The purpose of this research was to ascertain and describe the status of work ethic instruction in Vermont vocational schools and Vermont vocational educator attitudes regarding teaching work ethics. Work ethics has been identified as an issue of concern that has not been addressed in a practical fashion. The research study was based on a model developed by the Illinois Vocational Ethics Infusion Project. The Vermont study administered a questionnaire to all educators employed in Vermont vocational centers. The questionnaire was composed of three sections. The first was related to attitudes toward teaching work ethics as well as attitudes toward appropriate teaching strategies. The second section asked teachers how often they promoted certain work ethic characteristics. Both sections used a Likert-type scale. The final section surveyed basic demographic information. Standard statistical procedures for ordinal and nominal non-parametric data were used. Results indicate that Vermont vocational educators considered work ethic instruction important. Most educators report that they currently include work ethics as part of the curriculum they teach. Vermont educators feel that their business or industry experience has prepared them to teach work ethics. Yet less than half felt that their college course work had adequately prepared them to teach work ethics. They felt the most support for work ethic instruction from employers and the least from parents. When asked which of 20 work ethic characteristics they promote they indicated a high level of support for all 20. Truthfulness was reported as the highest ranking characteristic. School and classroom policies were identified most frequently of 11 possible teaching strategies. The second highest is mentoring. Analysis of responses by demographic characteristics indicate possible significant relationships in areas of years of business and industry work and in highest degree earned to work ethic attitudes and teaching practices. Conclusions and recommendations were framed as guidelines to assist the Vermont Department of Education for policy making in vocational curriculum and professional development.

For almost two decades, literature, which had played an essential role in foreign language teaching in many countries for many years, has been excluded in language classrooms. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest among scholars and educators, in both China and the West, in reviving literature as a means of acquiring language proficiency. But, this revival has been rather slanted towards the linguistic and literary elements of literature, while the inherent socio-cultural value of literature has been little discussed or explored. This dissertation seeks to analyze the relationship between culture and literature in second language acquisition and to provide, through illustrations of literary texts, a theoretical framework for teaching literature with the aim of acquiring crosscultural understanding.

This dissertation deals with the concept of teacher empowerment and its role in the current school restructuring movement. The ideas of teacher empowerment and school restructuring are being investigated because the concensus of those associated with the schools, either directly or indirectly, is that there is a need to improve America's educational system. Teacher empowerment is a term applied to the process of strengthening the teaching profession. This process requires formats within the school which provide teachers greater access to information and encourages greater involvement of teachers in the decision-making process. Advocates of school restructuring call for the decentralization of the bureaucratic organizational structure of schools. School restructuring would create within the organization and in each specific school a style of leadership which fosters a greater degree of participation by staff in the decision-making process. This movement toward more democratic school organizations is congruent and integrally related to the teacher empowerment construct. This study was both an historical and descriptive review of the research, literature, legislation, and policy related to teacher empowerment and its role in school restructuring. The goal was to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the nature, antecedents, and consequences of teacher empowerment. The researcher described and systematically analyzed the many facets of the subject and its possible impact on the schools. The results represent an analysis of the potential for teacher empowerment to affect the school improvement movement.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between attendance and academic achievement of grade twelve students and compatibility of teacher and student learning style. The study also investigated the ability of senior English teachers to predict the learning styles of the students assigned to them. Other areas of study included: (1) the relationship between the length of acquaintance of the teacher with the student and his/her ability to predict the student's learning style; (2) the relationship between sex of the student and achievement; and (3) the predominance of students favoring English (including grammar, literature and composition) class and the compatibility of teacher/student learning styles. Ninety-nine (99) grade twelve students and four (4) senior English teachers participated in the study. Each subject completed the Gregorc Style Delineator. The results indicated that: (1) a significant relationship existed between those students whose learning style matched the teaching style of their English teachers and the degree to which the students enjoyed English; (2) there was a significant relationship between the learning/teaching style of students/teachers and the students' attendance patterns; (3) the correlation between the sex of the student and his/her academic achievement was significant; (4) teachers in the study predicted the individual learning styles with low accuracy; (5) a significant relationship existed when comparing the learning styles of students who were compatible with the teaching styles of their English teachers and English achievement; and (6) the relationship between the length of acquaintance of the teacher with the student and his/her ability to predict learning styles was not significant. All questions examined in the study were analyzed at a significance of 0.05. It was concluded that the matching of teacher and student learning styles did significantly improve attendance and academic achievement. Teachers were able to identify the learning styles of their students. The sex of the student had an effect on academic achievement. Students who liked English class had a compatible learning style with their teachers. Length of acquaintance had little effect on a teachers' ability to predict student learning style.

After a decade dominated by studies and rhetoric about school reform, a national report card released on January, 1990, indicated that children showed no improvement in writing. The purpose of this research was to determine if by using the Cumulative Writing Folder Program, a mandated Program, with the additional use of sentence combining as a revision strategy urban fifth graders would improve their writing in the six areas of topic development, organization, supporting details, sentence structure, word choice, and mechanics. This study fit in with the existing knowledge and research in the field. It focused on the writing habits of fifth grade students and examined a program that improved their writing skills. This study used concrete strategies in a well-defined writing program to improve revision processes for students which added to the current research in this area. John Collins' Cumulative Writing Folder Program was incorporated in the design of the study. Both the experimental and control groups utilized the Cumulative Writing Folder. The experimental group used sentence combining as a revision strategy. The teacher instructed this group on the techniques of sentence combining and instructed them to use this strategy to revise their writing samples. In September and June the two groups produced writing samples which were analytically scored by independent scorers. An analysis of the comparison of the pre and post scores of the experimental group with the control group in the six variables was given. Results showed that the overall writing performance of the experimental group showed improvement at a significant level. In the variable of topic development, there was a level of significance. The five variables which showed no level of significance were organization, mechanics, supporting details, sentence structure, and word choice. The study suggested that a well defined writing program with the revision strategy of sentence combining did provide overall improvement in the quality of writing over the course of the school year. The study further suggested that more research and subsequent solutions to the problem of the inferior quality of writing at the elementary level needed addressing. It indicated clear directions for further study.

This was a pedagogical study, designed to evaluate the effects of a course for small groups in the classroom as a different approach to teaching and learning instructions for underprepared minority students' academic performance, problem-solving and interpersonal communication skills. To determine the effectiveness of the small group method of approach, the pre- and post-experimental/control group design was used. The control group received thirteen two-hour-per-week sessions (one semester) of the traditional method of approach to teaching and learning instruction. At the same time, the experimental group received the non-traditional small group method of approach. Both groups consisted of sixteen students who were randomly selected. The researcher administered pre- and post-surveys and testing measurements which focused on academic performance, problem-solving and interpersonal communication skills. An independent observer was also used. The experimental group (only) received survey measurements which examined written responses relative to the influence of the small group experience. The t-test was used for data analysis to determine significant difference. Upon examination of the data, there was a significant difference in the performance of students in the experimental group than those in the control group on measures of the BSAT reading and writing, end-of-semester grade point average and problem-solving skills. There was no significant difference on the interpersonal communication measure; however, the data revealed the experimental group as having a higher improved score relative to the control group on the measure of the Interpersonal Communication Inventory. In summary, the data indicate that the small group method of approach can make a significant difference in students' academic performance and improve their effectiveness in problem-solving, as well as influence their interpersonal communication skills.

The purpose of this study was to design, implement and assess a student orientation course as part of a Core Student Development Model for Massachusetts Bay Community College (MBCC). Functions were grouped into three categories: prevention, enrichment and development. A mandatory orientation course for all freshmen was designed, implemented and assessed. Thirty male and 30 female freshmen were chosen by a computerized, stratified random sampling. Half the subjects comprised the Experimental Group for participation in Orientation 101. The course consisted of 15 one-hour workshops conducted over a 15-week period. It covered four aspects of student development which were considered personal growth needs. Those four development aspects were: intellect, identity, values and interpersonal skills. A student survey developed by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges was used to assess performance. Responses were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Overall findings revealed significant differences between the experimental group and the control group on 18 of 60 survey items. Students were found to have adjusted their attitudes toward development of identity, intellect, values and interpersonal skills. Students responses indicated they felt too many requirements hampered their taking preferred courses and that MBCC should provide more cultural events on campus. Students also said the college should place greater emphasis on the education of adults with particular attention given to courses in liberal arts and the sciences. They participated in academic and career counseling, financial-aid workshops and college clubs and organizations. They felt that the college had given them confidence; increased their understanding of and respect for others; provided focus and direction; helped them develop employable skills and made them happier people. They said they could identify with some of the instructors, find a staff person interested in their activities and feel comfortable in their relationships with student services staff. Students also were willing to participate in self-help groups. The researcher concluded that personal growth needs were met through weekly positive reinforcement provided to students participating in Orientation 101.

The purpose of this study was to assess the Stages of Concern of southeastern Massachusetts elementary administrators and regular classroom teachers toward cooperative learning. Of the eighty school districts surveyed, thirty-four systems indicated that they were using cooperative learning. A stratified random sample of twenty-four school districts was selected using the Massachusetts Department of Education's kind of community classification system. Forty-six elementary administrators and eighty-five classroom teachers participated. Two data-gathered instruments were used: one to measure the seven hypothesized Stages of Concern about cooperative learning and one to gather personal information. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) was used to gain insight into concerns of elementary administrators and teachers about cooperative learning. The dependent variables in the study were scores assigned by administrators and teachers to each of the 35 items on the SoCQ. Independent variables came from the Demographic Survey Instrument and included: role, gender, training, age, education level, and experience. Eleven null hypotheses were developed using a.05 level of significance criterion. Five hypotheses of difference were constructed around role, gender, and training. The t-test was used to evaluate each hypothesis and all five null hypotheses were accepted. Six hypotheses of association were built using age, education level, and experience. The Pearson r test was used to make a decision regarding each hypothesis and all six null hypotheses were accepted. Descriptive analysis revealed that 57.5% of the school districts have not initiated cooperative learning programs at the elementary school level. Systems using cooperative learning revealed that more than 70% of the respondents' highest concern scores were located at the early development Stages. The following conclusions were reached: (1) some students are being deprived of cooperative learning, (2) the majority of administrators and teachers have immature concerns about cooperative learning, and (3) leaders need to initiate actions or events that will resolve professional concerns about cooperative learning.

Advancing technology demands workers who are equipped with the higher-order cognitive skills of analysis and problem-solving. Opportunities for upward mobility are increasingly reserved for those who possess the ability to learn how to learn. Recent studies have shown, however, many of our students do not master these higher-order skills, and they graduate unprepared to meet the challenges of the changing workplace. Although traditional vocational education attempts to prepare students for work, high school shops are devoid of the vitality of real-life worksites. If vocational students became interns in their field, they would have the opportunity to serve as apprentices in the types of real-world problem-solving and decision-making systems they will enter as adult citizens. In order to create this environment for hands-on experiences, I initiated a school/business collaboration between the Culinary Arts Department of a large, urban vocational/technical high school and a large food services organization and reported the outcome of my efforts in the form of a case study. Throughout the process of establishing the partnership, I kept detailed fieldnotes and journals, which later provided the basis for analysis and assessment of the collaborative experience. Through interviews with student interns, the director of food services in the partner corporation, the culinary arts teacher, and the coordinator of cooperative education, I have attempted to examine the school/business partnership program from several viewpoints. Student interns reported their experience in the corporation made them feel independent and mature. Their supervisor noted employees enjoyed "taking the students under their wings." The Culinary Arts teacher and co-op coordinator agreed the partnership program cultivated essential life skills in student participants. Analysis of the project from the perspective of Dewey, Rousseau, or Pestalozzi, leads to the conclusion that apprenticeship-type programs, through their experiential nature, can contribute to the development of the kinds of cognitive and personal skills sought by employers in the 1990s. Although school/business partnerships cannot be regarded as cure-alls for the problems in our schools, they can provide young people with opportunities to develop values and skills through meaningful activities in internship or apprenticeship programs. For a summary of the lessons I have learned from this particular partnership, please see the first page of the appendix.

The primary purposes of this study were to: (1) identify the reasons behind school district consolidation, the objections raised to K-12 unification, and the strategies used to gain public support for school district reorganization; (2) determine whether the educational, economic, operational, administrative, and societal benefits attributed to the expansion of a partial regional structure to a unified, K-12 regional school district are achieved through school district consolidation; and (3) examine and compare the attitudes of constituent groups (school administrators, teachers, school committee members, parents, local affairs committee members, and non-parents) who have experienced the expansion of their partial regional school district to a unified, K-12 school district to the central themes associated with school district consolidation. A single case study design was employed to investigate the reorganization. This study took place in the Quimby Regional School District in Balcorn, Massachusetts (both pseudonyms). This five town region was formed as a partial grades 7-12 region in 1965, and was expanded by town meeting votes to take jurisdiction of all children in grades K-12, effective July 1, 1985. The researcher utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Qualitative research methods including in-depth, semi-structured interviews with school administrators and school committee members and document analysis were used to obtain data to construct the case study. Quantitative data gathered from an attitudinal survey on school district reorganization completed by 106 participants from the six different constituent groups from the Quimby Region were used to verify or refute conclusions reached in the case study. The researcher concluded that the single most important reason why member towns in the Quimby Region voted for a K-12 region was to secure the financial benefits from such a unification. The resistance to the K-12 reorganization centered around the perceived threats to local control of elementary education. Residents and employees of the Quimby Regional School District who participated in the study agreed that the expansion of their school district has led to an enhanced educational program, an expansion of educationally desirable support services, an increase in financial efficiency, an improvement in operational functions, a more efficient central administration, and an improvement in the societal function.