This dissertation explores the political and organizational activities of the Tanzania Teacher Union (TTU). This study attempts to find an organizational model for teacher unions in Africa that will increase their ability to influence policies, taking the example of the Tanzanian Teacher Union. The study is based on data collected from an open ended questionnaire survey, documentation, the union, relevant literature, focus group interactions developed by the participants on their own, and from correspondence with union leaders. The data obtained have been subjected to a combination of document and content analyses. Results were triangulated by using a variety of sources including mass media, correspondence, union reports, minutes of various meetings, and articles written before the formation of the union. The union was analyzed using the theoretical model of Ofori-Dankwa (1993) that characterizes trade unions using two dimensions political and economic which define four paradigms for unions. From the data collected, the researcher concluded that the TTU belongs to the Low Political, Low Economic paradigm. Analysis of the goals of the union however, suggests that it would be more effective in achieving its goals if it moved toward the High Political, High Economic paradigm. The data revealed that the union has trouble addressing a variety of problems including salary/pension delays that make it difficult for members to pay their medical bills and devoting sufficient attention to the problem of HIV/AIDS among teachers. The data also indicated that there are no mechanisms to develop programs for institutionalizing in-service training for members. In addition, the union movement becomes the recipient of donor funding and unknowingly spends its own resources to support the donor driven projects. The union also lacks a mechanism for negotiating with the employer. There is resistance from the private employers and the government to provide such a legal system. Finally, an area for further research is to investigate linkages of unions with the educational systems and other agencies interested in basic education. These linkages are what make unions sustainable while bringing to focus the coordination of organizational activities. The union faces a choice: either to organize itself appropriately or die.

The purpose of this study was to review successful models for school reform with a focus on the efficacy of the High Schools That Work model in vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts. This study compared and analyzed the results of learner outcomes in Massachusetts vocational-technical high schools by using the results in the Failing category from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, which is a high-stakes test based on increased standards (The Massachusetts Frameworks). The study compared an equal number of Massachusetts vocational-technical high schools that are members of the High Schools That Work network with an equal number of those that are nonmembers. The study compared the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System Failing category results in English Language Arts and Mathematics from 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 between High Schools That Work vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts and non-High Schools That Work vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts. Students not in the Failing category for English Language Arts and Mathematics would be eligible to receive a high school diploma, while those students in the Failing categories would not be eligible to receive diplomas. The study also compared dropout rates between 1999, 2000, and 2001 to learn if increased standards and highstakes testing have led to a significant increase in the dropout rate in High Schools That Work vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts when compared to dropout rates in non-High Schools That Work vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts. Based on the comparative results of the dropout rates, this study has concluded that implementing the High Schools That Work model in vocational-technical high schools in Massachusetts has done no harm in terms of significant increases in the dropout rates. Based on these results, this study has concluded that implementing the High Schools That Work model in Massachusetts vocational-technical high schools has done some significant good in effectively increasing learner outcomes on high-standards, high-stakes testing. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

School climate has been described as “the set of internal characteristics that distinguish one school from another and influence the behaviors of each school’s members” (Hoy, Smith & Sweetland, 2005). In the landmark study by Brookover, Schneider, Beady, Flood and Wisebaker (1978), school climate was found to be a more significant factor in student achievement than the variables of race and socioeconomic status. Principals need training in the phenomena of school climate and to develop the skills needed to alter it as needed for the benefit of students. This phenomenological study explored the conceptual understanding of school climate by experienced elementary school principals. Further, the study sought to identify strategies used by experienced leaders to manipulate the school climate under the conditions imposed by standards-based curricula and high-stakes testing. Specific efforts were made to distinguish between the terms school climate and school culture that are often used interchangeably in the research and by practitioners. The findings indicate that many of the principals had an understanding of school climate consistent with the research. In most cases, these principals were still involved in coursework, extensive professional development or were avid readers of professional literature. It was also determined that principals who possess an understanding of the phenomena of school climate also acted with intention in efforts to alter it. For the roughly twenty five percent of the principals who did not have a conceptual understanding of school climate, their leadership had an accidental influence on it. For the benefit of all learners in all schools, all principals need pre-service training and support in school climate and its cultivation.

Over the past six years, efforts at integrating students with disabilities in general education classrooms, otherwise known as “inclusion,” have occurred in varying degrees in response to legislative requirements; national, state, and local school district initiatives; and advocacy groups vocalizing their inclusionary philosophies and beliefs. Subsequently, the number of students with mild to severe disabilities who are placed and educated in general education classrooms has increased, yet the inclusion movement has been tremendously challenging for educators. Massachusetts Education Reform, the Title I Reauthorization, and a district-wide Inclusion Plan are compatible in several ways and have influenced inclusive efforts in the district studied. They all promote collaborative efforts in delivering services to students, as well as require that high expectations in content and performance standards be set for all students. Given special education's least restrictive environment mandate, Title I regulations encouraging inclusion as a primary service delivery model, and a mandated inclusion plan, the stage was set for this district to implement inclusion. This study examines inclusion service delivery models in second and fourth grade with particular emphasis on general education students' academic and social outcomes in inclusion versus non-inclusion classrooms. Several questions guided the study: (1) What are the effects of inclusion classrooms on the academic progress of general education students compared to the academic progress of general education students in non-inclusion classrooms? (2) What are the social benefits of inclusion to general education students? (3) Regarding general education students' success in inclusion classrooms, what are the perceptions and experiences of the teachers, the principal, the parents, and the students? A two-part literature review, an analysis of in-depth interviews, a Student Assessment Inventory, curriculum-based and norm-referenced test scores in reading and mathematics, report card grades, and attendance records are presented. Implications for this school, district, and other districts are addressed. This study documents five general findings regarding the implementation of inclusion, variables for successful inclusion, a continuum of placements for all students, the use of multiple teaching strategies, curriculum modifcations, and alternative assessment measures to address all students' needs, and the outcomes of inclusion academically and socially for general education students.

The study examined the issues of access in public and private higher education institutions in Islamabad, Pakistan. The policies and institutions currently in place to deal with access related issues are not effective, therefore, not providing students with the support systems to help them succeed at the institutions of higher learning. The study analyzed student perspectives on access, examined access related systems in place at public and private institutions, and kind of students that have access to higher education. The study also analyzed the growth of higher education institutions and their impact on access related issues particularly in last eight years. Continuous planning, support and development needed to provide higher education is discussed. In addition, the research discussed opportunities and challenges experienced by students before entering college, processes involved entrance at college and after arriving at college. Moreover, similarities and dissimilarities between public and private institutions are also discussed. The study makes suggestions to improve access related systems to help students be successful and the need and ways how can they be further developed and strengthened is also discussed. The hope is that this research will contribute to well in-formed policy making that takes into account the complexities of the forces that shape higher education and the development of Pakistan.

This case study provides the data which delineates a plan for a staff development program at the school-site level, allowing for the development of guidelines necessary for the implementation of this plan. Urban high schools face many challenges: continued diminishing budgets impacting on staffing cuts, increased student problems, and reform mandates with inadequate funding. The Department Head, as the curriculum and instructional leader, is at the forefront to provide teaching professionals with access to intensive staff development opportunities. This study describes a staff development planning process as created by one Department Head, that may be utilized by any urban high school without a program in place. The plan involves the collaboration of staff and it is implemented at the school-site. It affords teachers a shared vision with access to pedagogical initiatives accompanied by efforts to ensure a stable and informed staff that can focus on the educational needs of our ever-changing student population. The study is of a descriptive nature. Statistical data gathered in the format of naturalistic inquiry from virtually an entire school staff will indicate what happens when teachers have common goals and utilize a collaborative approach in developing a plan to support fellow practitioners in sharing ideas, cooperating in activities, and assisting one another's intellectual growth. Consensus was established that teachers have a shared vision of the professional activities they want in the planning and design of a staff development program. Most teachers feel they need assistance in upgrading content knowledge and teaching strategies that will support them in working in a collegial fashion to improve teaching and learning focused toward helping all students to achieve high standards of learning and development. Professional development at the school site was strongly preferred as compared to past, singular activities outside of the school building. Teachers want substantial time and resources on a continuum in activities that are job-embedded and reflect the School's philosophy and vision. The results of this case study offer strategies that can be used by high school administrators at the school-site level planning and implementation of a staff development program.

This study was designed to formulate categories that reflect pupil personnel service providers' and administrators' views of elements associated with effective multicultural perspectives of pupil personnel services and how they rate the importance of these elements. A review of the literature examined how school reform, effective schools, school culture, and multiculturalism have influenced the provision of services by Pupil Personnel Services to a growing culturally diverse population over the last 20 years. Q-Sort was the qualitative methodology used with these professionals from within pupil personnel services. A total of 32 respondents representing five specific professional positions found in most public school environments. The results of the Q-Sort were analyzed from the combined data from all subjects. A similarity matrix was computed and frequencies of co-occurrence were determined for all pairs of items. This provided for the correlation of each person with every other person and, through factor analysis, the number of different Q-Sorts is known and the degree to which there is a high correlation among them or not. In addition, individual participants' matrices were subjected to two-dimensional non-metric scaling. In addition, MultiDimensional Scaling (MDS) was applied to the data to further analyze the categorization process. Lastly, a rank ordering of items provided a rating of items from most important to least important. This last activity provided an overall ranking of the items across all participants and allowed for a comparison of the importance of these statements. As a result of cluster analysis, all items grouped at higher levels of significance agreed with the way the items were placed in categories that the author had established. However, MDS results indicated that the basis for coexistence of items was different from that which the author had used. An examination of a multidimensional configuration of the raters, using a weirdness index table, found school psychologists and administrators differed the most from the average of all of the five groups. Factor analysis and a similarity matrix of the ratings by individuals and groups indicated that there may not be a significant difference between them.

The American educational system has come under fire in the last several years. At the national level, new laws have been enacted which have helped fund innovative educational programs. Consequently, the individual states have responded with sweeping educational reform laws to revamp their educational systems and improve student learning. In 1992–93, in an effort to improve education and the preparation of teachers, Massachusetts opted to review and examine teacher education programs. Upon the review of these programs and the students' scores in standardized tests, Massachusetts created and passed legislation for educational reform. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA) was passed and new standards were developed for the education of students, the preparation of teachers, and the roles played by the schools, the administrators, and all of the other personnel within the public school system. This study addresses the edicts of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 that deal with the recertification of teachers and their professional development. For this study, the Delphi method was used to gain a perspective on developing standards to assess quality of professional development programs as they are presently delivered. The results have been subjected to a factor analysis that yielded four factors: Impact of Professional Development Programs in Teaching; Evaluation and Follow-up of Professional Development Programs; Worth/Accountability of Professional Development Programs; and Motivators for Effective Professional Development Programs. These factors should be considered when assessing quality of professional development programs.

The purpose of this study was to explore: (a) how and to what extent teachers experience and express trust in relation to individual students and groups of students; (b) how and to what extent teachers value and focus on specific attributes of trust over others; and (c) how and to what extent the levels of teacher trust in students and the various attributes of trust impact the teachers’ behaviors and choices in the classroom. Data were collected from teacher interviews, teacher questionnaires, classroom and school artifacts, and descriptive field notes from observations. Data were analyzed using content analysis and open, axial, and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Results indicated that participants valued specific attributes of trust over other attributes of trust. Participants were aware that individual students expressed different levels of one or more attributes of trust and made specific behavioral and pedagogical decisions for students who demonstrated very low levels or very high levels of specific attributes of trust. Results also indicated that participants valued particular attributes of trust because those attributes facilitated and reinforced other attributes of trust. One attribute of trust could be facilitated and reinforced by several other attributes of trust. Participants used pedagogical and behavioral means to attempt to increase students’ expression of particular attributes of trust. Results suggested that teachers who adjust the classroom environment and use several alternative teaching strategies may be making choices that increase students’ abilities to demonstrate attributes of trust. Teachers who use fewer teaching strategies and who do not adjust the environment adequately may be less able to increase the students’ abilities to demonstrate attributes of trust. A clear understanding of teacher-student trust may help teachers to chart the degree to which particular teaching methods and behavioral practices work or do not work to increase attributes of trust.

The local school is the level at which school improvement occurs. The key leaders of the local schools are the principals and they should be involved in improving the curriculum for school improvement. However, principals encounter difficulties. Their role is unclear. They do not possess the necessary skills. To acquire such skills, staff development programs are needed for principals. In this exploratory study, a staff development program was designed and implemented to assist principals to gain curriculum development competencies. A list of fifty-four activities was mailed to eighty-eight Pennsylvania principals to collect their perceptions on the role of the elementary principal in curriculum development. Seventy returned questionnaires were analyzed and the activity identified as most important to their role in curriculum leadership was evaluating classroom instruction. A review of literature was made to determine premises, competencies, and learning conditions to be included in a staff development program. Eight premises were used to construct eight lessons with twenty-four objectives. Seventeen principals completed a needs assessment and pretest to determine competencies they already had and those needing development. Principals participated in workshop sessions to correct weaknesses. After the sessions, principals completed a posttest to determine if they gained the desired competencies, and which aspects of the staff development program were most helpful. The analysis of the posttest data revealed that principals perceived the staff development program to have assisted them in gaining twenty-one objectives. Two objectives were not accomplished with the principals and, therefore, recommendations have been suggested on how to revise the lesson. One objective was previously obtained by all principals who participated in the lesson. Therefore, this objective needs to be evaluated with other principals to determine if it should be deleted or maintained. It was determined, then, that the staff development program benefitted selected principals in gaining curriculum development skills. A recommendation for future study is that this program be implemented with a larger group of elementary principals to determine if it assists them to gain crucial curriculum development skills in a significant and lasting manner.