There is no abstract available for this thesis.

This thesis used the Brown-Carlsen Listening Comprehension Test to gather pre- and post-test scores in order to measure students' listening abilities at the beginning and the end of the Speech 210 class offered Spring Quarter, 1972.The results were then analyzed by means of two statistical designs: The Analysis of Variance and The Product-Moment Correlation Test for Missing Data. The findings indicated statistically significant relationships between sex and listening test scores, pre- and post-test scores, and listening test scores and final grades.In addition, this thesis has discussed numerous previous studies and their relationships to the field of listening research.

This study compared the effects of two comprehension monitoring strategies on the reading comprehension awareness in expository text read by third and fifth grade students. A secondary purpose was to determine if the comprehension monitoring strategies influenced reading comprehension achievement. The effects of gender were also studied. The participants were 51 third grade students and 57 fifth grade students from six intact classrooms in four elementary schools in a midwestern school district.One third and one fifth grade classroom was randomly assigned to each of the two experimental groups and the one control group. During a 4-week intervention, one experimental group was taught the comprehension monitoring strategy K-W-L; the other the comprehension monitoring strategy Predicting/Evaluating. The control group read the same expository text as the experimental groups during sustained silent reading for the 4-week period with no instruction in a comprehension monitoring strategy. A metacognitive instrument and a standardized norm-referenced test were used as pretest (covariate) and posttest (dependent variable) measures. Two separate analyses of covariance were used to address the four research questions. The following results were suggested.1. Third grade males with no strategy instruction outperformed third grade males with strategy instruction in reading comprehension awareness.2. Fifth graders outperformed third graders in reading comprehension awareness regardless of gender and regardless of strategy taught for comprehension monitoring.3. Females outperformed males in reading comprehension awareness regardless of grade level and regardless of strategy taught for comprehension monitoring.4. Third and fifth graders achieved equally well in reading achievement whether or not they received instruction and practice using a comprehension monitoring strategy.5. Males and females achieved equally well in reading achievement whether or not they received instruction and practice using a comprehension monitoring strategy.6. Third graders outperformed fifth graders in reading achievement regardless of gender and regardless of strategy taught for comprehension monitoring. / Department of Elementary Education

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purpose of this research was to determine if teacher written evaluations in arithmetic and the frequency of administering them would produce a significant difference in arithmetic achievement. The following null hypotheses were set up to guide the statistical analysis:1. There will be no significant difference between the achievement of students receiving no teacher written evaluation and those receiving teacher written evaluation every day.2. There will be no significant difference between the achievement of students receiving teacher written evaluation once every two weeks than those who receive no teacher written evaluation.3. There will be no significant difference between the achievement of students receiving teacher written evaluation every day than those having no evaluation and those evaluated once every two weeks.Three groups of sixth grade children in Anthony Elementary School in Muncie, Indiana were used in this study. Each group contained fourteen boys and eight girls. The mean intelligence quotients determined by the Otis Lennon Dental Ability Test of the three groups were approximately the same (110). Each group had a different teacher. Arithmetic was taught at the same time for fifty minutes each day for eighteen weeks. The researcher met each week with the teachers to determine pace and material to cover the next week.Group I did not use tests of any type during the study. Group II was given teacher written evaluations once every two weeks. Group III was evaluated every day by teacher written tests.The Standard Achievement Test, Modern Mathematics Concepts Tests, Form X was given at the beginning of the study. The analysis of variance and the "F" test was applied to the raw scores resulting in the value of "F" as 1.286. A difference at the .C3 level of confidence would necessitate an "F" value of 3.14. We therefore concluded that there was no significant difference in the achievement of the three groups at the beginning of the study.Form W of the Stanford Achievement Test, Modern Mathematics Concepts Tests, was given at the conclusion of the study. Again using the analysis of variance and the 'F" test the value of "F" was 1.284. A difference at the .05 level of confidence would necessitate en "F" value of 3.14. We therefore concluded that there was no significant difference in the achievement of the three groups at the conclusion of the study.The analysis of variance and the "F" tests was used to compare the group because of the involvement of more than two groups. This means of comparison eliminates the necessity of comparing subsamples one by one which is nearly impossible because of the calculation involved.Null hypothesis number one which stated, "There will be no significant difference between the achievement of students receiving no teacher written evaluation and. those receiving teacher written evaluation every day," can not be rejected at the .05 level of confidence and must be accepted with the limits of this study as valid end reasonable.Null hypothesis number two which stated, "There will be no significant difference between the achievement of students receiving teacher written evaluation once every two weeks than those who receive no teacher written evaluation," can not be rejected at the .05 level of confidence and must be accepted within the limits of this study as valid and reasonable.Null hypothesis number three which stated, "here will be no significant difference between the achievement of students receiving teacher written evaluation every day than those having no evaluation and those evaluated every two weeks," can not be rejected at the .05 level of confidence and must be accepted within the limits of this study as valid and reasonable.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of formal and informal measuring instruments as related to reading achievement test scores at the end of first grade, in sixth grade, and in ninth grade. Second, relationships between first grade reading achievement test scores and those at sixth and ninth grades were sought. Third, the relationships between two visual motor coordination subtests and between the scores of two mental maturity tests were examined. Finally, the relationship between reading test scores for boys and girls was determined at each of these intervals.The initial population consisted of 195 first grade students in Mount Pleasant Community School System in Yorktown, Indiana. The first data were compiled in the Fall of 1968; a second collection was April, 1969; the third June, 1977, at which time 113 of the initial population of students were still enrolled.Instruments used included: (1) a teacher opinion rating scale of student reading potential (TRSS); (2) a form for documenting dates students began formal reading (DBRF); (3) Gates-MacGinitie Reading Readiness Test (GMRRT); (4) Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT); (5) Good-enough-Harris Drawing Test (GHDT), Draw-A-Man subtest; (6) Marianne Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception (MFDTVP); (7) Evanston Early Identification Scale (EELS); (8) Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT); (9) Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), Level 12, Form 5, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension subtests; (10) Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED), Grades 9-12, Form X5, Reading subtest. All of the formal instruments were group-administered to the students by classroom teachers.Variables analyzed included twenty-one scores from the tests and subtests of the above measures. Statistical procedures used to analyze the data were the Pearson product-moment correlations, multiple regression correlations, and the t test. The .05 level was accepted as basis for statistical significance.The variables measured by the readiness test (GMRRT), visual perception test (MFDTVP), intelligence tests (CAT & GH DT), screening test (EELS), and teachers' opinions of students' potential reading abilities (TRSS) were related to reading abilities after eight months in school. The variables designated as listening comprehension, auditory discrimination, visual discrimination, following directions, word recognition, intelligence (CAT), teachers' opinions of students' potential reading abilities, and first grade reading achievement tests were related to reading abilities after five years in school. The variables identified as listening comprehension, auditory discrimination, visual-motor coordination, intelligence (CAT), position in space, teachers' opinions of students' potential reading abilities, and first grade reading achievement tests were related to reading abilities bf students after nine years in school.The intelligence test (CAT) had a high correlation with the sixth grade reading achievement test; the correlation with the first grade achievement test was not as high; the correlation was lowest with the ninth grade achievement test.There was a low, but statistically significant relationship between the two visual, motor coordination subtests (GMRRT & MFDTVP), and between the two inte71lectual measures (CAT & GHDT). Girls scored higher than boys on the first grade reading achievement tests, but the differences were not statistically significant after six and nine years in school.Of the formal and informal instruments administered prior to beginning formal reading only three subtests, Letter Recognition, Word Recognition, and Visual Discrimination, of the GMRRT and the Teacher Rating Scale of Students demonstrated predictive validity as to first grade reading ability. Two subtests, Auditory Blending and Listening Comprehension, of the GMRRT, Cognitive Abilities Test, Figure-Ground subtest of the MFDTVP, and the TRSS demonstrated predictive validity as to reading ability after five years in school. Two subtests, Following Directions and Listening Comprehension, of the GMRRT, TRSS, and DBRF demonstrated predictive validity of reading ability after nine years in school.In predicting first grade reading ability the instruments which were most effective were recommended to be included in a screening procedure. Using the conclusions of this study, the screening procedure should include the Letter Recognition, Word Recognition, and Visual Discrimination subtests of the GMRRT, and the Teacher Rating Scale of Students.

The purpose of the study was to construct and test a theoretical model for measuring degrees of organizational effectiveness, efficiency, and integration. The model, the administrative grid, patterned after the quadrant scheme used by Halpin and the managerial grid by Blake and Mouton, provided a system of accommodating the effectiveness and efficiency measures established by Barnard and a visual interpretation of the administrative technique utilized by administrators in integrating the two basic elements of an organization, the goals and the people.In designing the pilot study to test the model, specific attention was given to a) establishing minimal levels of organizational accomplishment; b) the nature of the orthogonal relationship between goals and people; and c) the psychological constructs of the classroom teacher as a means of measuring administrative activity. The review of the literature included psychological theory and leadership theory as applied to the model.A general hypothesis was made at the beginning of the study that administrators in "good" schools provide leadership differently from administrators in "poor" schools, and the perceptions of teachers could distinguish the difference. A panel of 10 professional educators rated 275 Indiana high schools to facilitate separating higher quality or "good" schools from lower quality or "poor" schools. The ratings were screened for consistency, and the mean scores were placed on a continuum from one to six. Schools were selected for inclusion in the project based upon the mean scores of the ratings at extreme ends of the continuum. Administrators from schools clearly categorized as "good" or "poor" were invited to participate. Eleven randomly selected faculty members from each of 20 "good" and 20 "poor" schools completed an adaptation of the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire-Form XII measuring the amount of structure and production emphasis provided by administrators and the tolerance of freedom and uncertainty among teachers as perceived by the teachers.Seven null hypotheses were established to determine whether differences existed between "good" and "poor" schools on 1) Initiating Structure, 2) Production Emphasis, 3) Goals dimension, 4) Tolerance of Uncertainty, 5) Tolerance of Freedom, 6) People dimension, and 7) Integration. Hypotheses 1, 3, 5, and 6 were rejected beyond the .10 level of significance while 2, 4, and 7 were held as tenable at the .10 level. The data were analyzed by using two-way analyses of variance with the second factor (School) nested. The two-way ANOVA provided the capability of testing for the unique effects associated with the quality of the school classification separately from the unique effects associated with sample schools nested within the "good" and "poor" categories respectively.Mean scores were plotted on the administrative grid and determined to be of assistance in providing school administrators graphic interpretations in how the administrative effort is perceived by teachers. The grid also provides the administrator with direction necessary for corrective action.The study was a pilot project to determine if the method of investigation and application of results warrant further study. The results indicated that perceptions of individuals inside the organization as to the "goal" and "people" orientation of the administration, may provide insight in problem situations. Further research is recommended to sharpen the instrumentation with schools, and replicating the study in various types of organizations was recommended.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to the reading ability of beginning kindergarten children. The study purported to investigate the following major components: One, the relationship between two specified sets of variables. Set I included: (1) letter naming; (2) visual discrimination; (3) auditory discrimination; (4) oral language; (5) chronological age; and (6) mental age. Two, the relationship between reading as measured by word call and comprehension, and sex and socioeconomic status was investigated. Three, the relationships between reading and the environmental and developmental characteristics of beginning kindergarten children were examined through child and parent interviews.A word call and comprehension test was developed and given to 1,858 beginning kindergarten children of thirty-one public schools of Delaware County, Indiana. A stratified random sampling procedure was employed. The strata were determined by a combination of raw scores on word call and comprehension according to the various ranges in scores and the number of children available representing each range. An attempt was made to provide proportional sampling for each sex.The instruments used in the sample were: (1) a self-constructed letter naming test; (2) Gates-MacGinitie Readiness Skills Test (visual discrimination subtest) ; (3) Wepman Auditory Discrimination Zest ; (4) Slosson Intelligence Test for Children and Adults (SIT); (5) The Minnesota Scale for Paternal Occupation; (6) eight puppets to elicit oral language samples measured by the T-unit; (7) Child Interview Questionnaire; and (8) Parent Interview Questionnaire. All tests and instruments were administered individually.The data obtained from the Child Interview Questionnaire included: (1) experiences; (2) interests; (3) responsibilities and behaviors; (4) language-speaking experiences; (5) reading-writing experiences; and (6) parent attitudes. The data obtained from the Parent Questionnaire included: (1) family background; (2) home environment; (3) physical--motor skills; (4) behavioral characteristics; (5) preschool language-speaking experiences; (6) preschool reading experiences; and (7) parental attitudes and opinions. The analysis was made on the total sample; comparisons between the upper and lower quartile of the sample were made where appropriate.The statistical procedure used to analyze the data of this study was the canonical correlation which measures the relationship between two sets of variables and permits assessment of the interrelationships among them. One canonical correlation was significant which yielded a chi squared of 97.997 with twelve degrees of freedom value of (p <.0001).The correlation between Set I and Set II variables in this study was .8730 with 38.11 percentage of explained variance in Set I accounted for by variables in Set IT.Variables letter naming, visual discrimination, and mental age tended to have the highest correlation or greatest weight with variables word call and comprehension with letter naming as the major contributor. This would tend to confirm the use of letter naming as a predictor of reading achievement. The five most influential factors that encouragedchildren to take an interest in reading in this study were: being read to; seeing others read; having reading. materials available; viewing television; and curiosity.Children in the upper quartile of the sample who manifested greater degrees of reading ability than children in the lower quartile of the sample tended to come from higher socioeconomic classes; more reading materials were available; family members were seen reading; spoke in sentences earlier; and had less difficulty with verbal fluency or expression.Parents of children in the upper quartile of the sample encouraged interest in reading most often through incidental. learning situations rather than deliberate attempts to teach reading skills. Most parents indicated that they did not foresee any special school related problems because of their child's reading ability prior to kindergarten; children would continue reading on their own; would gain self-confidence; would become better students; and would experience success.Most parents in this study generally felt capable of helping their children with reading. Parents generally believed that children should learn to read prior to kindergarten provided they are: interested; reading occurs naturally; there is ability and potential; and no force is used.

This study was undertaken in an effort to determine the effect of compensatory education on achievement and the self concepts of students in inner city schools. The subjects for this study were chosen from the third, fourth, and fifth grades of the Lincoln, Longfellow, Blaine, and Garfield public elementary schools of Muncie, Indiana. The experimental group received compensatory treatment which consisted of remedial reading, tutorial aid, and counseling, while the control group received the standard type of education given by the schools involved in the study. Both groups were selected by classroom teachers on the basis of personal judgment with no specific criteria given for the selection.Academic achievement was measured by the results of the Iowa Basic Achievement Test. This test was given twice (pre- and post-test) to both the control and experimental groups in grades four, and five. Grade three had been administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) as a pre-test the previous spring at the end of grade two. Grade three was tested by the Iowa Basic Achievement Test in a post-test the spring of 1973.Self concept was measured by the results of the test by Waetjen and Liddle, Self Concept as a Learner (SCAL). This test was given twice to both the control and experimental groups; the' pre-test in the fall of 1972 and the post-test in the spring of 1973.The results were used to evaluate the eight basic hypotheses. Statistical analysis of the results led to rejecting only one hypothesis. Hypothesis 7 was rejected at the .05 level of significance.In general, any gains shown by the experimental group over the control group were of small statistical magnitude, whether in the area of academic achievement, reading achievement or self concept. The same may be said of any of the differences between the various schools, grades, and class groups. No strong relationship between compensatory education and the probability of success could be clearly established from the data.A strong relationship was established, however, between compensatory and the probability of success for grade three. Since the impact of counseling, tutorial aid, or remedial reading was not analyzed separately, this relationship was attributed to the compensatory treatment as a whole and specifically to any one part of the program.