Education Commons^™

Classroom Environment And Teachers' Beliefs: The Effects Of Retention And Transition Room Instruction On Student Reading Achievement, Carla Rae Coleman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to evaluate gains in reading achievement made by students retained in first grade or placed in a pre-first transition room. In addition, the study examined the instructional environment of the retained and transition room students. There were four major questions which guided the study: (a) Do students in rural schools retained in first grade or placed in a pre-first grade transition room demonstrate improved reading performance during their final year in first grade when compared to their reading performance during the transition or retained year as measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills? …

Educational Aspirations And Perceptions Of Health Occupation Graduates From Community Colleges, Lawrence A. Dahl

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The major purpose of this study was to investigate whether associate degree health occupation graduates perceived that the factors proposed in Dougherty's (1987) model on the continuance of education were valid. A second purpose was to profile selected characteristics of this population.

The sample consisted of licensed health care practitioners for whom an associate degree might be an entry level of preparation. The data were collected through the use of a questionnaire constructed to determine educational aspirations degree and to assess perceptions of the factors identified by Dougherty (1987). The data were analyzed using t tests and the chi-square test …

Self-Concept Of Visually Impaired Adolescents: A Comparative Study Of Educational Placement In Public And Residential Schools, Shiela D. Kielly

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to compare the self-concept of teen-age learners who were visually impaired and enrolled in public day schools with those who attended a residential school. The target population was those individuals with a primary functional visual impairment, in the age range of 12 through 18 years, and who were engaged in an academic instructional curriculum. Seventeen students at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School (IBSSS) were the residential population, whereas 15 visually impaired students who were receiving support services of the itinerant teacher for the visually impaired participated as the public school population. All …

An Investigation Of The Practices And Perceptions Of Three Regular Elementary Teachers Regarding The Integration Of Students With Severe Disabilities, Beth L. Wright

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Regular classrooms have been increasingly identified as the placement of choice for special-needs children, including those diagnosed to have severe disabilities. Undergirding this movement has been an increase in research unfavorable to segregated, homogeneous and favorable to integrated, heterogeneous instructional arrangements. The knowledge base regarding how to facilitate the regular-class integration of severely disabled students, however, is in its infancy.

The purpose of this inquiry was to examine regular elementary teachers' practices and perceptions concerning their instruction of students with severe disabilities who had been integrated into their classrooms. Participant observation, interviewing, and constant comparative methods were employed to render …

Fourth Grade Regular Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Iowa's Rsds: A Replication Study, Sharon Kay Petersburg

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to gather descriptive information about fourth grade regular education teachers' current perceptions of Iowa's RSDS, and to compare their perceptions to those reported in Bone's (1991) study. The sample consisted of 51 fourth grade regular education teachers from districts served by four Area Education Agencies. The subjects provided demographic information, completed a 22 item self-report questionnaire, and provided written responses to seven open-ended questions. Responses to the questionnaire were analyzed using frequency distributions for each AEA. The responses to the open-ended questions were analyzed qualitatively. The results of the study indicate that fourth grade …

The Relationship Between Middle School Students' Knowledge Of The Concept Of Variable And The Use Of Concrete Manipulatives, Maureen E. Busta

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Algebra is a difficult subject for a number of high school students. One of the major concepts involved in the learning of algebra is the use of variables. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the use of concrete manipulatives on middle school students' knowledge of the concept of variable and attitudes toward mathematics.

An experimental study was conducted involving 335 students and 13 teachers. Teachers volunteered to be in the treatment or comparison group. Teachers in the treatment group were trained in the use of Hands-On Equations and used the materials in their classrooms for …

Cooperative Teaching As A Method Of Collaboration Between Regular And Special Educators In An Integrated Setting, Mary J. Takes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Concerns about meeting the needs of students with disabilities through integration have led to increased collaboration between special and regular educators (Johnson, Pugach, & Devlin, 1990). Cooperative teaching, a nontraditional method of meeting the needs of students with disabilities, lacks sufficient research regarding its implementation.

This study investigated, using a case study methodology, cooperative teaching arrangements in an integrated setting and formative factors impacting those arrangements. The researcher collected data regarding 10 different cooperative teaching partnerships. Data collection included the use of observation, interviewing, and the collection of documents. These facilitated a constant comparative method of analysis which allowed the …

The Relationship Of Teachers' Job Satisfaction And Their Perceptions Of Principals' Leadership Styles In Private Vocational High Schools In A Selected Metropolitan Area Of Taiwan, Ining Yuan-Hsiang Chu

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between teachers' job satisfaction and their perceptions of principals' leadership styles (transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles) in the Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area of Taiwan. A secondary purpose was to examine the difference between teachers' gender, educational level, and length of service in terms of their perceptions of the three different leadership styles and job satisfaction.

The sample consisted of 629 full-time private vocational high school teachers. The translated Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to measure teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership styles. The translated Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) …

A Meeting Of Cultures: Faculty And Part-Time Doctoral Students In An Edd Program, Paul R. Smith

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the cultural perspectives of the part-time doctoral students in educational administration and of selected faculty in the college of education at a medium sized middle western university. More specifically, the intent was to determine what types of cultures existed within these groups, the factors contributing to the development of these cultures, and what affect these factors had on the Ed.D. degree itself. A qualitative research approach was taken and included individual interviews, classroom observations, and university documents. Non-participant observations included five doctoral classes and related formal and informal conversations. The data gathering …

The Relationship Of Leadership, Socioeconomic Status, And School Size In Developing School Culture: A Study Of Elementary School Principals, Janice Marie Ott

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Schools are being called upon to restructure, to make fundamental systemic changes which require a change in the culture of schooling. Little is known about how school culture develops. What role do leaders play in shaping culture? What influences do building size and the socioeconomic status of the students have on the culture?

The purpose of this study was to explore these relationships and to cluster and describe the culture profiles among Iowa elementary schools. A survey of a random sample of 250 Iowa elementary principals provided perceptual data from 214 respondents.

Based on the Competing Values theoretical model, four …

A Study To Identify Selected Factors Affecting The Implementation Of Computer-Aided Design And Drafting In Industrial Technology Baccalaureate Programs, Tsung-Juang Wang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze selected factors affecting the present status of Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) and those factors which were needed to reach a desired level of CADD implementation in Industrial Technology Baccalaureate Programs (ITBPs) in the United States. The intent of this study was to identify and analyze selected factors which facilitate the implementation of CADD in ITBPs within the United States.

One hundred and sixty-four ITBPs institutions from the 1992 National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT) Directory were used for participation in this study. A questionnaire identifying both current and …

Secondary And Postsecondary Vocational Education Curriculum Articulation As Perceived By Community College And High School Administrators, John W. Sorenson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The transition of the vocational student from the secondary school to the community college may result in unnecessary duplication of educational resources and curriculum, and can cause the student to waste time, effort, and lose motivation (Whitlock, 1978). Curriculum articulation is a significant approach to solving these problems (Hull & Parnell, 1991). The purpose of the study was two-fold: (a) to investigate the perceptions of community college and high school administrators regarding ideal and actual vocational articulation practices, and (b) to investigate the differences of perceptions to determine if differences were a function of administrative position.

The High School-Community College …

The Part-Time Employment Of High School Students: Relationship To School-Related Variables, Larry G. Eggink

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The majority of high school students, as many as 80%, have school-year employment prior to graduation (Steinberg, 1988). Many students who work at part-time jobs during the school year are putting in increasingly more hours, some in excess of 20 hours per week (D'Amico, 1984; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1990). The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of the part-time employment of high school students as it relates to the following measures of academic involvement: GPA, time spent on homework, time spent in extracurricular activities, attitude toward school, classroom engagement, enrollment in math and science courses, and future …

A Survey Of Elementary Principals, Kindergarten Teachers, And Kindergarten Parents Focusing On Preferences For Academic Or Developmental Programming At The Kindergarten Level, Dudley L. Humphrey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the preferences regarding instructional practices at the kindergarten level and investigate the relationships of these preferences among elementary principals, kindergarten teachers, and kindergarten parents. A survey of a systematic sample of 217 Iowa public elementary schools provided perceptual data from 148 (68%) of these schools. Elementary principals, kindergarten teachers, and kindergarten parents were asked to complete a questionnaire based on the Hitz 1986 Oregon Department of Education questionnaire which provided insight to their preferences on developmental and academic instructional practices at the kindergarten level. Of the population, 132 principals out of …

Ethnic Identity Development Among Black High School Students, Adrienne Menette Lewis

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in ethnic identity as a function of gender and academic grade level and to determine if there was an interaction between gender and grade level among Black adolescents. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) was administered to 179 Black male and female high school students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds recruited from two urban high schools in a Midwestern metropolitan area with a population of 105,000. The sample included 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders ranging in age from 14 to 19 with a mean age of 16.3 for …

There's No Place To Call Home: Behaviorally Disordered Students' Perceptions Of Special Education And Reintegration, Patricia Ann Gaines

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In this study, I explored behaviorally disordered students' perceptions of special education and reintegration. I generated data from semi-structured interviews of three behaviorally disordered students and observations of them in their regular classes. The data revealed that these students grappled with the perceived tradeoff between the advantages and disadvantages of their special education versus regular education placement. Once they were perceived by school personnel to possess differences that made a difference, they found "asylum" in special education. The results of the study indicate that the three participants perceived special education placement to be helpful to them; however, each indicated that …

Predicting Adolescent Aids-Related Risk Behavior From Psychosocial Factors: A Replication, Erika Lea Kumerow

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to replicate Hays's (1992) methodology and extend her sample size. Replication of Hays's (1992) results would allow for generalization and would lend support to the path model of sexual activity she proposed.

Subjects for the study were 529 ninth grade students attending four schools in a rural midwestern state. Of the four schools, three were public schools and one was a parochial school. The parochial school was made up of two separate buildings, one located in a metropolitan area and the other in a rural area. Although the buildings were considered to be combined …

A Comparison Of Wisc-R And Wj-R Vs. Cogatat And Itbs In Defining Severe Discrepancy In The Diagnosis Of Learning Disabilities, Martin Patrick Mccarthy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

A costly component of special education deals with the assessment and diagnosis of learning disabled students. This study considers the feasibility of replacing expensive, time consuming individual assessment procedures with group administered assessment procedures. IQ-achievement discrepancy scores generated by the WISC-R and WJ-R for 26 learning disabled students were compared to discrepancy scores generated by the CogAT and ITBS. Test data were retrieved from school records for third grade students identified as learning disabled within the 1991-1992 or 1992-1993 school years. ITBS scores were recorded for areas recognized by the WISC-R/WJ-R discrepancy scores. Discrepancy scores were generated in each of …

Implications Of Teacher In-Service Training On Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Identification, Glenn Evan Haupt

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examined the impact of teacher in-service training on the ability of teachers to identify children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in their classrooms. The subjects were 16 teachers from two small rural midwestern schools. All but one of the teachers were females, with a range in years of teaching experience from five through 30 years.

The intent of the study was to investigate if an ADHD in-service training program would have a beneficial effect on the ability of teachers to identify students in their classrooms with behaviors characteristic of ADHD. The subjects were split into two groups, …

The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity And Self-Esteem Among African-American Adolescents, Arthur Hughes Jr.

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examined the relationship between ethnic identity and self-esteem among African-American adolescents. There has been little or no research documenting the relationship between ethnic identity development and level of self-esteem, especially among minority adolescents; that is, researchers have failed to focus on ethnic identity and self-esteem at the level of individual change--a developmental process. Within the framework of identity theory, ethnic identification is hypothesized to be related to self-esteem.

Using the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), the correlation analysis, Fisher's Z-Transformation, and one-way ANOVAs were performed with a total subject population of 142 …

Student Teachers' Perceptions Of Classroom Management: Importance And Preparedness, Lisa Opheim Nelson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In this study, student teachers who had completed 8 weeks of student teaching experience used a 5-point Likert scale to rate the importance of 30 specific classroom management skills. The student teachers' descriptions of their preparedness to utilize each of these skills in their classrooms were also measured using a similar Likert format. The student teachers also completed a demographic information page which gathered information such as age, gender, major, and number of semesters at the University of Northern Iowa. A correlational analysis revealed modest similarity between the student teachers' ratings of importance and their feelings of preparedness, indicting that …