Discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities exist today (Cook, 1992). Studies have found a strong association between intolerance toward racial minorities and intolerance towards persons with disabilities. For example, hearing-impaired persons are especially subjected to the same type of stigmatizing experiences as are ethnic minorities and aliens (Cook & Laski, 1980). These attitudes could be linked to the integration of students with disabilities. In higher education, the success of a student with a disability, even more than that of a student without a specific disability, depends on a match between teacher and student (Marchant, 1990). It is thought that faculty attitudes influence the retention and long term behavioral change of their students (Peterson, 1988). The success of the student/teacher match includes consideration of the teacher's attitude towards students with disabilities which is determined, in part, by the teacher's knowledge of disabilities and experience with teaching students with disabilities. The purpose of this research was to assess the University of Massachusetts at Amherst faculty's knowledge of disabilities, experience with educating students with disabilities, and the attitudes they possess towards students with disabilities using a mailed survey and to determine if there is a relationship between the three factors. Guided interviews of eleven selected deans, department heads, and administrators were conducted in addition to the quantitative analysis of the mailed survey. Nearly one-third of the University's 1,316 faculty completed and returned the mailed survey. Following an initial review of the data obtained from the mailed survey identified the need for increasing faculty awareness of students with disabilities, a qualitative study was constructed to identify the most effective strategies for increasing faculty awareness students with disabilities. Participants were generally unfamiliar with disabilities, students with disabilities, University disability service providers, and disability law. University administrators had not identified the need to implement a disability awareness training program and very few interventions had been initiated to increase faculty awareness of students with disabilities. Based upon responses to the survey questions, participants of both studies could be seen as being supportive of students with disabilities.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of selected support services on new vocational technical teachers throughout Massachusetts. These services included aspects of preservice and inservice professional development activities. The research studied the manner in which support services were provided, the service providers, and the extent and impact of support services. A Massachusetts Department of Education initiative, called the New Instructor's Tool Kit Project, served as a vehicle of inquiry. The participants in the tool kit project for the past three years constituted one subset of the sample of subjects for the study while the second subset was made up of nonparticipants hired within the same period of time. Both quantitative and qualitative data gathering techniques were employed by the study. A questionnaire was mailed to 184 subjects and 116 (64%) responded. A structured interview was conducted on a selected group of 6 subjects. Data findings indicated that there is little structured support provided for new vocational technical teachers by local school systems in Massachusetts. In addition, there was little evidence to support the notion that the New Instructor's Tool Kit Project made an appreciable difference in the professional lives of new teachers. Significant findings were: (1) only 5 percent of new vocational technical teachers start teaching with full approval; (2) almost half of all new teachers start teaching without an orientation at their school; (3) many new teachers identified informal support teacher relationships, but few a formally structured program; (4) the subjects identified topics that related to teaching skills as being most important to new teachers; (5) perceived negative experiences during the first year were frustration, student behavior, discipline, professionalism of other teachers, the amount of work required by teaching and parental support; (6) perceived positive experiences were student progress, positive evaluations, satisfaction with working conditions and acceptance as a professional. The results of the study were used to develop recommendations for teacher training institutions, vocational technical school administrators, and the Division of Occupational Education. If implemented they should improve the pedagogical preparation and professional lives of new vocational technical teachers.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of middle school principals regarding desired skills and attributes appropriate for elementary or secondary-certified teachers in middle schools. A secondary purpose was to determine trends in assignment of teachers holding various types of certification in middle schools. Data were gathered from a survey questionnaire about school grade distribution, enrollment, organization, teacher assignment by grade level and certification held, patterns of mobility in assignment, and degree of implementation of effective middle school practices. Perceptions of desired attributes for middle school teachers, adaptability of elementary and secondary-certified teachers to middle grade assignment, and factors related to certification that enhance or hinder implementation of middle school philosophy were obtained from personal interviews of principals. Results show a scarcity of teachers holding middle school certification. Although possession of a certain type of certificate was not in itself a significant indicator, principals preferred attributes typical of elementary-certified teachers when seeking staff for middle schools, perceiving them as more adaptable than secondary teachers to changes in role expectation and assignment. Among these attributes were facility with varied teaching techniques, skill at individualizing instruction, adaptability to multidisciplinary instruction, understanding of psychological and social aspects of preadolescent development, and an overall receptiveness to change. Changes in teacher assignment from elementary to middle levels occurred during the past three years in more than half the schools surveyed. Within middle schools, it was more likely that elementary-certified teachers would be assigned in upper grades than secondary-certified teachers would be assigned to lower grades. One trend reported was a decline in the proportion of secondary-certified teachers in middle schools. Some success in implementing middle school programs was attributed to the presence of middle level certified teachers on the faculty. Schools were characterized by their principals as either successful middle schools, in transition toward implementing a middle school philosophy, or secondary in operation. Practices associated with effective middle schools were reported in greater frequency among schools in transition than in schools operating as middle schools for a number of years.

Current literature and research in education underscores the importance that parent participation and involvement play in a child's academic progress and successful educational experience. The importance of involvement has been traced through all educational levels from preschool through high school and in both American and foreign academic settings. American educational reform movements focus on efforts to restructure our schools to include all interested parties in the decision making process. Crucial to this restructuring is an active parental component. If schools are to overcome this crisis of public confidence they must work with the community, including its citizens and business members, to meet the unique individual needs of their setting. No where is this involvement more crucial than in America's inner-city, urban neighborhoods. However, it is here where we have seen minimal parent-school contact. This study explored parental involvement practices in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, inner city parochial school setting and attempted to identify and analyze the various barriers which prevent a more involvement role for our inner city parents even in this selective setting where the element of parental choice and monetary investment became evident. The descriptive study utilized a questionnaire format to identify these barriers to participation and compare the responses across various racial groups including Hispanic, African American, Native American, White, and Asian American.

This case study focuses on the culture of one selective liberal arts college. The host institution's culture provides the context for explaining the persistence and success of an innovative adult degree program. The research design is rooted in the naturalistic paradigm which takes a holistic, process-oriented view. The research took place over a full academic year at the site, utilizing a hybrid methodology which included a gamut of qualitative techniques as well as a quantitatively-scored questionnaire to elicit both an historical and current perspective of key participants. An initial reading of the literature on innovation in higher education pointed to the hypothesis that compatibility with the host institution's values and norms and profitability for that institution are necessary and sufficient factors in insuring the success of an innovation (Levine, 1980). Findings from this dissertation corroborate the importance of these factors but suggest that they are not sufficient to account for the success of this particular innovation. The additional feature which emerges from this research is the crucial role of leadership in shaping positive perceptions that an innovation meets the criteria of compatibility and profitability. The critical leadership is two-dimensional: first, there must be an innovative policy entrepreneur who initiates the innovation, then skillful managers must lead it from early stages of development through maturation. In this case, the host institution's core values centered on the faculty's sense of their college as primarily a teaching institution at which serious, self-motivated students, exemplified by the adult students, are highly valued. Moreover, the centrality of the teacher-student interaction was affirmed as a key norm; therefore, features of the innovation which differed from these values were not sustained over time. The value of collegiality between the faculty and the program director and significant administrative autonomy which characterized the program's governance also emerged as central. These findings point to a model for the successful persistence of an innovation in higher education which can be utilized for subsequent comparative case studies. This study should be of interest both to practitioners in adult higher education as well as to theorists concerned with innovation and institutional culture.

This dissertation evolved from a need to investigate whether the goals and objectives of the school system are the same as the expectations of the client Hispanic parents, especially in a school system where over 60 percent of the student population is Hispanic. The purpose of this study is to examine the interrelationship between the goals and objectives of the school system and Hispanic parents' expectations within a small, urban industrial city in Western Massachusetts. In order to implement this study, a questionnaire was devised and administered to randomly selected Hispanic parents. The questionnaire explored the attitude of Hispanic parents through responses to the following: (1) The following statements are my expectations for my son and/or daughter (18 items listed). (2) Yes, I know about or have heard of the following ideas and programs described in the goals and objectives of the school system where I live (21 items listed). (3) Yes, the following ideas and programs described in the goals and objectives of the school system satisfy my expectations as a parent for my son's and/or daughter's education (21 items listed). A Likert rating scale was used to measure parental expectations and the goals and objectives of the school system. The researcher utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What are the goals and objectives of the school system? (2) What are the characteristics of the parents whose children attend these schools? (3) What do the parents do to enforce achieving these goals? (4) What is the interrelationship between parent expectations and the school system with regard to the achievement of these goals? The researcher's major findings are that: (1) Hispanic parents should have the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process in developing the goals and objectives of the school system. Parental expectations can be addressed and taken into account as a result. (2) When families and communities have strong connections with schools, everyone benefits--children, families, teachers, schools, communities, and our democratic society. (3) Reliance on the delegation model in public education has created a fundamental gap between families and schools. There are other conclusions presented in this study concerning parental expectations and the goals and objectives of the school system.

My research was an eighteen-month study of how mature, college-educated adults (age range 24-56, professional experience diverse) transformed themselves from the men and women who entered a small, independent, field-based teacher preparation program in August into effective, state-certified teachers by the following June. The study continued into the next school year, tracing further development of each of the originally selected nine intern teachers, seven in their own classrooms, two, finally, in other chosen roles. The research was an interpretive study, combining the use of questionnaires, classroom observation, selections from journals, and in-depth interview/discussions with each of the nine participants at four times during the eighteen months. The interns' own assessments of the time in different classroom settings with children/young adults and experienced mentor teachers, were that the extensive daily experiences were pivotal in moving them toward a perception of self as teacher. This perception represents an aspect of human development described by Piaget as decalage, by Kegan as the whole becoming a part of a new whole, by Perry as commitment in relativism. Learning of this depth and human development are synonymous. Analysis of reflective comments of participants revealed how each mature intern teacher wove knowledge, attitudes, materials, educational theory, support from his/her mentor teacher, and personality into the unique teacher she/he was becoming. The intensity of the intern experience led the majority of the interns, by the middle of the second semester, to know the kind of teacher each would be, to be articulate in discussing her/his approach to teaching in both theoretical and practical terminology, and to display effective leadership in the classroom. The route to this knowing I call an epistemology of learning. This is a study of individuals who know what they have learned in such a deep, meaningful sense that they are confident in their useable knowledge. The route to this knowing is interactive and collaborative, experiential and theoretical; the resultant learning is deeply meaningful in that it incorporates intellect and emotion as the whole person develops dynamically (Kegan), works through the imbalance of transition to a more inclusive view of the world (Perry), and senses the ego-integrity of a generative self (Erikson).

Statement of problem. School districts having strained resources must somehow deal with a growing population of students diagnosed as "Emotionally Disturbed". It is important to know what is the predominant approach used with this group, whether or not it is deemed as being effective, and which individuals influence choice of a particular approach. Methods. This study surveyed Special Education Administrators/Directors of two states (Massachusetts and Rhode Island) to identify (1) whether there was a general preferred intervention approach; (2) whether the source of influence on the individual teacher's approach selection process had any relationship to the approach indicated by the Administrator as used; (3) whether there was a relationship between the approach(es) rated most effective and the one stated to be used. Random on-site inspection of several programs were later conducted to verify findings. Results. Data obtained from questionnaires was similar from both states surveyed. All three null hypotheses were significantly rejected. The information extracted from these questionnaires indicated strongly that: (1) The behavior modification approach was indicated by the respondents as the preferred approach. (2) There was a strong relationship between influence and program with the three highest rated influences, in decreasing order of rating, being the practical needs of the group, the school psychologist, and graduate education. (3) A relationship does appear to exist between the approach regarded by Directors/Administrators of Special Education as most effective and the approach used in their classrooms. On-site inspection of several alternative programs suggested that, although the behavioral approach was indicated as being the predominant approach, in reality, an eclectic approach using some aspects of the behavioral approach was being utilized. Some behavioral methodology existed but was often poorly applied in an attempt to deal with disruptive behaviors. Conclusions. As a result of the information obtained from this survey research, the author suggests the following: (1) Undergraduate and graduate programs need to offer more courses and training in the practical applications of the behavioral approach. (2) Rules pertaining to classroom operation must be clear and simple to ensure consistency. Communication among staff must be so good that they are working as a team. (3) Classrooms using the behavioral approach have to be properly equipped and adequately staffed.

This study examined and evaluated protocols and training activities for responding to the disruptive behavior of students with psychological problems at institutions in the Massachusetts State College System during the 1997–1998 and 1998–1999 academic years. A review and analysis of the literature and case law provided a basis for evaluating response protocols and training activities. Interviews with policy makers provided a framework for studying the processes used to develop, implement, and evaluate response protocols and training activities. Research questions focused on the number and types of incidents related to the disruptive behavior of students with psychological problems, the types and effectiveness of protocols and training activities, and whether or not the elements of federal law, state statutes, and relevant case law were incorporated in protocols and training activities. This study revealed that the Massachusetts State College System utilized protocols and training activities to respond to the disruptive behavior of students with psychological problems. The types and breadth of protocols and training activities varied by campus and included emergency medical care, hospitalizations, students' return to the residence halls, mandated evaluations, withdrawals, and the use of the student discipline system. This study further revealed that the state colleges reported that the elements of federal and state laws, as well as court opinions, were included in response protocols and training activities. This study found that training activities were offered in varying degrees at the state colleges that participated in the study. Significant training was offered to student resident assistants, but faculty and staff did not participate in training programs to the same extent as students. This study found that communication among individuals involved in developing, approving, implementing, and evaluating protocols was key to successful interventions. From the study, the researcher recommended three topics for further study. They included a study of best practice collaborations between hospitals and colleges, a study of the emerging pattern of high school violence and school responses and training activities, and a study of legal issues surrounding the disruptive behavior of students with psychological problems.

<p> The teacher-student relationship is a vital component to the social, emotional, and academic growth of students. Nationwide the one constant in teachers&rsquo; classrooms are the observations by administrators. Administrators play a supporting role for students and teachers in our modern educational system. </p><p> The present case study examined four middle schools in a school district in Southern California. Four principals, four assistant principals, six teachers, and one superintendent of human resources were interviewed. Classroom observations with administrators were also conducted. Previous terms used to describe negative teacher affect have been teacher bullying, student maltreatment, and student victimization. Teacher affect was chosen to delineate the behaviors rather than the intentionality. </p><p> The findings suggest administrators look to the students and their interaction with the teacher to help recognize positive or negative affect. Although no formal training takes place, much informal collaboration among administrators happens behind the scenes to decide on how best to support a teacher demonstrating negative affect. All participants agreed the best way for administration to encourage positive affect was by modeling it themselves with staff and students. Creating a positive school environment for staff and students was important and most participants noted the belief of positivity coming from the top, at a district level, and flowing down into the classrooms. The suggestions for the educational community are concepts that can be implemented simply and economically to support a positive learning environment.</p>