The purposes of this study are to determine the understanding of economic concepts and attitudes toward economic education of selected elementary teachers, to determine which variables relate to the understanding of economic concepts and attitudes toward economic education, to determine the interaction of selected variables, and to determine if there is a positive correlation between the understanding of economic concepts and attitudes toward economic education. The analysis of data reveals the following: 1. Completion of a recent college level social studies methods course does not appear to have a significant relation to the teachers' understanding of economic concepts. The methods course does appear to have some positive significant relation to teachers' attitudes toward economic education, although not significant at the .05 level. 2. Completion of two or more college level courses in economics does not appear to have a significant relation to the teachers' understanding of economic concepts or their attitudes toward economic education. 3. Participation in a Developmental Economic Education Program (DEEP) workshop appears to have a significant relation to the teachers' understanding of economic concepts, but does not appear to have a significant relation to their attitudes toward economic education. 4. Teaching assignment (classroom organization) does not appear to have a significant relation to the teachers' understanding of economic concepts, but does appear to have a significant relation to their attitudes toward economic education with teachers in a self-contained classroom having a less favorable attitude toward economic education than do teachers in team-teaching or departmentalized classrooms. 5. The interaction of the variables grade level taught and adopted textbook series used appears to have a significant relation to the teachers' understanding of economic concepts and their attitudes toward economic education. Sixth grade teachers using textbooks with high-economic content score higher in cognition and fourth-grade teachers using textbooks with low-economic content have a less favorable attitude toward economic education. 6. There is a significant positive correlation between teachers' understanding of economic concepts and their attitudes toward economic education.

Using one-on-one interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, this basic qualitative study (see Merriam 1998) examined preservice teachers' beliefs about play and the influences on those beliefs. Research for this study focused on seven preservice teachers enrolled in an early childhood through grade four practicum course at a small private university in south central Texas. Using Nespor (1987) and Vygotsky (1986) as frameworks for transforming the collected data (see Wolcott, 1994), the findings of this study indicated that multiple influences--such as experiences before and during teacher education, feelings, ideals, and universal assumptions--worked in concert to shape the preservice teachers' beliefs about play. And, these influences set the foundation for the content of the preservice teachers' beliefs. Specifically, for the preservice teachers, play seemed to have multiple meanings that fluctuated and were at times contradictory. These defining qualities suggested that the preservice teachers had not fully synthesized their beliefs about play. This study's findings came about because two frameworks instead of one were used to describe, to analyze, and to interpret the preservice teachers' beliefs about play. Together these frameworks provided insights into the preservice teachers' beliefs about play and the influences on those beliefs that neither framework could have provided alone. Specifically, the findings of this study reveal challenges and opportunities for early childhood teacher educators. On the one hand, the multiple meanings, fluctuations, and contradictions present within the preservice teachers' beliefs about play highlight the challenge of defining and conceptualizing play within teacher education. On the other hand, the broad set of influences that shaped the preservice teachers' beliefs about play and their complex interrelationship suggest that by using multiple frameworks to explore preservice teachers' beliefs about play, by viewing preservice teachers' beliefs as an asset to their learning about it, by identifying the sources of preservice teachers' beliefs about play, and by engaging in one-on-one discussions with preservice teachers about their beliefs, teacher educators have the opportunity to address this complex element of early childhood education in their programs with the hopes of ultimately influencing their preservice teachers' practice. / text

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This study analyzed the effect of technology integration education on teachers' and students' attitudes toward information technology. Two instruments measuring similar attributes were used to assess teachers' and students' attitudes. Differences in pre- and post-test scores were used to determine changes that occurred during the course of the study.

Two hundred questionnaires were sent to high school speech teachers in Texas to determine their attitudes toward peer evaluation, a method of critiquing speech class activities. Results indicated that these teachers are familiar with and use peer evaluation and that they do favor it as an evaluation technique. Women used peer evaluation more than men, and teachers with more experience used peer evaluation more than those less experienced. Peer evaluation was used most for speeches and oral interpretation and least for parliamentary procedure. Peer evaluation helps students learn the criteria upon which an oral presentation is evaluated, keeps the students busy, and helps the students become better listeners. Its values outweigh its drawbacks.

This study was designed to compare teachers' perceptions of teaching autonomy at two economically diverse elementary school campuses to determine factors that influence teachers' perceptions of their ability and authority to make important decisions regarding their classrooms and students. Using a quantitative measure developed by Pearson & Hall (1993), the Teaching Autonomy Scale (TAS), fifty teachers, twenty-five from each campus, rated their teaching autonomy. The TAS served as a sorting and selecting tool to place teachers in two cohorts: low and high teaching autonomy. From these cohorts, ten teachers were selected to participate in an interview and discussed factors that influence their individual authority in making important classroom decisions. Teachers also discussed actions of resistance and conformity to mandates, reform initiatives and policies, which influence their ability to exercise teaching autonomy. Previous research has defined teaching autonomy as a measurable and quantifiable construct (Pearson & Hall; Pearson & Moomaw, 2005), as well as a professionally conferred characteristic awarded the teaching professional upon completion of the degree and meeting the licensing requirements for public school educator. Findings of this study point to teaching autonomy as a state of being that is best understood through a theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1966; Mead, 1934) and role-identity theory (McCall & Simons, 1966). The findings indicated a need for a different conceptualization of teaching autonomy. An original grounded theory is proposed that describes teaching autonomy as a series of identities, which are by nature transitory and shifting, rather than as a fixed score on a set of indicators. Further complicating this theory are the varying governance structures in schools that contribute to teachers taking both active and passive roles when exercising authority over the decisions important to the classroom. Schools that operate democratically, as learning organizations, cultivate teaching autonomy and value the professional input of teachers concerning decisions that impact the classroom and student achievement. Schools that operate bureaucratically do not necessarily value a teacher's input into decision-making. Additionally, teachers in the study acted autocratically regarding their teaching autonomy and made decisions in isolation, even in a tightly coupled policy environment. Governance structures influenced the teachers' selection of two roles, ruler or ruled and eight identities were described by teachers in the study they used when exerting or deferring individual authority over the top-down decisions imposed by external authorities. The role identity theory presented by the author offers a better explanation of how teachers enacted and described the phenomenon of teaching autonomy at their campuses than does previous research. Implications for future research, for school leaders and for policy are based on the conclusion that teaching autonomy is state of being that must be understood from an interactionist perspective alongside the characteristics of the teachers' workplace.

The purpose of this study, in addition to measuring and comparing attitudes of teachers, principals and library media specialists toward the role of the school library media specialist, was to identify and measure factors contributing to those attitudes. Nine factors were identified. Further path analysis revealed that the performance level of the library media specialist had the most influence on principals' and teachers' attitudes toward the Consultant, Technological and Instructional Roles. For principals and teachers, staff development had the most influence on attitudes toward the Management Role, while involvement in the school-wide program was most influential for library media specialists.

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