The primary purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which teaching efficacy, a motivational construct derived from Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, is related to the referring of students for special education services. Secondary purposes were to gather information on the validity of The Teacher Efficacy Scale (Gibson, 1983) and to obtain a better understanding of the construct of teaching efficacy, and how it is manifested in high and low efficacy teachers. A three-phase study was designed to investigate the problem. A survey of all first, second and third grade teachers in a mid-size urban school district in Virginia resulted in individual referral numbers and a volunteer sample of eighty-one teachers. After elimination of ten of those respondents, a second survey was conducted to gain a measure of efficacy and potentially related environmental variables. Scores from the second survey defined a sample for the interview phase of the study. Findings suggest that high efficacy teachers refer fewer students to special education than do low efficacy teachers. Variables which appear to be related to a teacher's sense of efficacy include support from the administration, assistance I and personal support from the principal, type of school (high or low SES), successful experiences with low-achieving students, and a personal need to be successful with all students. Implications for building teachers' sense of efficacy indicate a two-pronqed change effort: assuring that teachers have the skills to be successful with a wide range of learning needs, and creating an environment which enables teachers to be decisive, independent professionals. / Ed. D.

Current research and national studies reflect concerns about the quality of differentiated education that is offered to gifted and talented students. Fairfax County Public Schools, in Virginia, has made a commitment to providing differentiated education to gifted and talented students, as mandated by the Virginia Legislature in the Virginia Standards of Quality. This study investigated differences in selected curriculum and student characteristics in Area I English classes in Fairfax County Public Schools, with a focus on four research questions, as follows: 1. Is there a difference in the instructional objectives of regular and gifted classes? 2. Is there a difference in teacher expectations in regular and gifted classes? 3. Is there a difference in parent expectations in regular and gifted classes? 4. Is there a difference in selected student characteristics and expectations in regular and gifted classes? Classroom observations, using four measures, and surveys of students, teachers, and parents were conducted. In addition, the six subtests of the Biographical Inventory for Creativity, seven subtests of the Scientific Research Associates (SRA) test, two subtests of the Differential Aptitude (DAT) test, and grade point averages (GPA) were used to assess differences. An analysis of twenty-three variables using chi-square, t-tests (one sample and pooled), multivariate tests of significance, and analyses of variance revealed that some differences do exist between regular and gifted English curriculum characteristics and students. Results of classroom observations indicated that there is a difference in two measures of curriculum (content and quality of time spent on content) in gifted and regular English classes. There was no statistical significance in the other two measures, teacher expectation and response to content. Surveys of students, teachers, and parents reflected significant differences in perceptions of the curriculum in regular and gifted classes. Results of the Biographical Inventory indicated that there were differences in five of the six measures: academic performance, creativity, leadership, educational orientation, and vocational maturity. There was no significant difference in the sixth measure, artistic potential. There were statistically significant differences in all seven subtests of the SRA (reading, math, language, reference materials, social studies, science, and ability) and both subtests of the DAT (spatial relations and mechanical reasoning). There were also differences found in GPA. / Ed. D.

Although Business-Industry-Education (B-I-E) involvement in Tech Prep programs is frequently discussed and encouraged in the literature, there was little information which identified what is meant by involvement. This study determined what constitutes B-I-E involvement in Tech Prep programs in Virginia's community colleges and secondary schools. At the time of this study there were forty-four (44) Tech Prep projects in Virginia. Each Tech Prep project had at least one key person at the community college and at least one key person at the secondary schools in the community college service area. There are twenty-three (23) community colleges in Virginia with at least one Tech Prep project at each community college. Each community college in the consortium had at least one secondary school associated with it. In most instances, there were several secondary schools associated with each community college. The sample consisted of 23 key persons at the community colleges and 23 at the secondary schools. / Ed. D.

Prior to 1954, blacks in Fairfax County who wanted to receive an education beyond the seventh grade were bussed by the county to Manassas Regional High School in Prince William County or independently attended Dunbar High School, Phelps Vocational Center, Cardoza High School or Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe, record and analyze the events and actions that led to the establishment, operation, desegregation and eventual demise of Luther P. Jackson High School, the first and on1y high school for blacks in Fairfax County, Virginia. This study provides useful information to the Fairfax County School System. The population for the study consisted of representatives from community and civil rights leaders, school administrators, students, teachers and secretaries who were involved with Luther P. Jackson at various stages of its existence. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this project was to (1) evaluate and revise a computer-based instructional management system developed to organize business computer competencies, and (2) develop and revise documentation for using the system. The instructional management system consists of a database and various applications employing relational database architecture. The resulting system will be used by Virginia business teachers in implementing their curricula. The prototype system was developed initially to organize a taxonomy of tasks identified to measure computer competencies. The computer competencies were extracted from the Business Education Suggested Course Competencies and Performance Objectives, published by the Virginia Department of Education in 1989. The taxonomy resulted in the publication of the Business Computer Software Curriculum Series in 1990. This latter publication forms the core of the instructional management system. The 1990 curriculum guide was ultiloately expanded to include multiple choice and matching test questions organized to measure the tasks. / Ed. D.

P.L. 101-476 (IDEA) mandates the educational inclusion of students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Leaders in the field of special education support the inclusion of students with disabilities in neighborhood schools, and many school divisions now indicate that they are using an inclusive model. In such programs appropriate inclusion of students is to take place in school and community recreation programs, academics, art, music, industrial arts, consumer and homemaking education, vocational education, physical education, at meals and recess. Education is to take place in the school the child would attend if he or she was not disabled. Educational technology must be provided to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities. If schools are to follow these statutes, then total school and program accessibility must be addressed. Research and development methods used in this study include: (1) a survey of school divisions in Virginia to determine: size of division, disabilities categories in the division, if an inclusive model is being used in the division’s elementary schools, existence of a written policy on inclusion; (2) development of the Elementary Accessibility Checklist; (3) review of the instrument by experts in school facilities and elementary curriculum; (4) field testing of the Elementary Accessibility Checklist in six elementary schools in Virginia (small, medium, large divisions using an inclusive model and small medium, large division not using an inclusive model); (5) final review of the instrument by expert panel and participating school principals; (6) final revision of the Elementary Accessibility Checklist. The results of this study should provide an indication of the number of school divisions in Virginia using an inclusive model in elementary schools, and the number of divisions that support the inclusive model with written policy. The accessibility checklists developed will be useful to all elementary schools to determine their level of accessibility, suggest needed modifications in school facilities and programs. / Ed. D.

In a twenty year period beginning in 1935, Virginia college and state officials reacted to increasing pressure from internal and external forces of change. The movement to desegregate public higher education was a major portion of that pressure. The defenses established by the state during these years reflected the interrelation of these forces and the Democratic Machine's attempt to balance all the forces so as to retain the maximum degree of segregated education at the minimum social, fiscal and political costs. Thus the state leaders used, what I have termed "minimal resistance" to the desegregation of their graduate and professional schools rather than the "massive resistance" that followed Brown v. Board of Education. In the 1930s and 1940s, the state did all it could to retain segregated graduate and professional schools for whites with tuition grants to out-of-state schools and the cost-effective growth at Virginia State College. When these were declared insufficient by the U.S. Supreme Court, Virginia joined with other Southern States in joint educational ventures. By 1950, the Virginia officials realized that segregated higher education was all but a lost cause. They became conciliatory to the forces of desegregation in hopes of saving segregation in primary and secondary education. From 1950 to 1955, a period I call "limited desegregation" existed. During these years, the state's white graduate and professional schools admitted a very small number of black students under the "separate but equal" doctrine. The "Machine's" ability to control press and public debate on desegregation, together with contemporary political events and the attitudes of Virginians, account for the sequence of desegregation events in the state. / Master of Arts

Epidemiological data reveal that one of the most common diseases in the world is dental disease. Scientific knowledge is available to prevent the vast majority of dental disease. Thus, individuals are not taking the necessary action to prevent caries and periodontal disease. Dental professionals try to facilitate primary prevention of disease through education and the correction of skill deficits with patients. Still billions of dollars are spent each year in the treatment of these diseases. This presents a major health and economic liability and demonstrates a clear need to implement additional behavioral management techniques in the field of dentistry. This study implements two behavioral management strategies, self-monitoring and monetary incentives, in a free dental clinic to explore the effects of these treatments on subject"s dental flossing rate. / M.S.

Administrators, faculty, and researchers have assumed that advising needs and preferences for advising styles are similar across student population segments and do not consider the relationship of student attributes or the institutional setting to academic advising. Crookston (1972) presented two advising styles--developmental advising, which reflects a concern for the student's total education, and prescriptive advising, which is primarily focused on formal academic matters. In order to better understand the preference for advising relationships among college students, a model of developmental advising was formulated by Winston and Sandor (1984b). However, because of the increased numbers of special student populations such as women and minorities, it is difficult to ascertain the extent to which advising styles are received and desired by most students. / Ph. D.

This study addresses systemized transition planning and preparation for adult adjustment of secondary students with disabilities. Transition planning and preparation for youth with disabilities as they move from school to work and community adjustment is essential; however, thorough planning is rarely accomplished. Therefore, it is important to study the level at which transition services are currently delivered for secondary students with disabilities and to examine factors that affect delivery of those services. This study investigates (a) the status of transition services in Virginia school Divisions, (b) the status of specific factors that may affect delivery of transition services, (c) factors related to delivery of transition services and (da) demographics about persons most responsible for coordination of transition in local school divisions. Specifically, four transition service areas were examined: a) integration of students with disabilities with nondisabled peers, b) instructional programs, c) coordinated planning and d) support services. Also investigated were three factors that affect delivery of transition services: a) cooperation of vocational and special education, b) administrative support and c) a formal interagency transition team. Findings indicated the degree to which transition services were delivered across the state, as well as relationships between the level of delivery of transition services and the factors that were examined. Positive correlations demonstrated that the greater the level of administrative support for transition at the local level, the greater the level of delivery of transition services. Further, the greater the level of cooperation of vocational and special education, the greater the level of delivery of transition services. Existence of an interagency team correlated substantially with coordinated planning services. / Ed. D.