integrate students with handicaps into regular education classrooms continues, regular education teachers are a critical component of the successful implementation of the integration process. Because building principals must assume responsibility for selecting the teachers who will be assigned integrated classrooms, this investigation determined the degree to which principals were able to predict the attitudes of regular education teachers toward the integration of students with handicaps.

From public school districts in a Midwestern state, 85 pairs of teachers and principals were randomly selected from three educational levels: (a) elementary, (b) middle, and (c) secondary. The data were …

A Description And Explanation Of Teacher-Talk During Kindergarten Sharing Time, Debra Louise Semm Elliott

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Teacher-talk during kindergarten Sharing Time was described and explained through a qualitative study of 3 kindergarten teachers. Transcripts of 12 teacher interviews and six Sharing Time observations formed the basis of the study. Results showed that there appears to be a mismatch between teachers' stated goals and actual practice. Teacher-talk dominated much of Sharing Time and occurred in a short discourse style. Categories of teacher-talk were developed through constant comparative analysis. Two broad categories of questions and comments were further divided. Questions fell into four categories: information-seeking, clarification, management, and off-topic. Information-seeking questions were further classified as low-level literal, high-level …

Developmental Relationships Between Students’ Attitudes Toward Reading And Reading Achievement In Grades 1 Through 8, Nancy White

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate various developmental relationships between the attitudes of students toward reading and their reading achievement with the intention of providing additional information concerning attitudes and attitude testing within school programs. The relationship between reading achievement and attitude toward reading over grade levels, and the relationship between students' attitude toward reading achievement according to gender and participation in special programs was also investigated.

The population of the study consisted of 876 students in Grades 1 through 8 from a white, middle-class rural community. The instrument used to measure the attitudes of students toward reading …

The Maturation Of Public Relations Degree Programs--Ten Years In Retrospect: Struggles; Experiences And Analyses Of A Communication-Based Pr Program., Jon Hall, Pamela Edwards

Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the historical experience of a new public relations program housed in a speech communication department (rather than in a journalism department; which is traditional); discusses some of the internal and external struggles experienced in the implementation and administration of the program; and reports on the placement of its graduates. The program; at the University of Northern Iowa's (UNI) department of Communication and Theatre Arts; was implemented in 1978 after five years of planning. The program received support from the administration but faced problems because of its phenomenal growth. The paper describes this support and a number of …

Problems Encountered With The Readability Of Social Studies Books, Peggy Drinovsky

Graduate Research Papers

Readability of social studies texts has been and continues to be a concern of teachers when choosing a new series to use in the school. Teachers using readability formulas have come away feeling dissatisfied, as there are always students who should be able to read the book but cannot, or ones who should not be able to read the book but can, according to the formulas used. Obtaining the readability of a given text is quick and easy but it diagnoses the text rather than the student, as it gives the grade level of the text not the reading level …

A Survey Of Interdisciplinary Teaming In Iowa Middle Level Public Schools, Fred A. Willis Jr.

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to analyze the concept of interdisciplinary teaming in Iowa middle level public schools grades 6-8. Of importance to the study was a comparison of desirability, implementation, teacher and administrator attitudes, level of use and student self-concept in middle level school using, and schools not using interdisciplinary teaming.

The study utilized five specific instruments for gathering data. The demographic survey and innovation configuration checklist ascertained the components of interdisciplinary teaming and determined whether a school was a user or nonuser of the concept. The Stages of Concern survey and Level of Use interview developed for …

Mentoring Relationships During Student Teaching, Richard G. Stahlhut

Faculty Publications

This study sought to find out if mentoring styles were used by cooperating teachers as perceived by student teachers during their clinical field experience. After a specific mentoring model was constructed; the objectives of the study were to identify leadership behaviors cooperating teachers used; to determine if any of the inferred mentoring styles that incorporated the leadership behaviors tested were dominant; and to determine if any of these leadership behaviors or mentoring styles influenced a student teacher's success as measured by a final evaluation checklist. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII was administered to 212 University of Northern Iowa …

Manual Training: Its Role In The Development Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Educational System, Gerald Wayne Coy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the history of manual training within the Seventh-day Adventist educational system and determine its relationship to the development of manual training in the public schools of America. Consideration was also given to the present status of manual training within the Adventist system.

The research design was historical in form, and data were gathered covering three special areas: (a) the development of manual training in American public schools; (b) the establishment of Seventh-day Adventist education; and (c) the present status of technology education (the great-grandchild to manual training) within Adventist secondary education.

Research …

The Effects Of Language Variables On The Reading Comprehension Of Hearing-Impaired Children, Nancy L. Robbins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Hearing-impaired children rarely learn to read well. They suffer no apparent deficit in perceptual skill or basic intelligence. Their difficulty appears to be linguistic in origin. But research on the reading ability of the deaf is inadequate to specify the precise nature of their linguistic disability.

The deaf lack knowledge of English phonology. Current reading instruction programs for them a.re based on the assumption that this is the cause of their reading problems. Recent research indicates, however, that phoneme-grapheme correspondences contribute little to the reading process and that phonics instruction may actually impede learning to read. It is unlikely that …

Instructional Role Of The Media Specialist, Patricia S. Adams

Graduate Research Papers

A study was made to investigate the number of elementary school media specialists part1e1pat1n.g 1n the instructional program. Additional problems of the study were to further investigate what instructional tasks were performed and what values were assigned to the instructional tasks in a total media program.

A survey instrument was distributed to one hundred fifteen Iowa elementary school media specialists in April, 1975. The instrument was used to assess the following, (1) if the recipient was an elementary media specialist employed full time in one attendance center; (2) if the recipient participated with the teaching staff in planning, designing, implementing, …

Law-Focused Education: Iowa, University Of Northern Iowa

Faculty Publications

This law-focused resource booklet is intended to help secondary level students learn about the civil law portion of Iowa's judicial system. The materials are designed to help students understand how to deal with conflict in a peaceful and orderly manner and how to cope with decision making in personal law situations as related to the family; the market place; the court of law; and the world of work. Section one; comprising about one half of the guide; contains objectives; case studies for student use; and questions for discussion on the following topics: civil law; court procedures; injury and property damage; …

The Predictive Relationship Of Tutorial Teaching Competencies On Group Instruction Performance For Prospective Special Education Teachers, Sarah Jane Frudden

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study was to determine if the skills acquired by trainees in the tutorial experience of the University of Northern Iowa competency-based program act as predictors in the group instruction experience.

This end was accomplished by comparing the scores obtained in the Phase I individual performance criteria against the composite score received in Phase II. A Pearson product moment correlation coefficient analysis was used to determine which individual Phase I criteria correlated significantly with the Phase II composite score. A multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to determine which criteria most highly contributed to the variance of …

There's Nothing New Under The Sun, Geraldine E. Larocque

Faculty Publications

The attempt to unite theory and practice in the education of English teachers has taken many forms: courses in which theoreticians attempt to illuminate the practice of professional teachers or student teachers; situations in which teacher-education faculty cooperate with teachers; student teachers; and the community; in order to make programs more responsive to community needs; and instruction in which school-based apprenticeship is stressed. Until research can provide a firm base for the structure and content of methods courses; professionals must rely on their own judgment as to the placement of emphasis. An adaptation of Lee J. Cronbach's research paradigm; used …

The Effects Of A Performance-Based Training Program On Subsequent Teacher Effectiveness As Rated By School Principals, Joel Christian Ortéga

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Introduction. The Performance-Based Teacher Education movement is attracting an increasing number of followers. Although there are many concerns yet to be revised, the potential advantages render this one of the most promising educational movements of recent times. Since the movement is somewhat in its beginning stages, the major impact of this type of program is yet to be determined.

Problem. Many teacher education institutions, recognizing the problems that are in the traditional approaches to teacher education, have already begun to study and change their programs and courses toward a Performance-Based Teacher Education program. This being a relatively new approach to …

Iowa Teacher Perceptions Of K-6 Articulation In Large School Districts Employing K-6 Or K-12 Curriculum Directors, Dorothy Kessler Engstrom

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was concerned with finding out what perceptions K-6 classroom teachers would express about K-6 articulation within their districts. The study was also concerned with finding out what difference, if any, existed between the perceptions of teachers from districts with fulltime K-6 curriculum directors and the perceptions of teachers in districts with full-time K-12 curriculum directors.

It was expected that teachers in both groups of school districts would express the need for more K-6 articulation awareness and activities within their districts, but that teachers in districts employing a K-6 curriculum director would indicate that their districts were doing more …

Innovations In Industrial Arts Teacher: Education--Curriculum--Facilities--Methodology, Alvin E. Rudisill

Faculty Publications

The University of Northern Iowa Department of Industrial Technology is involved in a three-phase curriculum development project along with new facility design and construction and implementation of instructional innovations. The report reflects decisions made to date in the process; including the completed phase of developing concept-based cluster courses to serve all majors in the department; including education majors. Second and third phases will focus on advanced technical courses; the professional sequence; and the graduate program. Considered in the report are factors influencing industrial arts teacher education at all levels; such as components of the industrial arts education program; State certification …

Knowledge And Attitudes Pertaining To Sex Education Courses : A Survey Of A Selected Group Of High School Students, Rebecca Sue Barrionuevo

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate high school students' knowledge and attitudes pertaining to sex education courses. Specifically, the following questions were posed relative to the student's sex and his/her sex education background (in school):

1. How accurately will senior high school students match a given list of eleven sex topics with their respective standard definitions as stated in The Encyclopedia of Sexual Behavior? 2. Given a list of sex topics and a second list of possible sources of information, what "first" sources of sex information will most frequently be identified by senior high school students? 3. To …

A Survey Of Career-Vocational Development Practices In The Junior High School Science Curriculum Of Selected Iowa Schools, David Eugene Mitchel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The objectives of this study were (1) to reveal the status of career-vocational development practices taking place now in the junior high school science departments of Iowa, (2) to describe the type of career-vocational development experiences being offered to approximately 55% of Iowa pupils in grades 7, 8, and 9, and (3) to identify the amount of emphasis being placed upon career-vocational development education at these grade levels of the science curriculum.

The principal method used was a questionnaire survey. This was carried out by mailing a 74 item questionnaire to 137 junior high principals. Replies totaling 119 were returned …

Professional Courses For Teacher Certification, Clifford Bishop, George W. Denemark, Henry J. Hermanowicz, William E. Drake

Faculty Publications

The three lectures comprising this document are introduced with a foreword by Clifford L. Bishop and an introduction by William H. Dreier; both of the Department of Education and Psychology which sponsored the Central State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) seminar on the professional program for undergraduates leading to teacher certification and the B.A. or B.S. degree. The lecture by George W. Denemark presents "A Proposed Common Professional Core for the Preparation of Teachers." He includes discussion of the context for curriculum planning and of the broad range of objectives for teacher education. In his discussion of "Ideal Experiences Needed in …