The purpose of this study was to identify the educational stressors that are the predominant sources of teacher distress and burnout, discover and classify the common and persistent distressful situations in the educational environment, and illustrate a variety of coping strategies that can be practically implemented at the secondary school level. The analyses of data were accomplished through the statistical use of t-tests, one-way analysis of variance tests, and qualitative exposition. The sample consisted of 446 secondary school instructors, selected senior high school and junior high school respondents from five high schools and five junior high schools in the Tucson area. The examination of 54 educational stressors was conducted under the auspices of six research hypotheses which identified the variables on which senior high school teachers and junior high school teachers differed. The independent variables that were investigated were: sex (male and female teachers), teaching experience (0 to 4 years of completed teaching experience, 5 to 9 years of completed teaching experience, 10 to 16 years of completed teaching experience, and 17 to 38 years of completed teaching experience), age (21 go 30 years of age, 31 to 40 years of age, 41 to 50 years of age, and 51 to 67 years of age), marital status (married, single, widowed, divorced, and separated), and types of college degrees (bachelor's, bachelor's plus, master's, and master's plus or doctorate). An additional 63 educational stressors were named by the secondary school participants and listed in the study. For the purpose of this study the researcher developed the Teacher Stress Survey which was given to the 10 Tucson secondary school teaching faculties. The survey consisted of five parts: (1)15 demographic items, (2)54 educational stressors and their degrees of discomfort, (3)common and persistent distressful educational situations in the secondary school environment, (4)the coping strategies used to reduce or dispel the stress in the distressful educational situations and their levels of effectiveness, and (5)more appropriate or better coping strategies that might have been used. Over 70% of the secondary school instructors responded. The immediate crises' situations involving teaching materials and personnel seemed to be more distreeful to junior high teachers than high school teachers whose primary concerns were centered on the school's misuse of power and authority and the teacher's struggle with inadequate salary and unrealistic educational expectations. The 20 educational stressors identified by female teachers involved all areas of the educational spectrum--from paperwork to the future of education--while male teachers evinced concern with the lack of adequate salary and inconsistent educational methods and philosophies. The teachers with the least experience showed the most distress, particularly in the areas of school policy and populace. The teachers with the most experience were concerned about teacher representation, salary, and materials. The oldest teachers had the greatest distress in their lack of control over assignment, salary, and subject matter as well as their feelings of lack of self-esteem through professional stagnation. The marital status of the teachers did have a significant effect derived from their dissatisfaction with salary, the power of the school board and the superintendent, lack of teaching materials, lack of job security, the derogatory public view of education, and the paperwork overload. The teachers with the least amounts of educational preparation had the greatest distress in school policy formulation and ineffective parental support while the secondary school teachers with the advanced degrees were most distressed about the assignment of school duties.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Also available on the Internet.

This study examined the effectiveness of the LEAST Approach to Discipline with junior high school teachers having behaviorally disordered pupils in their classes. The sample consisted of twenty junior high school teachers who were paired on the basis of quantity and problem severity of behaviorally disordered pupils in their classes. Each matched pair was split and randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. Treatment consisted of eight hours of training in the LEAST approach. Subsequently, each experimental teacher was observed in class and given feedback regarding his application of the LEAST approach. The control group received no treatment. Following treatment, a two-month data collection period ensued. During this time data was collected for both groups on seven dependent variables. Specifically these were (1) teacher deviancy management skills, (2) pupil perception of the classroom environment, (3) pupil compliance, (4) office referrals, (5) teacher-parent conferences, (6) pupil absences and (7) non completed assignments.

Prior to the development of interactive television, schools that were either geographically isolated or financially restricted were often unable to provide courses that may have been essential for students. Interactive television has helped such school districts provide appropriate courses for their students. Because student self-efficacy is a significant indicator of student success, the relationship between distance learning and students' self-efficacy requires research. The problem of the study was to examine the impact of site location in a distance learning environment on student self-efficacy in Spanish instruction. The participants in this study were junior high school students enrolled in distance-learning Spanish classes at two junior high schools in a north central Texas independent school district. All of the students were taught by the same instructor. The age range of the students was from 11 to 14 years of age, and all students were in either the seventh or the eighth grade. Students took a modified version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire at the end of each treatment. Using the counterbalanced design, each subject was matched to themselves. T-tests for nonindependent samples were used to compare the two treatments. The findings indicate that there is no significant difference in the level of student self-efficacy by site location. The findings in this study support the use of distance learning as a medium for Spanish instruction at the junior high school level. Because of the strong statistical relationship between self-efficacy and student performance, teachers and administrators can reasonably believe that site location will not hamper their students' success.

This thesis is an analysis of certain factors associated with school progress of students of the graduating class of the Hillsboro Junior High School for 1940. The study is limited to considering the effect of age, attendance, environment, and economic status on progress during four years that these students attended junior high school.

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of pupil failure in the seventh and eighth grades of the Cleburne Junior High School, to determine to what extent certain mental characteristics contribute to pupil failure and success, and to submit some suggestions as to how pupil failure may be reduced to a minimum in the seventh and eighth grades of the Cleburne Junior High School, Cleburne, Texas.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education