A recent Florida Statute required the Commissioner of Education to expand the State Department of Education's capabilities for constructive educational change and support services necessary to achieve greater quality in education. To carry out the instruction of this Statute, several pieces of legislation were recommended, one of which resulted in the development of the Florida Assessment Program. Also, goals for education in Florida were established. To meet these goals, the Legislature enacted the Educational Accountability Act of 1976. A sub-section of the Act, "Pupil Progression," provided for a comprehensive testing program. In 1978, the Act was amended to require passage of a functional literacy examination, State Student Assessment Test, Part-II, prior to the award of a State graduation diploma. This requirement resulted in one of several legal challenges, Debra P. vs Turlington, to the Florida Assessment Program. The Debra P. vs Turlington case challenged the constitutional and statutory validity of the State Student Assessment Test, Part-II. / The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Debra P. vs Turlington case and the policies embodied in the "Pupil Progression Section" of the Florida Educational Accountability Act of 1976 on curricula change in selected Florida public schools. / A survey questionnaire which included a personal data section was sent to Florida Public school teachers and principals to ascertain their perception of change in: (1) the use of curricula objectives; (2) determining curricula content; (3) instructional strategy; and (4) pupil assessment as a result of the Debra P. vs Turlington case and the policies embodied in the "Pupil Progression Section" of the Florida Educational Accountability Act of 1976. A five point Likert-type scale was used to rate the participants response as a result of the Case and the Act in the four categories assessed. / The results of this study indicated that change occurred, both, as a result of the Debra P. vs Turlington case and the policies embodied in the "Pupil Progression Section" of the Florida Educational Accountability Act of 1976. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-08, Section: A, page: 2325. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The purpose of the study was to systematically analyze through qualitative research strategies the dynamics of one collaborative arrangement to gain an understanding of how collaboration influenced goal attainment, and the processes used by participants to attain goals. The collaboration studied was a project involving representatives from a school district and two universities to develop and implement a management development center for the diagnosis, selection and training of school administrators. / The activities related to Project goals were described in a case description. The data were broken down into different categories, and an analytical description was developed which described the linkage between characteristics of collaboration and impacts and processes affected. The identified characteristics were (1) unstructured authority; (2) existence of different needs and interests; (3) existence of different internal/external pressures; (4) differences in intraorganizational characteristics; and (5) differences in organizational cultures. The major impacts of these characteristics were that they (1) were complicated; (2) required flexibility and adjustment; (3) tended to produce conflict between representatives; and (4) were expanded through attempts to integrate needs and interests of the different organizations. The processes in attaining goals used by the representatives were: (1) the need to gain agreement through both formal and informal channels; (2) the use of autonomous decision making; (3) negotiation; (4) adjustments; (5) diversification of tasks; (6) diversification of the means of involving organizational members; and (7) attempts at reducing tension. Findings of the study indicated (1) commitment to goals was a major factor in maintaining relationship; (2) interpersonal linkages facilitated goal attainment; (3) procedural authority modified the existence of unstructured authority; (4) power balancing operations existed during negotiation; (5) frustration was the major dysfunctional outcome; (6) processes and procedures were complicated; and (7) differences in organizational cultures influenced predisposition toward acceptance of suggestions and overall climate of the project. Implications of the impact of collaboration were given for the researcher and practitioner. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2716. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a resource guide utilizing critical incidents in the evaluation of teachers. Eight teaching areas (Instructional Strategies, Professional Preparation, Planning and Preparation, Classroom Management, Teacher-Parent Relationships, Teacher-Pupil Relationships, Subject Competency, and Contribution to Total School Effort), 8 standards, 260 performance indicators, and 51 critical incidents were evaluated by an inside jury of 6 experts in the area of education from the Florida State University. The revised resource guide containing 8 standards, 51 critical incidents, and 203 performance indicators was related to the teaching areas evaluated by 10 outside jury members: 4 teachers, 4 administrators, 1 psychologist and 1 educational coordinator from the State of Florida. The finalized resource guide contained a manual, showing how to use the guide, which included 8 teaching areas, 8 standards, 201 performance indicators, and 36 critical incidents / The findings revealed that a teacher evaluation resource guide utilizing critical incidents could be developed. The study indicated that: (1) Selected critical incidents collected from practitioners could be used to develop a resource guide for evaluating teachers. (2) Based on the evaluation of the two juries, the resulting resource guide was determined to be a useful tool in the developing of a teacher evaluation program. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-10, Section: A, page: 3176. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and nature of incidents of physical abuse of teachers on school grounds in a large metropolitan district in Florida. In an effort to achieve this purpose, a survey instrument was developed, field tested and validated by a sample of Florida public school teachers and administrators. The survey instrument contained 44 statements concerning the nature and prevalence of physical attacks upon certificated personnel in elementary, middle and senior high schools. The study was concerned with who were the attackers, characteristics of persons attacked, locations of attacks, attitudes of teachers toward attackers and teaching as a career, change of teacher's work habits as a result of an attack, and consequences for the attackers. / Conclusions from this study indicate the following: (1) The attacker was a black student with prior behavior problems and was perceived by the victim to have low intelligence. (2) Teachers most attacked at the elementary level taught special education, while abused teachers from middle and senior high schools taught English, shop or home economics. Victims were most likely to be females, 36-40 years of age, with 6-10 years of experience who sustained minor injuries which required little or no medical attention and who lost less than one week from work. (3) Teachers were most frequently attacked in classrooms and corridors, usually during the school day while classes were in session. (4) Most attacked teachers maintained a positive attitude toward their students and preferred to remain in the teaching profession. (5) The overwhelming majority of attacked teachers changed their working habits by not arriving at work as early as before, and by not remaining after school to chaperone extracurricular activities. (6) Consequences for the offenders included conferencing, classroom or school reassignment, corporal punishment, suspension and expulsion. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0616. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two inservice training designs on the knowledge base, observation skills, and conference verbal behaviors of principals. The study was designed to: (1) examine the effectiveness of actual setting practice versus simulated practice; and (2) to gather and interpret formative information about the training design. / The study involved two 15-member groups of elementary principals, each group from a different county in Florida. Each participated in a 2-day inservice training in recognizing effective teacher behavior and utilizing effective conferencing verbal behaviors with teachers. The content and the training design for each group were identical and taught by the same instructor. The types of practice performed by each group, however, varied. / The general training design consisted of: (1) content presentation; (2) modeling; (3) discussion; (4) practice; (5) feedback; and (6) coaching. One group performed practice in a school by observing a teacher instructing students and conferencing with the observed teacher. The other group observed a videotape of instruction and role-played a conference with another inservice participant. / Pre and posttest data collected from written tests, observation skill exercises, and audiotapes of principals conferencing with teachers were analyzed for differences between the groups in the number of principals who met the criteria for demonstration of satisfactory performance and for changes in achievement and verbal behavior. Chi Square, t-tests, and descriptive techniques were used to analyze the data. / The training design, including both types of practice, increased the principals' knowledge of effective teacher behavior and effective conference verbal behavior. The group with actual setting practice made larger gains in cognitive achievement while the group with simulated practice made larger gains in conferencing skills. / It was recommended that simulated practice be included in the final training design. At present, the effect of type of practice used during inservice training is inconclusive and does not warrant the additional resources necessary to implement actual setting practice. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2006. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The purpose of this study was to determine the institutional goal perceptions of college presidents and chairpersons of the board of trustees of historically Black private institutions of higher education. / The basic technique used to collect the data was the mailed questionnaire. The presidents of the 50 institutions under study were mailed questionnaires. The nature of the study was described and a request was made for the names and addresses of the chairperson of the board of trustees. Responses were received from 25 presidents (50%). A questionnaire was mailed to those chairpersons identified by the presidents. Responses were received from 25 chairpersons (50%). Presidents and chairpersons were matched by institution. / The presidents were generally in agreement about the ideal emphasis that should be given to certain goals, but they demonstrated considerable disagreement about actual institutional goals. The board of trustees chairpersons as a group were in agreement about both the actual and ideal goals of historically Black private institutions of higher education. / Reliability coefficients were computed and revealed creditable reliability for the instrument. A t-test comparison of the means of the presidents' and the chairpersons' actual and ideal institutional goal perceptions demonstrated a significant difference beyond the 0.05 level of confidence. The means for the presidents' and the chairpersons' ideal institutional goal perceptions were higher than the means for the actual goal perceptions. / An analysis of variance measuring the relationship of the variance among the groups with the variance within the groups was computed for presidents, boards of trustees chairpersons, and for presidents and chairpersons combined. All computations resulted in statistical significance at the 0.05 level of confidence. / A comparison of demographic data revealed some differences between the presidents and the chairpersons in the study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 1990. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

A recent Florida statute requires that public school principals receive training sufficient to ensure the effective evaluation of teacher performance. Nine training areas were identified pursuant to this statute. The purpose of this study was to identify the inservice training needs of Florida public school principals relative to these nine training areas. The specific questions that were investigated included: (1) Which of the nine training areas did principals most frequently perceive the need for inservice training? (2) Which of the nine training areas did teachers most frequently perceive the principals' need for inservice training? (3) What were the preferred modes of inservice training of principals in each of the nine training areas? (4) What differences existed, if any, in the inservice needs of principals relative to the size of the school's instructional staff? (5) What differences existed, if any, in the inservice needs of elementary, middle, and high school principals relative to each of the nine training areas? (6) What were the predominant inservice training needs as perceived by principals and teachers in each of the five Florida reporting regions as classified by the Florida Department of Education? / A needs assessment instrument which included a personal data section was sent to selected Florida public school principals and teachers to ascertain the inservice needs of principals in each of the nine training areas as perceived by both principals and teachers. This instrument was also used to ascertain the preferred mode of inservice training delivery for each of the nine training areas. A five point Likert scale was used to rate the principals' need for inservice training in each of the nine training areas. Results of this study indicated that the principals perceived their predominant needs for inservice training to be in areas concerned with the administrative and technical aspect of teacher evaluation. On the other hand, teachers perceived their principals' predominant needs for training in the evaluation of teachers to be in the areas concerned with principals' interactions with teachers. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, Section: A, page: 1634. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The study was designed to examine the impact of three different inservice delivery modes. Variables associated with the impact were the extent of the curriculum materials' utilization, teachers concerns, cost, and satisfaction. Selected personal characteristics as they relate to teacher concerns and extent of use were also analyzed. This analysis was made on the following systems: teleconference, face-to-face presentation, and direct mail instruction. / Ninety-eight vocational home economics instructions teaching Food Production and Services, and Food Management Production and Services were the target population. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model was used to determine the extent of use and the concerns of teachers. First, ninety-eight teachers were interviewed by telephone by asking carefully designed questions used to determine to what extent they were using the materials. Secondly, personal, task-oriented, and impact concerns were measured by a 35-item questionnaire. The 98 participants were mailed the concerns questionnaire. The response rate for teleconference, workshop, and direct mail participants were 70%, 60%, and 71% respectively. / Results of the data analysis suggest that (1) a great proportion of participants in all groups were using the materials, but the levels of use were higher for the teleconference and workshop participants than the direct mail group. (2) The cost to conduct all three activities were considerably different, but the increased cost in the workshop did not improve the level of use over the teleconference group. (3) The direct mail participants were less satisfied with the inservice they received while the teleconference and workshop did not differ significantly in inservice evaluation. (4) The majority of the intense concerns of all three groups were at the awareness, informational and personal stages, but the direct mail group concerns differed significantly from the other groups. (5) Age and number of years teaching did affect the concerns that teachers had in the three groups. However, the degree of implementation was not affected by these variables. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0618. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The purpose of the study was to develop a simulation cost-effectiveness model for public schools in the educational provinces in Iraq. From the related literature, important factors or criteria in formulating cost effectiveness were identified, and a procedure for calculating cost effectiveness was developed. A pilot study was conducted to determine the validity of the criteria and the procedure for calculating cost effectiveness. / Following evaluation of the pilot study, the criteria and procedures were reviewed by American and Iraqi educational experts. The criteria and procedures were then put in final form. The last revision produced the following, validated in the pilot study and by the experts as appropriate criteria for measuring cost effectiveness in a school: cost, student achievement, student attitudes toward school, and drop-out rate. With these as the basis, a mathematical computer model was designed which allows the decision maker to evaluate up to 100 schools using up to six criteria. / The following conclusions were reached concerning the model developed in this study: (1) The model can serve as a tool for Iraqi school administrators for decision making. (2) It can be used for forecasting the future cost for schools in the provinces. (3) It can be used as a tool to evaluate a school regarding its cost, its achievement, its students' attitude, and the drop-out rate. (4) It can provide the essential data base to permit decision makers the opportunity to equalize funding for schools. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, Section: A, page: 1633. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the Florida Beginning Teacher Program in its initial year of operation by: (1) assessing the level of inclusion of the prescribed competency domains in the Florida preservice teacher education programs; (2) assessing the frequency of utilization of the legislatively mandated competencies in the program, and (3) analyzing the relationship between perceptions of beginning teachers regarding adequacy of preparation and frequency of utilization of competencies. / The data yielding sample was composed of 60 beginning teachers from 15 county districts which participated in the Beginning Teacher Program in the school year 1982-83. A 32-item instrument using a 5-point Likert type scale based on the SunCoast Area Teacher Training instrument was utilized for data collection. / Findings were that: (1) Florida teacher education graduates perceived their preservice preparation in most areas in the legislatively mandated 24 generic competencies adequate to meet the requirements of the Beginning Teacher Program; (2) All of the 24 generic competencies described in the 32 items were frequently utilized. (3) There is no significant relationship found between beginning teacher perceptions of the adequacy of their preparation in competency areas and the frequency with which they use these competencies. / Criticism of the Beginning Teacher Program by participants reflected that special support staff (librarians, speech therapists, etc.) did not consider it relevant. Discontent was also expressed by out-of-state teachers who had completed similar competency based programs. / Areas of inadequate preparation were: human growth and development, record keeping systems, affective skills for positive interactions, value clarification, special needs for exceptional children and counselling students for academic needs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0634. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.