Abstract not available

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of school climate on the outcomes of clinical supervision. Hypotheses stated that the overall school climate and the climate variables of "caring" and "opportunity for input" enhance, enable, and predict productive clinical supervision. A search of the literature revealed critical interrelationships between both underlying assumptions and practices of clinical supervision and school climate concepts. An analysis of school climate factors as they facilitate or hinder productive clinical supervision in public schools revealed strong arguments for the need to obtain an understanding of school climate in order to implement and support clinical supervision efforts. Consistency between school climate factors and clinical supervision is a natural tendency that effects the outcomes of the supervision. This same tendency exists between all organizational suprasystems and subsystems within. In nine schools utilizing clinical supervision (including both elementary and middle school levels) teacher perceptions were surveyed. Two hundred seven teachers completed a four part questionnaire which included the following instruments: (1) general information about participants, (2) an instrument developed by the researcher to assess the quality of the clinical supervision model used in each school, (3) an instrument to assess the productivity of the clinical supervision developed by Shuma (1973) and modified and revised by the researcher, and (4) the Questionnaire Developed from Factor Analysis of the CKF Ltd. School Climate Profile. The data consisted of responses on a scale of 1 to 4, as well as responses to open-ended questions. The analysis included tests of reliability, correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and content analysis of specific items. Findings were significant to the .01 level and strongly supportive of the hypotheses. Some of the conclusions drawn were: (1) The quality of supervision is a strong predictor of the outcomes of the supervision. (2) The quality of supervision and outcomes of supervision scales were statistically reliable instruments useful to assess clinical supervision currently in use in the public schools. (3) Each of the school climate variables proved to be useful in the prediction of clinical supervision outcomes. (4) School level did not make a difference in any of the results. (5) In this sample the principal productively practiced clinical supervision while also serving the role of evaluator. (6) In this sample clinical supervision was productive in public schools. (7) There is a complementary interrelationship between a healthy school climate and a high quality clinical supervision model. (8) School climate factors and their effects on clinical supervision are understandable and within the power of school personnel to alter. Also outlined are five methods of using climate data to effectively implement clinical supervision. It is suggested that ignoring climate factors severely decreases the likelihood of productive clinical supervision. A strong case is made for building school climate by design and planning rather than allowing it to occur by default because of the strong relationship between climate and clinical supervision (as well as other subsystems). Additional conclusions and recommendations for both the practitioner and researcher are offered. Communications with experts from over a dozen states and conjecture on applications of the study are discussed in the epilogue.

Abstract not available

This study is to identify and mitigate language and other cultural barriers of Chinese students. The work explores their educational experiences with a view to improving assimilation processes for high school Chinese Americans. The main purpose of this study is to document the expressed perceptions of the Chinese community of students, staff and parents of students in a metropolitan high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, as to how the educational process impacts upon the Chinese students' assimilation into the American culture. Researcher ascertains how education at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School has affected Chinese students relative to their social integration into American society. The review of the literature exposes a comprehensive picture of Chinese immigration relative to the education of the "new" Americans. The current news media accounts are pertinent to this study of education and socialization of the Chinese student into the society of the United States of America. The methodology consisted of a questionnaire and interviews of Chinese students, their parents and staff of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. This was conducted with the view in mind of ascertaining the impact of education and society upon the Chinese students. Data are collected through the respondents' answers from the questionnaire and interviews. Conclusions drawn from these data indicate that Cambridge Rindge and Latin School has a working program which includes Chinese students, a program offering them an opportunity to explore courses for academic and social integration. In addition, conclusions indicate that improvement for Chinese students' total education in academic and social settings can be made in curriculum change involving more personal and social interfacing with the community. The study concludes with recommendations for speeding up the speaking of English via changes in English as a Second Language class, formal preparation of Chinese students to enter into the political process, and Chinese student self-esteem for educating the whole person for effective participation in American society.

Abstract not available

Abstract not available

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two approaches to increasing academic achievement in reading and mathematics. One approach used a "structured parental support program" to enhance academic achievement in reading and mathematics. In this procedure, two different "parental programs" were tested. The second approach tested in this study was the effect of a "beginning instrumental music program" on a child's academic achievement in reading and mathematics. In addition, a survey of "Student Attitudes" concerning reading, mathematics, and instrumental beginning music lessons was administered. A questionnaire was sent to all parents involved in the study. The responses of the parents to the questions were used as a guide to improve future parental workshops. The setting was in Somerset, Massachusetts, using fourth and fifth grade students. The total fourth and fifth grade population was approximately 425 students. The sample was composed of 105 children whose parents responded affirmatively to a Parental Consent Form. The students were randomly assigned to one of four groups, based on their pre-math score. The findings in this study revealed that the parents in the study were committed to assisting their children with the homework assignments. The analyses of data revealed that the students in the "structured parental support program" did significantly better in their posttest reading and math scores than the students whose parents were not in the structured parental support program. Also, the data revealed that the students in the "beginning instrumental music lesson program" did significantly better in their posttest reading and math scores than the students not in the "beginning instrumental music lesson program." The findings are of immediate practical value to the people making decisions about school curriculum. This study reinforces research done on music and achievement, and parents and achievement.

Although it has been clearly established in the literature that there is a relationship between classroom climate and student achievement, teachers often fail to be aware of or consciously attend to their own behaviors which affect climate in their classrooms. The purpose of this study was to examine classroom climate and specifically to document teacher behaviors which seem to be associated with positive and negative climate in two classrooms each for five eighth grade subjects (language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and conversational foreign language). Four data collection methods were used: qualitative field notes adopted from Saphier scripting, teacher and student interviews, quantitative teacher and student classroom climate surveys, and document analysis of student grade reports. Though no overall significantly negative climates were identified, there were noted inconsistencies in the presence of positive classroom climate elements from one data source to the next. Results supported teachers failing to be aware of or consciously attending to behaviors which affected climate in their classrooms and allowed for the creation of ideal climate profiles.

By reviewing teacher-made revisions of regularly taught curriculum units, this set of case studies attempts to describe the pedagogical content knowledge development of four concept-oriented middle school teachers. One strand is highlighted: The nature and use of their instructional representations. A primary goal of this effort is to trace the kinds of refinements teachers make in their teaching knowledge after years of blending subject matter with pedagogy. A second goal is to detail influences on such refinements in order to inform preservice and inservice teacher education aimed at teaching for conceptual understanding.

The major purpose of this study was to determine the problems that public school systems encounter when attempting to involve principals and teachers in the process of curriculum improvement. A second purpose was to identify the procedures that school systems use to improve curriculum and the extent of principal and teacher involvement in the curriculum decision making process. The study was conducted through two strands of inquiry. The first strand involved the distribution of a Curriculum Improvement Survey to all communities in the state of Rhode Island. Of the thirty-five Directors of Curriculum, twenty-six completed and returned the survey. Their responses provided a broad spectrum from which to view how, individually and collectively, curriculum improvement was being implemented in response to national and state initiatives. The second strand was an ethnographic study of several different committees within a local school community that were involved in various aspects of curriculum improvement. Findings suggest curriculum improvement is a shared responsibility among a cross section of individuals within school systems. The primary initiators and major determinants that influence the curriculum improvement process were identified. Most school systems reported having long range plans for improvement that are guided by administrative regulations and are implemented within varying cyclical time frames. Smaller districts where administrators and teachers wear “different hats” than in larger systems appear to be less formal in their approaches to curriculum change and the improvement process is on-going without regulations. In regard to participation in the process, the survey responses and the plans suggest that principals and teachers are given ample opportunities to participate in decision making to improve curriculum, however, their degree of participation varies with the type of decision they are being asked to make. The major problems in implementing curriculum improvement that were identified by the twenty-six school systems included insufficient time educators’ lack of curriculum theory and practical experiences; insufficient funds; and contractual considerations. The in-depth study of one school system also documented these problems, as well as: the lack of a common language for deliberating and writing curriculum; personal attitudes and professional ability levels that hinder role fulfillment; inequitable treatment of task force committees by administrators; and pressures to serve as a “rubber stamp” for principals and administrators to ensure the fulfillment of their political agendas. Recommendations for future research are suggested to determine ways to strengthen communication between the state and local school levels; to identify how institutions of higher learning may better prepare educators for curriculum leadership; and to examine the role of Director of Curriculum in order to identify leadership characteristics that are essential to curriculum improvement on a system wide basis.