The purpose of the study was to identify problems associated with unaccredited private schools and home instruction programs and possible solutions to problems as perceived by State Education Officials in the Great Lakes States. The States were Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.Eleven State Education Officials having responsibility for unaccredited private schools and home instruction programs were interviewed by telephone to collect the data. An interview form was designed to elicit non-directed responses to major problems confronting the states, methods of handling problems, possible solutions to problems, and practices in the next five years.Major problems existed with state regulations regarding equivalent instruction, teacher qualifications, courses of study, and definition of a school. Lack of criteria for interpreting the terms and assuring compliance with requirements were reported. Local school superintendents were confronted with similar problems regarding state regulations. State Education Officials identified problems with lack of certified or qualified teachers in fundamentalist schools and home instruction programs, difficulty obtaining data from pastors and parents, and extent of state authority to regulate private schools. Also, student loss of services, materials, and diplomas was a concern.Solutions to the problems as perceived by State Education Officials included changes in statutes from compulsory school attendance to compulsory education with minimum standards and achievement testing, clarification of terms in state statutes, and separate state regulations for private education. Other recommendations were a separate accrediting agency, a national co-op agency, and communication and cooperation between public and private educators.State Education Officials projected no substantial changes in regulations or practices in the next five years. However, expanding interest and increasing enrollments in private schools were expected.

This study was designed to: 1) measure selected characteristics of postsecondary proprietary school students; 2) compare those students to students at public community colleges, area vocational-technical institutes, and similar tax-funded institutions; and 3) evaluate the claim by proprietary school spokesmen that they are competing with the public institutions. The data represent only students who were about to graduate high school in 1972, and who reported in 1973 that they had enrolled in either a proprietary or public postsecondary institution. Students at proprietary schools were more likely to be white, female, and middle class. The predominant reason for recent high school graduates to attend proprietaries seems to be influence by parents and peers. Since there are statistically and conceptually significant differences between the two types of students, the present data do not present a compelling case for competition between the two types of postsecondary institutions. However, because this sample is national, it may be masking competition at the local level. / Ed. D.

The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the uses of computers in non-public school administration and (2) to determine what factors affect the usage of computers in non-public school administration. An eight per cent (1525 schools) sampling of all nonpublic secondary and elementary in the United States was sent questionnaires. Eight hundred and seventy two (57 per cent) were returned. Some major findings of this study were that 36 per cent of all non-public schools use computers for administrative purposes. Non-public secondary schools use computers significantly more for administration than do non-public elementary schools. Independent schools, those not associated with any religious body, use computers significantly more for administration than do Parochial schools, those affiliated with some religious body. Within the Parochial classification, there is no significant difference in administrative computer usage between Catholic and Other Parochial schools. Schools with an enrollment larger than 500 students use administrative computers more frequently than do smaller schools. Administrators not using administrative computers perceived that the expense of computers and the lack of trained computer personnel were the major reasons they were not using computers. Administrators using computers for administrative functions listed word processing, general accounting, payroll, grading, attendance monitering and budgeting as the most common uses of the computer. Administrators using computers for administrative purposes noticed more time for curriculum development tasks and for supervisory tasks. Additionally, these principals noticed that more office work was done faster with the aid of computers. Seventy-three per cent of the respondents noted that computers are important to administrators for administrative functions.

This study was designed to provide an overall estimate of proprietary schools' contribution to the equality of educational opportunity in the postsecondary educational system. Two compatible databases, the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) and High School and Beyond (HSB), were used to draw two parallel proprietary samples. Each proprietary sample was compared with its counterparts in the community college and the four-year institution sectors. Gender, race, socioeconomic status, aptitude, and Students' and their mothers' educational aspiration were the factors tested in the study to determine the extent to which they contribute to students' choice of proprietary schools and their educational attainment in a given period of time. Discriminant analysis was utilized to differentiate the characteristics of proprietary school enrollees from the characteristics of those who entered community colleges and four-year institutions. Multiple regression was conducted on each group of students to identify the major factors associated with students' educational attainment by the type of institution of first enrollment. The major findings of this study include: (1) Proprietary schools enrolled a considerable number of "disadvantaged" students: women, minorities, people from low socioeconomic background, and those with low aptitude scores. (2) Students’ and their mothers’ educational aspirations were the most influential factors affecting students’ choice among the three types of postsecondary institutions, and proprietary students’ aspirations were lower than that of community college and four-year institution students. (3) Most proprietary Students did not reach the level of a two-year degree or beyond, and those who eventually attained a two-year degree or beyond were very likely to be students with high aptitude. (4) Study of the delayed entrants into proprietary schools confirmed the major findings derived from the initial entrants, except the aspiration variable played a less significant role in determining the educational attainment of delayed entrants than that for the initial entrants. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to assess the legal and financial status of public aid for the transportation of private elementary and secondary school pupils in the United States. A combination of legal and survey research methodology was used to approach the study in three phases. A survey was sent to all states to identify those which were providing publicly-funded transportation to nonpublic school pupils through November, 1982. Upon completion of this initial survey all reported state and federal court cases relating to the public financing of private school transportation were then researched, including the landmark Everson case of 1947. Through a second survey financial data for the 1981-82 school year were collected and analyzed for those states identified as providers of private school transportation aid. The study showed that thirty states were providing transportation services to nonpublic pupils in 1982, with twenty-one of these states mandating such transportation by local school districts. The extent of publicly-funded transportation offered to private school pupils in the provider states was found in general to be at least comparable to or possibly even more extensive than that provided at public expense to public school pupils. The study also indicated that, excluding the Everson decision by the Supreme Court in 1947, the issue of nonpublic pupil transportation provision has been decided almost wholly on a state constitutional basis of church and state separation requirements. The exception to this has been the involvement of the federal courts in the 1970’s in deciding the constitutionality of outside-district transportation provided by public funds for nonpublic pupils. In regard to the financial analysis the ten provider states with complete fiscal data reported that $148.6 million was spent to provide nonpublic pupil transportation services. Another $25.5 million was estimated for private school transportation costs in five additional provider states with partial data. While the remaining fifteen provider states authorized private school transportation, a documentation of costs was not reported to the study and it is possible that recorded financial data may not exist to differentiate public and private school pupil transportation costs in these states. / Ph. D.