Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1965. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

The purposes of this study were to determine if the following factors pertaining to elementary school principals; amount of undergraduate/graduate training in special education, previous experience with disabled students, and professional development training, had a relationship to their attitudes regarding the education of students with disabilities in the regular classroom. The study also sought to determine if differences existed between principals' attitudes toward the inclusion of different categories of disabled students into the regular classroom.The population of the study consisted of 230 randomly selected elementary school principals. Principals selected for the study were sent the data-collection instrument, The Building Administrator Survey, which was developed by the researcher. The survey instrument consisted of demographic questions which addressed the study's independent variables and 12 statements which were designed to ascertain the study's dependent variable, attitude toward the education disabled students in the regular classroom. Respondents were asked to rate each statement on a five-point Likerttype scale reflecting perceived attitudes toward each of five different categories of disability: emotional handicap, learning disability, mild mental handicap, moderate mental handicap, and severe mental handicap. A multivariate analysis of variance procedure was used to determine the of significance of relationships between the study's independent variables and principals' attitudes toward inclusion. A post hoc procedure was used to identify significant differences in principals' attitudes toward inclusionary practices relative to the study's five categories of disabled students.The following conclusions were drawn from the findings of the study:1. There is a statistically significant relationship between attitudes toward the inclusion of different categories of disabled students. Attitudes toward inclusion become less positive as the level of student disability increases.2. Principals receiving minimal amounts of professional development training tend to have more negative attitudes toward inclusion than principals receiving more extensive training.3. There is not a statistically significant relationship between principals' attitudes toward inclusion and the type of professional development training they have received, the amount of professional training in special education they have received, or their previous experience with students with disabilities in teaching and administrative settings. / Department of Educational Leadership

Increased integration of the handicapped in regular classrooms, popularly called mainstreaming, has drawn attention to how nonhandicapped students are affected. Numerous authors have contended that integration has the potential to positively affect nonhandicapped individuals' socio-moral development. Empirical data to support this contention have not accumulated as an instrument has not been available to measure value reflective conative attitudes toward the handicapped. This study addressed the problem of development of an instrument to measure action choices toward the handicapped which would reflect the attitude holder's underlying general socio-moral reasoning. Item responses relating to integration issues were constructed to represent characteristic moral judgment at various levels. The developed "Action Choices Toward Handicapped" (A.C.T.H.) instrument was field tested with two samples of 138 subjects each, including high school students, graduate students, and teachers. Research questions focused on instrument validity, internal consistency and reliability, and variables affecting scores. Validity was supported by a panel of judges critique, and a significant positive correlation between scores on the A.C.T.H. and the Defining Issues Test (D.l.T.) of general moral reasoning. Nonsignificant effects of: order of tests; directions to try to obtain a high score; knowledge of handicapped law; and sex supported the discriminant validity of the A.C.T.H. The reliability was determined to be .71. Variables tested for their effect on scores included reported: family member who is handicapped: close handicapped friend; and integrated education experience. Mean A.C.T.H. and D.l.T. scores were significantly higher for subjects reporting having had integrated educational experience. Forty-six of the subjects also completed a commonly used test of general attitudes toward disabled persons, the A.T.D.P. Subjects' A.T.D.P. scores had a nonsignificant correlation with the both the A.C.T.H. and D.l.T. scores, indicating that the developed instrument was a better indicator of attitude holder's underlying socio-moral reasoning in this study. Additional research is recommended before making generalizations about use and interpretation of the developed A.C.T.H. instrument. / Ed. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1943. / Bibliography: p. 202-209.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1999. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 27, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth Lugg (chair), James Martindale, James Palmer, Al Azinger. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-142) and abstract. Also available in print.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1962 D54

Learning About Schooling: The Effects of State Level Student Achievement Data on Public Opinion There is a growing literature on the effects of student achievement data on public opinion. Prior research suggests that individuals tend to overestimate student achievement in their area. The provision of current achievement levels tends to cause a decrease in confidence in the public schools. In some cases, it appears to increase support for various education reforms. However, previous experimental studies measured outcomes immediately after the provision of information about education performance, making it difficult to distinguish between long-lasting information effects and the more ephemeral consequences of priming. As a result, we do not know how large these effects truly are nor how long they last. I address these concerns by conducting a survey experiment in which I provide state level student achievement data to a randomly assigned treatment group and then measure political attitudes on education issues at three separate times: immediately, after one day, and after ten days. There is evidence that the provision of state level student achievement data temporarily reduces individuals’ confidence in their state school systems, but this effect does not persist after ten days. Schoolhouse Democracy: Education Policy Responsiveness in the States The link between public opinion and enacted public policy is referred to as policy responsiveness in the political science literature. Using new estimates of state level public opinion, I explore the relationship between support for increased education spending and average per pupil expenditures at the state level from 1984 to 2013. Within a given year, I find a modest, positive relationship between statewide public opinion on education spending and statewide per pupil expenditures. On average, states with greater support for education spending also tend to spend more per pupil. Within states over time, an increase in support for greater education spending is also associated with an increase in actual spending. However, after controlling for both between-state differences and common trends across states over time, I observe a negative relationship between public opinion and education spending levels. In circumstances in which spending levels are low relative to the state average and low relative to the year average, support for increased education spending tends to be high for that state and year. Additionally, education spending responsiveness tends to be worse in states with weak or non-existent teachers unions. Polarization and the Politics of Education: What Moves Partisan Opinion? This study explores the conditions under which partisan polarization and de-polarization occur with respect to public opinion on education issues. To guide this investigation, I pose three general questions. First, does the provision of policy-relevant information cause partisans to converge on the same position? Second, can signals from political elites with ideologically moderate views move partisans closer together? And third, does direct experience with public schools reduce the political abstraction with which one evaluates education policies? I repurpose and extend 17 existing survey experiments to help answer the first two questions, and I conduct a non-experimental data analysis to investigate the third. I find consistent evidence that the provision of education spending information has de-polarizing consequences, but the effects of ideologically moderate elite signals on polarization vary by year. I also find tentative evidence in favor of a link between direct experience with public schools and reduced polarization on education issues.

Despite education reform efforts to improve the quality of education in urban lower-income areas, a continued correlation between social status and academic achievement that disproportionately disadvantages those from a lower class background remains. This thesis explores the connection between social class and the meanings placed upon education and presents a number of distinguishing elements that middle class and working-class individual's value about education in a predominantly white working-class urban neighborhood in the Midwest. More specifically, while both middle-class and working-class individuals espoused a value for parent involvement, "caring" or quality teachers, and relevant curriculums, unique schemas and meanings were evoked by each of these elements. For example, the meaning of a "caring" teacher was different for each group as each looked for different attributes as signs or markers of quality. / Department of Anthropology

This study consisted of qualitative interviews with eight recent graduates of doctoral programs in adult education from each of three different universities (a total of twenty-four respondents). The question that was addressed by this study is: "What are the shared beliefs and behaviors of those who have completed doctoral studies in adult education."The respondents to this study gave forceful support to the argument that adult education is a practice-oriented field. Their responses consistently focused around the practical. They were interested in research for the applications that it would give them for their practice. They were interested in teaching methods. They wanted to see fewer administrative and delivery barriers to adult education. They mentioned empowerment and application as purposes of adult education. In general, they viewed adult education as a field of practice that related directly to what they were doing to educate adults and they were really more interested in teaching methodologies and other practical information than in theoretical foundations. This orientation was reinforced by the overwhelming support for Malcolm Knowles as an author who has had a great influence on their development as adult educators. / Department of Educational Leadership

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which preservice elementary education students participating in Ball State University's Urban Education Semester would evidence a change in attitudes toward multicultural teaching and learning based on their experiences in the program. A treatment group of 22 Urban Semester participants was compared to a control group of 21 preservice teachers engaged in coursework and field experience in a traditional, on-campus setting. Employing a case study approach, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to explore the phenomenon under investigation.The qualitative aspect of the study examined treatment and control group pretest and posttest scores on the Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS) (Ponterotto, Baluch, Grieg, & Rivera, 1998), to ascertain the extent to which attitudes would change as a result of curricular and experiential treatments. A follow-up administration of the TMAS occurred approximately six weeks following the intervention to determine the extent to which attitude change in the treatment group was either lasting or transitory in nature. The treatment group evidenced a highly significant difference in pretest / posttest scores on the TMAS (p = 0.002**), and the change was retained in follow-up measures.Qualitative methodology included analysis of student journals, content of two focus groups conducted throughout the semester, student discussion observed in Ball State courses, and personal interviews conducted at the end of the Urban experience. Analysis revealed common themes including the importance of direct experience with diversity, personal reflection, professional mentoring and teaching opportunities for student multicultural growth. Additionally, the experience served to dispel myths and stereotypes regarding urban teaching and encouraged movement from a color denial perspective to an appreciation for and respect of cultural differences.The present study illustrates the potential of curricular intervention to alter student attitudes toward multicultural teaching and learning. Implications for the development of initiatives geared toward this end include the importance of cultural immersion, opportunities for personal reflection, infusion of multicultural content across curricular areas, and carefully planned student / mentor teacher pairings in order to affect such change. / Department of Elementary Education