In this study, job analyses were made of twenty-two individual record keepers working in over two-thirds of the Roanoke businesses employing twenty-five or more office employees. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the attitudes held by Virginia's vocational agricultural teachers toward the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and certain variables contributing to these attitudes which may influence the ability of the teachers to incorporate effectively a FFA chapter into a local program of vocational agriculture. The sample of this study consisted of 201 vocational agricultural teachers randomly selected from the 417 vocational agricultural teachers throughout the state. An 85 percent usable response was realized from the randomly selected group which constituted data input for the study. The data collection instrument included a two part questionnaire developed by the researcher; one section to obtain demographic data from the vocational agricultural teachers, and one section (a Likert type scale) for the measurement of vocational agricultural teachers' attitudes toward the FFA. The data collection procedure consisted of mailing the instrument to teachers in the sample. Included with the instrument was a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study and a stamped envelope, addressed to the investigator. Analysis of the data was accomplished by using frequency counts, percentages and measures of central tendency to calculate description data from the group. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient, the Standard t-test, or the Analysis of Variance were used to analyze each null hypothesis for significance. Of the nine null hypotheses tested at the .05 alpha level, six were rejected. The rejected null hypotheses were: there would be no difference among teachers with dissimilar previous FFA membership in regard to their attitudes toward the FFA, there would be no relationship between years of teaching experience in vocational agriculture and teachers' attitudes toward the FFA, there would be no difference among teachers who have taken dissimilar in-service FFA oriented workshops in regard to their attitudes toward the FFA, there would be no relationship between participation in FFA activities during the student teaching experience and teachers' attitudes toward the FFA, there would be no relationship between participation in collegiate student organizations and teachers' attitudes toward the FFA, there would be no difference among teachers who teach in Senior High Schools, Junior High Schools, Comprehensive High Schools, or Vocational-Technical Schools in regard to their attitudes toward the FFA. Major recommendations generated from the findings of the study were: (1) that the Joint Agricultural Education Staff in Virginia work closely with beginning and inexperienced teachers to aid them in developing a more favorable attitude toward the FFA; (2) that in recruiting prospective agricultural teachers, high priority should be given those having FFA membership; (3) that investigations be conducted to determine why pre-service and in-service FFA oriented courses are not contributing to developing a favorable attitude in teachers toward the FFA; (4) that the State Agricultural Education Staff develop FFA oriented workshops in Virginia for all teachers to improve their competencies in FFA advisement; (5) that all vocational agricultural students be required to belong to an agricultural education related collegiate student organization; (6) that programs which prepare prospective teachers of vocational agriculture in Virginia require participation in FFA activities during the student teaching experience; (7) that the Joint Agricultural Education Staff in Virginia continue to identify and to provide for instrumental activities which would enhance teachers' attitudes toward FFA. / Ed. D.

This study sought to assess the level of school law knowledge possessed by Virginia public school teachers in the areas of tort liability, the teacher and his/her employment, and legal responsibilities regarding students. This knowledge was studied as it related to the type and recency of school law training, membership and activity in professional teachers' associations, the highest degree obtained, the grade level taught, the type of degree obtained (education/not-education), and the number of years of teaching experience. A questionnaire was developed to collect demographic information and to assess the level of knowledge possessed by Virginia teachers. A 30 item test, consisting of 15 true-false and 15 multiple choice questions, was sent to 401 teachers throughout Virginia. Of the 401 questionnaires sent, 314 or 78.3% were returned. The average total score on the test was 41.08%.The means for the subareas were as follows: tort liability was 24.7%, the teacher and his/her rights was 43.7%, and legal responsibilities regarding students was 54.8%. Analysis of variance or t-tests were used as appropriate to see if a relationship existed between knowledge of school law and each of the demographic variables. A significant difference was indicated at the .05 level or better between knowledge of school law and each of the following variables: 1. school law training, 2. grade level taught, 3. whether the undergraduate degree was earned in education or not. A significant difference was not indicated between knowledge of school law and any of the other demographic variables. As reported earlier the average percent correct on the test was 41.08% which is lower than the lowest score of any of the Virginia principals studied by Caldwell. This level of knowledge was considered adequate or average; therefore, the level of knowledge of school law possessed by teachers in Virginia is less than adequate. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this research was to measure, analyze, and compare the degree of stress perceived by public elementary and secondary school teachers in the Prince William County School System. The sample for this survey was composed of members in the Prince William Education Association for the 1983-84 school year. Of the Association's 1,530 members, 511 teachers were randomly sampled systematically school by school. Two hundred sixty-nine were secondary teachers while 242 were elementary teachers. A 94% response was received. The survey instrument consisted of 48 job-related events to which the sample respondents were asked to indicate the degree of stress they associated with each event. A 48-item demographic questionnaire was used to collect personal and situational information about the respondents. These items were identified as the variables which could be related to the stress experienced by the teachers. The findings of the study indicated that even though a moderately high level of stress was reported, the respondents at the secondary school level did not appear to differ from those at the elementary school level, sex was a significant predictor of perceived stress level, and that there are differential levels of stress across selected levels of key demographic variables, such as--sex, age, marital status, race, degree, tenured, and percentage of total family income. Additionally, the study examined internalized manifestations of stress experienced by the respondents. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

Virginia, like many states and school districts has enacted beginning teacher induction programs which include the assignment of an experienced teacher or mentor to assist each beginning teacher. Unique to Virginia programs is that while support for program development has been provided by the Virginia Department of Education, specific guidelines on mentoring activities have not been mandated. Instead, local school districts have had the autonomy to make their own decisions regarding the exact structure of the program. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mentoring activities and perceived benefits and concerns related to mentoring as reported by mentees and mentors in ten Virginia mentoring programs. Three hundred sixty-six mentor/mentee dyads representing K-12 general and special education teachers in ten school divisions throughout Virginia were contacted. Of them, 157 mentees and 198 mentors participated in the study. using survey research methods participants were asked on a 23-item questionnaire to describe activities, benefits and concerns related to mentoring and their mentor programs. Data collected through the written survey questions were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results indicated that most mentees and mentors thought the mentoring program was beneficial. Many activities came about as a result of the mentoring relationship. These include collaborating and conferring about lesson plans, materials, classroom management, instructional techniques, and discussion of curriculum. The program provided a collegial relationship giving mentees emotional support and encouragement. In addition, mentees felt they learned new teaching techniques and strategies, better Classroom management, and how to pace instruction more effectively. Mentors liked the recognition they received from being selected as a mentor and enjoyed the sharing of professional information with mentees. The major concerns expressed by both mentees and mentors were a lack of release time to observe, have conferences or collaborate and the lack of specific role definitions for the job as mentor. Given these concerns, it makes sense that school divisions ought to give more direction to defining the role of a mentor and insure release time to give them more opportunities for professional development. / Ed. D.

Critical teacher shortages in special education have led to revisions in certification and licensure policies in some states and implementation of initiatives to attract special education teachers in other states. Some of these revisions have allowed unendorsed teachers to be assigned to special education classrooms. The reliance on unendorsed teachers to fill special education vacancies means those working with students with the greatest educational needs may have the least amount of training or teaching experience. However, there have been no investigations of unendorsed special education teachers. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between teachers' safety attitudes and their instructional practices and to determine the relationship between teachers’ safety attitudes and instructional practices and the number of years of teaching and work experience they had gained. A survey instrument composed of an Attitude Inventory, an Instructional Practices Inventory, and a section on number of years of teaching and work experience was constructed and tested for this study. A panel of experts assisted in validating the content of the survey instrument and the grouping of items into the six categories: Safety Responsibility, Liability, Directing Learning, Laboratory Organization, Teaching Aids, and Pupil Personnel Services, Reliability was established through computation of the Cronbach Alpha coefficients. The survey instrument was mailed to a random selection of 285 of the 1068 industrial arts teachers listed in the Virginia Industrial Arts Teachers! Directory, 1978-79. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed for responses on the Attitude Inventory with those on the Instructional Practices Inventory for the Liability Category, the Teaching Aids Category and for the overall scores on each inventory. Additionally, correlations were computed for years of teaching experience and years of industrial work experience with responses on the Safety Attitude Inventory and the Instructional Practices Inventory overall and for two categories. The categories used in those comparisons were those which were found to have a meaningful reliability coefficient, Liability and Teaching Aids. Each of the total inventories had meaningful reliability coefficients. The analysis of data revealed little if any correlation (0.20) between overall responses to the Safety Attitude Inventory and overall responses to the Instructional Practices Inventory and little if any correlation between attitudes and instructional practices in the categories--Liability (0.17) and Teaching Aids (0.12). No significant relationship was found between number of years of teaching experience and overall responses to the Safety Attitude Inventory or to the Instructional Practices Inventory. No significant relationship was found between number of years of industrial work experience and overall responses to the Safety Attitude Inventory or to the Instructional Practices Inventory. Little if any correlation (0.19) was found between the Liability category of the Safety Attitude Inventory and work experience, and little if any correlation was found between the Liability category (0.17) and the Teaching Aids category (0.15) of the Instructional Practices Inventory and work experience. From the analysis of data it was concluded that: 1. Safety attitudes expressed by industrial arts education teachers may not be considered as predictors of their instructional practices relating to safety. 2. Industrial work experience is not an important variable in determining the safety attitudes or instructional practices of industrial arts education teachers. 3. The number of years of teaching experience gained by industrial arts education teachers has no effect on safety attitudes or instructional practices of industrial arts education teachers. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the functional use of e-mail in a university setting and the relationship of attitudes toward and self-efficacy with email technology, and (b) to evaluate writing effectiveness in an electronic medium. The study also sought to determine if certain personal characteristics could serve as predictor variables for explaining e-mail use, attitudes toward email, and self-efficacy with e-mail technology. The population of interest was the teaching faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who had a published e-mail address. A random sample of 500 faculty were sent a survey via campus mail. A total of 262 usable responses provided data for statistical treatment which included factor analysis and multiple regression. Additionally, 30 self-selected respondents provided copies of e-mail messages they had written. These messages were rated holistically for writing effectiveness, and the ratings were examined for their relationship with the extent of e-mail use, attitudes toward e-mail, and self-efficacy with e-mail technology. The items on the attitude toward e-mail scale clustered into two factors, "Usefulness," and "Comfort/Anxiety." The items on the e-mail purposes of use scale also clustered into two factors, "Task Use," and "Social Use." These factors were similar to the ones on the instruments from which this study's instrument was adapted. The results of the regression analyses indicated that several of the variables were significant predictors of e-mail use, attitudes toward e-mail, and self-efficacy with e-mail technology. An attitude of e-mail's usefulness and self-efficacy with e-mail technology were significant predictors of the extent of e-mail task and social use. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor of positive attitudes of usefulness and comfort. Age was a significant predictor of social use of e-mail as well as of a positive attitude of e-mail's usefulness. Years e-mail had been used was a significant predictor of the extent of e-mail use and of self-efficacy. Higher ranking teaching faculty had more positive attitudes of e-mail's usefulness. The results of analyses of holistic ratings indicate no significant correlations existed among the variables. Recommendations for instruction and for further research are described. / Ph. D.

There is little agreement regarding the identification procedures, characteristics and the definition of emotional disturbances even though the child-serving agencies often share the same clients and the same mandates. Because of these commonalities, a broad range of services are duplicated, lack coordination, and are provided by scarce personnel. The net effect may be no one receives services (LaCour, 1982). Interagency collaboration, touted as a management tool, is a vehicle by which lack of service delivery may be eliminated. According to state and federal mandates, interagency collaboration is to be used, whenever and wherever, services are needed to effectively serve students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed (SED). The purpose of this study was to identify the current level of interagency collaboration available to students within the Commonwealth of Virginia for students labeled seriously emotionally disturbed, ages 5-18, as perceived by special education directors and teachers serving students labeled seriously emotionally disturbed. A School Personnel Perceptions of Interagency Collaboration for Students Identified as Seriously Emotionally Disturbed survey was developed to measure the current level of interagency collaboration for this study. Items included were based on a review of the literature; information generated from informal interviews with special education administrators, special education teachers, and professionals in related fields; and, comments from expert reviewers. Questionnaires were mailed to a sample of thirty six school divisions, which translates into a total of 80 surveys sent to directors of special education and teachers of students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed. The sample was determined by: 1) designating school districts within the Commonwealth according to their Average Daily Membership into large-, medium-, and small- sized districts, and 2) selecting a sample from each size school district. Directors were then contacted and asked for the names of teachers within their school district currently teaching students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests and one way analyses of variance. Post hoc tests were used to determine which means were significantly different from each other. Major findings include: 1) special education directors and teachers of students identified as SED agree that availability of a variety of services is very important to the success of their students. Few significant differences between directors and teachers were found; however, differences did occur with services that focus on the family rather than the child. Teachers found these services to be more important to the success of their students than did directors. 2) While directors and teachers across school district sizes indicated a variety of services were currently available to students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed, there was little agreement between directors and teachers within district sizes as to how much any one service was currently provided. 3) Teachers and directors indicated that, in many cases, they did not know whether or not a certain agency provided a specific service to students identified as in need of services. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceived staff development needs of part-time occupational-technical instructors in the Virginia Community College System and to determine if there was a relationship between these needs and selected independent variables. Also considered were the instructors' attitude toward staff development and under what conditions they would participate in an in-service program. The 308 part-time occupational-technical faculty members who made up the sample were surveyed. A total of 196 or 63.6 percent of the 308 questionnaires used in the survey were returned and coded for use in resolving the four research questions. Absolute frequencies, percentage frequencies, and chi square tests of significance were used. Using the responses on the 196 returned questionnaires, the following conclusions were rendered concerning part-time occupational technical teachers in the Virginia Community College System. l. That a typical part-time occupational-technical teacher wi 11: a. Hold at least a Baccalaureate Degree b. Have more than 200 clock hours of teacher training c. Have from one to ten years experience d. Have more than ten years of occupational experience in the field in which they are teaching e. Be between 26 and 45 years of age 2. There is a need for in-service training for these teachers and that their needs are found in certain areas. 3. There is an inverse relationship between the educational level and certain perceived staff development needs, and that as their education level increases, their staff development needs in the given areas decrease. 4. Staff development is important to these teachers. 5. If a staff development program were offered at a convenient time and if the teachers were paid the same amount as they would receive for teaching, the majority of the teachers would participate in the staff development program. Recommendations rendered concerning staff development for part-time occupational-technical faculty in the Virginia Community College System were as follows: 1. The characteristics of these teachers discovered by this research should be considered when establishing a staff development program for these individuals. 2. When a staff development program is set up the in-service training should be organized so as to give training in the areas in which the instructors indicated having need. 3. Any in-service program should be developed with the idea in mind that as the level of education increases, the level of need decreases in certain areas. 4. A staff development program should be developed and offered to these teachers at a convenient time and that they be paid the teaching rate for the hours they participate in the program. 5. A study should be conducted to find out what specific kinds of staff development programs would best fit the needs of these individuals. / Ed. D.