Research on the adoption of innovation is largely limited to factors affecting immediate change with few studies focusing on enduring or lasting change. The purpose of the study was to examine the personality characteristics of cognitive playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness beliefs in educators who were able to make an enduring change in pedagogy based on the use of technology in the curriculum within their assigned classroom settings. The study utilized teachers from 33 school districts and one private school in Texas who were first-year participants in the Intel® Teach to the Future program. The research design focused on how cognitive playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness beliefs relate to a sustained high level of information technology use in the classroom. The research questions were: 1) Are individuals who are highly playful more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who are less playful? 2) Are individuals who are highly innovative more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who are less innovative? 3) Are individuals who believe information technology use is critical and indispensable to their teaching more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who believe it is supplemental and not essential? The findings of the current study indicated that playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness scores as defined by the scales used were significantly correlated to an individual's sustained ability to use technology at a high level. Playfulness was related to the educator's level of innovativeness, as well. Also, educators who believed the use of technology was critical and indispensable to their instruction were more likely to be able to demonstrate a sustained high level of technology integration. Further research is recommended to investigate numerous personality traits, such as playfulness, innovativeness, creativity, and risk-taking that might relate to technology adoption. Doing so may lead to modifications of professional development, assisting individuals in adapting better and faster to systemic change.

The purposes of the study were: (1) to determine whether the experience of attending a human relations workshop produces a change in anxiety levels as measured by two instruments, the Janet Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Anxiety Scale (Omnibus Personality Inventory); (2) to compare the mean anxiety scores of the experimental treatment group and the control group using the variables of sex, teaching level, and years of experience in public school teaching; and (3) to determine the retention effect on anxiety over an intervening time span of four months for the experimental treatment group. The following are conclusions derived from this study: 1. Whatever effect the experience of attending a human relations workshop had, it cannot be measured by the Anxiety Scale (OPI) or the TMAS. 2. No segment of a school population will experience increased anxiety as a result of attending a Thiokol human relations workshop (1). 3. No significant changes in levels of teacher anxiety can be expected from attending a one-week human relations workshop with the possible exception of individuals with six or more years’ experience who did report lowered anxiety. 4. There is no longitudinal effect on levels of anxiety for teachers as a result of a human relations workshop experience.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the level of teachers' self-esteem on student achievement. This study surveys and analyzes factors of teachers' self-esteem. Its results are based on (1) a review of the literature to develop an understanding of historical perspectives and research, (2) the factors involved in the development of self-esteem, (3) the role of the parents, and (4) the role of the teacher. Forty-three teachers of grades three and five in North Central Texas completed the Gordon Personal Profile-Inventoiy to assess their levels of self-esteem. Six teachers with mid-range scores were eliminated from the study. The remaining 37 teachers were divided into high and low self-esteem categories. Students' Texas Learning Index scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills were matched with the appropriate teachers' scores. The findings of the study indicate that the students with teachers in the high level of self-esteem category scored an average of 5.67 points higher than those students with teachers in the low level of self-esteem categoiy. Findings resulting from the study led to the conclusion that teachers with high levels of self-esteem have a positive influence on the achievement of their students.

This study considered the problem of the relationship between the self-concept of selected teachers and the achievement of the pupils taught by these teachers. This study sought to determine if pupils of teachers with high selfconcept showed statistically significant higher achievement than pupils of teachers with low self-concept. A secondary purpose was to determine if there were any significant differences in self-concept between teachers from the various subject areas selected for this study. Ignoring age, I.Q., and level of achievement, pupils were assigned to their classes. Only pupils in the sixth and eighth grades were used in the study. They became a part of a research group by being in the Monday, first period class of one of the selected teachers. The study was conducted during a twenty-six week interval spanning part of the fall, all of the winter, and part of the spring quarters. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was administered to the selected group of teachers in October to establish a measure of the teachers' self-concept. Data generated by this test were treated by simple analysis of variance. The Iowa Test of 3. In mathematics, the indication of this study was that pupils of teachers with low self-concept performed better than did pupils of teachers with high self-concept. However, the data in this area was not statistically significant.

Each music teacher steps into their classroom as an educator shaped by their unique life experiences. Former music teachers, ensemble participation, culture, media, teacher education, and family dynamics are just a few of the influences that make each music teacher unique. Acknowledged or not, these factors shape the verbal messages of music teachers in the classroom. This study explored how elementary music teachers explicitly share what they believe about the potential of their students’ musical ability through verbal messages during instruction. Symbolic interactionism was used as the theoretical framework for this study because it helps explain how people attach meaning to language through social interactions. Carol Dwek’s growth mindset research was the lens for the theoretical framework. The growth mindset framework of Dweck was adapted for music in this study to help teachers identify and reflect on their mindset and explore how applicable it might be as a framework for music educators to foster growth in developing musicians. This intervention study recruited four elementary music teachers. Interviews, classroom observations, a Likert scale survey, open-ended questions, and reflection prompts were used to collect data. Each instrument's design was built on Dweck’s research regarding mindset identification but adapted for musical ability. The four research questions sought to capture the experiences of participants from their existing knowledge of growth mindset practices to observable changes after the growth mindset intervention. The data were analyzed and coded to find evidence of fixed and growth mindsets explicitly in elementary music instruction before and after the growth mindset was used as an intervention. This study showed that a growth mindset framework can only be observed through verbal messages when opportunities for skill development are authentically facilitated. The bulk of verbal examples presented in this study indicate that a growth mindset is embedded in the scaffolding of effective teaching strategies. Triggers of a fixed mindset with verbal examples are presented with implications for practice and suggestions for future research.

Evidence from studies related to the workplace (Ziemenski, 1981 and Knautz, 1982) suggest that occupational stress is a causal factor in job-related illnesses such as coronary heart disease, psychoneurotic and personality disorders, and migraine headaches. II In addition to physiological problems resulting from stress almost every psychosocial variable of importance is affected by stress in the workplace, including productivity, morale, and the .psychological well-being of workers" (Ivancevich and Matteson, 1980). Cooper and Marshall (1975) proposed two central features of stress at work, the interaction of which determines either coping or maladaptive behavior and stress related disease: (1) the characteristics of the persons (dispositional) and (2) the potential sources of stress in the work environment (situational). There is a growing need to use stress responses to cope with stressful situations encountered in occupations. In order to fulfill their responsibilities, employees should be aware of stressors that develop. The methods utilized in this study should provide an approach to identifying stressors and assessing counterproductive job situations. The purpose of this study was to measure and compare the degrees of stress experienced by administrators, teachers I and support personnel of the District of Columbia Public School System to selected occupational factors. This study utilized a descriptive research methodology and survey technique to gather data from a sample population of employees of the District of Columbia Public School System including: (a) administrators, (b) teachers, (c) support personnel, including engineers and clerical support personnel. It was hypothesized that: (1) there is no statistically significant difference in stress levels of administrators, teachers, and support personnel as measured by responses to measurements of perceived occupational stressors (change, clarity, tedium, control, intensity and conflict) according to reported situational and dispositional factors. Analysis of Variance procedures and Pearson Moment Correlation were used to test the hypothesis. Data for the study were obtained from five high schools in the District of Columbia. / Ed. D.

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Though professional development interventions are widespread in higher education, administrators often do not formally assess their effectiveness, particularly in relation to teacher self-efficacy. The purposes of this study were to determine if any statistically significant difference existed between the self-efficacy scores of adjunct faculty participants in a community college’s professional development program and nonparticipants and to identify the variables with a statistically significant relationship with self-efficacy. A modified version of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) was administered to 21 adjunct faculty participants in Lone Star College’s Adjunct Certification Program (ACP) and 312 adjunct faculty not currently participating in the program. A demographic questionnaire development by the researcher was also administered. Independent variables of the demographic questionnaire included gender, ethnicity, age, K-12 teaching experience, highest degree earned, subject taught, years of college teaching experience, and number of courses taught each semester. Paired t-test results indicated statistically significant differences in Efficacy in Instructional Strategies for adjunct participants in the ACP program. No significant differences were found for Efficacy in Student Engagement and Efficacy in Classroom Management. Multiple regression analyses indicated that gender has a statistically significant relationship to Efficacy Instructional Strategies. A statistically significant relationship was found for race for Efficacy in Classroom Management. Finally, analysis also indicated a positive relationship between race and gender for Efficacy in Student Engagement. No other statistically significant relationships were found across the other demographic variables. Findings of this study revealed that the ACP increased teacher self-efficacy across two of the three dimensions of the TSES indicating that the professional development intervention had a positive effect on the efficacy of its participants. The present study contributes to the research on teacher self-efficacy, adjunct faculty and professional development interventions.

The purpose of this study was to identify the personality traits of effective elementary bilingual/ESL teachers, to identify the personality traits of effective traditional elementary teachers, and to compare the two groups.

The purposes of this study were (I) to determine the relationship of teacher temperament to effectiveness in the classroom and (2) to determine the relationship of the teacher's temperament to the teacher's sex, to the grade level taught, to the area taught (special education or regular education), and to the subject taught. It was hypothesized that (I) there is no significant relationship between the teacher's temperament and his effectiveness in the classroom, (2) there is no significant relationship between the teacher's temperament and sex, (3) there is no significant relationship between the teacher's temperament and the grade level he teaches (elementary or secondary), (4) there is no significant relationship in the teacher's temperament and the area he teaches (special education or regular education), and (5) there is no significant relationship between the teacher's temperament and the subject he teaches.