Browsing by Subject "Teachers"
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Item A comparative study using selected characteristicsof four-day week schools and five-day week schools in rural New Mexico(Texas Tech University, 1990-05) Richards, R. L.The purpose of the study was to compare student achievement, student satisfaction, and faculty satisfaction in K-12 rural four-day and five-day New Mexico school districts. All school districts in the study had enrollments of 400 average daily membership or less. Student achievement was analyzed over an eight-year period. Student and faculty member satisfaction was correlated with 1989 student achievement. Several analyses were used to compare the variables. Student achievement in small rural schools was analyzed by a three-way ANOVA using grade level, days per week, and the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) scores as variables. The 1989 CTBS scores were compared to student and faculty satisfaction, as measured by-the National Association of Secondary School Principal's (NASSP) Comprehensive Assessment of School Environments, using r.ultiple regression techniques. Using discriminant analysis, student satisfaction and student achievement also predicted the number of days per week that students were in school. The study indicated that CTBS scores of students in grades five and eight were significantly different (-^O.OS) between small rural four-day week schools and small rural five-day week schools in New Mexico. The four-day week student scores were significantly higher than the five-day week scores over an eight-year period.Item A comparison of Braille reading and writing instruction in rural and urban areas for students in the state of Texas who are functionally blind(Texas Tech University, 1997-05) Wedding, Jeannette A.The purpose of this study is to compare the differences between rural and urban teachers in their attempts to meet the requirements of H.B. 2277. A review of the literature suggests that no research has been conducted to determine how school districts in rural and urban areas of the state are attempting to meet the mandates regarding instruction of braille reading and writing to students with visual impairments. The significance of this study is to determine whether or not the services offered in rural and urban settings are comparable. Whether a student who is functionally blind attends a rural or urban school should not be the predetermining factor in the level of services he or she receives. If these services are not comparable, concern exists as to whether the individual needs of the student, as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), are being met. Further, this study may be used as a basis for judging improvements made in school districts and to provide insights into methods of complying with the legislation in other states that may be attempting to reach the same goal.Item A comparison of first and fifth year Texas agriculture teachers on personal teaching efficacy, general teaching efficacy, and content efficacy(2007-12) McLaughlin, Erin K.; Burris, Scott; Fraze, Steven; Brashears, Michael T.The purpose of this study was to compare first and fifth year agriculture teachers’ on general teaching efficacy, personal teaching efficacy, and content efficacy. Teacher efficacy has been defined as a two dimensional construct composed of personal teaching and general teaching efficacy. Personal teaching efficacy involves a teachers’ evaluation of their own capability to bring about student learning. General teaching efficacy reflects the degree which a teacher believes other educators can control the learning environment despite influences such as family background, IQ and school conditions (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). Content efficacy is the level of confidence an agriculture teacher possesses in agribusiness and economics, plant and soil science, animal science, agricultural mechanics and technology, and natural resources and environmental science. The sample consisted of first and fifth year agriculture teachers in Texas during the 2006-07 school year. The sample frame of 129 first year teachers and 68 fifth year teachers yielded a 71% response rate. Personal teaching and general teaching efficacy were measured by the short form of the teacher efficacy scale (Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993). A researcher developed instrument was used to measure content efficacy. An independent t-test was conducted to compare the means between first and fifth year teacher efficacies.Item A comparison of two approaches for planning long-range comprehensive inservice education(Texas Tech University, 1978-12) Fairall, Bonnie MayBoth inservice education and long-range planning are being increasingly mandated for local education agencies by federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies. However, most personnel in local school districts have little or no training in the processes of either area. In order to comply with an increased demand for more inservice education and long-range planning, school districts find it necessary to develop appropriate processes to be used; however, it is even more important to have effective processes—ones which actually benefit the district and its personnel, and do not merely cover the mandates. In addition, these mandates are aimed at bringing about change.Item A micropolitical perspective of strategic communication between a principal and teachers in a productive, innovative elementary school(Texas Tech University, 1996-12) Moore, Valerie VoglerThe purpose of this qualitative study was to focus on strategic communication between a principal and teachers in a productive, elementary school. The research questions were: What strategic communication does the principal at Walters Elementary School use when communicating to her teachers? and What strategic communication do teachers at Walters Elementary School use when communicating to their principal? Based on the findings of this study, I have three insights. First, strategic communication is the process through which micropolitical behaviors are implemented. Second, people have purposes behind their actions. Third, people respond to others' behaviors as if they are purposeful. Strategic communication between the teachers and principal in this school were found to fall into three categories. First, strategic communication was used to build or strengthen the relationship between the teachers and principal. This communication centered around ceremonial events, trust, respect, friendship, empathy, and humor. Second, strategic communication empowered teachers. This communication focused on training, money, support, extra work, involvement, and creativity. Third, strategic communication was used to relay expectations. Expectations centered around children, appraisals, the suggestion box, the basket, nonnegotiables, and praise. However, these three broad categories, relationships, empowerment, and expectations, were not mutually exclusive because I observed that people can use strategic communication to attempt to accomplish several goals simultaneously. This was a single-case study, and I recognize that different people may have different methods through which they strategically communicate their messages. This study describes how the principal and teachers at Walters Elementary School strategically communicated.Item A study of high school class sponsors: their selection and duties(Texas Tech University, 1931-05) McDonald, Thomas HobsonNot availableItem A study of parental involvement and school climate: Perspective from the middle school(2009-05-15) Dixon, Shantina RayfordThis study examines school level differences on different dimensions of teacherrated parent involvement and school climate while adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, how certified, and number of years teaching. Two hundred twenty-four elementary teachers from existing data and 178 teachers at the middle school level provided information on their perceptions of parent involvement and school climate. Elementary school teachers were recruited from districts located in Texas and California. Middle school teachers were recruited from suburban school districts located in Southeast and Southwest Texas. Teachers rated questions on the parent involvement and school climate surveys as either: strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. The nine research hypotheses generated for this study were partially supported by the data. As predicted, there was a difference between elementary and middle schools on how they perceive school climate. The data also supported the hypothesis that both Title I and non-Title I middle schools would find parent centers important for getting parents involved. Experience and school level also predicted how teachers perceived school climate. However, contrary to prediction, there were no significant differences between elementary and middle school teachers on how they perceived parent involvement. There also were no significant differences between elementary and middle school on the parent involvement scale when age, ethnicity, gender, school level, experience, and how certified were used as moderating variables. The same can be said for school climate when age, gender, ethnicity, and how certified were used as moderating variables. Several questions were analyzed separately between Title I and non-Title I middle schools and there were no differences for Title I status. Overall, current results indicated similarities between elementary and middle teachers. Similarities also existed between Title I and non-Title I middle school teachers. Explanations, implications for practice, and future research are discussed.Item A study of the effects of a mathematics staff development module on teachers' and students' achievement(Texas Tech University, 1994-12) Walsh-Cavazos, SharonThis study consisted of two phases. The first phase investigated the effectiveness on achievement and attitude of training third-, fifth-, and sixthgrade teachers on the Texas Education Agency's Probability, Statistics, and Graphing (PSG) Staff Development Module. The module required twelve hours of training and occurred over two consecutive days. The independent variable was the treatment. The dependent variables were achievement and attitude. The experimental design followed Solomon's Four-Group Design and involved 72 randomly selected teachers. Results indicated that the teachers who received the PSG training (experimental group) demonstrated significantly higher achievement scores in probability, statistics, and graphing and displayed significantly more positive attltudes toward the teaching of probability, statistics, and graphing. The second phase of the study investigated the effectiveness on student achievement of PSG instruction provided by teachers who attended the twelve-hour staff development module (experimental group) and by teachers who followed lessons from the district adopted textbook (control group) in the fifth-grade classroom. The independent variable was method of instruction. The dependent variable was student achievement in PSG. A pre-posttest design with nonequivalent groups was implemented and involved 111 fifth-grade students. The results from this phase of the study indicated that students provided PSG instruction by teachers who received the PSG module training demonstrated statistically significant achievement gains when compared to the control group.Item An Examination of the Professional Challenges, Job Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave the Profession of Urban Elementary Special Education Teachers(2012-10-19) Meloncon, BrendaSpecial education teachers are under tremendous pressure to deliver a personalized educational experience to special needs children while, at the same time, operating within an equal opportunity, politically driven educational system. Urban teachers are under even more constraints since urban public schools do not typically have the resources, materials, and support from parents needed to deliver the best possible educational experience to students. In 2000, Coleman suggested that caseloads followed closely by paperwork are the biggest concerns of special education teachers. This author further suggests that, on average, special education teachers prepare fifty lessons per day for special needs children, and spend one to two days per week managing paperwork. Budgetary constraints in urban schools further place obstacles in front of special education teachers who must make do with materials and training that are incomplete or out of date. Professional challenges may be the reason behind a lack of special education teachers in urban areas, and the fact that the demand for special education teachers was outpacing the number of special education teachers entering the field. The purpose of this study is to explore five research questions that examine the antecedents to an urban elementary special education teacher's intentions to leave the special education profession. Five professional challenges were developed from extant literature to test their influence on job satisfaction and three constructs from the theory of planned behavior. Job satisfaction and these three constructs were tested for their predictive validity influencing a subject's behavior intention to leave the profession. Using a non-random, purposeful sample of 79 certified special education teachers in urban Texan school districts, a quantitative method using multiple regression was used to test nine correlations. Results suggest that professional challenges significantly influence job satisfaction and perceived behavioral control from the theory of planned behavior. Behavior intention to leave the profession was significantly influenced by job satisfaction, attitudes about leaving the profession, and perceived behavioral control. Attitudes about leaving the profession were significantly influenced by job satisfaction. The subjective norms construct was not a significant predictor of behavior intention, and neither attitude nor subjective norms was influenced by professional challenges.Item An explanatory study of the reference groups of elementary school teachers(Texas Tech University, 1961-08) Miller, Carl EugeneNot availableItem An exploration of stress, job satisfaction, individual teacher and school factors among Teach For America teachers(2016-05) Reiser, Jenson Elizabeth; McCarthy, Christopher J.; Rochlen, AaronCurrent research suggests that the attrition rate for novice teachers continues to rise and that chronic stress plays a significant role (Ingersoll, 2001; Klassen & Chiu, 2011). While stress in educational settings is widely acknowledged, specific factors contributing to teacher stress are not well understood (McCarthy, Lambert, O’Donnell, & Melendres, 2009). To address this gap in the literature, data were collected from 51 novice teachers (Teach For America corps members and alumni; mean years’ teaching experience = 2.04) to explore vulnerability to stress, job satisfaction, preventive coping resources, perfectionism, and school context (charter vs. district). Results demonstrated that this sample of teachers reported higher than average demands and stress levels, and lower than average levels of classroom resources. Data also suggested higher levels of preventive coping were related to lower perceptions of classroom demands and lower perfectionism scores. Additionally, higher levels of perfectionism were related to lower perceptions of classroom resources. Participants were classified into groups (Resource, Demand, & Balance) based on scores on perceptions of classroom demands and resources. Membership in the Demand group exceeded average numbers found in previous studies. Preventive coping did not differ significantly between members of the Demand group and non-members of the Demand group, though the Demand group had significantly higher perfectionism and significantly lower job satisfaction scores. Finally, while differences in perceived demands were not significantly different by school context, teachers at charter schools showed significantly higher perceived resources. These findings highlight the need to provide a more complex understanding of factors placing novice teachers at risk for occupational stress and could inform decisions on how best to support them.Item An investigation into reading habits of Texas middle and high school english language arts teachersDonaldson, Tammy Cene FrancisItem Attitudes of teachers toward adopting innovations: and the relationships of these attitudes to other variables(Texas Tech University, 1968-08) Chambliss, E. JNot availableItem Beliefs of selected teacher representatives about professional consultation(Texas Tech University, 1968-06) Evans, Bruce MaxNot availableItem Cognitive and attitudinal differences between special and general education teachers and student-teachers concerning exceptional children(Texas Tech University, 1970-05) Coffelt, Donald HowardNot availableItem Collective efficacy as identified by teachers at Heritage Middle School, East Central Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas(Texas A&M University, 2008-10-10) Naumann, Luisa MariaThe primary purpose of this study was to investigate the collective efficacy of teachers at Heritage Middle School in the East Central Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, and to determine the relationship between selected demographic variables and the teachers' collective efficacy. The variables included teachers' ethnicity, gender, years of teaching at Heritage Middle School in the East Central Independent School District, total years of teaching, and highest degree earned. The researcher used the collective efficacy survey short form instrument developed by Roger D. Goddard to assess the campus's collective efficacy survey. Answers to the following questions were sought in this study. The first question studied was, "What is the perceived collective efficacy as reported by teachers at Heritage Middle School, East Central Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas?" The results of the study indicated that the teachers who participated in the study all mildly agreed that they had the ability to make all the students at Heritage Middle School successful. The second question studied was, "What is the relationship between selected demographic variables and the perceptions of the teachers regarding collective efficacy at Heritage Middle School, East Central Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas?" The results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the variables of gender, ethnicity, length of time in the classroom, length of time in the district, and length of time in the profession and the teachers' collective efficacy. During the 10 years that the Heritage Middle School has been in operation, there have been six different principals resulting in six different approaches to the management of the school. No research was found that explains how a school's collective efficacy is affected when there are numerous administrative changes. Further research that examines the relationship between stability of leadership and collective efficacy of teachers is needed.Item Computer anxiety and innovativeness as predictors of technology integration(Texas Tech University, 2007-12) Rogers, Richard K.; Maushak, Nancy; Crooks, Steven M.; Olivarez, Arturo; Price, RobertThe focus of this study was to determine if there existed significant relationships between the level of computer anxiety, innovativeness, and the level of technology integration in pre-service teachers. The study used two hundred pre-service students enrolled at a private university in the state of Texas. The sample was a sample of convenience. The design of this study was causal-comparative and correlational. Three instruments were used to collect the data: the Innovativeness Scale introduced by Hurt, Joseph, and Cook in 1977, the Computer Anxiety Index developed by Montag, Maurer and Simonson in 1984, the Teaching with Technology Instrument developed by Atkins and Vasu in 1998. No significant differences were found between certification level and innovativeness. None were found between content area and computer anxiety or innovativeness. The differences between gender and computer anxiety and the differences between gender and innovativeness were found to be not significant. Significant relationships were found between computer anxiety, innovativeness, and technology integration. Significant differences were also found between a pre-service teacher's certification level and computer anxiety. All-Level certification seekers had higher computer anxiety than other levels of certification.Item DACAmented educators : the educational, professional, and life trajectories of undocumented pre- and in-service educators(2016-05) García, José; Urrieta, Luis; Adair, Jennifer K; De Lissovoy, Noah; Menchaca, Martha; Valenzuela, AngelaThis qualitative study examines the educational, professional, and life trajectories of twenty Latina/o Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries pursuing careers as educators. The dissertation explores the participants’ rationales for pursuing careers as educators, the roles they ascribe to educators, their perspectives on education, and expressions of precariousness amongst DACA beneficiaries. The participants in this study met the following criteria: Latina/o, DACA beneficiary, pre- or in-service educator. The ages of the recruited participants ranged between 19 and 32 years old, and included undergraduate students majoring in education, student teachers, graduate students in education, and in-service pre-K-16 educators. The participants were asked to narrate their educational trajectories, career choices, and initial experiences working in public schools as educators. These narratives provide insight into the motivations that compelled Latina/o DACA beneficiaries for pursuing careers in education, and the intricacies of adjustment to the profession as novice educators. I draw from Critical Race Theory, Latina/o Critical Theory, and theories of figured worlds and multiplicity to advance the concept of vivencias, that is, a lens to examine the conditions of existence generated by the participants in relation to everyday struggles under conditions of precariousness. I use various methods, including life history interviews, ethnographic interviews, and participant observations to create biographical counterstories that simultaneously reveal histories of oppression and resistance. The findings of the study are presented in chapter 4 and 5. Chapter 4 presents the biographical counterstories of five participants that display the overall themes of the study: educational trajectories, rationale for pursuing careers as educators, perceived roles of educators, perspectives on education, and expressions of precariousness. Chapter 5 further elaborates on these themes by drawing on the life history interviews of the rest of the participants. The findings of this study highlight the need for further studies with college educated Latina/o DACA beneficiaries and their experiences transitioning to professional careers. The insights of Latina/o DACA professionals can provide colleges and universities with valuable information as to how best serve undocumented immigrant college students in their academic and professional preparation.Item Development and evaluation of IRIS: a computer simulation to teach preservice teachers to administer an informal reading inventory(Texas Tech University, 1989-05) Willis, Dee Anna SmithA continual task in any profession is the training of novices. One popular training technique is simulation. For centuries the military has used simulations. Professions such as business and medicine have also used simulations to train students. Although the literature on the use of simulations in higher education is substantial, most consists of general discussions and case reports. Little empirical research has been conducted in higher education. With the advent of inexpensive computers, simulations have grown in popularity. Surprisingly teacher education has been slow to adopt their use. Teacher educators have been even more reticent than their colleagues who are teaching in the public schools. Of the simulations that have been used in teacher education, the great majority have required a substantial investment in personnel and/or equipment. At a time when education on every level is under public attack and budgets are being cut, educators are hard pressed to meet the demands for improved teaching. Computer simulations may be one way of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of teacher educators. Previous studies have often looked at computer training versus conventional methods. A more pertinent question is whether instruction is more effective when computer-based training is integrated into the existing curriculum. This study involved the development and evaluation of a computer simulation, IRIS: Informal Reading Inventory Simulation, which can be used as an adjunct to classroom instruction on the administration and scoring of an Informal Reading Inventory. IRIS was developed using a new authoring system. Course of Action. Using this system required a good understanding of the content to be presented, but no programming skills. Students from a second reading course at East Carolina University were randomly assigned to either the control (Homework) group (N=17) or the experimental (Simulation) group (N=18). Both groups received the same in-class instruction and guided practice. The control group was given the same homework assignment as had been given in previous semesters. The treatment group received approximately two hours experience with the computer simulation. The experiment ran for eight days. To evaluate the efficacy of the simulation, students were tested using the Test of Essential Judgement and Administrative Skills (TEJAS), an objective test developed for this study. Results strongly support the use of the computer simulation as an adjunct to regular classroom instruction on the Informal Reading Invcntorv.Item Development of a portfolio prototype for assessment of home economics preservice teachers in Texas(Texas Tech University, 1996-12) Neill, Lora AnnIn 1994, the Texas State Board of Education adopted five teaching proficiencies for Texas educators, published as Learner-centered Schools for Texas: A Vision of Texas Educators. The proficiencies are performance-based standards to be used for preparing preservice teachers in Texas and address areas of knowledge, instruction, communication, equity in excellence for all learners, and professional development. The purposes of this research and development study were to identify evidences that authentically assess mastery of the five learner-centered teaching proficiencies adopted for Texas educators and to develop a portfolio prototype, based on the identified evidences, for assessment of home economics preservice teachers. The evidences were selected by consensus of three stakeholder groups: home economics preservice teachers, home economics teacher educators, and Texas public school personnel administrators who are responsible for hiring home economics teachers.
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