This study was designed to identify faculty and participant perceptions regarding Ball State University's distance education model known as MBA/TV and report on its apparent effectiveness. A second purpose was to examine both motivations for and barriers to participation in this distance education model.Two surveys (faculty and student) were designed to collect data for this study. Responses from faculty included their perceptions of student performance, student inquiries and participation, administrative and logistical support services, technology (performance and limitations), and program strengths/limitations. Responses from students included their demographic profile, motivations for participation (logistical, personal, and career), perceptions of the program strengths/limitations, faculty, technology, and administrative support services. Responses to all questions were reported by number and percentage. Responses to open-end questions were separated into categories and reported by number.The major findings included: Males (67%) outnumbered females (32%) by more than two to one. More students were married (78.9%) than single (20.1%). Nearly all (96.1%) had experienced good TV reception at their site. Many rated issues such as receiving the program in their hometown(s) (71.1%) and offering it at convenient times (80.8%) as important. Other issues rated as important by participants included: the opportunity to earn an MBA (90.9%); the opportunity to upgrade work skills (75.1%); and the opportunity to learn more about business concepts (83.2%).Analysis of the faculty survey revealed the following: 75100 percent of the MBA/TV students demonstrated understanding and resourcefulness in completing class assignments (78.9%); less than fifty percent of the students contributed to the quality of class discussions (78.9%); and mail communication with students had either minor problems (solved) or had always gone smoothly (78.9%).Additional investigation was needed regarding educational resource and training needs of both students and faculty. Also, attitudes of faculty toward distance learners and administrative dictates requiring televised instruction should be further explored.3 / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to identify correlates of successful social adaptation in secondary schools, as perceived by students, teachers and parents. A description of behaviors important for mainstreaming mildly exceptional students into grade levels six through twelve was sought.The long term significance of the study was to begin development of an adaptive behavior scale for adolescents which would discriminate normal from mildly handicapped students. The literature contains substantial agreement that no reliable method or measure exists for the evaluation of adaptive behavior in the mildly handicapped secondary student, although the Education for Handicapped Children Act CPL 94-142) requires such an evaluation.Subjects of this study were middle and senior high school classes selected at random from three middle and three senior high schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Teachers and parents were also participants, as were secondary special education teachers throughout the system.An eighty item checklist was composed from the literature. It described personal or behavioral characteristics and was distributed to all subjects, who were asked to select ten items from the list which, in their opinions, described the most important requirements for successful adaptation in their respective middle and senior high schools.Responses from participating groups were tabulated and compared on the bases of grade placement, sex, and adult status (regular teacher, parent, special educator). One question asked about previous special placement and located a number of mainstreamed survey participants. Data revealed notable similarity in checklist selections by age group. Selections of mainstreamed students at all grade levels resembled those of middle school students. Adult participants concurred in many of their selections; in terms of the total survey, there was some overlap in the item choices but sufficient difference to demonstrate varying priorities between students and adults. Some aspects of the returns suggest possibly new considerations regarding expectations for mainstreamed students, and contain data for future factor analytic studies toward eventual development of a measurement instrument.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

No description available.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a set of twelve financial ratios developed from revenue and expenditure characteristics of Indiana public school corporations in 1998, 1999, and 2000 could forecast a district's financial condition in 2001 and 2002. The study was limited to the statutory general fund which finances a district's day-to-day instructional expenditures. A district's financial status was determined by computing a composite financial status ratio (CFSR) using the district's annual net revenues and expenditures for 2001 and 2002. The relationship of twelve independent variables was examined with the CFSR continuum using multiple linear regression analyses. The population of the study included 286 of the 293 public school corporations in Indiana. The findings of the study found: (1) 94.4 percent of Indiana's public school corporations were considered non-financially distressed and 5.6 percent were considered financially distressed; (2) four independent variables were identified as significant and practical predictors of a district's financial condition: annual spending, December 31st encumbered cash balance, biannual spending, and annual expenditures/ADM ratios; (3) three independent variables were significant; however, the variables were not considered functional predictors of a district's financial condition: personnel/annual expenditure, certified instruction/personnel expenditure, and local property tax/annual revenue; and (4) four independent variables were not significant and were unable to predict a school district's financial condition: December 31S` net cash balance, employee benefit/annual expenditure, student growth, and school size impact factor ratios. The conclusions indicate: (1) financial ratios can be utilized by administrators to forecast a district's financial condition; (2) several financial ratios capable of forecasting a district's financial condition are under the management control of administrators; (3) financial ratios vary in the period of time they are capable of predicting a district's financial condition; (4) all statistically significant financial ratios may not be consistent predictors of a district's financial condition; (5) not all financial ratios serve as predictors of a district's financial condition even though the ratios provide important financial information; and (6) combined multiple year financial data, in addition to single year data, can be utilized to enhance the model's ability to predict a district's financial condition. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purposes of this study were to: (1) describe the status of administrators of joint service programs in special education with respect to race, age, experience, sex, tenure, position on the administrative chart, length of contract, salary, and formal training; (2) describe the role of administrators of joint service programs in special education with respect to supervision, planning, evaluation, in-service education, school systems served, budget, and duties unrelated to special education; (3) develop guidelines that may be used in preparing job descriptions; and (4) develop guidelines for selection of administrators of joint service programs in special education.The population for the study consisted of 27 Indiana administrators of joint service programs in special education. Each of them had at least one year experience administering such a program.The school systems administering joint service programs in special education, during the 1972-73 school year, were plotted on a map of Indiana. Highway 36 was used to divide the state into north and south. Seventeen school systems were located in the northern part of the state and 210 in the southern part of the state. Large joint service programs in special education were determined by identifying all joint service programs serving a total of 15,000+ students, and joint service programs with less than 15,000 students were labeled small joint service programs. If twothirds of the school corporations being served by a joint service program were located in rural communities of less than 5,000 people, the joint service program was labeled rural. Questionnaires were sent to all 27 administrators, and twenty-four of the administrators returned questionnaires. For the purpose of interviewing, the administrators were divided into the following categories:1. Those administering programs in the northern part of the state.2. Those administering programs in the southern part of the state.3. Those administering a large joint service program in special education.4. Those administering a small joint service program in special education.5. Those administering joint service programs in special education, that are for the most part rural.6. Those administering joint service programs in special education, that are for the most part urban.A total of 18 administrators were interviewed, three from each of the six categories. The data were treated normatively using percentages and tables.The major findings of this study are as follows:1. The most common undergraduate major for administrators of joint service programs was special education (58 per cent). Fifty per cent earned graduate majors in special education, 29 per cent in special education and administration, and 13 per in administration and guidance.Fifty per cent of the administrators recommended special education for an undergraduate major.3. The most common recommended graduate major for administrators was a combination of administration and special education (42 per cent).4. Education of exceptional children (54 per cent), school administration (42 per cent), and school law (33 per cent) were courses which were extremely helpful to the administrators. Educational testing and measurement, speech development, educational psychology, and philosophy were said to be helpful by two-thirds or more of the administrators. School finance (63 per cent), school-community relations (46 per cent), school law (37.5 per cent), and diagnosis of children with learning disabilities (37.5 per cent) were courses that were not completed by the administrators, but would have been helpful to them.5. Ninety-six per cent of the administrators were required to hold a Director of Special Education License. The 24 administrators held a total of 55 licenses.6. Fifty-nine per cent of the administrators reported directly to the chairman of the advisory board. Seventy-three per cent felt they should report directly to the chairman of the advisory board.7. Duties of administrators did not vary greatly. Supervision of programs and staff was of concern to all participants.8. Seventeen per cent of the administrators believed someone was prepared to replace them in the event of their death, promotion, retirement or resignation.The findings and conclusions of the study support the following recommendations: 1. It is recommended that job descriptions be prepared for all administrators of joint service programs in special education. Further, it is recommended that administrators be permitted to assist in the preparation of the job description. These instruments should be up-dated each year and may be used as a tool during evaluation.2. It is recommended that Negroes and more women explore administrative opportunities in the field of special education.3. I t is recommended that general administrators join together with administrators of joint special service programs to present their financial and other concerns to the legislature.4. It is recommended that a specific program of objectives be set and a thorough and regular system of program evaluation be established.

The major purpose of the study was to determine if relationships existed between selected variables related to the preparation of public school bond offerings for bid and net interest rates and number of bids received by Indiana public school building corporations.The population for the study was defined as Indiana public school building corporations which market first mortgage revenue bonds during any calendar year that existing or comparable legal and bond market conditions may apply.The sample for the study was comprised of 23 Indiana building bonds during the calendar year 1970. Data for the study were obtained through responses of 20 school corporations to a Basic Bond Data Instrument.Seventeen variables were selected from a literature review that have been held as important for receiving favorable school bond interest rates. The following procedures were applied:1. A correlation matrix was computed to determine if significant correlations did, in fact,exist among the seventeen selected experimental variables.2. Step-wise multiple regression analyses were conducted using number of bids and interest rate alternatively as dependent variables. The purpose was to determine the independent variables that served as best predictors for the number of bids and the net interest rate for a bond issue.Major findings permitted the following conclusions to be drawn:The study did not support the notion that effective net interest rates are affected significantly by selected administrative practices classified into five experimental variable categories as legal services, financial planning, prospectus, publicity and notice of bond sale and actual bond sale. Ratings received from Moody's Investors Service, Inc., and Standard and Poor Corporation are not reliable predictors of net interest rates on school bond issues.Lower effective net interest rates can be obtained by keeping the length of bond issue to a minimum number of years.A lower effective net interest rate may likely be obtained by offering bonds for sale during the last quarter of the calendar year. The size of the sample studied restricted the evidence.Amount of previous debt obligation is a strong predictor of effective bond interest rate to be received on a subsequent issue. That is, the lower the level of prior debt, the lower interest rate that may likely be received on a new issue.6. Amount of issue is a strong predictor of the number of bids that may be anticipated for a given bond offering.7. Ratings received by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., are reliable predictors of number of bids to be received. Higher ratings tend to create more interest by bidders.8. Date of issue is a reliable predictor of number of bids. Although the evidence with regard to the best period during the year to sell was not conclusive, the data for 1970 revealed a tendency for a larger number of bids to be received by school building corporations marketing bonds after the first 90 days of the year, that is, after April 1.Recommendations for further study:1. The study should be replicated covering at least a two year period to determine if predictors identified in the study continue to be predictors and remain somewhat consistent with respect to predictability. 2. A similar study should be conducted including neighboring states in the sample to determine if the predictors derived for Indiana bond interest rates and number of bids received remain somewhat consistent across state lines.3. A national study should be conducted which could randomly sample school districts throughout the nation, using variables identified from the study, to determine the best set of predictors for achieving lower effective bond interest rates and a higher number of bidders.3

The problem of the study was to:1. describe the status of each available Indiana special education joint school service agreement regarding the following demographic variables:a. number of participating school corporations b. average per-student assessed valuation of the participating corporationsc. total student population of the participating school corporationsd. total number of students served with special education services in the cooperativee. total geographical size of the cooperative in square miles2. describe the status of each available Indiana special education joint school service agreement regarding the following agreement provisions:a. authorityb. purpose, statementc. scoped. controle. administrationf. personnel, staffingg. student eligibility h. finance classroom facilities j. equipment, supplies k. transportationl. effective date, duration m. membership, withdrawal n. amendmerts o. execution3. provide an analysis of existing provisions regarding the nature of joint school service agreements in special education, and demographic variables of special education cooperatives, by comparing and contrasting common and unique factors.4. identify commonalities for use in future preparation of special education joint school service agreements. The population for the study consisted of 37 Directors of Indiana Special Education Cooperatives. This number represented 88 percent of the forty-two Indiana directors of special education.The research methodology used included: (1) an analysis of existing special education joint school service agreements; and, (2) development of a questionnaire. The purpose for analyzing existing joint school service agreements was to identify and compare provisions currently in use. A questionnaire was designed to discover attitudes directors of special education cooperatives held toward the provisions of their agreement, as well as the overall effectiveness of their agreement.The fifteen provision titles were taken from Indiana joint school service agreements and listed. Directors of cooperatives were then asked to indicate, with reference to their agreement, which provision either did not apply, was adequate, or, should be changed. If a desire for change was indicated, space was provided to give the director opportunity to express how change would be made, and why it was deemed desirable. A request for certain demographic variables was also included in the questionnaire, as was an opportunity for the director to rate the effectiveness of his overall joint school service agreement. Provisions of agreements were described in narrative form while the various approaches used to achieve those provisions were tabulated according to three sizes of each demographic variable. The expressed desire for change of a provision as well as overall agreement evaluations by the cooperative directors were also illustrated using the consistant table format.Each special education cooperative was identified according to the five demographic variables, and each variable was categorized as being "small," "medium," or "large." This was done by taking the total range of each variable and dividing it into three equal sections. The lowest one-third was termed "small," the middle one-third was termed "medium," and the highest one-third was termed "large."After an analysis of forty-one major findings the following general conclusions were made:1. Shorter agreements were favored by cooperatives desiring flexibility of programming.2. Longer agreements were favored by cooperatives desiring concise and explicit guidelines to follow.3. Provisions included in an agreement were added at the option of the members of the cooperative.4. Little legal criteria have been set concerning joint school service agreements.5. Legal authority had to be taken from a wide variety of sources in order to have an effective agreement.6. Many cooperative directors would prefer having a centralized organization structured under the Interlocal Act.7. Cooperatives prefer objective provisions concerning participating school corporations.8. Local participating corporations are concerned about retaining control for special education programs.9. Cooperative agreements reflect the philosophy and organizational structures of the individual participating corporations.10. Cooperatives could not strictly follow provisions included in agreements and hesitated to assume responsibilities not included in the agreements.11. Most directors believed that their agreement could be improved.The findings and conclusions of the study support the following recommendations:1. Minimal legal criteria for joint school service agreements should be established.2. Each cooperative should be required to respond in some manner to each of the fifteen provisions included in the study while drafting an agreement. Further, it is recommended that implied provisions found between the lines not be assumed or tolerated.3. Local corporations should have as much flexibility as possible to facilitate each of the fifteen minimal provisions, enabling consideration of resources, needs and interests of the local corporation.4. A more encompassing reference of authority should be obtained from legislation.5. A member of the Indiana Division of Special Education should monitor the agreements in terms of minimal requirements. It is further recommended that this official, or another, be given authority to terminate any variation between cooperative agreement and actual practice.6. A program of community relations should be established to inform participating school corporations concerning local special education objectives and available services.7. Alternative ways of establishing and administering joint school programs should be explored.8. Additional related research should be done. Suggested studies are: (1) the possible advantages of centralized organization under the Interlocal Act, Chapter 118, Acts of 1957; (2) the variety of administrative and/or control structures behind joint school service agreements; (3) various financial approaches to local funding of joint programs; and (4) attitudes of local corporations toward jointly programing for special education.A summary table was included to identify commonalities among the three sizes of the five demographic variables and the fifteen agreement provisions. Provisions most frequently used in each category were indicated, as were expressed desires by directors that provisions be changed.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of the financial assistance for textbooks and related instructional materials portion of Public Law No. 390 (1987) on textbook rental programs in public school corporations across Indiana. The results of the analysis were compared with data from the financial assistance program prescribed in Public Law No. 209 (1979). The Indiana Department of Education's Textbook Cost Survey was designed to collect financial information about textbook rental programs for the school years 1984-85 through 1986-87 when P.L. 209 was in effect. A questionnaire, modeled after the Textbook Cost Survey, was developed to collect similar information for the school year 1987-88 when P.L. 390 came into effect. This survey was sent to the 209 school corporation that had responded to the Department of Education survey. Percentage distributions and mean per pupil financial data were ascertained for the data obtained from the two instruments. Based on information gained from the study, a comparative analysis of the impact of Public Laws 209 and 390 on Indiana textbook rental programs was made.Data collected supported the following conclusions:1. Because Indiana law requires the adoption of some new textbooks each year, mean per pupil textbook rental billings will continue to increase annually, as mean per pupil textbook rental billings did from 1984-85 through 1987-88, the four years included in this study.2. The overall percentage of mean per pupil textbook rental billings collected each year from parent/guardians or emancipated minors will continue to decrease as did the overall percentage of mean per pupil textbook rental billings collected during the four years (1984-1988) included in the study.3.Because of the inclusion of standardized financial eligibility criteria and allocation of sufficient funding for total reimbursement of eligible financial assistance billings from individual school corporations, the financial assistance portion of P.L. 390 is an improvement over P.L. 209.4. Because of the specific delineation of textbook rental fee components eligible for financial assistance reimbursement under P.L. 390, implementation of the law brought about changes in the components some school corporations included in textbook rental billings.5. In an attempt to make up some of the difference between actual textbook rental billings and eligible financial assistance billings sent to the Department of Education for reimbursement, an increasing percentage of school corporations switched from annual recovery of 20 percent of textbook costs to annual recovery of 25 percent of costs after implementation of P.L. 390.6. School corporations who ask parent/guardians or emancipated minors approved for financial assistance to pay the difference between the actual amount of textbook rental billings and the amount of financial assistance reimbursement received from the state face a difficult public relations situation.7. The data from 1987-88 appear to indicate P.L. 390 has had a positive impact on the mean per pupil amounts of unpaid textbook rental billings pursued for collection.8. The mean per pupil costs for pursuing collection of unpaid textbook rental billings through small claims court or other collection methods are not truly representative of actual costs because personnel costs were frequently omitted.9. Textbook rental funds which are, theoretically, designed to be self-supporting cannot continuously absorb the loss of income resulting from exclusion of some components normally included in textbook rental billings from financial assistance reimbursement, exclusion of students qualifying after November 1 each year from financial assistance reimbursement, and reimbursement at a different percentage of costs than the percentage normally charged in textbook rental billings.10. After implementation of the financial assistance portion of P.L. 390, those school corporations who indicated expenditures for components normally included in textbook rental billings but excluded from financial assistance reimbursement would be paid from the general fund, or who indicated the general fund would be used to reimburse textbook rental funds for the losses of income incurred through implementation of P.L. 390 have provided only a temporary solution.