Education Commons^™

Interim Outcomes And Change Processes: A Case Study Of School Restructuring, Meg V. Blinkiewicz

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was two-fold: (1) to describe interim outcomes that occurred within a restructuring school district and the change processes related to each outcome; and (2) to confirm or expand what is known about educational restructuring. Individual interviews were conducted with fifty-five (55) persons including central office administrators, principals, teachers, support staff, parents, and School Board members. Approximately 120 hours were spent in the field observing meetings, classroom activities, and other events. Existing documentation (meeting minutes, policies, and procedures) also was reviewed.

This study produced detailed descriptions o f six categories of interim outcomes that …

Gender Differences In Higher Education: A Comparison Of Males And Females Applying To Graduate School, Lynda Bennett

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to determine in what ways male and female applicants to graduate school are similar or different. Secondary analysis was conducted on survey data which described attitudes and behavior of students admitted to graduate programs at Western Michigan University. The purpose was to assess the relationship between gender and curricula selected, likelihood of applying for and receiving financial aid, and the influence of marital status. Gender did have a statistically significant relationship with curricula selection and influence of marital status. Furthermore, it appeared that women graduate students find marriage to be a more limiting factor …

Assertive Communication: Its Effect On Conflict, Trust, Hostility, And Productivity In The Organization, Jacqueline J. Brayman

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between assertive communication training and conflict over values, goals, and demands, as well as trust, hostility, and productivity in the organization. The investigation took place at a manufacturing firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which produces wood chair frames and components for distribution worldwide. The research involved both the day and night shift employees of four "work cells" or units, each numbering three to four workers. Two work cells were randomly assigned to be trained in assertive communication. The other tw o work cells, the comparison group, were trained in preventive …

Academic Self-Esteem Of Michigan High School Students, Dolores J. Howe

Dissertations

In this study, relationships among academic self-esteem, teacher/student relationships, school climate, students' level of involvement in school activities, and size of school were analyzed.

Sixteen lower Michigan high schools were randomly selected, 12 with a population of 200-500 and 4 with a population of 1,500-2,000. One class each of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, representing a wide range of ability levels, were chosen from each school, for a total of 64 classrooms containing 1,319 students. Brookover’s (1962) Self-Concept of Ability Scale, the author's Academic Self-Esteem Inventory, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals School Climate Survey (Kelley et …

The Relationship Of Leadership Style Behaviors Of Principals To The Existence Of Effective Schools, Lanny John Tibaldo

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the leadership style behaviors of principals were related to the existence of effective schools. Leadership style behaviors of principals of Wisconsin public schools recognized as effective by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program were compared to a random sample of principals of Wisconsin public schools not identified as effective to determine if principals of effective schools demonstrated more democratic, participative leadership style behaviors. The relationship of elementary and secondary principals' leadership style behaviors to the existence of effective schools was also studied.

A Personal Data Sheet for demographic data and the Self-Scoring …

The Effect Of Step Height On Energy Cost Using A Stairmaster 4000pt, Bruce Patnoudes

Masters Theses

The study determined if energy cost or heart rate was affected by Stairmaster 4000PT users stepping at lower than the prescribed 8.0 in. recommended by the manufacturer. Eight women participated in the study. Subjects exercised on the Stairmaster 4000PT using three different step heights; 4.0 in., 6.0 in., and 8.0 in. The condition order was randomized to minimize bias. Subjects stepped with a metronome to regulate step height.

The findings indicated that a lower than recommended step height did not affect energy cost or heart rate.

It was concluded that users may step at any of the three step heights …

Women In Public School Administration: Factors That Facilitate Attainment, Betty Newlin Lapointe

Dissertations

The educational system in the United States, although staffed by an equal proportion of men and women in teaching roles, is administered predominantly by men. Women are represented in fewer than 5% of our nation’s schools in the role of superintendent, and only 10% of the high schools are administered by women principals.

The purpose of this study was to expand the research on the factors that facilitate the attainment of key leadership positions for women within the public school, and to determine differences in access between the positions of secondary principal and superintendent.

A total of 78 female administrators, …

A Causal-Comparative Study Of The Relationship Of Mathematics, Science, Athletics And The Career Expectations Of Adolescent Women, Elwood Martin Bowers

Dissertations

The premise of this study is that high school women who complete course work in advanced mathematics and advanced science and participate in organized athletic programs will develop skills, knowledge, and attitudes that facilitate and encourage expanded options in their occupational expectations. It was hypothesized that such women would have occupational expectations that reflect a greater degree of gender integration or nontraditionality than women who do not participate in such activities. Other environmental or attribute variables such as parents' occupation, birth order, and constructs of self concept, were examined for intervening or modifying effects on the major premise.

Participants in …

A Comparison Of Teacher Attitudes Based Upon Their Involvement In Various Levels Of Staff Development, James Lehto

Dissertations

This study sought to measure the relationship between teacher attitude and involvement in staff development. It was conducted as a follow-up to a recent implementation and audit of educational standards in the state of Wisconsin and focused upon the results of Standard B for Staff Development. The study compared the attitudes of teachers based upon their involvement in various levels of staff development, which were determined through the audit process.

Previous literature described in the report focused upon the background of state educational standards as well as previous studies which attempted to assess employee attitudes and staff development. In both …

An Experimental Analysis Of Instructional Technologies Applied To The Three Contingency Model Of Performance Management, Judith S . Devoe

Dissertations

This research had four goals: (1) to refine the theory of performance management based on rule-governed behavior and refine the three-contingency model of performance. management, (2) to develop a university-level programmed instruction unit to teach the three-contingency model of performance management, (3) to test for functional independence between response classes—using concept-discrimination and concept-exemplification, and (4) to test a common assumption of programmed instruction— the necessity for active responding (this assumption was tested with both concept-discrimination training and concept-exemplification training).

Participants included fifty-nine undergraduates enrolled in a behavior analysis course. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) the …

An Exploration Of Students’ And Business Persons’ Ratings Of The Importance Of Writing Skills For Business Success, Miriam P. Coleman

Dissertations

The central question explored in this research was whether the perceptions of undergraduate students and business employers about the importance of writing skills for success in business differ from one another. Related questions were posed about the relationship of certain individual characteristics such as sex, student classification, and student institutional affiliation and their interactions to these perceptions.

Subjects were selected from both public and private institutions of higher education and 11 medium-sized businesses in western Michigan. Data collection was accomplished using two 30-item Likert-type Importance of Business Writing (IBW) questionnaires developed for obtaining information on the perceptions of subjects relative …

A Descriptive Study Of Michigan Auto Workers' (Uaw) Physical And Psychological Responses To 1987 Plant Closures, Lorraine Marie Oginsky

Dissertations

A descriptive study ( 1991-1992) examined 166 closing and nonclosing UAW auto workers in two General Motors settings, as to how they cope mentally and physically with unemployment and displacement 5 years after plant closure and mass layoffs. Workers were asked the question, "Is job loss a threat, a loss, or a challenge?"

Lazarus and Folkman' s ( 1984) Stress, Appraisal and Coping and the Stress Coping Model (Lazarus, 1980) provided the theoretical basis for this study. Measures included the investigator designed Plant Closing Questionnaire, Revised Ways of Coping (Folkman & Lazarus, undated), Hassles and Uplifts Scale (Lazarus & Folkman, …

Preservice Elementary Education Students’ Beliefs Regarding The Teaching And Learning Of Mathematics, Elsa L. Geskus

Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the entering and exiting beliefs of preservice elementary education students in three domains. The domains are: (1) the nature of teaching mathematics, (2) the nature of learning mathematics, and (3) the nature of the underlying source of their success or failure in mathematics. The data collection for this study was comprised of two questionnaires. The first questionnaire with 72 items used a five point Iikert scale. The second questionnaire took 10 of the Iikert items and formatted them as an open-ended response questionnaire. Students were to respond favorably or negatively to the statements and provide support for …

An Exploratory Study Of Sentient Evaluators: Communication, Ethics, And Relationships In The Evaluation Process, Mary Elizabeth Piontek

Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop hypotheses about the ways evaluators involve stakeholders, clients, and audiences in the evaluation process and communicate their findings to these groups. A sentient evaluator was defined as an evaluator who takes an active role in promoting the program that s/he is investigating and deliberately seeks to represent underrepresented stakeholders. This type of evaluator has her/his own ethical or moral agenda through which s/he views the program being evaluated and takes a formative perspective on program development and improvement.

Evaluators (n=12) believed to be sentient because they displayed certain characteristics were compared …

A Descriptive Study Of Programmatic And Curricular Components Of Regular And Developmental Kindergartens, Stephen A. Anderson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess and describe programmatic and curricular differences between developmental and regular kindergartens. The research questions were to find how regular and developmental teachers describe their program and to determine from these descriptions any differences or similarities. A descriptive research design was used. A survey was developed from a search of literature, review by a panel of experts, and a pilot study.

The population for the study was all kindergarten teachers and the sample was all kindergarten teachers in a metropolitan Detroit county. Surveys were returned by 82% of the sample which met a …

Biomechanical Analysis Of The Volleyball Overhand Floater Serve, Jian Lu

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate biomechanical factors associated with successful overhand floater serves. Specifically, the study investigated the kinematics of the server at ball-hand contact. Six subjects performed floater serves for this investigation. Subjects served three trials under each of the following conditions: (a) short and long serves and (b) three ball-valve positions at ball-hand contact. Threedimensional cinematographic methods were used to obtain the data. Descriptive statistics were utilized to compare floater and nonfloater serves with respect to distance and ball-valve position. The results showed that (a) more long serves were classified as floater compared to short …

Urban Teachers’ Views And Ranking Of Five Home And School Variables With Respect To Effective Teaching Of Disadvantaged Students, Loraine Constance Enniss

Dissertations

There is a range of information on effective teaching of disadvantaged students, with educators supporting either the home or school, as the variable with the greatest impact. What are the opinions of classroom teachers on this topic?

In this exploratory study, Group 1 teachers included all those who ranked the impact (on their ability to effectively teach disadvantaged students), of the home variables: parental involvement, dialects of English, socioeconomic status as 3, 4. and 5 and the school variables: teaching methodology and teacher expectations, as 1 and 2. All others were in Group 0. Scores of these two groups of …

The Effects Of Cross-Level Peer Facilitated Learning On The Mastery Of A Structured Reading Program, Elaine R. Bartos

Masters Theses

This study examined the effects of cross-level peer facilitated learning on the total amount of time needed for special education students who attended a southwestern Michigan inner-city elementary school, to complete to 100% mastery the teacher-directed portion of the reading lesson. Cross-level peer tutoring was defined as a process in which a more proficient student worked with a less proficient student on a one-to-one basis in the academic area of reading. The tutoring took place prior to the teacher instruction with 20 students from three special education reading groups. The tutoring sessions took place for a duration of 5-9 weeks. …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Of Achievement, Attitude, And Sociological Element Of Individual Learning Style Of Students In An Interactive Television Course, Thomas A. Burkman

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship of individual learning style with achievement and attitudes of students receiving instruction via two way interactive television. The technology of interactive television is making it possible for school districts to cooperate and share instructors for low-incident courses. The technology is also helping schools to restructure and enhance programming. Knowledge of the extent to which these technologies affect the students, however, is limited.

Fifty-four students enrolled in two high school psychology classes were the study population. A quasi-experimental research design was used. In Part 1 of the data collection phase, the instructor taught a textbook unit …

Promising Practices: Perspectives Of Junior And Senior High At-Risk Students, Janet Dalman

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the “fit of school and Me” from at-risk students’ perspectives. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into at-risk students’ views on what school elements were necessary and helpful in their achieving success, in their seeing hope, and in their choosing to remain in school.

Promising practices of affective/nurturing and cognitive/learning gleaned from the literature review of success producing school components were examined within the context of most favorite and least favorite classrooms during focus group interviews with junior high school and senior high school at-risk and non-at-risk students. Students were asked to compare and …

A Study Of Tuition In Public Comprehensive Universities And Colleges: A Model For Analyzing Factors That Affect Tuition, Michael J. Roy

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain how enrollment and financial factors affect tuition at public comprehensive universities and colleges, and to determine the relative influences that these factors are likely to have on future tuition levels.

The study methodology included the analysis of 4 years of tuition, enrollment, and financial data for fiscal years 1987 through 1990 of public comprehensive universities and colleges located within the contiguous 48 states of the United States. In each of the 4 years being studied, approximately 300 institutions completed the IPEDS surveys to allow them to be included in the study.

The …

Michigan's New Definition Of Reading: The Promise Of Literacy And The Paradox Of Practice, Julie H. Kaufman

Masters Theses

This study analyzes Michigan's New Definition of Reading, its theoretical foundations and instructional implications as these enter classroom practice. Designed as a qualitative case study of reading instruction in a fifth grade classroom, this study documents the way that a teacher and her students approach and come to understand literacy under the bureaucratic and organizational imperatives of practice. The disempowering effects of such patterns of practice are described in relation to the purported aims of reading instruction.

Behavioral Contracting: The Effects Of Metacontingency Contracting On Math Performance Of At-Risk Students, Vernard V. J. Jones

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of behavioral contracting in providing parents with a means of assisting their child with homework from school. Following the baseline condition, the subjects were introduced to the intervention [behavioral contracting including parent(s)] one at a time to provide a concurrent check between baseline and treatment conditions.

Six students from the Kentwood Public School District served as participants in the study. All participants were between eleven and thirteen years of age. Each participant was identified by the teacher as "at-risk" based on their sustained academic performance.

Four out of six participants …

Sensitivity Of The Comp Objective Test To Structural Differences Among General Education Programs In Liberal Arts Colleges And Comprehensive Universities, Christine Ann Brooks

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the College Outcome Measures Program (COMP) by determining if COMP is sensitive to differences among general education programs.

Two variables provided the operationalization of general education: (1) degree of institutional control over general education course selection, and (2) percent of total coursework devoted to general education. To control for additional factors known to impact upon students' learning during college, four concomitant variables were used in the analysis. These variables were selected following a review of the literature on the effects of college. The level of analysis was the institution; …

Kinematic Analysis Of Sprinting With And Without The Speed Chute, Douglas Roy West

Masters Theses

The problem under investigation was to determine if kinematic differences existed when sprinting with and without the speed chute. Eight Western Michigan University Track and Field Athletes were filmed at 100 frames per second as they sprinted two trials with and without the speed chute.

Three ANOVAs and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the effects of sprinting with and without the speed chute. Descriptive statistics provided information for numerous dependent variables. Although statistically significant differences (R < .05) existed between sprinting with and without the speed chute, those differences may not be practical for the coach to use in terms of evaluation of sprinting technique, because the differences would be difficult for the human eye to see. Therefore, the speed chute may be a viable training tool as kinematics were only minimally affected.

Faculty Development Programs And Evaluation In American Colleges And Universities, Antonio Nicolas Rubino

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to determine (a) the importance and frequency of offering of personal, instructional, curriculum, research, academic advising, and organizational development programs in universities and colleges in the United States; and (b) the types and times of evaluation of faculty development practices. Types of evaluation studied included measuring participant satisfaction, participant learning, on the- job behavior, and organizational effects. Times of evaluation included during the implementation of the practice, evaluation immediately after the implementation, and evaluation a month or more after the implementation.

A sample of 195 faculty developers from research, doctorate-granting, and comprehensive universities, and …

A Study Of Retention Intervention Programs Used In Rural Michigan Schools, Randall E. Busscher

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Relationships Among Job Satisfaction, Productivity, And Supervision Provided To Financial Planners, Larry Leslie

Dissertations

This study examined job satisfaction and appraisals of management actions as they related to sales productivity for financial planners. Planners from three Midwestern divisions of a national brokerage firm comprised the non-random sample (n = 89, out o f 137 potential participants, for a response rate of 65%). The planners completed two surveys: (1) Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (long form, 1967 revision) for obtaining job satisfaction data; and (2) The PROFILOR™, from Personnel Decisions, Inc., for determining planner appraisals of their immediate superior’s leadership actions. Productivity information, using two different measures (one related to sales of financial products, the other related …

Identification Of Effective Classroom Management Practices Among Teachers In Elementary Special Education Computer-Use Classrooms, Stephanie L. Kenney

Dissertations

Increased use of computers in elementary special education classrooms has created the need for a model for the management of such computer-use environments. Using the case study format, this study (a) identified and described, through multiple observations of eight elementary special education teachers over a 3-month period, the classroom management strategies computer-using teachers utilized to foster student on-task behavior; (b) provided rich descriptions of the contexts in which these classroom management practices occurred; (c) provided insight into the teachers’ philosophies regarding computer use and management; and (d) examined relationships among teachers' computer experience and training and their classroom management practices …

A Study Of Leadership Behaviors Of Principals In Schools Which Educate Students With Moderate And Severe Disabilities In Regular Education Classrooms, Patreese Ingram

Dissertations

The full-time inclusion of disabled students in regular education classrooms on a full-time basis is an emerging practice in schools across the United States and other countries (Stainback & Stainback, 1992). In school systems which have traditionally educated disabled and nondisabled students in separate classrooms, the principal is increasingly recognized as ,"... being the one individual above all others who is of critical importance in creating an effective school" (Ubben & Hughes, 1992, p. 19).

Therefore, this study investigated the principal’s leadership behavior in schools which educate moderately and severely disabled students in regular education classrooms on a full-time basis. …