The primary purpose of this study was to explore the complex role of division level special education administrators relating to secondary transition services. Management and leadership dimensions of the role of special education administrators related to secondary transition services were explored by surveying all special education directors (133) in the Commonwealth of Virginia using a survey instrument specifically designed for this study.;Analyses of the data revealed significant overlap between the management and leadership components of the role suggesting that the two constructs can not be separated. The dimensions of management and leadership were highly correlated and ratings for importance of tasks related to both constructs fell between "some extent" and "great extent" on the survey scale.;There was, however, significant difference between special education administrators' perceived ideal role and their real role. Transition related tasks were rated in importance between "some extent" and "great extent", while ratings for the performance of those tasks in the real role fell between "small extent" and "some extent".;Administrators identified enablers to their ability to administer transition services in their divisions as support of a committed knowledgeable staff, adult agencies, community, general education, and their own personal vision and knowledge. Primary barriers included lack of time, resources, knowledge, and community support. Comments on factors related to enablers and barriers seemed to be linked with both management and leadership tasks as defined by this study.

The intent of this study was to explore the effects of two settings on self-concept and school satisfaction of academically advanced high school students. The research designs were causal-comparative and correlational. Participants were 224 partial-day academic Governor's School students and 56 academically advanced students in district schools in a southern U.S. state.;Self-concept for the total group appeared adequate to strong, and the two student groups were similar in total self-concept and its dimensions ( p > .01), as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale -- Second Edition (Piers- Harris 2). However, frequent worry, nervousness, and feelings of differentness were revealed by a number of participants. The findings for the School Attitude Assessment Survey -- Revised suggested that the Governor's School students were more satisfied with the Governor's Schools than with their district schools (p < .05), although academic self-perception, on average, was significantly lower in the Governor's Schools. They also appeared more satisfied with the Governor's Schools than the district students were with their schools (p < .05). Several positive correlations were found between self- concept and school attitudes.;For the total sample, while obtaining similar results to those of the males in most self-concept dimensions, the females obtained a significantly lower mean score for the Piers-Harris 2 Freedom From Anxiety domain ( p <.05). In addition, significantly higher goal valuation and motivation/self-regulation, and lower academic self-perception (p < .05), were found for the sample of 159 females in the district setting. Implications for educational practice, counseling interventions, and future research are provided.

The research investigated whether 4 x 4 block scheduling had any effect on students' achievement in Advanced Placement Calculus AB and described some of the dynamics involved in the shifts to 4 x 4 plans. Data from 52 schools (38 North Carolina, 14 Virginia) were divided into two groups: (Sample 1) 25 schools in which the course was taught in one semester (N = 252) and (Sample 2) 27 schools in which it was taught in two semesters (N = 355). Using two-tailed Z and chi square goodness-of-fit tests {dollar}(\alpha=0.05),{dollar} the 1995 AP test mean score of each sample was compared to the mean of the 103,032 students who took the test. The z test showed that Sample 1 made significantly lower scores. The effect size ({dollar}-{dollar}0.51) and chi square test supported this conclusion. The chi square test revealed significantly higher scores for Sample 2, but the z test did not. The study also found that schools used diverse practices regarding both AP classes and the change process. The study has implications for instruction, staff development, and administrative decision-making related to block scheduling.

Much of the literature dedicated to the academic achievement of African American males focuses on failure, obstacles, negative influences and explanations of factors that negatively impact their academic success. This qualitative research study provided an opportunity for African American male students at the high school level to articulate their experiences and speak to the factors that they perceived as contributing to their academic success. The constructs of identity and cultural capital were offered by this researcher as a conceptual framework into the insight of factors that impacted the academic achievement of this student group.;Through interviews, a classroom observation and document review, the perceptions of six African American male seniors from two public high schools located in southeastern Virginia were collected and analyzed. The themes derived from the data showed that these young men were successful due to the support they received from their teachers, parents and peers, their approach to challenging and difficult situations, and the opportunities that they were afforded that led to their use of the educational process to reach their goals and dreams.

The number of students with disruptive behaviors in the public school classroom has become an area of increasing concern for educators. In order to develop proper therapeutic remediation strategies for the behaviorally at risk student, it is important to identify specific roadblocks to the psychological development of adaptive behavior. Students who have been suspended from school multiple times may be representative of a group with specific pattern of psychological growth that are different from other students. This study was directed toward exploring possible variables that may set students who are frequently suspended apart from a control group of students who had no history of school suspensions.;A high school in the Tidewater area of Virginia was selected as a population with cultural and economic diversity. Students in the Target group, with multiple suspensions, were selected from the discipline records; students in the Control group, with no suspensions, were selected from the regular education rolls. Twenty-six students participated in the Target group and 28 students participated in the Control group. All students completed the SITA; 8 subscales were used which attempt to measure the various subphases of separation-individuation. Teachers completed the CBCL-TRF to rate adaptive classroom functioning on 3 subscales.;Group means were compared using either a t-test or an adjusted t-test for level of significance. The CBCL showed a significant difference between the groups regarding degree of anger turned outward and in level of regard for societal norms with the Target group showing more aggressive behavior and less regard for societal expectations. No significant difference was seen between the 2 groups of students on the development of social skills.;Analysis of the SITA subscales showed a significant difference on 1 of the 8 subscales. The Target group evidenced higher denial of attachment needs with more difficulty understanding feelings of love, closeness, and friendship. No significant difference was evidenced in level of development in separation anxiety, engulfment anxiety, nurturance seeking, peer enmeshment, teacher enmeshment, practicing mirroring, or healthy separation.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether computer assisted instruction of mathematics produces significantly greater improvement in mathematics performance of low achieving ninth grade students than teaching mathematics skills without computer assisted instruction.;The sample consisted of four classes (N = 46) of ninth grade students who had registered for the course "Mathematics Nine," and whose eighth grade ITBS scores fell between the 1st and 30th national percentile. Identified students were randomly assigned to one of four instructors and one of two instructional groups (computer assisted instruction or non computer instruction). Two classes with different instructors were taught the standard 9th grade mathematics curriculum augmented with computer instructed drill and practice, simulation, and games. Two classes with different instructors were taught the standard 9th grade mathematics curriculum with the conventional (teacher directed) instructional technique without computer assisted instruction. The treatment group used 16 Apple IIe microcomputers. Treatment and control groups were taught at alternating periods 3rd through 6th for 50 minutes daily. The Iowa Test for Basic Skills mathematics subtest and the Test of Achievement and Proficiency mathematics subtest were administered to all students as pretest-posttest measures of student performance in mathematics. A system wide standard exam was administered first and second semester to assess student performance in terms of the divisions mathematic program and as multiple indicators of treatment effect.;The major findings of the study were: (1) Significant differences (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) in total mathematics achievement gains were found between students receiving computer assisted instruction and those not receiving CAI. Students receiving CAI increased mean scores on ITBS/TAP from the 11th percentile to the 30th percentile. (2) No significant differences (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) in computation, concepts, and problem solving achievement gains were found between students receiving computer assisted instruction and those not receiving CAI. (3) No significant differences (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) were found in the performance of the non-computer and the computer groups on the division city-wide exams.

No description available.

According to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement: A Project of the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, graduation rates for Native Americans from both secondary and post secondary institutions are dismally low at 58% and 7%, respectively. Some research addresses cognitive preference and other ethnic identity, but research animating the cognitive preference---ethnic identity interplay for high school students is absent. These limitations in access to educational opportunities lead to abbreviated quality life experiences and a restriction in individual efficacy and collective agency. The following project assessed ethnic identity using Phinney's Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure and cognitive preference using Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory version 3.1. The research used both the aforementioned metrics to analyze cognitive preference and ethnic identity for 73 high school participants through the use of both categorical and continuous variables. Analytical procedures utilized descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, bivariate correlation, and analysis of variance. This research confirmed that Anglos and Native Americans have statistically different cognitive preferences, and those preferences were correlated with their ethnic identity. It is recommended that education better meet the needs of the Native American student by emancipating them from an educational system founded and perpetuated on an orientation to the majority's cognitive preference by including multiple information acquisition and processing modalities. Including a range of cognitive preference pedagogies in the classroom will lead to a more equitable educational landscape where the Native American student has the opportunity to be a more successful student.

This study is planned to determine the conditions in the Barren County Schools, and to set up a remedial program to enable the Barren County Board of Education to meet the challenges of modern school needs. There is much to be done, and no one is more cognizant of this fact than the writer. It will take a great deal of patience and time and money to bring the program to a successful conclusion. Barren County is able to bear a fair share of the growing financial load in having good schools, but Barren County must be educated to her responsibility and her opportunity. Barren County must not fail in this challenge.

This study is planned to determine the conditions in the Hopkins County Schools, and show how a remedial program was set up by the Hopkins County Board of Education to meet the challenges of modern school needs. There is much to be done and no one is more cognizant of this fact than the writer. It will take a great deal of patience, time and money to bring the program as planned to a successful conclusion.