The purpose of this study was to investigate the problem of early school entry as it affects the criteria of achievement, self-concept, and social maturity. The research design was a comparative associational design. The statistical procedure used was the two-way analysis of variance. The level of statistical significance was noted at .05. The subjects in this study were sixty-two kindergarten children in six schools in the.school system. The six schools were chosen as representative of the racial make-up of the school population. There was stratified random sampling to include children with early and not early birthdates. Race, sex and birthdates were the independent variables. Several instruments were used to measure achievement, social maturity, and self-concept. The Wide Range Achievement Test R-1, Level 1, The Standards of Learning Objectives, and the Metropolitan Reading Test, Level II, were used to measure achievement. The Burks' Behavior Rating Scales, Preschool and Kindergarten edition, were used to measure social maturity, and the Self-Concept and Motivation Inventory Pre-School/Kindergarten Form (SCAMIN) assessed self-concept. The following conclusions were formulated based upon critical analysis of the data. There was a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in achievement and age, race and sex in a few of the variables studied such as the following: 1. the WRAT math across age and race. The not early groups scored higher than the early groups and the white groups scored higher than the black group. 2. the Metropolitan Readiness test and race. The white children scored higher than the black children and the not early children scored higher than the early children. 3. the SOL reading objectives, age and sex. The not early group scored higher than the early group. The white children scored higher than the black children. The girls in the early group scored higher than the boys, and the boys in the not early group scored higher than the girls. 4. the SOL math objectives across age and race. The early groups scored lower than the not early group and the white children scored higher than the black children. There was also a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in poor ego strength and race. The white children had higher ego strength than the black children. / Ed. D.

This study was conducted to describe the status and perceived need of wellness and employee assistance programs in the public school systems in Virginia. There were 132 superintendents asked to respond to a mailed survey; 124 responded, for a return rate of 93.93%. The school systems having these programs were grouped by wealth, according to the composite index of the school system, and size, according to the number of teaching positions in the school system. The results of the analysis indicated that there are a variety of wellness programs throughout the state. Wellness and employee assistance programs occur in large and small school systems with teaching staffs ranging from 43 to 8,124. The composite index of school systems having one of these programs ranged from .2016 to 1.000. There was a significant perceived need of these programs as indicated by the positive responses to an open-ended question. Of the 124 school systems responding, 47, or 37.90%, had wellness programs, and 38, or 30.64%, had employee assistance programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Objective 20.15 states that by the year 2000, 75% of the workplaces with 50 employees or more should offer a health promotion program. This study established the baseline necessary to measure the growth of these programs in Virginia and will assist personnel directors by providing information about the types of programs that now exist throughout the state. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the current school board policies within the Commonwealth of Virginia to determine if they were consistent with the federal judicial system's interpretation of the Establishment Clause. Twenty-four federal district, circuit and Supreme Court cases were analyzed to determine the court's interpretation of the Establishment Clause as it relates to the public schools. Twenty-one criteria were developed from this analysis and the criteria were used to evaluate the school board policies of Virginia school divisions. The criteria were separated into five categories to provide greater clarity and organization. The five categories include general, prayer, Bible reading, release time programs and equal access. Approximately 91 percent of the schools in the Commonwealth responded to this study. Approximately 55 percent of the schools returned policies which governed at least one Establishment Clause issue. Approximately 36 percent of the schools responding to this study declared that they had no policies relating to any issues as defined by this study. The data from this study demonstrated that the majority of school board policies throughout the Commonwealth are not consistent with the judicial system's interpretation of the Establishment Clause. The policies which were returned and evaluated satisfied only 35 percent of the criteria within the general category; 12.83 percent of the criteria within the prayer category; 24.34 percent within the Bible reading category; 16.58 percent within the release time category; and 21.05 percent within the equal access category. Overall the policies which were analyzed satisfied only 22.74 percent of the entire set of criteria. The most successful school division satisfied only 52 percent of the criteria and over 61 percent of the policies failed to satisfy more than 27 percent of the criteria. / Ed. D.