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This study investigated Texas nurses' attitudes toward mandatory continuing education, and their perceptions of skill improvement, knowledge enrichment and improvement of health care to the public as a result of participation in twenty contact hours of continuing education programs as required by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas. This sample of Texas nurses felt that the goals set forth by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas had been met by participation in mandatory continuing education. However, given the small return rate, the attitudes of these nurses may not represent the attitudes of the majority of Texas nurses.

This study purposed to determine Registered Nurses' levels of knowledge and support of the Professional Nursing Practice Act considered by the Sixty-fifth Texas Legislature. According to the findings previously described, it may be concluded that many Registered Nurses participate infrequently in continuing nursing education programs. If the proposed Act had been passed during this session of the Texas Legislature, most Registered Nurses licensed in Texas would have been required to change their levels of participation when regulations regarding continuing education were implemented, no later than January 1, 1982. It may be further concluded that Registered Nurses lacked sufficient knowledge about the Act that was proposed in 1977. Both comments made by respondents and answers to specific questions in the questionnaire pointed to this conclusion.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the analysis of the status of continuing education-community service programs within the public junior-community colleges of the state of Texas as these programs are viewed (1) from the areas of funding, faculty and facility allocations, (2) from the areas of the educational and professional preparation and responsibility of the leaders who are assigned to direct these programs, and (3) from the area of community involvement in program planning. Based on the problem a survey was developed; 142 administrators responded (61.2 per cent).

The purpose of this study is to collect and to preserve existing data and information concerning the history and growth of the Dallas Public Evening Schools. The study will show how Dallas has been interested in the promotion and extension of education at all levels of learning, whether the learner is of the age to attend public school or has reached the age of eighty or more.

This study describes the learning projects of a sample of engineers between the ages of 25 and 35 employed by a single employer in Port Worth, Texas. The problem of this study was the nature and extent of the continuing education programs of young engineers and the implications of these programs to their job requirements and possible employer assistance. The purposes of this study were to determine the number and types of learning projects undertaken each year by engineers with degrees, the number of hours spent by the subjects, the problems experienced, the resources used, the amount of job-related learning projects undertaken, the locations used to pursue learning projects, and whether the learning projects were amenable to assistance from employers.

The retirement of community college administrators has led to the creation of leadership development institutes. Yet, few studies exist to understand their comprehensive design, practices, and effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of, and a framework for, creating and evaluating effective leadership development institutes. The framework was applied to the El Paso Community College’s Leadership Development Academy (EPCC-LDA) to examine how its program aligned with the framework; assess the EPCC-LDA’s success in meeting its own specified goals of creating more skilled leaders; and understand better how EPCC-LDA decisions, practices, program components and forms of evaluation have led to successful outcomes. The research design followed a descriptive, case study format utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. This study had several major findings. First, El Paso Community College demonstrated how an effective leadership development institute can be created by focusing its design and implementation on processes, core values, and human interaction. Second, the study’s analytic framework was validated through a triangulation of data: research recommendations; EPCC-LDA coordinating committee interviews; and program participant evaluations. Third, El Paso Community College was accomplishing and surpassing its mission of improving employee leadership skills. This study concluded with recommendations for the refinement of its analytic framework, for EPCC-LDA programmatic considerations, and for future studies. By instituting responsive and focused programming that continually meets the needs of the institution, the participants, and leadership in general, leadership development institutes can serve as one effective resource for increasing the flow into the community college leadership pipeline, increasing the skills of those within the pipeline, and improving the pipeline’s outflow of diverse leaders. / text

The purpose of this study determined if a significant relationship existed between the amount of professional development that teachers participated in and the impact on the classroom instruction that followed. The goal was to study the effect that this had on student achievement in the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) for English 1 and Algebra 1 for students at a large north Texas high school. Testing years for the study included the school years 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. Additional variables included the work in three areas of teacher professional development over the three-year period. Fourteen teachers, in two subjects, were studied in their implementation of classroom instruction. Particular attention was given to the instructional changes, and the number of hours of professional development in the areas of instruction, technology, and differentiation. Teachers were given opportunities to participate in 18 hours of professional development in all three areas in each of the three years. Teachers were then asked to incorporate the work that they completed each year into their day to day classroom instruction. The goal of the implementation of the professional development in addition to the curricular specifics regarding instruction of state standards was expected to produce increased state scale score marks for the students in the classes. Results of the study indicated success for students in the area of English 1 end-of-course assessment. From the beginning of the study, where student success rates in English state assessment was calculated at 47% overall passing rate, to the completion of the study, where student success was charted at 70% overall passing rate, significant changes were noted. In addition to the improvements made in English I, there were also significant changes made in the approaches to the Algebra 1 assessment. Classroom instructional practices were noted as much improved, and professional learning community collaboration produced significant classroom instructional improvements.