The following question was investigated for each of several biographical variables: Are there significant differences in the work values, as measured by the Ohio Work Values Inventory (OWVI), and personal values (terminal and instrumental), as measured by the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS), of instructors in Oregon community colleges? Comparisons were made by job status (part-time/full-time), teaching assignment, sex, number of years teaching, age, degree held, other employment of instructor, geographic location of college, and vocational certificate held. A multivariate ANOVA (followed by univariate ANOVAs and Modified LSDs as needed) was performed separately on the OWVI scales, the RVS Terminal Values, and the RVS Instrumental Values. The initial sample included 984 Oregon community college instructors, partitioned by teaching status, teaching assignment, and geographic location. The responding sample included 212 full-time and 288 part-time faculty. The rank order of the OWVI means for instructors was: Task Satisfaction; Self Realization; Ideas/Data; Altruism; Independence; Security; Money; Control; Object Orientation; Prestige and Solitude. The rank order for RVS Terminal Values for instructors was: Health, Self Respect, Family Security; Freedom; Inner Harmony; A Sense of Accomplishment; Wisdom, Mature Love; True Friendship; A World at Peace, An Exciting Life; Equality; A World of Beauty; A Comfortable Life; Salvation; Pleasure; National Security and Social Recognition. The rank order for RVS Instrumental Values for instructors was: Honest, Responsible; Loving; Capable; Independent; Intellectual; Helpful; Broadminded; Courageous; Forgiving; Loyal (tied with Forgiving); Logical; Ambitious; Self Controlled; Polite; Clean and Obedient. When sex, teaching experience, age, highest degree held, other employment/no other employment, and college location were used as independent variables, statistically significant differences were found in each set of dependent variables, with the exception of instrumental values for teaching experience and college location, and terminal values for college location. Of 396 correlations between the OWVI scales and the RVS values, 162 were significant at the .05 level (41%). The signs of the correlations indicated a logical relation between the two instruments.

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe the experiences of secondary teachers who were actively involved in positions of teacher leadership in their schools and to discover the meaning that leadership activities had for them in their work. The informal teacher leaders performed their leadership functions in an environment of educational reform and change, voluntarily, and on their own time. The study was framed and described by data gathered primarily through a series of in-depth interviewing and based on a structure for phenomenological methodology. The individual interviews were audio taped and transcribed in full text. Other forms of data collection included a survey and e-mail reflections from the participants, and researcher reflections. Data was coded by topics and organized into themes based on an inductive analysis of the transcribed data. Results of this study indicated that teacher leaders found great satisfaction, both affectively and cognitively, in their involvement. They found meaning in their work because of a positive school environment, through collaboration with colleagues, participation in curriculum writing and committee work, and involvement with innovative activities. They indicated the biggest rewards came from their work with students. In addition, the teacher leaders frequently made reference to something inside themselves, their personality, and their drives. They found they needed the stimulation and the challenges that teacher leadership activities presented. The findings of this study contribute to the knowledge base on teacher leadership. They have implications for teacher educators who prepare future teachers for leadership roles, particularly at the secondary level and in an educational reform environment. Knowing the experiences that teacher leaders find most meaningful in their work, particularly curriculum work and collaboration with colleagues, will inform teacher educators as they prepare pre-service teachers to be knowledgeable and confident in these activities. In addition, administrators who want to encourage teacher leadership activities in their school may benefit from understanding what motivates teachers to become leaders and will be more knowledgeable about the needs of their staff when planning staff development opportunities. The study concluded with recommendations for further research on teacher leadership. / Graduation date: 2002

Oregon educational reform efforts are moving ahead with the support of legislation, business and industry, and education. There has been little apparent consideration given to the readiness of tenth graders to make career choices even though the research in the area of career maturity indicates that students at this period in their career development are not prepared to make mature career choices. This study examined the perceptions of selected eleventh graders, parents, and teachers of the factors that influenced the students' readiness to make their career choices. The perceived factors found by each participant included: experience and information, interest in the career area, and personal values. Students and parents identified the need for personal satisfaction. Students and teachers identified skills and abilities. Students, solely, identified the importance of parental support as a factor in their readiness. The factors were comparable to those found in current literature on career maturity and career choice. However, the emphasis placed on certain factors was in contrast to the literature. Participants emphasized the importance of work experience in the area of career choice. Students did not find value in career education classes. They wanted career experiences to provide individualized career information. Each student discussed television as a means of obtaining career-related information. Students stressed the essential nature of positive parental support. This study showed a strong connection between the self-described self-concept of the student, perception of parental support, and career choice readiness. The participants believed that the students were ready to make individual career choices. However, this readiness was presented within the boundaries that students be allowed the flexibility to change their minds at any point in the process, without penalty. Further research was indicated in relation to: the importance of television as a means of obtaining career-related information; the link between self-concept, perception of parental support, and career choice; and the need to examine current approaches to career development and guidance practices in light of educational reform mandates. / Graduation date: 1997

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the major contributive factors affecting enrollment trends in secondary level agricultural programs in Oregon and California, as perceived by Oregon and California agricultural instructors and their respective principals. Methods and Procedures: A review of the literature revealed three areas that were viewed to contribute to enrollment fluctuations in secondary agricultural programs: 1. agricultural economic cycles; 2. an increasing number of academic requirements for graduation from secondary schools; and 3. overall quality of agricultural programs. The instrumentation was a mailed questionnaire, developed using a panel of experts, which addressed demographic data and program quality factors. Subjects were randomly selected and the questionnaire was mailed to teachers and principals from 50 schools in Oregon and 100 schools in California in Fall 1989. In Fall 1994, the study was replicated and included those schools where both teacher and principal responded to the 1989 survey. Pearson Correlations, Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed-Ranks Test, Mann-Whitney U Test, One Way Analysis of Variance, Fishers z-Transformation statistical tests were used to analyze the data for interpretation. Findings and Conclusions: There was a high degree of agreement in 1989 and 1994 between teachers and principals from both Oregon and California concerning those factors which consistently ranked highly as positive factors affecting an increase in agricultural enrollment. These were: 1) Competent and qualified agricultural instructor; 2) Positive image of the FFA; 3) Quality agricultural curriculum and course offerings; and 4) A class schedule that limited conflicts. The 1994 data revealed an additional factor, parents positive image of agriculture as a good career, as contributing to enrollment increases. During times of declining agricultural enrollment, enrollment increases were slow to respond to program improvement efforts. Inversely, during times of increasing school enrollment, agricultural enrollment more readily respond to program improvement. In general, California teachers and principals tended to agree more on factors that contribute to quality programs than did Oregon teachers and principals. Oregon and California teachers agreed on the factors that affect increases and decreases in agricultural enrollment, and while not as consistent, Oregon and California principals agreed also. / Graduation date: 1997

The purpose of this study was to: (a) develop a comprehensive plan consisting of a series of logical steps based upon recommendations derived from psychometric, measurement, and research literature and utilize the plan to develop a Likert-type scale to provide valid and reliable measures of the attitude of preservice and inservice elementary school teachers toward computers; (b) administer the developed scale to selected preservice elementary school teachers; and (c) investigate relationships between attitude toward computers and selected teacher variables. The comprehensive plan consisted of the following steps: (a) develop theory of construction, (b) establish conceptual framework, (c) create item pool, (d) develop trial scale, (e) administer trial scale, (1) conduct item analysis, (g) select items, (h) construct final scale, (i) test for homogeneity, (j) determine reliability, (k) test for unidimensionality, (l) administer final scale, and (m) infer validity. The plan was utilized to develop the Evans Scale for Computer Attitude (ESCA). Validity was inferred utilizing construct-related evidence, which included the manner in which the scale was developed, studies of scale internal structure, prediction and conformation of a general factor, replication of factor structure, relationship of scale scores to nontest variables, relationship of scale scores to similar and dissimilar constructs, comparison of scores with experimental intervention, comparison of known-group responses. An alpha reliability coefficient was found to be 0.96 on two occasions. It was concluded that: (a) the ESCA provided valid and reliable measures of the computer attitude of preservice and inservice teachers at the elementary school level, (b) the comprehensive plan was effective for the development of a Likert-type scale for measuring the attitude toward computers of preservice and inservice teachers at the elementary school level, (c) preservice teachers in the Masters of Arts in Teaching Program (MAT) in Elementary Education at Oregon State University as a group had positive attitude toward computers, and (c) computer attitude of elementary MAT preservice teachers was significantly related in a positive direction with computer experience and in a negative direction with age. / Graduation date: 1995

Since 2011, the state of Oregon has embarked on a comprehensive educational policy change to create a unified birth to twenty educational system. As part of the birth to age five early childhood and family investment strategy, mandated participation in Oregon professional development system is required for all early childhood educators working in Office of Child Care licensed programs. To date, research on early childhood educators' experience in professional development systems has focused primarily on experiences with regulatory systems. This hermeneutic phenomenological study explored how four early childhood educators made meaning of their experiences of professional engagement in Oregon's state professional development system. As a researcher-participant, I conducted a two-part interview with these early childhood educators. First, we revisited the experience of the professional development journey in collage, followed by narrative semi-structured interviews. The researcher employed Dahlberg's (2006) concept of "bridling the experience" (p. 16) as a way to develop an understanding of early childhood educators' professional practice and the intersection between practice and professional engagement in Oregon's professional development system for childhood care and education. The collage and narrative dialogues illuminated the essence of each individual's experience. Experiences such as the intersection of personal professional self, acts of professional engagement, and the emotional nature of participants' work all emerged from the collage and interview process. Three essential themes emerged from the data interpretation and discussion, namely, (a)Personal and Professional Self: Intertwining Personal Experience and Professional Identity, (b)Curves Ahead: Maneuvering Rivers, Roads, and Paths, and (c)The Journey and the System are Asynchronous: "You Guys Figure that Out, Good Luck." Through the emergence of essential themes, participants demonstrated that their experiences while unique also shared common characteristics of what it means to be an early childhood educator in Oregon living with policy in the classroom. It is now the turn of policy makers and program managers of Oregon's professional development system to recognize the strength and wisdom of the voices in the early childhood classroom.

Over the past 20 years, the United States has seen a rapid increase in school age students entering PK-12 schools for whom English is not their primary home language. These students are known as English learners (ELs). In Oregon, 77% of ELs speak Spanish and constitute the largest minority group, 21% of the total K-12 student enrollment in 2011-2012. With such potential for bilingualism in schools, bilingual teachers should be prepared to teach biliteracy effectively, especially in the early school years when students learn to read. There is an increasing demand for bilingual teachers in Oregon each year to teach in bilingual programs, particularly at the primary grade levels. However, for the most part, the emphasis of instruction and teacher preparation is on developing student English skills rather than supporting bilingualism (Flores, Sheets, & Clark, 2011; Macedo, Dendrinos, & Gounari, 2003; Wink, 2005). There is a need in Oregon to effectively prepare bilingual teachers who can help Spanish-speaking students develop biliteracy skills in the early grades. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore in depth the lived experiences among Oregon bilingual reading specialists in relation to biliteracy. The research question was "How do bilingual reading specialists understand the phenomena of teaching biliteracy to bilingual students?" Three themes emerged from the interviews conducted: collaboration, language and caring. The insights gained from the lived experiences of bilingual reading specialists can allow teacher educators, school district personnel, and state policy makers to better understand the phenomenon of developing biliteracy and change the way we prepare bilingual teachers in Oregon regarding biliteracy pedagogy. Recommendations are offered for stakeholders, such as the need to include courses in biliteracy as part of the initial teaching license, deliver courses in Spanish, and provide practicum experiences that prepare bilingual teachers and reading specialists to collaborate with colleagues and families. Also, it is important that some of the strategies identified at the state level as part of the English Learner Strategic Plan specifically focus on biliteracy and dual language programs.

When Oregon voters passed the property tax limitation initiative, Measure 5, and the state legislature enacted school reform under the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century during the 1990-91 school year, the trajectory of public schooling in the state changed significantly. After Oregon's tax revolt, the state legislature also enacted legislation that equalized school funding throughout the state. The combination of equalization and the Measure 5 step-down to the $5 per $1000 tax limitation led to a decrease in statewide school funding over the decade. Many wealthy urban districts experienced years of budget cuts, while rural districts received additional funding. Despite differences in school funding, teachers emphasized the importance of student teacher relationships for teaching and learning. This thesis traces the history, passage, and implementation of these pieces of legislation and evaluates the impact of school funding and school reform, two simultaneous but uncoordinated movements, on the school system in the state. Through historical research and oral history interviews with teachers from the large urban district, Portland Public School, and the small rural district, Nyssa School District, this thesis demonstrates that teachers experienced school reform similarly. When school reform implementation relied upon teachers' collaboration to align, develop, and assess curriculum, teachers embraced change. However, when school reform shifted from outcome-based to standards-based, teachers disengaged from the reform process. They rejected reform when standardized testing drove the curriculum, was deemed irrelevant to the lives of their students, utilized inauthentic assessment, did not treat teachers as professionals, and disregarded teachers' knowledge and skills. Teachers viewed their profession as a craft and disagreed with a business model of schools. Taken together, however, school funding and school reform led to a more uniform school system centralized by the state.