Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Performance Data To Monitor And Support The Reorganization Of An Educational System, Ellen Spall Thompson

Masters Theses

The goal of this study was to determine the performance effects on staff and students following the reorganization of a special education facility. The organizational plan was based on the development of teaching teams where students were grouped together according to exit curricular goals. Four interventions were completed in order to assess the overall outcome of the reorganization project. At the student level, the rate of learning was monitored in order to determine whether the implementation of teams affected educational objective acquisition . At the team level, meeting agendas were surveyed to find out what effect they had on student …

Western News, May 31, 1984, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Tate Center to be dedicated Wednesday, Harary to be Visiting Scholar June 6, Poel named organization officer

Western News, February 2,1984, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Presidents encouraged by Blanchard's HE stand, Robeson to highlight Black History Month Friday, Team experiments with laser art in Dalton Center, 'Career Opportunities for Women' conference set, Staff training offers two seminars, Anton lecture to be given, Memorial mass Saturday for Barbara D. Marks

The Westerner Vol. 4 No. 3, Western Michigan University

The Westerner (1980-1997)

• Students hunt for jobs by computer • Western shows its bones to the community • Smith encourages business-campus cooperation • Information network announced • WMU Foundation Board elects officers • Paper Technology board elected • Pond area renamed for biologist • HIREing is underway • Cooperation is the answer to higher education problems • Brighter future for education predicted • Mentor/Men tee Program on the rise • Health grant emphasizes prevention • Speech Pathology and Audiology receives grant • Tax laws favor giving • Among Alumni • Sports

Input Frequency And Perceived Impact Of An Interactive Newsletter In A Small Organization, Patricia Calle

Masters Theses

A newsletter, based on the results of two tailor-made self-report questionnaires, was implemented in a vegetable by-product manufacturing company with 83 employees. Need for improvement was detected in the formal communication of organizational policies, projects, goals and events for downward and upward communication relative to performance feedback, non-monetary performance incentives, and response to job-related and personal requests. The newsletter was aimed at facilitating the supply of verbal incentives, performance feedback, formal and informal organizational information and participation in different areas. Prompting procedures were designed to encourage employees' participation in the newsletter. Newsletter impact was analyzed in terms of pre- and …

Western News, November 4, 1983, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Blanchard announces technology-sharing network that includes Western; four other schools, WMU Foundation board elects officers; directors, New Paper Tech officers elected, Four from WMU run in city commission election, The Dedication of the John E. Fetzer Business Development Center

Western News, September 22, 1983, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Centralization threatens 'quality and uniqueness' of higher ed in Michigan, Bernhard says in 'State of U', 'Brown and Gold Day' features variety of events; opportunities, Board approves 1983-84 budget of $78.3 million; up 5.5 percent, Big crowd expected for game with Central, Gabriele; Dempsey named to posts here, Research fund offers fellowships; grants, GM chairman Roger B. Smith to receive degree, Agnes Monsour to speak at Social Work luncheon

Two Apparently Effective Strategies For Increasing Employee Compliance, Ann M. Backe

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the controlling aspects of employee participation on compliance to store procedures through the use of a total participative group and a group trained in the technical and beneficial aspects of the procedures. Five grocery store cashiers comprised the Participative Group and six cashiers comprised the Value- and Skill- Trained (VST) Group. The researcher conducted one meeting with the members of the Participative Group to design procedures to decrease the number of checks returned to the stores because of non-sufficient funds. Following the development of the new procedures, the Participative Group received technical training on the procedures. …

Effects Of Positive, Negative And Balanced Emphases On Perceived Effectiveness Of Performance Appraisal, Joseph Andrew Hammond

Masters Theses

The central theme of the research is the experimental manipulation of three different appraisal processes, namely positive, negative, and balanced appraisals to determine which evaluation tool would be perceived as most useful in motivating and stimulating employees to improve on their performance. Subjects were randomly assigned to groups and presented with scripts exemplifying three appraisal approaches and asked to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of each approach in producing a desired performance outcome. The results showed significant differences between the balanced approach and the other two approaches. However, there was no significant difference between the means of the positive versus negative …

The Relationship That Teachers' Concerns And Their Perceptions Of Organizational Climate Have With Innovation Maintenance, Frederic Wayne De Vall

Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to determine what some of the factors are that have an affect upon the maintenance of an innovation. Many educational change models focus upon the initiation and implementation of educational innovations in schools. This study tested some of the factors identified, from the literature review as affecting innovation maintenance, upon one innovation which is being used by teachers in several school districts. The first factor centered upon the concerns teachers have about an innovation they use in their classrooms. The second factor centered upon teachers' perceptions of the organizational climate that exists which …

Burnout And The Reading Teacher, James C. Sadler, James W. Cunningham

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

It's the end of the school day on Friday and most of the teachers are congregating in the lounge and classrooms, happily anticipating the weekend. Carole, however, walks straight to the parking lot without pausing to speak to colleagues as she did in former years. Today she informed the principal that she would not be renewing her contract as a remedial reading teacher and, although saddened by her decision, she also feels relief that months of increasing frustration and self-doubt have reached a conclusion.

Part of the tragedy of this hypothetical but all too familiar example of Carole is her …

Reading Horizons Vol. 23, No. 4

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons volume 23, issue 4.

The Intersection Of Political Culture And Fiscal Federalism: State Block Grants In Alabama, David Sink, Michele Wilson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Political culture and intergovernmental relations together shape specific policy actions of a state government within the constraints of its economic condition. Although financial resources provided a state government strongly influence the level of its policy outputs, the political and administrative dynamics appear to affect the exact nature of that policy. A case study of state block grant implementation in the state of Alabama provides an opportunity to observe these variables in action. In particular, the prominent role played by the executive branch appears to have influenced strongly the decisions made concerning social services, health policy, and community development.

An Advocacy Approach For More Effective Program Delivery And Coordination: A Case Study Of Maine's Housing Rehab Techs, Kenneth K. Ahn, James F. Horan, G. Thomas Taylor

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A detailed case analysis of the Maine Housing Rehabilitation Project provides an exploratory observation of the innovative use of human resources at the federal, state and regional levels through an evolutionary development process of housing rehabilitation technicians. Functioning largely as advocate planners and human service delivery administrators through self-expanded roles, these individuals were able to promote change in the context of this intergovernmental environment. The analysis presented here reveals findings of intrastate regional differences between the urban and rural areas. Low income citizens appear to be the main beneficiaries of a proactive style of leadership that was performed by the …

The Relationship Of Preferred Work Environment And Job Satisfaction Of Community College Administrators, Susan Dunn Duford

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of job satisfaction and preferred work environment of community college administrators. Administrators from four southeast Lower Michigan community colleges were the population (N = 50). The administrators in expanding areas (N = 29) were compared with those in contrasting areas (N = 21). Members of each group completed a demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher as well as the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss et al., 1967) and the Work Environment Preference Schedule (Gordon, 1973). Survey instruments were mailed to each administrator and non-respondents were telephoned to determine reasons for noncompletion. …

Distributed Data Processing: A Timely Approach For Social Welfare Agencies, Sumit Sircar, Dick Schoech, Lawrence L. Schkade

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Centralized management oriented information systems in state social welfare systems are evolving. Due to decreasing computer hardware costs, computing power can now be distributed throughout a social welfare system to locations where it meets worker and manager data processing needs most efficiently and effectively. To distribute computing power yet maintain one integrated organizational computing system requires an understanding of distributed data processing (DDP) and its implications for an organization. This article explains the DDP concept through its historical development, illustrates the types of DDP available to an agency, and discusses the major pitfalls in moving into a DDP environment. It …

Western News, October 21, 1982, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Goal surpassed 'Partners in Progress' total reaches more than $7.3 million, Kemp says he will leave Board of Trustees, Ehrle cites reasons for collegiate reorganization, WMU Foundation elects new officers at meeting, Violinist Zukerman to receive degree Sunday

Western News, September 23, 1982, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

'No clear picture' on CIT; PIA compensation-JTB, Grotzinger named acting director of librarianship, Weaver among those granted emeritus status, Curriculum: Hinge pin of academic economy, Greco- Roman sport talk, Violinist Zukerman to get honorary degree, MPSERS pre-retirement meetings set

Teachers' Growth/Development And The Organizational Climate Of Elementary Schools, Louise Birch

Dissertations

The purposes of the study were: (a) to determine the types of professional development in which elementary teachers voluntarily participated and the extent of that participation, and (b) to investigate the relationships between school climate and teachers' participation, enrollment size and teachers' participation, and enrollment size and school climate.

The survey included all of the 356 regular elementary school teachers in two southwestern Michigan school districts who each held a tenured position and was assigned to a building with the same principal for at least the 1980-81 and 1981-82 years. The number of schools was 15 in District A and …

Political Leadership And National Development In The Republic Of Korea, Woo-Sung Koh

Masters Theses

This thesis has attempted quantitatively to establish a positive relationship between political leadership and national development in South Korea during the period from 1948 to 1982.

The major concepts used in this study are political leader (President or Prime Minister), task elite (Cabinet Minister), and national development (political stability and socio-economic development). The social background data of the South Korean cabinet ministers were obtained from newspapers, journal articles, and biographical dictionaries.

Since the inception of the Republic of Korea in 19^8, the various regimes have contributed to bring about South Korea's success with national development. However, their records have varied. …

Relationships In Organizations Between Leaders' Personality Characteristics And Their Hierarchical Levels And Role Foci, Loretta Church

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether leaders' personality characteristics were related to the hierarchical level and the focus of their roles in organizations. Leaders from two industrial plants of two Fortune 500 corporations were selected for the investigation. They comprised a total population of persons responsible for making decisions concerning the use of data, people, or things within the organizations.

Data were collected employing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Functional Job Analysis Self-Report (FJASR). The MBTI instrument identified personality characteristics in terms of two paired and opposite preferences for (1) sensing or intuition, and (2) …

Faculty Senate Yearbook, 1982-83, Wmu Faculty Senate

WMU Faculty Senate Yearbooks

No abstract provided.

Professional Burnout: Sociocultural And Sociopolitical Perspectives, Paula L. Dressel

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social psychological, organizational, and administrative orientations dominate the literature on the phenarenon of professional burnout. This paper argues that sociocultural and sociopolitical perspectives offer additional insights into the issue. By the application of such perspectives we are compelled to examine how certain characteristics of social policies impact dysfunctionally on service providers as well as service recipients. Furthermore, the broader approach outlined here offers alternative intervention strategies for the alleviation or prevention of burnout than those ccomonly posed in previous literature.

The State Correction Officer As Keeper And Counselor: An Empirical Investigation Of The Role, Robert B. Blair, Clifford M. Black, Henry J. Long

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper addresses two essential research needs in criminal justice literature: (1) the need for an assessment of the content of the role of block officer; and (2) the need for an empirical test of the presumed irreconcilable goals of custody and treatment as these are embedded in the role of state correction officer. A Task Inventory approach was adapted and a random sample of 100 correction officers in four heterogeneous state institutions were interviewed. Results of the study reveal that custodial staff spend at least sixty-percent of their on-job time performing duties not classified as security in nature. Results …

Criminal Justice Student Views Of The Criminal Justice System: The Impact Of Education And Self-Selection And Their Implications For The Human Services, Belinda Rodgers Mccarthy, Bernard Jerome Mccarthy

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The present study examines criminal justice student views of the criminal justice system. The purpose of the research is to investigate issues surrounding the influence of self-selection and criminal justice education on the opinions of criminal justice students toward the criminal justice system.

The research suggests that students choose criminal justice careers in part because their personal philosophies mirror the conflicting objectives of the criminal justice system. Criminal justice education seems to influence criminal justice student views of the criminal justice system, but in a direction that may make the transition to employment in criminal justice agencies a more difficult …

Cross-Age Tutoring--Using The 4 T'S, Lawrence L. Smith

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Cross- age tutoring or peer tutoring can be an effective instructional strategy for remedial reading teachers who are overloaded with students. While the concept is not new, the purpose of this paper is to describe an organizational change in remedial reading classes using a cross-age or peer tutoring paradigm developed by the author.

Accountability And University Teaching: Toward The Systematic Mediation Of Professional Power, Paul Alan Dorsey

Dissertations

Between 1965 and 1980 American higher education has witnessed the emergence of several related developments which challenge traditional conceptions of the autonomy of higher education: affirmative action, the managerial revolution in higher education, the student consumer movement, the strengthening of statewide coordination of higher education, the accelerated movement to collective bargaining, and the increasing involvement of the courts in college and university affairs. This study identifies and articulates the nature and significance of emergent qualitative dimensions of structural change, for which these developments are structural indicators, and argues that they constitute a new, emergent form of occupational control over university …

American Health Care: Paradigm Structures And The Parameters Of Change, Allen W. Imershein

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Recent commentary on the health care scene in the U.S. has moved increasingly toward explanations of why little or no change has occurred despite many declarations of "crisis." From Alford's (1975) elitist analysis in Health Care Politics to Navarro's (1976) marxist analysis in Medicine Under Capitalism, critics in and out of the social sciences have tried to make sense of the array of current problems and the apparent lack of response to or change in them. These analyses are in striking contrast to earlier commentaries (e.g., Schwartz, 1971; Garfield, 1970; Anderson, 1972; Citizens Board, 1972) which, while highly critical of …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 7, No. 3 (May 1980)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

SPECIAL ISSUE - CHALLENGE AND INNOVATION IN AMERICAN HEALTH CARE POLICY

• Editor' s Introduction
• American Health Care: Paradigm Structures and the Parameters of Change - ALLEN W. IMERSHEIN
• The Public and Care by Non-Physicians: Health Policy Considerations - BEBE F. LAVIN
• Organizational Structure and Professional Norms in an Alternative Health Care Setting: Physicians in Health Maintenance Organizations - JUDITH K. BARR and MARCIA K. STEINBERG - The Paradoxes of Health Planning - BONNIE MOREL EDINGTON
• Veteran's Medical Care: The Politics of an American Government Health Service - JUDITH N. LASKER
• Mission Neighborhood Health Center: A Case Study of the Department …

The Impact Of Consumerism On Health Care Change: Alternatives For The Future?, Allen W. Imershein, Eugenia T. Miller

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The quest for consumer participation in the management of health care delivery may have experienced its first signs of success, but the implications of that success are as yet unclear. The establishment of consumer majorities on the newly developed health systems agency (HSA) boards was seen as an important milestone in the development of the consumer movement in America over the last ten years. The initial wave of optimism over the Great Society programs that in part gave birth to the consumer movement has long since vanished, but some of the organizational results of those attempts at innovation have become …