Schizophrenia is a complicated, serious mental illness that affects about 1% of the population. In addition to the behavioral issues they must contend with, the patients often have other problems including medical illness, substance abuse, noncompliance with treatment and medications, and those involving basic skills. The cost of treating this disabled population is very high, but patient education could be a cost-effective intervention to break the “revolving door” phenomenon of recidivism and rehospitalization. This study examined the readmission rate (recidivism), length of stay, and the intervals between admissions for 279 male and 183 female patients with chronic schizophrenia who either did or did not participate in psychosocial education over a nine (9) year period to determine whether there was a difference between the groups. The findings showed that both the number of patients and return rate (recidivism) for the years following the initial intervention was considerably lower for patients who had the educational intervention and the patients who had the educational intervention had longer intervals between admissions. However, due to uncontrolled-for confounding variables, the average LOS for the intervention group for 4 of the 8 years was greater than the control group.

To the teacher the prospect of the participation of parents in the educational process carries a wide range of emotions. From satisfaction to fear and loathing, the novice teacher to the teacher nearing retirement never seems to be totally satisfied with the product. The parent sees the child not quite being taught to the high expectations they desire, and the teacher sees a student that was not at a level where he should have been when he/she first received them. This study focused on the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) on parent involvement in selected East Tennessee Title I schools. This mixed methods case study included both thematic development and verification based on data obtained by both qualitative and quantitative means. The research questions posed at the beginning of this study include: (1) How has NCLB influenced the views of administrators, parents, and teachers regarding the roles of parents in schools?; (2) How has the implementation of NCLB impacted the aspects, characteristics, and components of parent involvement?; and (3) What are the reasons parents of students in East Tennessee Title I schools cite for their involvement or lack of involvement? A theoretical framework based on the work of Epstein et. al. (2002) was used to focus the study’s design, and the data collection and analysis, and the reporting of the findings. Subsequently, the themes that were developed in this study describe the role of leadership in the school and the transmission of information. Also, parents and teachers, cite their lack of knowledge of what the NCLB Act contains about creating opportunities for parents, and the inability of schools to structure roles for parents at the school to enhance parent involvement. A third major theme was the changing culture’s impact on parenting and the realization that the society of the new millennium has caused all contributing parties to look at involvement or lack of involvement from a new perspective.

High academic achievement by students in high-poverty schools is unusual throughout the United States. East Tennessee is no exception. However, there are some schools with high percentages of low socioeconomic student populations, which do excel in helping students reach high academic performance. This study looks at four high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools in East Tennessee to determine how they have overcome the tendency to accept low student achievement as inevitable. By studying the high-achieving, high-poverty schools that exist in East Tennessee to find not only the characteristics that are associated with these effective schools, but also, more importantly, the practices used by educators in these schools, we can begin to provide some answers that will help all schools improve the academic performance of economically disadvantaged students. This mixed-method, multi-site case study involved four elementary schools in East Tennessee that were selected because of high test scores and value-added scores on the Annual Report Card issued by the state of Tennessee. Using quantitative data (The More Effective Schools Staff Survey) and qualitative data (interviews with the principal and at least two teachers at each school along with observations), this study sought to answer the following two research questions: (1) Which of the characteristics of Effective Schools do high-performing, high- poverty schools in East Tennessee have in common? (a) How do these characteristics correspond to those identified in the Effective Schools Research? (b) How do the characteristics differ from those identified in the Effective Schools Research? (2) What underlying conditions (i.e., values, beliefs, and culture of the school) or distinctive practices must be present for the Effective Schools practices to exist? A clear school mission, high expectations for success, instructional leadership, frequent monitoring of student progress, opportunities to learn and student time on task, a safe and orderly environment, and a positive home-school relationship – the seven correlates of the Effective Schools Research – were all found to be present in the four schools studied. The underlying conditions or distinct practices included strong commitment of teachers and staff members at each school; teachers were held accountable for teaching and students for learning; a positive, caring atmosphere existed where staff relationships were strong and a deep understanding of the local community was evident; and staff development and training were provided to support and consistently improve a wide variety of programs.

BACKGROUND FOR THE STUDY The need for a study of school bus transportation in McMinn County, Tennessee, was first called to the attention of the writer in 1948. This was further accented by attendance at a number of school board meetings, and by hearing discussions of the routes that buses were traveling at that time. It was believed that some improvement of the routes could be made. The writer discussed the transportation problem with the county superintendent of McMinn County. He urged the writer to give some thought to the problem as a thesis. The problem was later discussed with some of the officials of the College of Education at the University of Tennessee. Encouragement to study the problem was also given by these men. A McMinn County Survey Group was organized in September of 1949 under the guidance of some of the professors of the College of Education. This survey group set up the following objectives: 1. Survey of the present physical conditions of buildings and grounds 2. Survey of the school plant utilization 3. Survey of population status and trends 4. Survey of transportation system 5. Statement of education objectives and needs 6. Survey of financial status of the county 7. Recommendations concerning the present school program and building needs. The writer selected the transportation problem as part of his contribution to the survey group. The survey group held a number of meetings during the past school year and it plans to continue these meetings through the summer. Weekly meeting approximately five hours in length were the pattern for the school year. Some leaders in the College of Education as well as a large number of educators and laymen participated in these meetings.

The purposes of this study were to ascertain the thinking styles of a selected sample group of cooperating teachers and university supervisors and to denote the differences between the thinking styles. The populations included 122 selected cooperating teachers and 31 selected university supervisors.Cooperating teachers and university supervisors completed the Level 1: Life Styles Inventory which contained 240 short phrases and words producing a twelve-dimension thinking style. Seventy-two cooperating teachers and twenty-five university supervisors were included in data analysis.Thinking style profiles of cooperating teachers and university supervisors were derived from mean and standard deviation scores on twelve thinking style scales.Twelve null hypotheses were tested to identify thinking style differences between cooperating teachers and university supervisors on twelve scales. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) followed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were the statistical treatments utilized to analyze data at the .05 level. Analysis of data relevant to total Level 1: Life Style Inventory responses and to each hypothesis resulted in the following findings: 1. Mean responses of participating cooperating teachers and university supervisors indicated strong orientations toward humanistic-helpful, affiliative, achievement, and self-actualized dimensions of thinking style.2. No significant differences existed between cooperating teachers and university supervisors on the twelve thinking style scales considered collectively.3. Individual thinking style scales with no significant differences were:(a) humanistic-helpful, (b) affiliative, (c) approval, (d) dependent, (e) avoidance, (f) oppositional, (g) power, (h) competition, (i) competence, (j) achievement, and (f) self-actualization.4. A significant difference existed between cooperatingteachers and university supervisors on the thinking style scale classified as "conventional."

ABSTRACT This research study examines the supervision of paraprofessionals in the human services using a qualitative methodology. It focuses on the views of the paraprofessionals, who were all women, with the central research question: What are paraprofessionals’ views of supervision in the human service field? The literature on this topic is scarce and the goal of this research is to improve our understanding of the most effective supervisory practices for paraprofessionals and ultimately to improve practice in this area. The qualitative methodology was based on a phenomenological approach and used one on one interviews to capture the views and experiences of the participants. The findings indicated that women paraprofessionals clearly value and benefit from supervision and respond best to approaches that are highly supportive, empowering and collaborative in nature, and use a variety of formats including one on one sessions, group meetings and peer support. It is important to ensure adequate job orientation and relevant training. The supervisory relationship is key to the success of supervision and should include ongoing feedback and validation. Concerns regarding safety in the workplace as well as burnout need to be addressed to improve working conditions and job satisfaction for the paraprofessional. Issues related to oppression and culture are important in understanding the unique experience of the paraprofessional and need to be addressed by both supervisors and the agencies that employ them. Further research on this topic is recommended. / October 2006

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1968. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-162). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Teachers struggle to address motivation and its impact on reading achievement and the continued desire to read, even with first-grade students. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Bandura's social cognitive theory of self-efficacy, which pertains to how individuals feel and think about themselves and the way they self-motivate; it was also based on Skinner's operant theory, which maintains that a student can be motivated by positive reinforcement. A quasi-experimental design was used to examine the impact of 3 motivation conditions (intrinsic, extrinsic, or a combination of both) on the reading achievement and oral reading fluency of 66 first-grade students. The students in 3 intact classrooms were assigned as 3 different treatment groups, each representing a separate motivation condition. The dependent variables were reading achievement and oral reading fluency. Data were pretest and posttest scores on reading achievement and oral reading fluency measures. Students in 2 of the 3 groups graphed their oral reading fluency (words read correctly per minute), which supported the intrinsic motivation condition of goal setting. Similarly, students in 2 of the 3 groups received rewards, which defined the extrinsic motivation condition. After 8 weeks of treatment conditions, posttest scores were compared with pretest scores as a covariate. An analysis of covariance showed no statistically significant differences in reading achievement between the 3 motivation conditions. Further analysis revealed a statistically significant difference in oral reading fluency favoring the intrinsic motivation intervention group. The findings suggest that 8 weeks may not be sufficient for students to benefit directly from any specific motivation condition, but suggest that engaging students in goal setting may improve reading achievement and eventual literacy.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between effective school characteristics and student achievement after the first year of implementing a school improvement project. The intent of this study was to analyze what occurred in terms of processes and products and to compare changes in school characteristics and student changes achievement in the treatment schools in the control schools. The study posed the following questions: 1. Was there a difference in the treatment group and in the control group in changes in effective school characteristics: environment, goals, leadership, expectations, time-on-task, monitoring student progress, and home/school relations? 2. Was the treatment group more successful than the control group based on student achievement of the basic skills? 3. What was the relationship between effective school characteristics and student achievement? The study encompassed the use of an experimental design and employed techniques of ethnographic studies. Each group, treatment and control, consisted of three schools that were matched on socio-economic status and on student achievement. Six principals, 150 teachers, and 2,228 students were involved in the study. The treatment consisted of leadership training on effective school characteristics, the development and implementation of a school-based improvement plan, and staff development. The Connecticut · School Effectiveness Questionnaire, the California Achievement Test, and observed behavior were used as measurement tools. Data collected on thirty-five variables were subjected to t-tests, correlations, and factor analysis. The results of the study appear to warrant the following conclusions: 1. The DeKalb County school-based model was successful in improving effective school characteristics in the treatment group. The treatment was highly related to each of the following effective school characteristics: environment, goals, leadership, expectations, time-on task, monitoring student progress, and home/school relations. This finding was verified by observed behavior. The control group did not show significant ii improvement in any of the seven effective school characteristics. 2. There was no significant relationship between the treatment and student achievement gains in mathematics and in reading when gains were disaggregated by individual students. 3. There was a significant relationship between achievement gains in reading and in mathematics in the treatment group when gains were aggregated. 4. There was a moderately significant relationship between mathematics gain and reading gain. 5. The treatment group was successful in improving the achievement of students in each quartile. The control group was successful scores of students in quartiles, but was not in improving the first, successful the achievement second, and third in improving the achievement of students in the fourth quartile. 6. There was no significant relationship between student achievement and each of the following characteristics: environment, goals, leadership, expectations, time-on task, monitoring student progress, and home/school relations. 7. The characteristics impacted the most during the first year of implementation were leadership, time-on-task, monitoring student progress, and goals. 8. The pretest characteristics that showed high relationships with each of the posttest characteristics iii were environment, expectations, and home/ school relations. 9. A high relationship was evidenced between pretest achievement and posttest achievement in mathematics and in reading. Reading achievement was also related to mathematics achievement. 10. When socio-economic status, sex, and grade were controlled, no significant relationship existed with any of the other thirty-two variables used in this study.