Little information is available which specifically applies to determining Tech-Prep program quality, effectiveness, and goal attainment as determined by the directors/coordinators of the programs. This research sought to determine if program performance indicators exist that Tech-Prep directors/coordinators deem necessary to determine their programs' quality, effectiveness, and goal-attainment. If so, is there consensus of agreement among the directors/coordinators on which performance indicators to utilize, and is there a pattern of preference when grouped into evaluation focus components? A questionnaire was developed by the researcher and distributed to Tech-Prep directors/coordinators in the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. Sixty-seven program directors/coordinators were asked to participate, and 85 percent responded to the survey. The following conclusions can be reached from analysis of the data: 1) The responding Tech-Prep directors/coordinators are in agreement on which program performance indicators to use to determine the quality, effectiveness, and goal attainment of their programs. These findings are contrary to the existing literature which suggest a lack of consensus on which performance indicators to utilize for vocational education programs. 2) Three different techniques — consensual agreement, consideration of the questionnaire non-response rate, and data analysis ensuring a 95 percent confidence interval of the standard error of the mean — were used to analyze the extent of agreement among the surveyed Tech-Prep directors/coordinators on appropriate program performance indicators. Using the three techniques, the extent of majority agreement on the program performance indicators ranged from 97 to 67 percent of the sixty selected indicators. These data support the conclusion that agreed upon performance indicators are available for comparison and evaluation of Tech-Prep programs among this population. These data fill the void in the literature that addresses generalizable performance indicators that can be used in the evaluation and assessment of vocational programs, such as Tech-Prep. 3) Program performance indicators were grouped into six focus components. Although the determination of which focus components are more appropriate for vocational evaluation depend on many factors, data from this survey indicate the STUDENTS focus component is perceived as most important, the RESOURCES focus component is least important, and CAREERS, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ATTITUDE/PERCEPTIONS, and FACILITATORS focus components are deemed equally important by Tech-Prep directors/coordinators in the determination of program quality, effectiveness, and goal attainment. / Ed. D.

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This study explored how contextual factors influenced the effect of educational practices on student reading achievement and describes an alternative means of assessing educational programs under conditions of multiple-treatment interference and innovation diffusion. Over 1,500 reading teachers at 69 elementary schools within a large diverse district completed surveys regarding multiple aspects of the reading program, actions of their reading leaders, and instructional program coherence at their schools. Nearly 13,000 students in grades 2 through 5 were assigned to those teachers. Factor analyses were used to separately identify patterns within survey items that measured educational practices, leadership actions, and instructional program coherence. Then, the students' achievement gains were adjusted for the effects of fixed demographic and organizational variables through hierarchical linear modeling. Finally, classroom level relationships between the adjusted achievement gains, and subscales computed from the factors that were identified, were examined through a path analysis. Educational practices were found to align to six factors labeled Technology, Training Utility, Advanced Skills, Basic Skills, Grouping, and Assessment. Leadership actions were found to align to two factors labeled Relationship and Task. Fixed effects at the student, classroom, and school levels were found to have an impact on both the initial status and growth components of student achievement. In the path model, Task was found to have a significant direct effect on Advanced Skills, while the effect of Relationship on educational practices was partially mediated by Instructional Program Coherence. Both Advanced and Basic skills were found to have positive effects on Adjusted Gain when taught at the appropriate level, and negative effects, when taught at the inappropriate level. / Technology was found to facilitate Basic Skills instruction overall, with greater benefits seen at the upper grades. It was concluded the rates of use seen for Advanced and Basic skills instruction were similar at the three types of schools examined because of poor differentiation due to innovation diffusion. Teachers who perceived their leaders as supportive, tended to rate their schools as more coherent and training requirements as more appropriate, and used technology and assessment more often, leading to gains in student achievement. / by Steven M. Urdegar. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues of education production function analysis were examined. Specific issues relating to model design, proxy and variable selection, levels of analysis, standards of adequacy, and implications for policy were addressed. Selected studies and dissertations published since the Equal Education Opportunity Report that identified any positive significant relationship between financial resources and student achievement were evaluated. Each study was examined with reference to conceptual and empirical problems of analysis. Specifically, the researcher identified measures of dependent and independent variables, the level of data aggregation, the direction and effect of independent variables, characteristics of the sample, the statistical methodology employed in the analysis, and the conclusions of the study. This research discussed factors that result in discrepant findings in the relationship between expenditures and achievement. From this perspective, conclusions about the use of education production function studies in assessing this relationship were stated. The examination of empirical studies provided a context for the identification of conceptual, methodological, and data issues necessary to assess the potential of production function analyses to contribute to policy decisions. / Ph. D.

This study addressed superintendents' value perceptions of nineteen component parts of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. In addition, the study sought to determine whether relationships existed between superintendents' value perceptions of P.L. 94-142 and (1) school district size and (2) total years experience as a superintendent. As a result of this research, twenty-one conclusions were drawn, consisting of Texas superintendents' perceptions of several aspects of P.L. 94-142 such as: its effectiveness, appropriateness, process hearing costs, funding, time/cost efficiency, feasibility, and ultimate goal. Additionally, there was no significant relationship between the total number years served as a superintendent, or the size of school districts served, and the superintendents' value perceptions concerning P.L. 94-142. In summary, twenty-one conclusions were reached regarding superintendents' value perceptions of P.L. 94-142. A total of seven implications were drawn from the conclusions. Finally, seven recommendations for future study were made.

The problem of this study was the perceptions of Texas public school teachers and principals regarding recommendations for educational reform made in April, 1983, by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Purposes included determining those perceptions and investigating differences between them, differences among teachers1 perceptions, and differences among principals' perceptions relative to specific categories of recommendations and specific biographic variables. A random sample of 460 teachers and 180 principals, stratified equally among the state's twenty education regions, was selected from the population of public school teachers and principals on computer at the Texas Education Agency, Austin, Texas. The actual number of respondents included 224 teachers and 91 principals, or 49 percent and 51 percent respectively. The instrument used was an attitude scale developed by the investigator. The thirty-nine original recommendations made by the Commission were converted into 118 specific recommendations, more precise and easier to read according to a jury of experts. An. analysis of variance was calculated for hypotheses one, two, five, and six, and t values were calculated for hypotheses three and four. The study was organized into five chapters including the "Introduction," "Review of the Related Literature," "Procedures for Collection and Analysis of Data," "Analysis of Data," and "Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations." The Appendix includes a sample of the instrument used, the overall mean scores on each individual item for teachers, principals, and all respondents combined, and the total mean scores.

The intent of this study was to establish and validate criteria for use to assess the quality of a library and information sciences (LIS) Ph.D. program. The Ph.D. student-centric topology for quality Ph.D. programs was developed from a 2001 position statement by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) regarding the quality indicators in research-focused doctoral programs in nursing. Topology components were tested using a survey instrument to establish their importance to the community of practice and their potential use to assess a Ph.D. program. Survey participants were asked to rank terms or concepts in a balanced incomplete block (BIB) design then rate, on a Likert-type scale, statements about the applicability of these terms or concepts to assessing a quality LIS Ph.D. program. Survey participants were from the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum jESSE Listserv. Of 225 survey participants affiliated with universities or schools from North America who submitted usable surveys, slightly less than two-thirds (64.4 %) were female while 35.5 % were male. Ninety-eight participants (43.6 %) were faculty, 114 (50.7 %) were Ph.D. students or candidates, and 13 (5.8 %) were in other roles. Statistical analysis of survey responses showed consistent results between the different demographic groups. The topology was validated by the results of the statistical analysis of the research data. Every component of the topology was acknowledged as very important to assess the quality of a LIS Ph.D. program. Faculty was the highest ranked item in the BIB analysis with a statistically significant difference (p < .0001) in the mean rank order from the next highest ranked item, Ph.D. students. The rank order from the BIB analysis was as follows: faculty, Ph.D. students, programs (courses) of study, teaching, learning environment, resources, and evaluation. Faculty was also the highest rated item in the Likert-type statement analysis.

School vouchers.