The purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of superintendents, RIFfed teachers, and teacher union officials concerning the criteria used in reducing force in school corporations having reduction-in-force contract language. The population consisted of forty-six superintendents, ninety-one RIFfed teachers, and thirty-two union officials. The school corporations were randomly selected from 144 corporations listed in the document entitled 1984-85 Indiana State Teachers Association Bargaining Priorities.The three groups were asked to complete a questionnaire either by mail, on-site, or by telephone. The questionnaire was designed to determine the perceptions of each group regarding criteria used in reducing staff. Major problems were found in a number of current reduction-in-force policies due to incorporating the sole criterion of seniority. Seniority was found to be regressive,and many young competent teachers were often unfairly and arbitrarily laid off or terminated.Solutions to the problems included the adoption of broader reduction-in-force policies to include such criteria as evaluation, past performance, and extracurricular participation. Other recommendations were to lobby for a state law to set forth uniform guidelines for reducing force, and for superintendents, school boards, and union officials to realize that school corporations cannot follow a typical industrial model for reducing force. Comprehensive, progressive school corporations must rely on competent, dedicated teachers who are willing to meet the total needs of students. Regressive, restrictive policies are not conducive to quality education.

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The purpose of this study is to determine the need for teacher tenure in Texas. In order to determine this need, it will be necessary to investigate not only the need for tenure in the teaching profession, but also the advantages and disadvantages of tenure, the standards necessary for adequate tenure legislation, and the tenure situation as it exists in the public schools of Texas today.

This study deals with the tenure of teachers of the fifty-nine rural schools of San Joaquin County that have from one to twenty teachers each. The problem is to find and record the factors that influence teachers to continue teaching over a period of years in certain rural schools of San Joaquin County, rather than moving about.

The purpose of this study was to review legal grounds upheld by federal and state courts in cases involving the dismissal of tenured public school teachers for alleged incompetence from 1958-1982 to determine a judicial definition of teacher incompetence. In addition, the study attempted to provide an historical analysis to determine if the reasons that federal and state courts have upheld for the dismissal of tenured public school teachers have changed or remained the same since 1958. Third, the study identified in recurring categories behaviors and actions of tenured public school teachers that courts have upheld as evidence of incompetence. Finally, the study sought to be of service to boards of education and professional administrators of the public schools by bringing to their attention the behaviors and actions of tenured public school teachers that courts have upheld as evidence of incompetence that justifies dismissal. Court decisions related to the topic"Teacher Incompetence" were located under the topic"Schools and School Districts" in the Century, Decennial, and General Digests. Cases were reviewed to determine if they fit within the delimitations of the study. Then each case was analyzed in chronological order to see if historically, there had been changes in legal interpretations of evidence that was substantiated by the federal and state courts as definitions of teacher incompetence for tenured public school teachers. Next, the behaviors and actions of public school teachers involved in such cases were divided into categories. Within each category, the specific teacher behaviors were listed according to state and frequency of incidence. These categories included: an inadequate preparation to teach, teaching methods, effect on pupils, personal attitudes, and disability. This research reveals that courts are stating that the incompetent teacher is one who lacks an adequate professional preparation to teach, is unable to provide designated instruction in an appropriate learning environment, and/or exhibits unprofessional behavior such that .the teacher's on-the-job duties cannot be continued successfully. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this case study is to explore how tenured women with children describe their experiences; to discuss what institutional structures and policies they identify as influencing their advancement; and to see what they identify as the benefits, rewards, challenges, and/or sacrifices related to having tenure. Ultimately, a collection of sensitizing themes and descriptions emerged. The intent was to better describe the specific experiences of women using an adult education theory that has a core emphasis on personal wellbeing and theoretical parameters for successful work-life negotiations. The journey for mothers who seek tenure is an arduous one. The benefits, rewards, challenges and sacrifices are multidimensional and have complex implications for the lived experiences described it his study. The word balance may not accurately describe the association between the roles a mother-scholar plays. The mothers in this study described negotiation between responsibilities and deadlines and the integration of work at home as well as the integration of home at work in such a way that the two sides were inseparable. Acclimating to the fact that the role of mother and scholar are inseparable suggests theoretical movement toward a position that values the merit of the transformational learning that occurs as a result of motherhood as a positive occurrence. / Dept. of Educational Studies

This study explored attitudes of occupational therapy faculty toward tenure and selected alternatives to tenure. A survey method was employed, and the Tenure Attitude Survey Instrument, (TASI), was created for use in the study. Additionally, a questionnaire sought information regarding respondents' rank, tenure and administrative status, institutional type, and years in academia. Participants were accredited occupational therapy professional program faculty who identified their primary work setting as "Academic" on the 2000-2001 American Occupational Therapy Association membership survey. Factor analysis of 577 surveys examined the structure of scores on the TASI, and the instrument consisted of 4 scales, and 18 items, as follows: Scale One: Attitude toward academic freedom and job security protection, 7 items; Scale Two: Attitude toward tenure in general, 6 items; Scale Three: Attitude toward stop-the-tenure clock provisions, 2 items; and Scale Four: Attitude toward post-tenure review, 3 items. Cronbach's alpha was conducted, as follows: TASI overall alpha = .7915; Scale 1 alpha = .7884; Scale 2 alpha = .8420; Scale 3 alpha = .7020; Scale 4 alpha = .4229. Proportional analysis showed that most respondents were full time faculty (88.1%); taught full time at public institutions (52.8%); were tenured or tenure-track (55.5%); had no administrative duties (70.5%); with a rank of instructor or lecturer (17.5%), or assistant professor (45.7%). Time in academia ranged from 1-40 years, with a mean of 11.27 years, median of 9.25 years, and mode of 4 years. Attitudes toward, and support for, the continuation of tenure and for selected proposed alternatives to tenure were analyzed according to the following: faculty rank, administrative status, and tenure status. Respondents held generally favorable attitudes toward tenure as measured by Scales 1 and 2 of the TASI, and the best predictors of faculty attitude toward tenure were tenure status and rank. Due to low reliability scores on Scales 3 and 4, no conclusions can be drawn regarding respondents' attitudes toward alternatives to tenure.

The purpose of this project was to examine the perceptions of junior faculty members as they relate to roles and expectations related to the tenure process. The study utilized a mixed methods approach to gain a multifaceted perspective of this complex process. I employed a quantitative and qualitative survey to explore junior faculty perceptions regarding roles related to promotion and tenure policies. In addition, I conducted fantasy theme analysis (FTA) to explore the organizational rhetoric related to these policies. Findings from the study illustrate the continued presence of the "publish or perish" paradigm, as well as issues related to role conflict within the context of organizational rhetoric.

This qualitative case study was designed to explore how a group of 15 faculty and administrators in a non-tenure-track school within a tenure track environment develop and implement a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative. This study is based on the following premises: (1) non-tenure-track schools within a tenure-track environment face challenges in accessing resources and benefits; (2) the faculty and administrators of the non-tenure-track school need to manage politically charged and complex systems; (3) without the proper governance, advocacy, and influence, the non-tenure-track faculty must resolve to act independently to achieve its DEI goals via the creation of formal and informal groups, including committees. A key finding of the study was that participants learned in informal ways to implement the DEI initiative in the context of power and politics through dialogue and critical reflection. Two overarching recommendations resulting from this study are: (1) faculty and staff in academic institutions with a non-tenure-track school in a tenure-track university will need to proceed with added caution due to the political complexity that exists between the two distinct institutional structures; and (2) the researcher strongly recommends that information available on the state of non-tenured faculty should be raised by the non-tenured faculty with senior leadership at their academic institution. For example, the academic institution should resolve to address the various ways in which non-tenured faculty lack governance, pedagogical and professional development, equitable compensation, and job security. The factors stated are critical to the work environment and climate, including the classroom experience for students.

Research on the development of K-12 teachers’ beliefs about and approaches to teaching and learning suggests that exposure to professional development programs can lead to the use of conceptual change strategies that engage students as active participants in the learning process rather than on teacher-centered strategies focused on information transfer. However, within the existing literature on the development of teacher beliefs and approaches to teaching and learning there exists a void of information pertaining to the development of community college instructors’ beliefs and approaches. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between pre-tenure community college instructors’ beliefs about teaching and learning, their approaches to the learning process, and the training they receive via a professional development program specifically established to provide training in teaching methods, pedagogy, curriculum, and/ or instruction. Forty community college instructors going through an established three-year tenure process completed a revised version of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI-R) created by Trigwell and Prosser (1998). Data analysis revealed that there was no difference in the scores of instructors who had participated in the professional development program on teaching and learning and those instructors who had no exposure to courses that focused on teaching and learning. Further, findings suggest that instructors’ participation in the courses is not related to their beliefs or teaching approaches. iii The findings of this study warrant a closer examination of programs designed to provide higher education instructors with training in pedagogy and instruction. Additionally, the findings present an opportunity for professional development programs to improve current practice.