The purpose of this research was to examine whether certain caregiver personality characteristics, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (1989), were related to caregiver beliefs about teaching practices in early childhood education settings, as measured by the Teacher Beliefs Inventory (Peters, Neisworth and Yawkey, 1985). Once the beliefs about teaching practices and the personality characteristics were identified, it was expected that there would be patterns of personality dimensions that would be more compatible with each of the beliefs about teaching practices. The study also explored whether a caregiver's beliefs about teaching practices were related to the amount of education as well as their satisfaction with working conditions. Job satisfaction with working conditions included caregiver satisfaction ratings of staffing, space and materials, activity organization, and schedule. / Participants were 167 child caregivers from early childhood programs in Orange and Seminole counties in Florida. Caregivers were attending paraprofessional training classes. In summary, the present study suggests that for the caregivers involved in this study: (1) There were no significant relationships between personality characteristics and beliefs about teaching practices. A personality characteristics profile emerged of caregivers as being extroverted, preferring to learn from concrete information, basing decisions on affect rather than logic, and preferring a high degree of structure. (2) There were significant differences between caregivers' levels of education and their beliefs about teaching practices. When caregivers had more education than a high school diploma/GED, they had stronger beliefs about cognitive/developmental and maturationist/socialization teaching practices. This did not hold true for the cultural training/behaviorist beliefs about teaching practices. / Another result worth noting is that caregivers of children under three had the least amount of education and years of employment. (3) There were no significant relationships between beliefs about teaching practices and levels of job satisfaction. As a group, the caregivers were moderately satisfied. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-03, Section: A, page: 0465. / Major Professor: Belen C. Mills. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to investigate faculty attitudes toward grading, their grading practices, and their opinions regarding the development of a grading policy. The sample consisted of 107 of the 117 faculty teaching education undergraduate courses in the 1989-90 academic year who completed a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. / The following were the study findings and conclusions: (a) Faculty members generally have positive attitudes toward grading. (b) Their attitudes toward grading relate positively to their length of teaching experience. (c) Differences in the use of criteria between experienced and inexperienced faculty, dissatisfaction over the number of high grades awarded, inconsistency in opinion regarding what the undergraduate grade distribution should be and the actual grading practices all indicate that a grading policy is necessary. / The following recommendations were made: (a) The college should consider developing a grading policy for faculty teaching undergraduate courses. (b) Inexperienced faculty should attend courses on test construction and grading policies. (c) A similar study using other approaches such as interviews is recommended to add greater depth and detail to the findings of this study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: A, page: 0757. / Major Professor: Garrett R. Foster. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

In 1986, Congress passed Public Law 99-457, part H, providing for a statewide, comprehensive, multidisciplinary program of early intervention for handicapped, developmentally delayed, and at-risk infants, toddlers, and their families. The professions of special education, audiology, medicine, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, social work, and speech-language pathology are required to participate and be trained in interdisciplinary programs to the extent feasible. / A four round, fifteen month, Policy Delphi study was conducted to develop consensus on discipline specific competencies for early childhood/special educators and interdisciplinary competencies for all early interventionists. A Design Monitor team representing each profession and parents provided an ongoing reliability and validity check and helped with cultural/linguistic issues between disciplines. Delphi panelists included national and Florida University and direct caregiver infant experts from the ten professions, parents, anthropologists, and policy makers. Nine hundred and fifty six individuals were invited to participate; 613 met the criteria and elected to participate in one or more Delphi rounds. Participation by round ranged from 576 in round 1 to 284 in round 4. / The knowledge base was found to be interdisciplinary with discipline specific competencies representing a few areas of increased specialization. Other major findings included: (1) a list of 21 discipline specific competencies for early childhood/special educators; (2) a list of 149 interdisciplinary competencies; (3) a list of service delivery settings and technical competencies for them; (4) a new measure to differentiate between professions, "level of knowledge or skill"; and (5) cultural and linguistic issues between professions. Greatest consensus was found in the competency areas of typical and atypical development, people/communication skills, confidentiality, and working with families from varied cultures and economic conditions. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4017. / Major Professor: Charles H. Wolfgang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the influence of textual display (manner in which text information is presented on a page) in printed instruction on learner attention to the instruction and performance of the instructional goal. Secondary purposes were to investigate any differential effects of textual display for high and low ability learners and to determine learner preference for textual display. / Subjects were 90 preservice teachers who were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: Simple Textual Display, Moderate Textual Display, Complex Textual Display. The treatments were manipulated by varying specified elements of print design (text column width and position, horizontal and vertical spacing, and heading placement). Ability, measured by GPA, was a moderating variable. / Attention was measured by the Attention subscale of the Instructional Materials Motivation Scale (Keller, 1987). Performance was measured by an objective-referenced test of recall. Preference was measured by items from the IMMS Attention and Confidence subscales. / Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and chi-square. Results indicated that there was an interaction between ability and textual display for performance (p =.009), but not for attention. Results also indicated a main effect of textual display for performance (p =.004), but not for attention. The Moderate Textual Display produced significantly higher performance scores for low ability subjects (p $<$.001). Results of the test for preference revealed that, of the three versions, learners preferred the text exhibiting the Moderate Textual Display. / These results show that a moderate textual display is preferred by learners and can improve performance of low ability learners. These findings have implications for the design and development of print instruction. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3902. / Major Professor: John M. Keller. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The purpose of this study was to obtain an insider's perspective of an unguided field experience, which was a part of a university professional preparation program, through the use of naturalistic research techniques. The methodologies employed were participant observation and interviewing (both formal and informal). Data were also collected by having the preservice teachers maintain daily journals of their observations. / Data collection lasted six weeks. The seven volunteer subjects were senior physical education majors. The observation period entailed six hours of observation each week, for six weeks. The researcher was also a participant observer and made an effort to be in the settings with the preinterns as much as possible. / Data were analyzed inductively, and working hypotheses developed as data were collected. Emergent patterns or categories which were prevalent in the data were investigated as they became evident. Validity of the observations was established through triangulation of multiple data sources, data checks, and through the application of thick description in reporting data. / The focus of the preinterns' observations varied. However, the content of their observations was fairly consistent. The observations revealed that generally, the preinterns did not provide bases for their subjective observations; they often focused on Academic Learning Time (ALT), lesson organization, teaching methods, and student characteristics; they made simple as well as a wide variety of complex observations; they made comments about student skill performances but were not specific in these observations; they almost totally ignored individual student performance and the mechanics of the skill performances; and they seemed to disregard lesson purpose, student social interactions, teacher characteristics, the environment, and the school organization and administration. / The study revealed that while the preinterns' observations did reflect some aspects of their training, other parts were neglected. The preinterns' past experiences, university training, and interaction with inservice teachers were strong influences on their observations. Their observations contained a variety of complex observations, but they were not representative of mature observers. Recommendations are made for future research and possible program improvements. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3923. / Major Professor: Charles Imwold. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

This study explored the relationship between school quality and the degree of parent involvement. The measures of school quality consisted of 21 variables representing four categories--student achievement, learning environment, student characteristics, and school input. The measures of parent involvement consisted of five parent involvement categories--in-home parent-child interactions, parent-teacher interactions and communications, parent-school interactions and communications, and parent participation in school. / Data consisted of parent involvement data gathered through surveys of teachers and parents of children involved in a longitudinal study, school quality data, and focus group data. / Due to the exploratory nature of the study, the data was analyzed using canonical correlations analysis and multiple regression analysis. Eight school quality variables were selected (based on factor analysis) to represent the four categories--percentage of students above the median national percentile for reading scores on achievement tests, percentage of students who were expelled from the school, percentage of students who received out-of-school suspensions, percentage of students on free/reduced lunch status, percentage of teachers with 4-9 years of experience, percentage of teachers with 0-3 years of experience, expenditure per student, and percentage of teachers with advanced degrees. / Results indicated that school-level reading achievement scores, school-level poverty, school-level discipline problems (out-of-school suspensions), and teacher experience were related to the parents' ratings of parent involvement. These relationships were positive for school-level reading and school-level poverty and negative for school-level discipline problems and teacher experience. / Significant positive relationship between school-level reading achievement scores and teachers' ratings of parent involvement was also identified. In addition, teachers' education levels (advanced degrees) and school-level discipline problems (out-of-school suspensions) were positively associated with the teachers' ratings of parent involvement. / This study implies causal relationships among parent involvement and school-level reading achievement, school-level poverty, and school-level discipline problems (out-of-school suspensions), and expulsions. A direct positive relationship between the teachers' specific parent involvement training and parent involvement is also suggested. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-03, Section: A, page: 1008. / Major Professor: Virginia P. Green. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

The purpose of this study was to determine the current state of the conditions and functions of curriculum materials centers in teacher education institutions accredited by the National Council for The Accreditation of Teacher Education. The subjects selected for the study were the professional staffs of the curriculum materials centers of NCATE accredited teacher education institutions located in the United States. / The data gathering instrument was a two-part questionnaire. Part 1 sought demographic information about the centers including the following: (1) name and location of the institution; (2) number of staff assigned to the center; (3) amount of the budget allocated to the center; (4) campus agency or agencies having administrative control of the center; (5) size of collection; (6) number of hours of service; (7) size of the center; (8) most important services performed by the center. Part 2 was an attitudinal survey consisting of fifty statements which sought information about the following six major areas of concern for the curriculum materials centers: (1) administration/policies; (2) funding; (3) staffing; (4) services; (5) resources; and (6) physical facilities. A Likert scale was used to measure the respondents' answers regarding the existing and desired conditions at the centers. / The collected demographic data were analyzed and a general profile of the curriculum materials centers participating in the study was compiled as well as individual profiles for the centers in teacher education institutions categorized as large, medium, and small. / The findings of the attitudinal survey indicated that the professional staffs supervising the centers considered most of the existing conditions satisfactory with the exception of certain facets of funding. Salaries, programs, and staffing were designated by the respondents as specific areas needing additional budgetary support. / This study was not meant to serve as a blueprint for designing uniform curriculum materials centers nor was it meant to formulate a set of rigid standards for the centers. However, the findings can be used to assist accreditation teams, college and university administrators, teacher educators, and education librarians to provide better resources and services for existing centers and in planning new ones. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: A, page: 0760. / Major Professor: David Leslie. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Four college instructors and the students (N = 329) in each of their two communication classes completed the Teacher Communicator Style (TCS) instrument at five different times during the same semester. The data were used to test two underlying assumptions of Norton's (1983) Communicator Style theory. Namely, that perceptions of a person's communication style become increasingly stable as a function of more association with that person, and that separate classes of students differ in their perceptions of the same teacher's communication style. Five related research questions were also explored. / Of the ten communicator style subconstructs measured, the "Relaxed" and "Friendly" subconstructs were consistently ranked highest while the "Dominant," "Dramatic," and "Contentious" subconstructs were consistently ranked lowest. The data revealed a trend of increasing stability of students' perceptions of their teacher's communication style. This trend seems to "peak" around mid-term. However, only some of the increases in stability are statistically significant. The data also revealed that two separate classes of students differ in their perceptions of several aspects of the same teacher's communication style. Question 1 revealed that as the semester progresses, students do not move toward consensus about their teacher's communication style. Question 2 indicated that there are differences in students' perceptions of many aspects of their teacher's style based on gender, year in school, major, grade point average, expected course grade, previous experience with course content, freedom to elect a course, satisfaction with the class, and satisfaction with the teacher. Question 3 identified "satisfaction with the teacher" as the single best attitudinal predictor of the teacher's overall communication image. Question 4 identified "Friendly" as the single best communication style subconstruct predictor of the teacher's overall communication image. Question 5 revealed that there are statistically significant differences between some of the teachers' self-reports and their classes' perception of their style. / The data yielded general trends and statistically significant findings which support the assumptions underlying Norton's theory. With this and future confirmations, the theory can continue to provide a strong framework for the study of communication style. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3792. / Major Professor: C. Edward Wotring. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The purpose of this study was to examine the initiation and implementation of microcomputer technology in the educational environment of N. H. Jones Elementary School and to assess its impact on teachers. Microcomputer technology was configured as a teacher workstation. / A conceptual framework was developed to promote microcomputer technology and to monitor and interpret the phenomenon. Elements of the framework were five guidelines of the Innovation-Focused strategy (Fullan, 1985), interventions of the Change Facilitator strategy (Hall & Hord, 1984) and the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin & Hall, 1987). / Five research questions provided direction for the inquiry. The questions were: (1) What concerns did teachers have about microcomputer technology? (2) Were there factors in the school environment that promoted the diffusion and use of microcomputer technology by teachers? (3) Were there perceived barriers that impeded acceptance and use of microcomputer technology by teachers? (4) What levels of use did teachers attain using the innovation microcomputer technology? (5) What teacher-related outcomes are attributed to using microcomputer technology? / Teachers' concerns were identified with the Stages of Concern instrument of the CBAM. Results showed that teachers had Self and Task concerns at the beginning of the study. As teachers increased their involvement with microcomputer technology their concerns shifted toward the Impact concerns, Consequences, Collaboration and Refocusing. Teachers' levels of use of microcomputer technology was assessed with the Level of Use instrument. Results revealed that teachers clustered in Mechanical and Routine user levels. By the end of the study 80% of teachers had reached the Routine Level of Use. / Study Conclusions were: (1) Fear of technology can be alleviated with an implementation strategy that empowers teachers and accepts and works within their point of view, (2) Complexity of an innovation affected the rate at which teachers mastered and used the innovation, and (3) Configuring the innovation into its component parts facilitated successful implementation and alerted the change facilitator to technical assistance needs. / Recommendations for future research include configuring microcomputer technology beyond a teacher workstation, replication of the study using the change model presented and identifying long term impact of microcomputer technology on teachers. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 0779. / Adviser: Robert G. Stakenas. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.