2,412 research outputs found
Colonel Thomas Drake Oflag 64 Negatives
No full textComplete collection of 200 negatives found in a folder during Col. Thomas Drake's time at Oflag 64, prison camp
A Secondary Reading Program in the Content Area, Madrid Community School District
No full text92 leaves. Advisor: Dr. Charles D. RowleyThe problem. In 1973 it had become obvious that the Madrid Community School district's secondary students were not reaching their maximum achievement levels in the area of reading. Students were having difficulty reading content area texts and concern was expressed by parents about the lack of progress in their children's coursework. A review of the limited standardized test data substantiated this concern.
Procedure. Through the efforts of teachers, administrators, and the public, a program to change this lack of achievement was initiated. A federal grant was received and the development of a reading program in the content areas for grades 7 through 12 was started.
Result. Approximately three years later, after the Title III federal grant, much work and complete staff involvement, reading scores are improving and public and student attitude towards reading has improved. The reading program has become a major segment of Madrid's 7 through 12 curriculum and has proven to be a program for all the students. Madrid's reputation is growing outside its physical boundaries as other school systems have observed the program and have utilized the experitse of Madrid's staff in reading for in-service instruction, for staff meetings and as convocation speakers
Details on Oflag 64
No full textCopy of "Informal Comments of Col. Thomas D. Drake at Relatives of Prisoners of War Meeting" in Washington, D.C
A Comparison of the Profile of Iowa Superintendents With That of The AASA National Study
No full text87 leaves. Advisor: Charles RowleyThe problem. The problem of this study was to compare a profile of Iowa school superintendents with a study done by the American Association of School Administrators nationwide in 1982. This comparison/profile was measured in the
spring of 1983.
Procedure. The data were gathered by means of a survey instrument modeled after that used in previous studies conducted by the American Association of School Administrators. The survey was mailed to the superintendents of all 441 public school systems in the state of Iowa and a rate of return realized at 92.1 percent.
Findings. The typical Iowa superintendent is male,
forty-nine years of age and holds a Specialist degree from an Iowa university. He began his teaching career at the secondary level (grades 7-12) and moved into an administrative position at age twenty-nine, most likely to a principalship.
The average Iowa superintendent felt his graduate
training was positive, accepted his first superintendency at age thirty-six, and served in two different districts in 1.3 different states over a period of 13.4 years as a superintendent.
He has a one-year contract and feels the "ability
to see the whole picture" and a knowledge of public relations are important areas of preparation for the job. He is a Republican, makes between 40,999 per year, sees
the job as stressful but is planning to stay on as a superintendent until retirement. In general, the Iowa superintendency reflects a strong similarity to that of its counterpart nationwide in personal
and professional characteristics according to the comparisons found between this study and the current 1982 AASA survey. The similarities are especially strong in the areas of age, sex, background/experience and personal/professional concerns. The close similarities suggest that the profession itself is becoming a recognizable force in education and that superintendents nationwide are quite similar, professionally and personally to Iowa's superintendents.
Recommendations. This study should be repeated on a regular basis with the interval not greater than five years. Only through this approach can trends and changes in Iowa's public school superintendency and those who occupy it be
discerned
An Analysis of The Tendency of Industrial Corporations to Act as Financial Intermediaries
No full text54 leave
The Relationship of Extracurricular Activity Involvement to I.Q., Academic Achievement, Attendance, and Discipline Referrals at a Selected Midwestern High School
No full textvi, 127 leaves. Advisor: James HalvorsenThe problem. This study was developed to examine and determine the relationship between involvement in extracurricular activities and the educational lives of students in a selected midwestern high school.
Procedure. Three hundred seventy-four graduating
seniors from a selected midwestern high school completed the Fall Senior Information Sheet and the Spring Senior Information Sheet. These instruments gathered data relevant to activity involvement at the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth
grades. Data relevant to I.Q. scores, academic achievement, attendance rates, and discipline referrals were gathered from available office records. The relationship between extracurricular
activity involvement and 1.Q. scores, academic
achievement, attendance rates, and discipline referrals was statistically analyzed through the use of partial correlations.
Findings. One highly significant relationship between extracurricular activity involvement and academic achievement for participants was determined. The results indicated a significant relationship between extracurricular activity
involvement and I.Q. as well as decreased discipline referrals for the participants. Although the results also indicated a significant relationship between extracurricular activity involvement and attendance rates, the relationship
was not a particularly strong one. The study discovered that females are more involved in activities and maintain higher grade-point averages than do males. Males, however, have
higher attendance rates and fewer discipline referrals.
Conclusion. There is a significant relationship between involvement in extracurricular activities and the educational lives of students in a selected midwestern high school.
Recommendations. Additional research is recommended concerning the relationship of participation in extracurricular activities and academic achievement in high school students. Further research should be conducted to determine
why a greater percentage of students do not participate in extracurricular activities using larger and smaller populations selected from a variety of population bases
Through the Eyes of School Personnel Administrators: What Matters in Selecting Elementary School Principals
No full textvii, 179 leaves. Advisor: Annette M. LiggettThe problem: The problem of this study is two-fold: first to describe those characteristics that are most likely to appeal to educators when hiring elementary principals in large sized school districts in Iowa. Second, to describe what a typical hiring process looks like in these districts and whether or not that process has changed over time.
Procedures: Data were collected through two sources: A survey of 58 members of the Iowa Association of School Personnel Administrators (IASPA) and twelve follow up in-depth interviews with selected members of this group.
Findings: The following research questions guide this study: Are there characteristics that are clearly more influential than others in the selection of elementary principals? How does the hiring process typically proceed? Is it different from the past? If it is different, how and why? Four major themes emerged from the survey (76% return rate) and interviews. These included: (a) value and respect for others, (b) knowledge of how schools work, (c) licensure requirements and experience, and (d) organizational fit. Developing specific hiring criteria was found to be the most important hiring item in the hiring process. In addition, participants in this study spoke of increased participation and collaboration among people within the district as well as across the state throughout the entire recruitment and selection process.
Conclusions: Three broad conclusions emerged from the findings of this study: First, a candidate who is hired as an elementary principal in a large district in Iowa must be a "people" person - someone who first and foremost values and respects others. Second, a candidate who is hired as an elementary principal must have a strong working knowledge of both instruction and management.
Finally, data from this study indicated that formal and informal hiring networks are alive and well in Iowa
Cue-response Separation and Element Proximity in the Feature Discrimination Paradigm
No full text75 leaves. Advisor: William D. KlipecThe problem. To investigate the function of the proximity of elements in a feature discrimination paradigm on the feature-positive effect, remote responding and stimulus identification.
Procedure. Sixty preschoolers between the ages of three and five years were trained to discriminate between two simultaneously presented displays containing either four common features, or three common and one distinctive feature. One-third of the subjects were reinforced for touching any feature on the display with the distinctive feature (FP-l group), one-third for touching a common feature on the distinctive feature display (FP-2 group), and one-third for touching any feature on the common feature display (FN group). Half of each group of subjects were trained with the features compacted in the centers of the displays and half with the features distributed in the outer corners of the displays.
Findings. A clear feature-positive effect occurred only when the elements were distributed. Compacting the elements resulted in fewer errors but did not eliminate a significant difference between the FP-2 and FN group. Generalization tests given during extinction indicated that subjects responded on the basis of features, pattern, or both independent of the condition to which they were assigned.
Conclusions. Responses to features were influenced by reinforcement probability but responses did not have to be directed to a feature for it to affect responding. The hypothesis that cue-response separation contributes to feature-negative difficulty was not supported.
Recommendations. Future research in this area should attempt to clarify the parameters of the effect, remote responding strategies, and factors that affect responding
Science-Relevant Experiences of Selected Elementary and Secondary School Students
No full text36 leaves. Advisor: Paul JoslinThe Problem. The general problem is to construct a list of science-relevant experiences that contribute to scientific literacy. The specific problem addressed in this study was to identify
(1) those experiences teachers and curriculum writers believe to be important, and (2) of these experiences, which ones students have had.
Procedure. A survey form was designated for this study, evolving in this way: (1) a physics professor developed a list of experiences he considered significant in his development toward scientific literacy, (2) a science education professor took this list and (a) eliminated all
those experience-items which he could not recall personally having had, (b) eliminated all those experiences which he considered not inclusively
related to any of the matter in both of two science texts, (c) refined the language used in the items, (d) tested the face validity of these
items with a group of about 100 fifth and sixth grade students, eliminating those items still found to cause undue problems in comprehension
for some of the students, and (e) again attempted to refine the 150 items retained for use in this study. Each item was classified into one of four science categories: biological, physical, earth, and general. The survey form was devised to be answered "YES" or "NO" by the sample population, which consisted of 353 students (sixth, ninth, and
twelfth graders in public schools from inner-city, outer-city, and suburban residential areas of a Midwestern city). A minimum of twenty students was involved in each grade-area group.
Summary of the Findings. From an item analysis of the responses made to the survey items by the sixth, ninth, and twelfth grade students involved in this study from selected inner-city, outer-city, and suburban area schools, it was
found that (according to the mean totals for each group) the suburban students recalled the most experiences, with outer-city students recalling less experiences and the inner-city students recalling the least; that the twelfth graders recalled the most experiences, with the ninth
graders recalling less and the sixth graders recalling the least--exceptions were found to these in comparing the grade-area groups
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