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The purpose of the study was to determine the effect, if any, of a selected magnet school program on achievement of average ability students. Repeated academic growth of average ability elementary magnet school students was compared with repeated academic growth of average ability elementary non-magnet school students in a major school corporation in northern Indiana.Data were collected from thirty-eight average mental ability fifth grade magnet school students and thirty-eight average mental ability fifth grade non-magnet school students from twenty-two schools. Student subjects had been in the respective educational setting for at least four years. Average mental ability (C+, C, or C-) was determined by the Otis-Lennon Ability, Test, Primary II administered while the students were enrolled in the third grade. Achievement was determined by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Levels 9-10. Achievement score data were collected for two years, three and four for each student subject, and averaged.Analysis of co-variance was utilized to test a hypothesis of no overall difference between group means. The hypothesis was rejected with the F value significant at 0.008. A profile analysis was utilized to probe for differences, if any, among adjusted means for the ten subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Levels 9-10. A parallelism existed between magnet and non-magnet school students with magnet students scoring higher on all of the ten subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Levels 9-10 except math computation where non-magnet students scored higher.

The purpose of this study was to make a detailed study and analysis of a selected number of alternative schools or programs. The institutions were studied in terms of their development, their offerings, and their successes or failures.The population of the study consisted of 156 program directors who returned usable questionnaires and five program directors whose programs were visited and studied by the investigator. Two instruments were used to secure the data for the study. Each of the two instruments contained thirty-two items with basically the same information. The first instrument was a questionnaire which was mailed to 200 program directors. One hundred fifty-six of the 200 program directors surveyed returned usable responses. The second instrument used to secure data from the directors of five programs identified for on-site visits was an interview guide. Selected findings derived from the questionnaire data included the following: 1. The majority of the 156 alternative programs whose directors responded reported that their 2 programs were for problem students mainly dropouts, potential dropouts, truants or pregnant girls. 2. Most programs whose directors responded were initially and currently funded by school districts in which they are located. 3. Forty-five and five-tenths percent had less than 99 students while 7.1 percent had more than 500 students in each. 4. Among some of the problems cited by directors were: absenteeism, students' lack of sense of direction, students' lack of future plans, lack of program funds, and lack of adequate facilities. Some of the findings derived from on-site data were summarized as follows: The five programs were controlled by the public school systems in which they were situated. In each of the five programs teachers and directors were in charge of the programs' daily governance. The five programs studied had a mixture of conventional and alternative education course offerings. 4. Directors reported an improved rate of school attendance among students. Some of the conclusions developed from the study included the following: Alternative schools or programs are a result of a need to provide options for students and parents. 2. Alternative education provides opportunities to students who cannot be accommodated by conventional public schools.3. Lack of adequate funds seems to be a common problem among alternative school programs. 4. Most chief administrators of alternative programs are responsible for hiring teaching staff members. Following are some of the recommendations made for further research in the area of alternative education: 1. There is need for further research in the area of program longevity to determine specifically why many programs are defunct after being in existence for less than five years. 2. Further research is needed to determine the unique qualities that an alternative program teacher should possess. 3. There is a need for further research in the area of alternative program success. 4. There is a need for further research regarding the desirable qualities of an effective alternative program director.

Statement of the ProblemThe purpose of the study was to determine if traditional patterns of instruction have been altered as a result of open design in the construction of elementary school facilities. Answers to the following questions were sought through investigation. Do open design elementary buildings guarantee changes? Do open design elementary buildings actually contribute to a lesser degree of flexibility? Do open plan programs provide continuous growth and open endedness in instructional activities?Procedure UsedTen open designed elementary schools were selected as project schools for the study. The criteria for selection included a minimum of two months of operation for the program, uniqueness of building with respect to design and flexibility and uniqueness of program with respect to grouping and instruction. Data were gathered from literature, research and in the field. Persons interviewed included principals, teachers, custodians, guidance counselors, cafeteria personnel and school secretaries. A separate two section presentation of data was made for each sample school. A brief introduction for the sample schools was followed by an equipment description and concluded with general observations.FindingsFurniture and equipment play a major role in promoting the movement of students and working toward individualizing instruction. Carpeting was the floor covering chosen in nine of the ten schools. Carpeting appeared to be imperative in order to provide for a more informal climate of learning.Grouping across age and grade levels allowed for a more homogenic group. Open designed buildings provided the impetus for experimentation as gleaned from the study as every school in the sampling was involved in some type of experimental program. Media centers played a major role in grouping for instruction as personnel and students must have multi-grade level materials for grouping to be successful. Professional and non-professional personnel must work together toward facilitating learning and not just dispensing learning.ConclusionsOpen designed elementary buildings for northern and central Indiana school districts do not guarantee changes in program from the self-contained classroom arrangement. However, the buildings and programs studied provided evidence to support the position that experimentation with different types of student grouping is facilitated by open designed elementary buildings.Open design elementary buildings contribute to a greater degree of flexibility than the self-contained classroom arrangement. Nine of the ten schools in the study were carpeted, which encouraged teachers with groups of students or with individual students to organize learning activities almost anywhere in the facility. In buildings using the tote tray arrangement, students were allowed more freedom because the materials were readily movable. Evidence provided by observation in the study revealed that choice of equipment and materials are important contributions to instructional flexibility.Open plan programs can provide continuous growth and open-endedness in instructional activities. Observations conducted in the study provided the students with a multi-media center. Although maximum utilization was not observed in all cases, generally, the multi-media centers included a large variety of materials which could foster continuous growth and open-endedness in the instructional program. All nine schools with multi-media centers also provided the students with wet carrels, including filmstrip viewers, which contributed further to the opportunity for providing open-endedness and continuous growth in the instructional program.

Teaching programs are being built throughout the world to make learning easier and more effective. Many of these programs are assumed to produce a change in behavior of the students in the direction of stated objectives of the programs. A satisfactory performance by the students on tests which are written for the programs is usually assumed to be a reflection of the effectiveness of the programs without considering the influence of knowledge which the studentsbring into the programs. The pre-instructional knowledge of students should be separated from their post-instructional knowledge when assessments of the effects of instruction are conducted.In order to establish a framework for examining the effects of specific instructional tasks at the demonstration stations for the biology program for non-biology majors at Ball State University, a cyclic model for evaluating and instructing students was designed. The present study involved only the evaluating phase of the model. Four multiple-choice test items were written for each of 97 demonstration stations. A total of 388 multiple-choice test items constituted the measurement instrument for the study.A minimum of 50 students were tested before and after instructions at each of the 97 stations. Students arrived at the demonstration stations with varying degrees of related knowledge. Although significant knowledge gains occurred at each of the 97 demonstration stations, students acquired substantially larger amounts of knowledge at some stations than at others. The knowledge gains (which reflect the interaction-product of individuals' natural capabilities and the effects of instruction) were ranked for the nine units into which the program was sub-divided. This ranking reflects knowledge gains on a relative scale. Students' pre-instructional knowledge of some units was low with the result that when pre-instructional scores were subtracted from post-instructional scores the knowledge gains were high with correspondingly high ranking in knowledge gains. This does not necessarily mean that the total knowledge of the student is high for such units.When the mean post-test scores for each unit were ranked, an estimate of the relative total amount of knowledge of the students after they interacted with the instructional materials was obtained. These rankings are considered valid only to the extent that the measurement instrument measured the constructs it purports to measure.Students' knowledge gains were substantial enough to encourage continual use of the demonstration stations. However, data indicate that demonstration stations should be examined and that revision should be initiated which could enhance the learning experiences provided for students.

The purpose of this study was to develop, initiate, and evaluate a pre-service paraprofessional teaching program for prospective biology and earth science teachers. The program was designed to place the paraprofessional in a secondary school for either full or half days for one quarter of the academic year.The population included all Ball State University sophomores and juniors planning to become science teachers (in biology or earth science) who had not started their education sequence. The Experimental Group was limited to those of the population who volunteered to participate in the program. The scope of the Experimental Group was further limited by the fact that all credit hours granted were elective hours.The measuring instruments used in this study were the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI), Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS), and Semantic Differential Test (SDT). Questionnaires were also sent to principals of participating schools, to clinical teachers, and to the paraprofessionals. The three tests (MTAI, TSCS, and SDT) were given before and after the experimental period to the Experimental Group and Control Group P (prospective teachers enrolled in the Human Growth and Development course at Ball State University). National Science Foundation Institute participants at Ball State University (Control Group I) were also given the MTAI and SDT. The norms established by Control Group I were used to determine if the post test means of the Experimental Group and Control Group P were in the direction of Control Group I.The program extended through the academic school year of 1969-1970, and the fall and winter quarter of 1970-1971. The Experimental Group was composed of thirty-four students.To determine relationships existing among the groups of this study, three statistical techniques were utilized. Student's t-test was used to determine if a significant change occurred between the means of two groups. To give a visual effect, the resultant changes in mean scores between groups were shown graphically. Finally, analysis of the questionnaires answered by principals, clinical teachers, and the Experimental Group were tabulated utilizing percentages, and chi square was calculated assuming a 50-50 distribution of yes and no responses of those who answered the questions.The .05 level of significance was used to test the significance of difference between the means and that of chi square values.3Scores of the Minnesota Teachers Attitude Inventory, Tennessee Self Concept Scale, and Semantic Differential Test did not yield conclusive results, but the questionnaires were very revealing. The principals of participating schools, the clinical teachers, and the Experimental Group were all enthusiastically in favor of the program. The principals unanimously agreed that the program was of value to the school and to the paraprofessionals, that the program was not an administrative problem, and that the program should be continued. The clinical teachers agreed overwhelmingly that the program was of value to them, to their students, and to the paraprofessionals. They also agreed that the program should be continued, that planning was not a problem, and that the paraprofessionals were cooperative, helpful and did not create problems with their students. The paraprofessionals unanimously agreed that the program should be continued and that it was of value to them.

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Bibliography: pages 189-198. / Applying theoretical conceptualisations of current theories of self-regulated learning, a biology instructional programme facilitating learner perceptions of control by offering choices in task engagement was undertaken with two intact samples of Caucasian standard ten higher grade biology pupils in Cape Town, with the student groups matched for IQ and ability. A counter-balanced, quasi-experimental research design was implemented for two five-day cycles. Learner locus of control and self-regulatory behaviour were established using, respectively, the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (Crandall, et al, 1965), and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich and De Groot, 1990). The primary aim was to test the prediction that, in contrast to teacher-regulated instruction, academic performance after learner self-regulation would be appreciably greater. Differences between the experimental and control group mean achievement scores at the end of the programme were highly significant.

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