Many public school reading programs utilize basal reader texts. Any materials developed for use by bilingual students would be best keyed to the basal reader being utilized in the classroom. The Ginn 720 series is one such basal reader series. Developing materials for use by bilingual students in conjunction with the Ginn 720 series would insure that the materials would be used by the classroom teacher. Focusing on a level in the series which is subsequent to the initial levels could demonstrate the utility of these materials in meeting the on-going needs of bilingual students. Level 7 is generally used by students in third grade, and the third grade is generally the grade selected for making the transition from the student's native language to that of English. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop supplementary reading materials keyed to the Ginn 720 Basal Reader, Level 7, for use by the regular classroom teacher in order to instruct the Spanish-speaking student in vocabulary skills. Focus on vocabulary skills, a principal activity in any reading curriculum and one which is a prerequisite to so many other reading skills, would greatly assist this bilingual student. These curriculum materials will be reviewed by local experts in education in the northeast Florida area in order to obtain input for their refinement.

The purpose of the project was to determine if two Junior High band student trainees could accurately evaluate the performance of individual band students from a pre-selected method book. Band students would record specific musical exercises which were evaluated by two student trainees and the band director. The purpose of the project was to check the reliability between the student trainees and the director.

The job of the local school superintendent is one of the most difficult chief executive undertakings in America today. Of the nation’s roughly 14,000 traditional public school superintendents, a mere 1,984 are women, according to the U. S. Department of Education. Yet, nationally over 75% of all K-12 educators are women. The purpose of this explorative quantitative study is to analyze the demographic profiles of public school districts in four of the nation’s largest states – California, Michigan, New York, and Texas - to see if there is a pattern of district types and sizes that women lead. Then the study will compare those districts that women lead to those that men lead. The districts were identified using the following variables: locale of districts, the size of the districts, diversity of student population, and poverty level. Looking through the lens of Bourdieu’s social reproduction theory, this study sought to show that resources and institutions are reproduced, or passed on, to those sharing similar social capital. Chi-square with cross-tabulations was conducted to determine if certain district characteristics would allow one to infer the gender of the superintendent leading that district. Additionally, a binominal logistic regression was used to see if there was a relationship between the district types and the gender of the superintendent. The results of the study identified that there was no relationship between the locales of the districts and the gender of the superintendents, but female superintendents were more prevalent in smaller districts with high diversity and high poverty.

ABSTRACT SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR ROLE IN THE RETENTION OF NOVICE TEACHERS Theresa J. Coker Secondary schools in the U.S. face instructional challenges due in part to novice teacher turnover. Research indicates that new teachers remain in the profession due to: supportive principal leadership, an orderly school environment, classroom autonomy, and significant professional development (Grissom, 2008). The purpose of this study was to understand how secondary-school principals perceived their role in novice teachers’ professional development and retention. Qualitative research using in-depth, semi-structured interviews included 15 secondary-school administrators from an urban district in the southeast United States. Data analysis used Eisner’s (1998) four-part approach to educational criticism—description, interpretation, evaluation, and thematics—supported by Hatch’s (2002) typological analysis. Four typologies organized description and interpretation: principals’ early experiences as educators; principals’ perceptions of the recruitment process; principals’ view of the process of professional development; and life and duties of principals. The thematics dimension of educational criticism indicated that principals’ lack of time led to their delegating leadership tasks to other staff regarding novice teachers’ professional development. Their descriptions of their interactions with novice teachers reflected a transactional leadership style and an approach of “leading from the middle” (Bolman & Gallos, 2011) to respond to both demands from above and needs at the school level. Further, these principals perceived all teachers new to their schools as novice, whether experienced or inexperienced. Implications include considering transformational leadership when working with novice teachers and clarifying hiring and retention responsibilities regarding novice teachers. Such communication among all parties would support novice teachers’ development and commitment to the profession. Further research might focus on observing the interactions of both administrators and faculty with novice teachers to understand the complexity of the process of their professional development.

As stated before, both the Florida State Assessment Test and the EST measure the achievement of students on minimal objectives in the areas of communications and mathematics. One might therefore ask the question, “Why is there a need to administer both tests?” It would seem that both tests evaluate similar subject areas. This study is designed to explore this similarity of test items. Its purpose is to examine the relationship between the tests in terms of the test items. It is assumed that if there is a high degree of semblance between test items, there may not be a need for the administration of both tests. Specifically, the project is designed to analyze the contents of the State Assessment Test and the Essential Skills Test to determine if the test items measure different learnings or similar areas. This examination of items will be studied through a content analysis procedure to be developed by the author.

The purpose of this project is to aid the classroom teacher in exposing children to poetry through a curriculum guide with enabling activities which will encourage children to develop an appreciation and understanding of poetry.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in the enjoyment, interest, perceived learning, and achievement levels of third grade students when social studies and science units were presented as interrelated subject units versus separate subject units. Eight units in social studies and science were chosen. Four of these units were selected at random to be presented as interrelated subject units and four to be presented as separate subject units. Interrelated units used the social studies or science topic as a core, and lessons in other subjects such as language arts, math, music, and art were related to this basic topic. Separate subject units focused on the particular topic of the unit and were not intentionally related to other subjects in curriculum. An attitude questionnaire and achievement test were administered as posttests after each unit. The results of the tests for matched pairs indicated a significant difference in the levels of enjoyment, interest, perceived learning, and achievement for the two types of units. It was concluded that the 28 third grade students taught using interrelated subject units showed a significantly higher level of enjoyment, interest, perceived learning, and achievement than the same group when taught using separate subject units.

This needs assessment research project concerns itself with the lack of parental involvement in preschool programs. The lack of communication between educators and parents is examined in relation to its effects on the child and the community. One possible way to begin to solve this problem is presented through the use of a survey questionnaire for parents and teachers concerning what each group feels are the primary considerations, or needs, for quality preschool educational programs. The considerations surveyed resulted from an in depth review of the literature pertaining to major early childhood concerns. This research examined five areas of review; the relationship of parents to preschools, the background of early childhood education and philosophies, the curriculum objectives in the affective domain, the curriculum objectives in the cognitive domain, and the curriculum objectives in the psychomotor domain. The resulting questionnaires consisted of twelve questions with three different types of responses. Three hundred parental questionnaires were distributed to four private nursery-kindergarten schools in a middle to upper-middle class section of a large Southern city. Fifty teachers, half who taught in the same schools surveyed and half who taught in the same area of the city, were surveyed. The resulting responses were tabulated individually and percentages totaled for each response. A large percentage of the parents--55.3%-- and all the teachers responded to the questionnaire. Both groups were in agreement on most of the questions. The parents expressed the same basic concerns for their children's preschool education as did the teachers themselves. Parental apathy, misplaced values, and ignorance were ruled out as possible reasons for their lack of involvement. Instead, the major cause for lack of parental involvement in preschool programs was determined to be a feeling of intimidation on the part of the parents. In order to remedy this situation, it is suggested that the educators involved need to be the ones to actively structure parental involvement in their educational programs. Several suggestions for this structuring are presented in the conclusions section of this project.

The assumptions of this project imply that concepts concerning the relationships among living organisms can be assimilated by the child only if his experiences include exploration of his environment and the opportunity to discover these relationships himself. In order to help him progress, an interested, informed teacher who will encourage and help him is of prime importance. Because progress needs to be started as early as possible, kindergarten age children will be the focus of this project. Here the school should use the opportunity to begin developing the environmentally aware citizen. Unfortunately, few texts and guides in environmental education have been developed for teachers working in the kindergarten. A beginning curriculum utilizing the curiosity in the children and the order of the environment is needed. This project will be an example of a way to fulfill this need. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop a series of activities into a curriculum guide in environmental education for use by teachers in kindergarten. Specifically, this will be a kindergarten environmental education curriculum guide for approximately sixty students in three classes at Melrose Community School in Melrose, Putnam County, Florida.

The purpose of this project is to plan a booklet for parents which will provide them with some background information on the reading process and methods and approaches to reading instruction, along with some specific suggestions of ways they can help their children learn to read. Also included is a teacher's supplement for directions and suggested implementation. The booklet is designed for parents of students in the primary grades who are beginning readers. It is intended to be used in conjunction with a parent-teacher conference or a small group meeting of parents and teacher. It is hoped that the meeting would provide for clarification of any questions, serve as a motivator to parents, and allow them to exchange ideas and suggestions for utilizing this booklet. More personal situations concerning students would be discussed at follow-up parent-teacher conferences.