Education Commons^™

A Study Of The Relationship Between Self-Concept And Heterogeneous And Homogeneous Grouping Procedures With Seventh-Grade Students, Wanda Hughes Johnson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Homogeneous grouping, a technique which assigns learners by ability levels into class sections for instruction, has undergone considerable controversy. This study investigated the relationship between global self-concept and two procedures used to group seventh-grade students for instruction. The two procedures were heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping The Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Inventory Scale was administered to 76 heterogeneously grouped students and 70 homogeneously grouped students. A T-Test was applied to study the data by total groups. It was concluded that there was insufficient evidence to reject the hypothesis that there was no difference between the two groups.

A Comparison Of The Frequencies Of Selected Teaching Behaviors Of Trained And Untrained Teachers, Raymonde Antonia Frances Joseph

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to compare the frequencies of a selected set of teaching behaviors of trained and untrained teachers in elementary schools in St. Lucia. The dependent variables in the study were the frequencies of Structuring, Questioning, Feedback and Praise behaviors. The independent variables were training, grades awarded at teaching practice, and subject areas.

Records of the lessons were obtained through the use of audiotapes. The behaviors were coded using a low inference observation schedule. The data were analyzed using means and standard deviations. The significance and inferential statistic applied was the chi-square.

Significant differences were found …

Management Guide For Early Childhood Programs, Cathy S. Jording

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Relying upon many years of experience as an early childhood educator and consultant, and utilizing examples of programs and forms during the past thirteen years while serving as the Director of Peace Lutheran Preschool/Kindergarten in Owensboro, Kentucky, and as a regional/national early childhood consultant. The author has proposed a manuscript whose purpose is to assist early childhood professionals in the development and implementation of quality, needs-appropriate preschool programs.

The eleven chapters are divided into seven areas of concern: program survey, development, purpose, regulation requirements, administration, financing, enrollment, curriculum and day-care. (Within each area are varied appropriate methods of implementation relating …

A Study Of The Effects Of Writing Instruction Versus Writing And Reading Instruction On 10th Grade English Students, Patricia E.G. Craig

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The effects of writing instruction as opposed to writing and reading instruction were studied on 10^th grade English students’ reading comprehension and writing. Two groups (classes) completed pretests and pre-sample writing. Then, both groups were given writing instruction while only one group was given related reading skills instruction. Finally, both groups completed posttests and post-sample writings.

An analysis of covariance of the pre-and posttest data was done. It revealed no significant difference between the two groups related to reading comprehension. However, a significant difference existed between the two groups related to language expression (editing skills or writing sub-skills). The …

Special Ideas, Marlene Ashby

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Special Ideas is a composite of practical strategies and techniques assembled for the primary-grade teacher’s use with the learning disabled student, slow learner and underachiever. The focal point of this material is the basic skills of reading, math, spelling, handwriting and general ideas on classroom management, behavior management and motivation. The purpose of the material is to provide the classroom teacher with practical ideas that may serve as a guide to help the teacher adapt and/or modify the curriculum, the materials, and the methods of instruction to the needs of the special child. The sources for these ideas include personal …

Comparative Instructor Attitudes Toward College Level English And Mathematics Experiences For Gifted High School Students, Bruce Vickers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Samples derived from a mailed questionnaire were compared. The sample represented high school, community college and university instructors of mathematics and English. The Kentucky public schools sampled were equally represented among high school, community colleges and universities. The research indicated that of those instructors sampled a very high percentage (97.7%) feel that those high school students shown to be academically gifted would benefit from a college experience before high school graduation. The attitudes of those instructors sampled indicated that multiple criteria – grades, recommendations, standardized test scores and personal interview – were considered the preferred method of selection (82.5%). The …

The Effect Of Studying Higher-Level Thinking Skills On Fifth Grade Students With High Language Ability, Gary Lee Cottrell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect of studying higher-level thinking skills on fifth grade students with high language ability. The researcher compared the test scores of students in an elementary enrichment program with test scores of students enrolled in the same program the following year to which materials emphasizing higher-level thinking skills were added. The researcher also included analysis of student performance on the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and its component parts of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation as well as each of the eight subtests.

It was determined that analysis of Ross Test raw …

The Development And Construct Validation Of The Children’S Academic Motivation Inventory, Kevin Hughes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to develop and provide construct validation evidence for the Children’s Academic Motivation Inventory (CAMI). The CAMI, the junior Index of Motivation Scale (JIM Scale), and the Children’s Social Desirability Scale (CSDS) were administered to 534 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. Additionally, teacher assigned math grades; total math and total reading scores from the Kentucky Essential skills test (KEST); and the Cognitive Skills Index (CSI) from the Test of Cognitive Skills were obtained for each participant. Principal-components factor analysis with varimax rotation performed on the CAMI items produced essentially one factor, entitled academic achievement motivation. …

A Preschool Outdoor Curriculum And Playground Design, Teacher Education, Connie Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The writer proposes the utilization of a developmentally based outdoor curriculum and playground designed for young children. The curriculum consists of an overview, objectives, curriculum methodology, playground designs and evaluation. Cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains are each included in the objectives. A curriculum methodology focusing upon approaches for individualization and development of the total child is presented. The playground designs are based upon current research. Play value, development appropriateness and safety were considered in developing playground designs and curriculum. Evaluation of the curriculum and playground will be measured through assessments of the individual child, the class, and the staff. Numerous …

The Use Of Feuerstein’S Instrumental Enrichment With Underprepared College Students: A Pilot Study, Michael Kieta

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This pilot study investigated the usage of Feuerstein’s (1980) Instrumental Enrichment with underprepared college students. Open admissions policies in colleges and universities have resulted in the enrollment of many students who are underprepared to meet the academic task demands. Courses have been developed by the colleges and universities to remediate the academic deficits of underprepared students. Remedial courses using traditional educational methods have been largely ineffective. Cognitive process instruction (CPI) is an area of educational research that recently began to receive increased attention in the field of remedial education. The goal of CPI has been to develop the cognitive/thought processes …

The Brigance K&1 Screen And Corresponding Teacher Ratings Of Students, Shanna Waddington

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between teacher ratings of kindergarten students and scores on the Brigance K&1 Screen was examined in order to obtain a measure of construct validity for the Brigance. A Kentucky sample and California sample were included in the study. Data was analyzed separately for each sample for purposes of regional comparison. Teacher’s ratings of students’ overall ability and ability across five skill dimensions (expressive language, receptive language, personal information, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills) were compared via a linear regression analysis. The results indicated that overall ratings of students by teachers are significant and reliable combinations of …

The Development Of Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving Skills Of Eight To Fourteen Year-Old Educable Mentally Retarded Children In A Rural Educational Setting, Jeff Carroll

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Spivack and Shure’s (1974) Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving (ICPS) model was evaluated on Educable Mentally Retarded (EMR) children. The major question was whether the implementation of Shure and Spivack’s (1978) Kindergarten Interpersonal Problem-Solving Program (KIPS) would enhance the ICPS skills and behavioral adjustment of EMR children up to the level needed for successful integration into the regular classroom. The study included 40 EMR children from ages eight to fourteen. The subjects were divided equally into two groups, one receiving Shure and Spivack’s (1978) KIPS program and one receiving informal social skills training. These groups were divided further into a younger group, …

Head Start Four And Five Year Old Children’S Attitudes Toward School As They Are Related To Achievement, Eugene Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if there existed significant relationships between 4 and 5 year old children’s attitude toward school, their classroom teacher’s perception of their attitude toward school, length of time in school, sex, or a composite of these with their achievement on the Pre-School Attainment Record. A random sample of 55 Head Start children completed three instruments. The instruments used in this study were a revised Children’s Attitude Toward School Scale (CATSS-R), (Beere, 1970) The Pre-School Attainment Record (PAR), (Doll, 1966) and the Teachers Rating of Attitude of Children Toward School (TRACTS). The results of …

Comparison Of The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test And The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale In School Age Children, Stephen Skiles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The correlate relationships and directionality and magnitude of mean differences between MAs and IQs of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Revised Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (both 1960 and 1972 norms) were investigated in a sample of 225 school age children. It was found that MAs of two instruments were more highly correlated than the IQs. For the total sample, no significant differences were found between mean MAs of the two instruments. The correlation between PPVT and the 1960 Revised Stanford-Binet IQs and the correlation between PPVT and 1972 Revised Stanford-Binet IQs were found to be identical. The PPVT was found …

Comparisons Of The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test And The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Revised With Late Elementary Aged Children, David Hughes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to compare the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in an effort to establish an estimate of the similarity between the two measures. The sample included 194 nine, ten, and eleven year old children referred to the University’s Psychological Clinic. There were 100 males and 94 females with a mean age of 10 years and six months. Out of the 194 children, 106 were white, 46 black and 42 of unknown race. Pearson Product Moment Correlations were performed between the PPVT IQ and the WISC-R variables. As …

Recreation Needs Of Pre-Adolescent Girls In Selected Public Schools, Michael Aune

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There was a need to determine the recreation needs of girls in the pre-adolescent age range of nine through fourteen years old so that municipal recreation professionals may program activities to meet the desires of this specific population. In order to do this, a testing instrument was developed. The test, a recreation preference schedule, used closed questions exclusively, unlike many of the available checklist surveys. The recreation preference schedule was modeled after the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule that was used in counseling. The new test, containing one hundred questions, utilized ten recreation activity categories. It was checked for reliability and …

A Descriptive Study Of Ninth Grade Reading Programs In Schools Of The Second Education District Of Kentucky, Eloyse Jean Groves

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Questionnaries concerning the nature of the state-required Ninth Grade Reading Programs were sent to principals of secondary schools in the Second Education District of Kentucky. The program, which had been in effect for two years, was studied as to the different organization, curriculum, students, faculty, resources, conclusions, and projections of each school involved an then compared to a standard reading program. It was found that Kentucky is a forerunner in the area of state requirements as to provision for help in reading for ninth grade students. The type of referral and physical setting of the program were both found to …

The Application Of Self-Instruction To Elementary School Music, Jane Austin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of self-instruction on achievement in elementary school music at the fourth grade level. In order to study this effect, the investigator will seek answers to the following questions:

1. Which methods of self-instruction are most applicable to children at the fourth grade level?
2. What concepts are basic to the understanding of music?
3. What studies have been concluded to define the range of conceptual developments among fourth graders?
4. What materials and activities are most effective in achieving the desired results based on the above considerations?
5. Is I.Q. a significant factor in musical …

Moral And Spiritual Values In A High School Anthology Of Literature, Terrence Eugene Kelsay

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For some years now the need for the emphasis of moral and spiritual values in our public schools has been recognized by the Kentucky Department of Education. The department has given encouragement to numerous research projects and summer workshops held for the purpose of finding an answer to the problem of emphasizing moral and spiritual values in public education. The concern for this need has informally become known as the “Kentucky Movement.”

This study was not undertaken with the thought of introducing new programs in our high schools. The teaching of moral and spiritual values should be done through the …

Homogeneous Grouping As A Phase Of The Henderson County High School’S Guidance Program, Lewis Johnson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of homogenous grouping for the freshman classes of Henderson county High School. We are aware of the wide range of abilities and achievements of our students and feel very strongly our responsibility to advance the slower students as fast as possible without their becoming blocks in the paths of the faster students. However, at the same time, we must not permit the faster to impede the progress of the slower. It is our belief that when students of wide abilities are grouped together that the slower students soon recognize the …

A Study Of The High School Graduates Of Bullitt County, Kentucky, Thomas S. Jeffries

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

With the advent of the free public high school, there has been a thirty-fold increase in secondary school enrollment in the last fifty years. If we are to maintain and improve the quality of our democracy, it is essential that education have the primary purpose of meeting the needs of these students. “Consequently, the school program must be planned in terms of pupil needs and in relation to goals that are important to the students themselves. Activities and experiences must be provided which afford practice in all areas of democratic living, which are aimed at the improvement of life in …

A Course Of Study For General Chemistry, Paul E. Kerrick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

1. This study should help the teacher create a greater interest among the students for chemistry. The study should enable the teacher to do better teaching.
2. The study was prompted by a felt need on the part of the writer and to satisfy the partial requirements for a Masters degree.
3. The study involves three main divisions:

1. A course of study in chemistry consisting of an introduction.
2. A course of study in chemistry consisting of nine developed units.
3. The means of evaluating a course of study.

1. The scope of the study includes an introduction to chemistry usually taught in high school.
2. Materials …

Educational Qualifications Of The Mathematics Teacher In The Public Secondary Schools Of Kentucky, William Reed

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The general purpose of this study is to investigate the status of the mathematics teachers in the secondary schools of Kentucky. It is in detail a study to ascertain (1) the educational qualifications of Kentucky mathematics teachers; (2) the salaries of these teachers; (3) the teaching experiences and tenure of the mathematics teachers; (4) the number and kind of mathematics courses being offered in our secondary schools.

The Present Status Of Industrial Arts In The State Of Virginia, Horace Knight

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The chief concern of this study is “The Present Status of Industrial Arts in the State of Virginia.” There are three main divisions of the study:

1. Factors Influencing Industrial Arts in Virginia
2. The Present Status of Industrial Arts in the Schools of Virginia
3. The Present Status of the Industrial Arts Teacher in Virginia

In obtaining the information for this study the following three methods were used: 1. Questionnaires were sent to each shop teacher in the State teaching shop subjects in junior and senior high schools. 2. Research was done by investigating: a. Other studies in the field of Industrial …

The Study Of Folklore In American Education, Tom Venable

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to trace the history of the study of folklore from its origins in Europe through its development in the United States. Particular emphasis is laid on the part organized education has played in this development, the attitudes organized education has showed in relation to the study, those persons in American education who have furthered the study, and how folklore has been and is being used in the curriculum of the secondary school and college.

The Development And Growth Of Community Schools In Hopkins County, Compton C. Crowe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For several years many of the leading educators of the different states and the leading schools of higher education have been studying and advocating the community school idea. There have been many community schools established with various plans and ideas installed. Some are more advanced than others, but all are established with a long time plan in view. Many conferences have been held, and experts have been consultants and co-ordinators, and several visits have been made within the community to see at first hand the workability of school and its affect upon the lives of the children and citizens of …

Course Of Study In Advanced Typewriting, Jane Hulse

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study the writer is trying to show that by organizing the entire year’s work before the school term begins and adding to it throughout the year, speed and accuracy in typewriting may be achieved much more thoroughly and effectively.

A Follow Up Study Of The Four-Year Teacher-Training Graduates Of The Bowling Green Of Commerce, 1937-1941, Mary Elizabeth Cornette

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Bowling Green College of Commerce is a division of the Bowling Green Business University, a privately owned and controlled institution which has been located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, since its removal there in 1884 from Glasgow, Kentucky. Until 1906 the Southern Normal School was associated with the Business University under the same management, but in that year the Normal School was made a state institution, the Western Kentucky State Normal School, and the Business University continued under private management.

In 1922 the Bowling Green College of Commerce was organized with an independent state charter as a division of the …

Vocabulary Study As A Means Of Increasing Speed And Comprehension In Reading, Florence Hunnicutt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is a need for a clearer understanding of the methods by which vocabularies can be enlarged most effectively. Results of experiments indicate that pupils are unable to recognize their own deficiencies and needs in respect to the meanings of words; consequently they need some type of guidance in enlarging their meaning vocabularies. Teachers are agreed that word lists are a non-effective device. They are agreed, too, that not one or a few techniques are being used to teach the meanings of new words, but many techniques. The two most effective seem to be (1) relating the word to former …

Analysis Of Public School Music Curricula Of The State Teachers Colleges In The United States, Louise Jackson Funk

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is very little literature pertaining to the Public School Music curriculas of the state teachers colleges in the United States.

Various questions, however, have arisen in each institution relative to the required music courses and to the number of hours that should be required of a public school music major. Music teachers disagree as to the text to be used in music courses. Of all the various public school music texts available it is difficult to find any one text that is most worthy of recognition as there seem to be many of equal value. Not only is there …