This study compares the scholastic achievement of 2,811 students enrolled in Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Schools for the 1983-1984 school year. Scholastic achievement of an experimental group of 1,068 students enrolled in combination or split/grade classes is compared with a control group of 1,743 students enrolled in regular graded classes. Five research questions were developed, three of which related directly to grade level student scholastic achievement by comparing test results for combination and regular grade classes, and two which attempted to identify any significance resulting from differences used by principals to select teachers and students for placement in combination classes. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this research is to give a historical account of the educational developments for black students in Fairfax County, Virginia. The research will first address a brief history of education in Virginia. The second and third chapters will respectively address education for black students in the state and pre-Civil War education in Fairfax County. Chapters four and five will focus on the formation of post-Civil War public education in Fairfax County and the education of black students within the county. The author will fit the education of Fairfax County's black students into the context of education within the state of Virginia. Comparisons and contrasts can then be made regarding the quality of education offered to black students in Fairfax County. As with many southern communities, the growth of public education was affected by complacent attitudes, agrarian life styles, poor quality roads and lack of transportation. Fairfax County was no exception. Although numerous private and free schools existed prior to the Civil War, few received black students. The education of the black child, then, was left to the mercy and interest of those around him who chose to teach him basic reading and writing. Alexandria, for example, boasted of a large free black population--many of whom were educated in Alexandria when it was a part of Fairfax County. Both philanthropic and missionary agencies supported education for black students. After the Civil War other schools existed such as the Freedmen's Bureau schools. These schools functioned until 1871. By this time free public education was a reality in Virginia and the issue of placing both black and white children in the same school became the major topic of educational discussion. In an effort to avoid integration black students were sent outside of Fairfax County to Manassas and Washington. After years of struggle, Luther Jackson School was built within the county to educate Fairfax County's black students. Other schools were gradually built to accommodate the educational needs of the county's black students. Even though schools were built to educate black students, there were many disparities in terms of the quality of facilities within the buildings. Following the 1954 Brown Decision outlawing de jure segregation school assignment was not based on race for black or white children. As a result, parents could have a voice in school selection. In reality, the Brown Decision offered black parents more voice as these parents often sent their children to the formerly white schools. The general belief by whites was that black schools were inferior. Many of the formerly all-black schools eventually became administrative offices for Fairfax County Public Schools and black students began attending schools in their home districts. / Ed. D.

Crash data suggests that intersections are areas producing conflicts among the various road users because of entering and crossing movements. Traffic signal control systems may not always be sufficient in preventing collisions at intersections between emergency and other vehicles. The Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study of 2002 illustrates that the second leading cause of fatal injury for firefighters is vehicle collisions. Furthermore, the involvement of an emergency vehicle in a crash can negatively affect the overall efficiency of emergency response services. Thus, there is a need to facilitate the implementation of higher-payoff strategies to improve the safety of emergency vehicle passage through signalized intersections. This research aims to provide a basis for the transportation professionals to identify problem areas and take measures that will potentially enhance intersection safety for emergency vehicles. It includes the presentation and comparison of the EV crash situation in Northern Virginia. The results indicate that 49% of all EV accidents along U.S. Highways in Northern Virginia occurred at signalized intersections. This percentage is 75% along U.S. Highways in Fairfax County, the largest county in Northern Virginia, and it is 79% along U.S. 1 in Fairfax County. The analysis, also, illustrates that the major collision type at signalized intersections was of the angle type, which suggests that an appropriate warning sign may be absent. These findings enhance our understanding of emergency vehicle crash characteristics and thus, may facilitate the identification of possible warrants to be used in determining the appropriateness of installing signal preemption equipment at signalized intersections. / Master of Science

Master of Science

The Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Schools made a commitment in 1981 to involve teacher leaders and principals in all schools in the improvement of school-based facilitation of instruction. It was decided that this school-based management emphasis would best be achieved through a training program that focused on concepts of participatory management. Therefore, beginning in the fall of 1981 (and for three successive semesters), principals, assistant principals, department chairpersons, and team leaders were selected to participate in a one-semester university credit course entitled “Distributed Management of Instructional Environments." The course provided a forum for the presentation of alternative decision-making models to the instructional leadership within each school. Leadership theories based on the writings of Herzberg, Maslow, Levinson, et al., and models such as Likert's linking-pin structure and Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership were presented in large group sessions followed by small group discussions. Each school was required to prepare a planning document detailing the management processes and structures to be used to facilitate instruction. This study evaluates the success of the program in achieving its objectives. The CIPP evaluation model proposed by Stufflebeam provided the overall design for the study. / Ed. D.

This empirical study of governmental finances of Fairfax County, Virginia, for Fiscal Year 1971 compares revenues and expenditures for two types of communities within its boundaries -- Reston, a growing new town, and West Springfield, a conventional suburb. Among the ten services provided by the County to both communities, education accounted for the largest share of expenditures. On the revenue side the real estate tax was the principal source. Reston's fiscal impact, the ratio of revenues to expenditures, is more favorable for the County than that of West Springfield because of the commercial-industrial tax base present in a new town which is absent from the conventional suburb and because Reston's school-age population differed from West Springfield's. For FY71 West Springfield did not produce revenues equal to expenditures made for it. The reader is cautioned to not project from a single year's fiscal impact to other years or to other communities. Yet the results obtained from these contrasting types of communities within a single governmental jurisdiction cannot be ignored. Implications of this research and recommendations for Fairfax County, governmental decision-makers at local, state and federal levels, and for the Department of Housing and Urban Development are presented. Methodology for estimation of revenues and expenditures for Reston and West Springfield, criteria by which West Springfield was selected, and general descriptions of the two communities and services provided by the County are included. / Master of Urban Affairs