The purpose of the study was to investigate current liability insurance practices for professional school corporation personnel in Indiana. Fifty rural and fifty urban school corporations were surveyed with regard to: (1) number and character of suits against school corporations or professional. school corporation personnel, (2) amount of current liability insurance protection carried by school corporations, (3) degree of legal representation of school corporations and school corporation personnel, and (4) opinions of respondents about educational malpractice. An instrument developed to gather data elicited responses from 52 percent of urban and 6-8 percent of rural school corporations in the sample.An analysis of data was completed to test two null hypotheses with regard to: (1) need for liability insurance and (2) employment of legal counsel. Additional data were compiled arid reported descriptively in order to draw conclusions regarding the current status of personal liability insurance protection within Indiana school corporations. Findings of the study included:Urban school corporations had a significantly greater need for liability insurance as measured by number of suits involving school corporations or professional school corporation personnel. Respondents from 57.7 percent of urban school corporations reported involvement in at least thirty liability actions between 1972 and 1977. Respondents from 26.5 percent of rural school corporations reported involvement in ten liability actions between 1972 and 1977.Negligence and personal injury were grounds most often reported for school related liability actions, especially in actions involving urban school corporations.Judgments rendered against rural school corporations were settled for an average of $9,975. Judgments against urban school corporations were settled for an average of $14,506.Written teacher dismissal policies had been established by 58.8 percent of rural and 88.5 percent of urban school corporations.Results of a Chi-Square test indicated that no significant difference existed between rural and urban school corporations in the employment of legal counsel. Urban school corporations pay more than twice the yearly fee for legal services dealing with personal liability than rural school corporations. Legal counsel provided by school corporations would not represent employees from almost 40 percent of Indiana school corporations in liability litigation.Urban school corporations provide for more types of liability, greater amounts of coverage, and larger deductibles for liability insurance than rural counterparts. Deductibles in excess of $1,000 were obtained on 16.9 percent of all coverages with deductibles purchased by rural school corporations and on 52.6 percent of all coverages with deductibles purchased by urban school corporations. Four rural and nine urban school corporations reported deductibles of $10,000.Amount of annual premium paid varies with type and amount of coverage, amount of deductible, school corporation enrollment, number of school officials and number of school employees covered. Rural school corporations were providing liability insurance protection at an average premium rate of $1.20 per student enrolled. Urban school corporations were providing liability insurance protection at an average premium rate of $1.17 per student enrolled.School officials and employees from rural school corporations which have not been involved in liability actions tend to be less wary of implications of educational malpractice than school officials and employees from urban school corporations or from rural school corporations which have been involved in liability actions.

This study was designed to identify correlates of success in Supported Employment (SE) programs for persons with psychiatric disabilities. Indiana policy-makers are seriously considering a managed care, or "capitated," system of payment to make SE provider programs more efficient economically. However, many agencies are concerned about providing services to more severely impaired individuals because of the potentially higher costs of serving these individuals. Two studies are included in this project. The goals of the first study were to identify SE consumer (clinical) characteristics that predict (1) successful outcomes, defined as whether the consumer achieves gainful work, and (2) program costs, defined as the amounts of SE service hours utilized by consumers who obtain work. In two large samples of SE consumers with serious mental illness, no clinical characteristics (e.g., diagnosis, rated functioning, hospitalization history) were associated with vocational outcome or service costs. The goal of the second study was to describe the types and amounts of services utilized by SE consumers who obtain work. Specific service categories associated with obtaining work were travel, training, and advocacy that was unrelated to the consumer's job. The implications of these findings are discussed in the framework of the debate over clinical versus empirical prediction. The need for a theoretical model of SE services that allows the use of predictive clinical and consumer driven services is also discussed. / Department of Psychological Science

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between selected variables (age, sex, years of preparation and experience, size of school district, existence of an Affirmative Action plan, type of position) and the expressed opinions of superintendents and boards of education presidents in Indiana concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts.An Opinionnaire developed by the author at Ball State University was used to measure the opinions of superintendents and boards of education presidents concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts. A background data questionnaire was used to elicit data pertaining to the identification of selected variables such as age, sex, years of preparation and experience, existence of an Affirmative Action plan, and type of position.The One-way Analysis of Variance and associated F-test was utilized to statistically analyze twelve null hypotheses formulated to test the relationship between expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts and the variables identified with the background data questionnaire.Three of the twelve F-tests were significant at the .05 level. Nine of the twelve F-tests were not significant at the .05 level.Findings of the study indicated that superintendents expressed significantly different opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations when grouped according to size of school district as measured by average daily membership and having or not having an Affirmative Action plan. Superintendents expressed significantly different opinions when compared to school board presidents.The following conclusions were drawn from the data collected:1. Superintendents in large school districts ranging in size from 38,840 to 11,640, as measured by average daily membership, expressed more positive opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations that did superintendents in smaller school districts.2. The Eta Square value of .72 suggested that 72 percent of the variation in the dependent variable, expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts, could be explained by knowing what category--large, medium, or small--the superintendent's school district was in. 3. The Scheefe Posteriori test suggested that although statistically significant difference was found when the three groups of superintendents representing school districts in categories--large, medium, and small--were compared, none of the possible two-way comparisons were statistically significant. Moreover, each group mean score exceeded the average mean score of 54.0000, which suggested each group of superintendents expressed positive opinions. 4. Superintendents in school districts having a boardapproved Affirmative Action plan expressed more positive opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations than did superintendents in school districts not having a boardapproved Affirmative Action plan. 5. The Eta Square value of .03 suggested that only 3 percent of the variation in the dependent variable, expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts, could be explained by knowing whether or not a superintendent worked in a school district that had a board-approved Affirmative Action plan. The Eta Square value further suggested that although superintendents in school districts having a board-approved Affirmative Action plan expressed more positive opinions, the existence of the plan itself was not the reason.6. Superintendents expressed more positive opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations than did school board presidents. 7. The Eta Square value of .04 suggested that only 3 percent of the variation in the dependent variable, expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts, could be explained by knowing if the respondent was a superintendent or a school board president. The Eta Square value further suggested that although superintendents expressed more positive opinions than did school board presidents, the type of position itself was not the reason.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personal demographic variables of Indiana's legislators and their voting records regarding laws associated with tobacco regulation. Personal demographic data of the legislators who were in office in either 1997 and/or 1998 were compared with their voting records on tobacco issues during that same time period. The evidence suggests that Democratic legislators appear to be more in favor of tobacco control than their Republican counterparts and legislators that are members of the House of Representatives are more supportive of tobacco control than their counterparts in the Senate. Conversely, the evidence suggests that there were no statistically significant differences on tobacco voting records when the legislators were grouped by representation of a tobacco district, level of education the legislator has attained, holding an office in their respective chambers, or their occupations other than being a legislator.The results of this study can be used to better educate legislators on the consequences of tobacco use and the benefits of voting for pro-tobacco control legislation. Future studies should include attempts to form a profile of a pro-tobacco control or pro-tobacco industry legislator at both the state and national level. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a public smoking ban on the hospital admissions due to acute myocardial infarction in Delaware County, Indiana. The study population consists of all the patients admitted to Ball Memorial Hospital during three 22-month periods with a primary or secondary discharge diagnosis code of acute myocardial infarction (ICD-9-CM) immediately prior to the implementation of the ordinance. Chi-square was conducted for the three 22-month periods of hospital admissions. A significant drop occurred in the number of admissions among nonsmoking patients in Delaware County. The changes in the number of smoking-patient admissions before and after the ban were not significant. / Access to thesis and accompanying PDF permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The general purpose of this study was to determine whether deregulation in Indiana via Public Law 25-1995 has had an adverse effect on either quantity or adequacy of new school construction. Data for projects approved during the three years preceding deregulation (1992-1994) were compared with data for projects approved during the three years following deregulation (1996-1998).Data for the projects were obtained from state agencies. They included the number of projects approved, the cost of each project, the size of each project, and school district enrollment, and the assessed valuation of each school district in each of the years studied. Major findings included: (a) The annual average number of approved projects prior to deregulation was 14 and the annual average following deregulation was 13. (b) The size of approved elementary level projects did not change following deregulation (it remained at 138 square feet per student). The size of approved middle level projects decreased from 196 square feet per student to 170 square feet per student after deregulation (a 14% decrease), and the size of middle schools became less uniform. The size of approved high school projects decreased from 230 square feet per student to 209 square feet per student after deregulation (a 9% decrease). (c) The average cost per square foot of approved elementary school projects declined from $113 to $109, and the average cost per square foot of approved high school projects declined from $119 to $107 after deregulation. The average cost per square foot of approved middle level projects increased from $105 to $110. (d) School district wealth did not have a significant effect on either the quantity of projects or the size of projects. (e) School district size did not have a significant effect on either the quantity of projects or the size of projects.Recommendations include additional long-term studies to address not only the effects of deregulation on school facilities, but also the effects of deregulation on educational programming. / Department of Educational Leadership

The movement to conserve natural resources in the United States began as a response to the perceived inefficiency which governed resource allocation. The subsequent environmental movement served to expand the definition of conservation to include not only the efficient use of resources, but also the preservation of land in its natural state. In Indiana, this supposed deficiency in conservation led some environmentalists to establish the Indiana Nature Preserves System which locates remnants of the Indiana wilderness and protects them from development. The Indiana Nature Preserves System is symbolic of the Land Ethic proposed by the early ecologist Aldo Leopold, who believed that man was but one component of the "land community." To alter all natural areas, Leopold and Indiana preservationists argued, was both an assault on ecological stability and on the right of nature to exist for its own sake. / Department of History

There is no abstract available for this thesis. / Department of Urban Planning

The number of students enrolled in United States public schools speaking a language other than English in their homes doubled over the last decade. In Indiana more than 60% of all public school districts reported having at least one English Learner student enrolled. It is projected that Indiana EL enrollment will increase 21% by the year 2021 (National Center for Education, 2009). These statistics make EL students, those students whose native language is not English, the fastest growing demographic in the Indiana public school system. As such, there is a need to know, and adhere to, the numerous laws that govern EL education in America. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) allows for state-specific guidelines concerning EL education, but it monitors the states’ progress of the EL student federally. Schools that do not have EL students who show adequate progress are subject to a loss of funding or closure for failing to serve all of their enrolled student population. This has caused many Indiana schools to review their EL practices and procedures when considering instructional strategies. This study examined the history of EL education and what Indiana schools at the elementary level are doing enough to prepare EL students. / Department of Educational Leadership