Search

The course of collective bargaining for public employees (including teachers) in the state of Alabama is examined in this study. Although Alabama currently has no state legislation providing for bargaining for teachers, the trend nationally, as well as in the state, seems to be toward establishment of bargaining units for public employees. The author interviewed representatives of Alabama organizations that indicated interest in and influence on employer-employee relations in the state. These organizations included business and employer groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, as well as employee groups such as the Alabama Education Association. He also surveyed school district personnel and selected legislators and mayors. The results of the survey indicate that Alabama is not yet a good nesting place for public employee collective bargaining. Also included is a summary of labor legislation for other states and a brief review of the history of collective bargaining. The author concludes that since some form of professional negotiations for teachers and other public employees is inevitable, the state should take immediate action to prepare for the passage of a collective bargaining law. The author proposes the content of such a law. (Author/DS)

As a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and numerous federal district court rulings, during the last 10 years many employers have actively recruited and hired individuals from the groups that previously suffered the most from job discrimination. A conflict is now arising between the need for equal job opportunities and seniority-based job layoffs. The "last in first out" (LIFO) layoff procedure is facing legal tests. In the private sector, the courts are willing to intrude on LIFO systems only if there is clear and convincing evidence that recently hired minority group employees have sustained personal injury as a result of their employer's prior discrimination. The situation is less clear in the public sector. This document presents an overview of the conflict between equal opportunities and seniority-based layoffs, outlines provisions of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and reviews court cases in the public and private sectors. Numerous tables are included, and an appendix presents abstracts of the cases referred to in the report. (Author/IRT)

Presented is the final evaluation report of the third year of a project to develop a model for providing prompt analysis of learning disabilities, intensive specialized teaching, support to parents and regular teachers, and a practicum for specialist teachers in California. Sections cover the following: historical background of the project, evaluation methodology, implementation of the model in the San Francisco Unified School District, conclusions, definitions of intervention terms, implecations, guidelines for project operators, staff development, and replication activities. Outlined in a section on the analysis of project objectives are the assessment tools and intervention techniques utilized, and measured outcomes regarding target behaviors. The bulk of the document consists of appendixes which include a summary of dissemination activities, sample workshop evaluation forms, and non-commercial materials used in workshops. Also appended is an evaluation report on program activities over 3 years relating to the following objectives: enhancement of behavior and/or academic skills for students with learning and/or behavioral disabilities; development of special teachers' skill in planning and implementing intervention for educationally handicapped students and assisting other on-site staff in sharing the instructional responsibility; development of regular teachers' skills in identification, assessment, and instruction of students with learning disabilities; implementation of alternative patterns of service by support personnel; and working with teacher-training institutions to provide opportunities to have monitored practicum experiences with students, parents, and school staffs in pupil assessment, instruction, and consultation. (SBH)

Concurrent with a needs assessment and community input study, a research team undertook two behavioral science research efforts. The first was an identification and examination of the influence network through which local leadership was organized. The second was an examination of how those who constituted the network of policy-making influentials perceived the education system. Throughout this year-long period, the research team and the group doing the needs assessment observed each other's activities and consulted on the meaning and impact of the way their efforts impinged on each other. The two major chapters of this document are concerned with influence analysis and cognitive mapping. Both chapters use the same format--the concept and background of the research is presented, the methodology and the nature of the results this strategy provides are explained, the results of the research from Port Angeles are presented, and the applicability of the findings in the community are examined. Conclusions and implications are drawn in the final chapter. (Author/IRT)

The objective of the second part of a larger research study (which was designed to study and assess the adult basic education (ABE) program in Nebraska at the local level from January 1, 1971 to December 31, 1974 and to assess the local community awareness of the ABE program) was to survey the present adult basic education teacher occupational attitudes, characteristics, and training experiences. Teachers of ABE were queried as to their (1) attitudes toward their jobs, (2) feelings about ABE teaching as a career, (3) perceived training needs, and (4) current teaching competencies. Data was gathered through a mailed survey in May of 1975. One hundred fifty-one teachers in local ABE programs responded to the survey representing 80% of the total population. A pilot test using the assessment instrument was made and a test-retest measure demonstrated 99.8 reliability. Personal observations and interviews as well as content analysis by experts were used to rate the validity of the instrument. The report contains six chapters: (1) an introduction; (2) an examination of the literature related to employee attitudes and job satisfaction; (3) a description of the design of the study, methodology, the pilot study, and procedures; (4) a report of the data and analysis of the data; (5) interpretation of the results of the data, with a summary of the results; and (6) a discussion of the implications and recommendations of the study. (WL)

In an effort to maintain the quality of adult basic education (ABE) instructional personnel, prevent a reduction of emphasis by higher education on responding primarily to ABE interest and needs, and determine directions of the off-campus programs, a questionnaire was sent to 45 higher education institutions in the Southeast which provided graduate level courses for ABE personnel during the 1969-74 period. From the 33 who responded, findings indicated that (1) the majority of the institutions were distinctly oriented toward the master's degree level, (2) the majority of faculty members were located in distinct adult education departments, (3) the majority reported two or less full-time adult education faculty members, and (4) there were five courses that were relatively standard off-campus offerings in the region--introduction to adult education, curriculum development, administration, adult learning and psychology, and methods and materials. The report includes detailed descriptions of study results along with a discussion of efforts which would aid ABE program development and student enrollment. (WL)

The first section of this report provides the pupil count, expenditures, and staff figures for the 1973-74 school year Connecticut compensatory education programs. Section two provides the major types of programs for public and nonpublic schools and the frequency of their occurrence in 1973-1974. The programs include preschool, reading and math, and summer programs. The third section addresses achievement test results, which are given in terms of a grade equivalent analysis, and a standard score analysis. The rest of this section provides a discussion of the test analyses presented. It is suggested that the use of grade equivalent test score analysis at the school district, the State, and the Federal levels be discontinued in favor of a more accurate way of reporting the achievement of compensatory children to the public. Although various features that improve the method of reporting achievement are incorporated in the additional way Connecticut has analyzed compensatory pupil test information for the past two years, two considerations are seen to need further attention. First, some of the Connecticut analyses are shown not to be consistent with that of the much larger MAT Gains sample; second, this report does not deal with the issue of how the MAT Gains approach can be used effectively at the school district, the State, and the Federal levels of participation to determine whether pupils are performing any better than they would have, had compensatory help not been provided to the selected pupils. (Author/AM)

Presented is the final performance report of Project Catalyst, a program designed to evolve a process in action to maximize skills, interpersonal relations and personal job satisfaction among principals, teachers and pupils (both handicapped and nonhandicapped) in mainstream settings. Covered in Section I, "Framework", are a statement of the problem, background and rationale for the project, goals and objectives, basic assumptions, process models, and process overviews. Section II "Procedures and Progress", follows the implementation of the program from the selection of ten schools through the 3 years of the program; and includes information on such procedures as surveys, meetings, workshops, and evaluations. Appended are such items as the Principal's Skill Scale, pupil and teacher ratings, rating results, and the diagram of the teaching-learning-caring matrix. (IM)

Presented is the 1975 status report on education of handicapped students in Colorado. Statistical information is presented in both narrative and table format in the following areas: the number of handicapped students served, the means for serving the handicapped students in Colorado, staff required to serve handicapped students, costs and revenues for educating handicapped students, the impact of special education during 1974-1975, the impact of the inservice program for regular educators during 1974-1975, and the status of special education for the year 1975-1976. Topics covered include end-of-year status of special education students served; identification of needs in terms of referral, assessment, and staffing; support services staff; direct cost and total attributable cost for educating handicapped students; status and effectiveness of program implementation; objectives of the inservice program and reported accomplishments; and Child Find projects being conducted during 1975-1976. Among appendixes are information on reimbursable costs under the Handicapped Children's Educational Act and a map showing the locations of Colorado's 43 special education administrative units. (SB)

The work reported here is exploratory and investigative in nature, but it is expected to lead to a systematic research program designed to test the validity of propositions about the innovation process. Part 1 is introductory. Part 2 sets the stage for discussion of the Research for Better Schools, Inc. (RBS) field research. Part 3 enumerates the propositions explored in the RBS research and how they were derived from RBS field experience. Part 4 briefly describes the study procedures. These are elaborated more extensively in Appendix A. The findings of the research are reported in Part 5. Part 6 concludes the body of the report by considering some of the implications of the research for practitioners in school districts, institutions performing as linking change agents, and researchers and research managers. Appendixes to the report provide information of interest primarily to researchers and copies of the study instruments and supporting documentation. (Author/IRT)

The continued existence and value of teacher aides in school districts throughout America is dependent on the successful manipulation of a number of variables. These are quite divergent and vary from school district to school district and often within individual schools. The successful operation of each teacher aide program depends on the development, implementation, and utilization of an adequate preservice and inservice educational program. Each training aspect of preservice and inservice training programs should be based upon the needs of aides, teachers, and administrators. To solicit information pertaining to the problems and issues confronting teacher aides, 50 aides in a paraprofessional training program (Career Opportunity Program) at Indiana University at South Bend were contacted and asked to identify their most pressing concerns. They indicated that they desired clarification of their roles and duties, additional training, and they indicated a need for the development and implementation of an adequate preservice and inservice educational program. The development of preservice and inservice training programs for teacher aides is valuable in that interaction and cooperative efforts on the part of each aide, teacher, and administrator can be strengthened. A typical program should provide opportunities for each of these groups to work as a team in facilitating learning for all students. (DMT)

This paper is intended to furnish the necessary context and background information for an understanding of the role and functions of the Queensland, Australia Pre-School Correspondence Program. This educational service, the first of its kind in Australia, occurred within the context of a policy to provide one year of free preschool education for all children aged 4-5 years within the State of Queensland. It is directed toward children in remote areas. Lessons consist of a printed program with suggested activities for parents to use with recorded material or cassette tapes, library resources and a kit of equipment. This paper provides an overview of Queensland's geography as well as an outline of Queensland's educational system and tables presenting such demographic data as school enrollments, home background, age distribution, remoteness from school, illnesses among school children, and equipment available to the parents. (MS)

This preliminary study was designed to help two teachers who felt excessively self-critical to increase their positive self-thoughts and decrease their negative self-thoughts, i.e., to improve their self-esteem. An intensive experimental design involving four phases was employed. Each phase--Baseline, Thought Stopping, Positive Intervention, and Follow-Up--lasted approximately 2 weeks. During all phases of the experiment the teachers observed their positive and negative self-thoughts with the help of wrist counters. Classroom observers coded instances of overt positive and negative behavior by the teachers. A positive intervention, which used stimulus cues to prompt positive self-thoughts, was effective in increasing the positive thoughts of one teacher. The results of thought stopping (subvocalizing the word "stop" to inhibit unwanted thoughts) were mixed. The reported changes in self-thoughts were supported by two self-report measures and, to some extent, by the external observations of teacher and student classroom behavior. Some indication was found that self-observing does change the behavior being observed. (Authors)

The paper reviews descriptions and studies of classes for children with learning disabilities (LD). Considered are aspects of regular class placement of LD students such as academic achievement and social adjustment, and attitudes of educators such as regular and special class teachers. On the basis of the review, full-time, self-contained classes are not recommended for LD students. Alternatively recommended are a part-time, highly-individualized resource room program for pupils with nonspecified learning disabilities and close collaboration between the regular classroom and the resource room teachers. It is maintained that the combined efforts of the teachers should result in a full-time program with a high degree of individualization for LD pupils. (Author/MC)

The research was designed to determine whether: (1) ninth-grade male and female students differ in their perceptions of job characteristics which would be important to them in choosing an occupation, (2) ninth-grade male and female students differ in their perceptions of what constitutes job "success," and (3) counselors and teachers can predict the degree of importance that selected job characteristics have for ninth-grade students. Male and female students were in general agreement about what consitutes job success and about which factors would be important in choosing an occupation. The teachers were, as a rule, unable to predict their students' feelings about which job characteristics would be important in choosing an occupation. Males and females indicated the best definitions of occupational success meant doing the best one can on the job, helping others, and earning a good salary. They also agreed that personal satisfaction from doing a job well, steady employment, secure future, and interesting work were important factors to be considered in choosing an occupation. Tables, instruments, and appendixes are included. (Author)

To explore goals for economics education and ways in which these goals might be improved, reconciled, and consolidated, a Delphi-like inquiry among more than 200 economics educators, economists, businessmen, other social scientists, and educational administrators was undertaken. Statistical data and comments as to respondents' views expressed in one questionnaire was relayed back to them with a successive questionnaire. The process was repetitive for the purpose of eventually developing a composite opinion shared by the respondents in the light of reactions of others. Key findings of the inquiry, considered important guides for more effective economics education, are that the goals of economics education differ widely, both within and among the groups surveyed and that respondents arrived at a general concentration on one or another of three possible goals. The need for the inquiry, its process, and findings are discussed. Recommended actions deal with specification of goals, explanations to business interests and educational administrators, and implications to trainers of teachers of social studies. Exhibits include four questionnaires and responses. (Author/KSM)

The study attempts to investigate, examine, and formulate a theory of career development and occupational choice related to those individuals choosing to become public school (K-12) teachers. Three groups of data are presented. The first section consists of a review of the literature pertaining to four theories of career development and occupational choice: (1) personality-oriented, (2) self-conceptual, (3) sociology-based, and (4) trait and factor theories. The theories of Super, Holland, and Miller and Form are discussed briefly to illustrate each contemporary career development approach. Part 2 consists of an investigation of teacher characteristics and the characteristics of the teaching profession as well as a survey of teachers' reasons for their occupational choice. In part 3, this material is reorganized into Blau's conceptual model, which synthesizes all of the data into a theoretical model for the career development and occupational choice of public school teachers. (MW)

Self-concepts of teachers and student teachers have been found to predict certain specific teaching behaviors. This study explored these possible relationships in the microteaching setting. Self-Report Inventory and OScAR measures were obtained on 51 students, all secondary teacher candidates. Correctional and ANOVA procedures yielded only a few significant results. The inadequacy of self-concept measures to relate significantly to microteaching performance is clearly revealed. Explanations of these findings are set in the context of both self-concept theory and teacher education program development and research. Tables are presented as appendixes. (Authors)

This study is designed to develop a checklist of teacher competencies (TECOMP I) based on an analysis of teaching tasks in keeping with a cybernetic model, to secure and analyze critical responses to the checklist items, to relate these judgments to the characteristics of the several items, and to clarify issues regarding the construction and utilization of competency lists. Contents of this study are divided into three sections. Section 1, "The Development and Character of the Checklist," provides background information, presents TECOMP I, describes a cybernetic model of the teaching-learning process, and lists uses of the checklist. Section 2, "The Application of TECOMP I to Prospective and Present Teachers," includes data obtained from teachers who were both graduate students and supervisors of undergraduate student teachers regarding the importance of the checklist items and their placement in training. Section 3, "Conclusions and Discussion," presents a summary of major findings and some implications of the study. Appendixes include the following items: (a) "The Teacher Competencies Checklist together with Decile Rating Indicators and the Categorical Classification of the Items," (b) "Lower and Upper Limits of Each Decile," (c) "Mean Item Values in Importance and Placement Ratings," and (d) "Major Training Emphasis Prior to, During, and After Student Teaching." (PD)

This document is a report of the Special Education Supervisor Training (SEST) Project at the University of Texas at Austin. It contains a description of a conceptual model for generating, validating, and assessing competencies in the problem-solving, human relations, and job task domains which are critical to the success of instructional leadership personnel. Included in the appendixes of the document are: (a) a list of critical competencies with statements of rationale and illustrative performance; (b) a list of major instructional supervision competencies; and (c) an outline of basic problem solving, human relations, and job task competencies. (HMD)

This document reports on a study of the resources available for teachers and on the usage of these resources in British Columbia. The methodology of the study was as follows: questionnaires were sent to all British Columbia schools, all district resources in British Columbia, and teacher organizations in other provinces; on-site visits to selected schools, the examination of internal records from the British Columbia Teacher Federation for patterns of usage, and the results of an experiment conducted at Fairburn Elementary School, Victoria which examined teacher usage at the University of Victoria library were also employed as methods. Analysis of results indicated that present professional educational resources and services are scattered in bits and pieces and uncoordinated; they must be coordinated to meet adequately even the present level of restricted demands of teachers. Eleven recommendations are made, including suggestions that a provincial professional education services council and a similar council for each school district be established. Descriptions of the resources available in selected districts, tables containing data from the study, and a description of the Fairburn experiment are also included in this document. The appendixes contain summaries and breakdowns of responses to questions on the questionnaire. (JA)

The 1972-73 accountability study of Duval County (Jacksonville, Florida) programs for trainable mentally handicapped (TMH) children and youth, funded under Title VI-B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, focused on the development and refinement of evaluation materials and field testing of the materials developed. Twelve teachers identified approximately 550 behavioral objectives with corresponding criterion test items and accompanying instructional suggestions. Field testing involved evaluation of the 550 behavioral objectives by teachers, parents, and community agency personnel, evaluation of student performance using criterion test items, and evaluation of the project products and activities by a three member panel of experts. Results of field testing supported such conclusions as the following; (1) that there is a high degree of correspondence between the importance attributed to skill areas by teachers, parents, and community agency personnel with social skills generally ranked highest and occupational skills lowest; (2) that project materials have a high probability of being used and correspond to teacher needs; (3) that the criterion test item approach to assessment of TMH student performance is inadequate; and (4) that there is need of additional behavioral objectives in the occupational skills area which take account of skills needed for success in sheltered workshop situations. (GW)

To develop guidelines for institutional assessment that consider the specific characteristics of junior colleges, student bodies, faculties, and administrative staffs, faculty members of three community colleges were studied in terms of demographic characteristics, values, and emphases of college programs. The three schools from which the subjects were drawn were located within a 75-mile radius of Los Angeles. All data were collected by means of a Staff Survey that was administered to the three faculty groups. The study findings suggest that while faculty members are fairly similar across the schools, differences do exist intrainstitutionally. Thus, it would seem advisable to prepare programs and emphasize institutional processes that address the faculty as developing human beings. (DB)