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Marriage Counseling : Definitions and Correlates of Success and Failure
Get PDF60 leaves. Advisor: Lawrence FanningThe problem. The author sought to analytically describe definitions of success and failure in marriage counseling held by those in the private
practice of marriage counseling. Additionally, the author attempted to have practitioners identify client characteristics they believed to be associated with success and failure in marriage counseling.
Procedure. Twenty-seven randomly selected private -practice marriage counselors were interviewed by the author. The data obtained from the interviews were supplemented with data obtained from journals and monographs.
Findings. Two discrete definitions of success and failure were held by the marriage counselors who were interviewed. One definition focused on whether or not the presenting and/or
subsequently delineated marital problems are ameliorated. The other definition focused on whether or not the clients are able to release or acquire certain interpersonal and intrapersonal attributes and skills, Among the correlates of
success and failure in the counseling experience identified by the practitioners were clarity and individuation of self, empathy, acceptance of
social and psychological differences between self and marital partner, education, intelligence,
support systems, third-party involvement, psychopathologies, level of pain and motivation, narcissism, value systems, and degree of marital homogeneity.
Conclusions. There is among professional marriage counselors significant agreement on definitions of success and failure in the marital counseling experience. Likewise, there is significant agreement concerning the correlates of success
and failure.
Recommendations. Research should be conducted among those who have experienced marital counseling to determine how clients define success and failure and to determine the degree to which
client and practitioner definitions are congruent.
Attempts should be made to determine what client
characteristics are, in fact, correlated with client-perceived success and failure in the counseling experience
The Relationship Between Self-Esteem and the Length of Time in an Administrative Position Among School Administrators
No full textvi, 136 leaves. Advisor: Paul Joslin.The problem: This study was developed to examine and determine the relationship between self-esteem and length of time in an administrative position among school administrators of the Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Procedure. One hundred seventy-eight Des Moines
independent Community School District Administrators were administered questionnaires and the "Tennessee Self Concept Scale". The questionnaire gathered demographic information
and identified administrators' interests in seeking change of administrative levels. The "Tennessee Self Concept Scale" identified administrators' levels of self-esteem. The relationship between self-esteem and length of time in an administrative position was statistically analyzed through the use of partial correlations and stepwise multiple regression. Predictor variables of self-esteem were statistically controlled.
Findings. One significant relationship between levels of self-esteem and length of time in vice principals' positions was determined: no significant relationships were identified in the three major administrative groups addressed.
The results did not indicate a significant relationship between self-esteem and length of time in an administrative position of school administrators who were interested in seeking change in administrative levels and believed it
likely to be obtained; school administrators who were interested in seeking change and believe it not likely to be obtained; and school administrators who were not interested in seeking change.
Conclusions. There is no significant relationship
between self-esteem and length of time in an administrative position of school administrators in the Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Recomendations. Additional research concerning the
means for determining the subscales scores of the "Tennessee Self Concept Scale" should be performed. Further research should be performed concerning the relationship of self-esteem
and length of time in a vice principal's position,
Duplicate this study with a larger population selected from a broader population base
A Case Study of Three Children from Single-Parent Divorced Families
Get PDF54 leaves. Advisor: James HalvorsenThe problem. The problem of this study was to describe the home and school behavior patterns of children from two single-parent divorced families.
The procedure. A case study of three children from two single-parent divorced families was conducted
for a period of ten months. Formal and informal observations and interviews were the methods used to gather data on behaviors identified in the literature of adolescent and later-latency children of divorce.
Findings. The behaviors of the two adolescents that were consistent with the literature were
related to their role with the parents, their perceptions of the divorce, their adjustment, and their school performance. The behaviors of the later-Latency child that were consistent with the literature were related to the layering response; feelings; mastery by activity and play; anger, fears, and phobias; responsibility for the divorce; shaken sense of identity; loneliness and
loyalty conflicts; somatic symptoms; changes in school performance; changes in the parent-child
relationship; and empathy.
Conclusions. The children in this study had many of the behavioral difficulties identified in the
literature as common for their age group
An Analysis of Iowa School Psychologists' Perceptions of Their Evaluators as a Basis for Developing a Performance Evaluation Model
Get PDFxii, 91 leaves. Advisor: James R. Halvorsen.The Problem: The problem of this study was to analyze the perceptions of Iowa School psychologists about current as well as desired performance evaluators as a basis for developing a performance evaluation model.
Procedure: A random sample of Iowa school psychologists responded to a questionnaire designed by the researcher. Sixteen performance criteria were selected based on job descriptions and role functions. They were asked to identify evaluators involved in evaluating them in each
performance area at both current and desired levels. They were also asked to identify an evaluator who had major responsibility in evaluating them currently and the one they would desire to be their major evaluator. Differences between current and desired dispersion of evaluators were analyzed.
Findings: Differences were found between current and desire dispersion of evaluators for fourteen out of sixteen performance areas. Data indicated that currently, the Supervisor of Psychological Services was the primary evaluator for all performance areas. The principal and school psychologist were involved in providing input. The
psychologists desired the supervisor to be their primary evaluator for ten performance areas, and the prinicpal for the other six. They desired more involvement in the evaluation process themselves and also wanted the evaluators to seek input from consumers and peers. The Supervisor of Psychological Services was the desired major evaluator responsible for the composite evaluation.
Conclusions: School psychologists perceived: (1) the supervisor to be responsible for composite evaluation, (2) the building principal's and their own involvement to be important, (3) that evaluators should solicit input from consumers and peers, and (4) the supervisor to be the primary evaluator for ten performance areas and the
principal, for the other six.
Recommendations: (1) Develop performance standards by involving psychologists, administrators and consumers,(2) Establish peer review procedures for quality control,(3) Gather evaluation data for each performance area as specified in the evaluation model,(4) Design an evaluation survey for securing consumer feedback, and (5) Conduct a
follow-up study by involving school psychologists
representing all fifty states
Supervision and Ongoing Training for Marriage and Family Therapists in Accredited Child and Family Service Agencies
Get PDFv, 119 leaves. Advisor: Lawrence FanningThe problem. This study investigated the continuing need for supervision and training for marriage and family therapists in agencies accredited by the Council on Accreditation
of Services for Families and Children.
Procedure. Twenty-six agency supervisors completed
questionnaires designed to elicit information regarding their staff therapists' training, the theoretical focus for supervision, and the nature of training needs for staff. The data derived from the responses to the questionnaire answered all five of the questions under investigation.
Findings. Supervision was provided in 92 percent of the agencies surveyed. Therapists in these agencies received 1.0 hours of either group or individual supervision weekly. The majority of supervisors utilized a non-systems theoretical model for supervision but there was much diversity of therapy models chosen by the supervisors. A
total of 58.5 percent of the agency therapists received no postgraduate training in marriage and family therapy from either the AAMFT format or a free-standing institute of marriage and family therapy. Less than 8 percent of the staff therapists had attained AAMFT Clinical Member status while 34 percent had received some training from an institute. The most prevalent method used by supervisors to monitor staff training needs was therapist self-evaluation; second was the in depth regular tracking of one clinical case. There was no indication of an objective monitoring method that evaluated the developmental needs of the
therapist for ongoing training.
Conclusion. Many agencies had no theoretical model to guide staff supervision or uniformity in therapy services which, along with the aforementioned statistics, indicates a dearth of theoretical integrity for marriage and family
therapy supervision in many child and family service agencies
Student Learning Style Preferences and Performance on Standardized Achievement Tests
Get PDF31 leavesThe problem. The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between assessed student learning style preferences and performance on standardized tests of achievement.
Procedure. The Learning Style Inventory and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development were administered to ninth and eleventh grade students at Titonka Consolidated School. A Pearson product-moment correlation was computed for sixteen selected pairs of earning style preference and standardized achievement test variables.
Conclusions. There were, according to table values, significant positive relationships between (1) student auditory learning style preference and standardized achievement testing in Reading, (2) student auditory
learning style preference and standardized achievement testing in Correctness of Expression, and (3) student visual learning style preference and standardized achievement testing in Reading. There was, according to
table values, a significant negative relationship between (1) student tactile
learning style preference and standardized achievement testing in Correctness of Expression.
Recommendations. (1) School administration and faculty should continue to assess student learning styles and use in-service to provide
insight and understanding of learning style, (2) this stud should be replicated and expanded at Titonka Consolidated School, (3 7 this study should be replicated at other school districts, (4) school administration
and faculty should be involved in the processes of diagnosis, prescription and evaluation of student learning style preferences and achievement, (5) school administration and faculty should work toward a more flexible student learning environment, (6) school administration and faculty should
concentrate on better student advisement and guidance, and (7) educators should keep an open mind and be wary of generalizations in the area of student learning style
A Study of Test-Taking Skills and Achievement Scores upon Secondary Students
No full textv, 55 leaves. Advisor: Bruce Vennard.The problem. This study was conducted to determine if secondary students whose reading abilities were below grade level could improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary test scores on standardized tests, whether the test-taking skills program influenced these students' test scores, and how a test-taking skills program could improve
students' future standardized test scores.
Procedure. The Nelson-Denny Reading Tests were used as the measuring instrument. Form E tests were given to all students for the pre-test scores. Students were randomly placed in experimental and control groups. After thirty-six,
twenty-minute sessions (a total of twelve hours of
instruction time) using published test-taking skills and strategies by World Book, students were post-tested with Form F tests. The statistical findings were calculated using t-Test results on paired and group scores.
Findings. This study provided evidence that there was a siqnificant difference in the mean gain scores of the reading comprehension scores of the experimental group. The null hypothesis was held tenable with the mean gain scores of the vocabulary sections and the reading comprehension of the control group, Data indicated that secondary students whose reading abilities were below grade placement could improve reading comprehension and vocabulary test scores with the use of a published test-taking skills program.
Conclusions and Recommendations. Data suggested that secondary students whose reading abilities were below grade level be given training in test-taking skills because students' scores on standardized tests tend to improve. Teachers should recognize that test scores are not solely
the result of content knowledge. Knowing how to select the best possible choice for an answer can improve the student's test results. Other studies in test-wiseness, test-taking skills, long- and short-term training, uses of various published skills programs, and replication of this study
with other locales and different subjects should be encouraged
The Effects of In-Service Training on Staff Token System Usage
Get PDF34 leaves. Advisor: Kenneth E. Lloyd.The problem. To assess the usefullness of a concentrated in-service training packet for staff. Focus was on the quality of token presentation and social interaction with residents of a residential psychiatric facility.
Procedures. A one hour in-service was presented using a multiple baseline design across eight nurses from two different shifts. The in-service presented training to help increase nurse's token presentation and appropriate social interaction
with residents. Observations were conducted during medication times at one of two nurses stations each targeted shift.
Findings. Appropriate social interaction and token
presentation from nurse to resident during medication presentation increased significantly for each nurse. Large increases across shifts were obtained also, having the A.M. shift increase from 1% to 84% appropriate social interactions and
40% to 99% correct token presentations, while the P.M, shift went from 2% to 78% and 39% to 99% respectively.
Conclusions. In-service training focussed on specific behavior change increased token presentations and appropriate social interactions in a given setting. A one week follow-up
showed maintenance of the behavior change data obtained in the study.
Recommendations. Development of a facility wide staff training packet to help increase overall token usage and apgroprrate social interactions. Assessment of the reciprocal results could then be made
A Comparison of Selected Stylistic Features in Technical and Non-Technical Writing
No full textv. 122 leaves. Advisor: Bruce Campbell.The problem. Most technical writing texts say
something about technical writing style, and some devote an entire chapter to it. This study attempted to determine whether there are quantifiable stylistic differences between technical and non-technical writing affecting readability, conciseness, precision, and vigor.
Procedure. Ten 15-sentence samples from journals
in science and engineering were compared with ten 15-sentence samples from journals in the humanities. Readability was measured by average sentence length, average T-unit length, percentage of sentences using subject-verb-object or subject-verb-complement order, number of syntactic chunks per major closure, and ratio of propositions to arguments. Conciseness was measured by the number of words per proposition. Precision was measured by the ratio of nouns and verbs to adjectives and adverbs. Vigor was measured by the percentage of passive verbs, the percentage of nouns that are nominalized verbs, a comparison of the Noun-Word Quotient with the Verb-Word Quotient, and the ratio of nouns and
verbs to adjectives and adverbs.
Findings. The samples were compared at the .05
level of significance. It was found that the technical writing samples had shorter sentences, shorter T-units, a higher percentage of sentences using subject-verb-object or subject-verb-complement order, and fewer syntactic chunks per major closure. It did not have a
higher ratio of propositions to arguments. It was
found thst technical writing did not have a significantly lower number of words per proposition nor a significantly higher ratio of nouns and verbs to adjectives and adverbs. It was found that technical writing did not have a lower percentage of nominalizations, a lower ratio of NWQ to VWQ, or 9 lower percentage of passives.
Conclusions. It was concluded that the most
significant stylistic differences between technical and non-technical writing were in readability. No evidence was found to indicate that technical writing was significantly more concise, precise, or vigorous than nontechnical
writing.
Recommendations. It was recommended that information such as that contained in this study be used in technical writing texts
Priority-Area Consensus Conferencing: Peer Versus One-to-One, a Study of an Efficient Method for Achieving Significant Improvements in Freshman Writing Apprehension and Writing Skill
Get PDFv, 160 leaves. Advisor: David FosterThe problem. For economic reasons, some college administrators are overburdening composition instructors with teaching loads beyond those recommended by NCTE and ADE. In response, this study measures the effectiveness of two methods of
teaching composition (peer conferencing and one-to-one conferencing), hypothesizing that peer review will be as effective as teacher review for students and more efficient for the instructor who assigns longer writing tasks than Roger Garrison
and Kenneth Bruffee generally recommend.
Procedure. Attempts were made to match fifty control (teacher review) and fifty experimental (peer review) students by sex, age, career interests, English ACT scores, English GPA scores, composite ACT scores, and composite GPA scores. The same strategies were used to arrive at the same consensus conferencing strategies in both groups. The effectiveness of these strategies was determined by pre- and post-test essays, using Miles Myer's recommendations for preparation and scoring, and also by Daly-Miller apprehension pre- and post-test scoring.
Findings. Pre- and post-test writing and apprehension means were approximately the same for either group. Overall writing score increases were significant at p<.05. Overall apprehension decreases were significant at p<.Ol. Females on
the average had higher writing scores (p<.Ol) than males, but males showed a significantly greater decrease in apprehension (p<.Ol) than females. Teacher review consumed about 150 more hours of the instructor's time than peer review.
Conclusion. Composition teachers overburdened by teaching loads beyond those recommended by NCTE and ADE can feel confident about peer conferencing. It appears to be as effective
as one-to-one for students and more efficient for the instructor.
Recommendation. A research team might discover significant conferencing strategies by matching students at various apprehension levels with students at various writing levels, comparing their conferencing protocols (transcribed from audiovisuals) with "thinking-aloud protocols," and by using many of the pre- and post-testing procedures of the present study