Thesis (Ed. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 329-337). Also available via the Internet.

Includes county history and military history, along with two inset maps: one of the town of Salem as it existed in 1802 and one of Augusta County as it existed in 1738. Compiled from old maps, historical records, and traditions by J.R. Hildebrand. The Roanoke Historical Society, 1968. No scale provided. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1139/thumbnail.jpg

The resurgence of public concern about the effectiveness of schools has brought with it a renewed appreciation of the importance of the principal in the educational process. Most preparation programs for school administrators now require some type of internship or field experience. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding about mentor-protege relationships and the personal and contextual factors affecting those relationships in a regional program for the preparation of principals. Mentor-protege relationships were examined through the collection and analysis of demographic data, scores on a semantic differential, scores used to measure compatibility of personality traits (FIRO-B), and in-depth interviews. The personal and professional questionnaire and semantic differential were both developed by Martha Cobble. Data for four of the six dyads in this study were collected but not analyzed by Cobble in her exploratory study describing mentor-protege relationships in a regional program for the preparation of principals. The findings of this study indicated that mentors were important to the career development of proteges in educational settings. Close personal and professional relationships developed between mentors and proteges, and both populations stressed professional aspects of their relationships over social aspects. The mentors' ability to plan meaningful activities and experiences based on their administrative experience was more important to the development of the relationships than were demographic factors such as age and gender. This study should extend the generalizability of Cobble's work and be of interest to mentors, proteges, and others wanting to learn more about mentoring in educational administration. / Ph. D.

To improve the study and management of Havens Wildlife Management Area (HWMA) in Roanoke County, Virginia, the ecological history of the Ridge and Valley Province of Virginia was investigated. Palynological, paleontological, archaeological, and historical data were synthesized into a comprehensive history of the region's vegetation, fauna, and humans from 25,000 B.P. to Euroamerican settlement. A linear programming model was developed to examine the relationship between the energy demand of a human band and the food resources of HWMA 2,500 years ago. The model was based on the assumption that prehistoric human foraging was impelled by the need to satisfy energy requirements and that prehistoric human foragers strove for maximum energetic efficiency. The model was driven by an objective function, that minimized the cost (expressed in hours of labor) of the human foragers' diet. Constraints on the achievement of this goal were the available metabolizable energy in selected mountain food resources and the energy demand of a 25-person band. The product of the model was a regimen of food resources that met the band's annual energy requirement at the lowest cost. The model predicted that fall was the dominant foraging season on HWMA. Chestnut was the major food resource, satisfying 54% of the bandâ s annual energy demand. Additional primary resources were opossum and raccoon, elk, woodchuck, white-tailed deer, and black bear. Secondary and tertiary resources were passenger pigeon, bitter acorns, hickory nuts, and false Solomon's seal rhizomes. Marginal food resources were wild turkey, Jack-in-the-pulpit corms, eastern cottontail, gray squirrel, sweet acorns, and box turtle. An annual foraging strategy with a fall-winter focus in mountain ecosystems and a spring-summer focus in lowland ecosystems was suggested by the model. A comparison of the model results with an archaeological data indicated that hickory nuts were over represented and chestnuts underrepresented at archaeological sites, and that clothing, not food, limited human population density in upland western Virginia ecosystems. / Master of Science

One of the earliest and most comprehensive elementary school guidance and counseling programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia is located in Roanoke County. An integral component of every elementary school guidance and counseling program is evaluation. The purpose of this study was to design and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Roanoke County Elementary School Guidance and Counseling Program in order to determine program effectiveness. Data was collected through questionnaires disseminated to samples comprised of 261 students, 34 teachers, 13 principals, and 280 parents of children in the program. Additional information was gathered from focus interviews conducted with counselors, teachers, and individual interviews with principals. The findings indicate that the guidance program is effective in meeting stated objectives as well as student needs. It was also concluded that program effectiveness could be jeopardized in the future due to the growing number of students and responsibilities required of the counselors. In addition, the data indicated that all populations exhibit a favorable attitude toward the program. / Ed. D.

At the outset of this investigation its purpose was stated as that of discovering causes contributing to termination of schooling on the part of certain children who had completed the seventh grade at Mount Pleasant School; also, that of observing the results of dropping out of school at that time. In attempting to carry out such purposes, an intensive study was made of 50 former pupils of the school who, for convenience, were called terminators. These persons were members of a total group of 74 who had stopped formal education at the end of the seventh grade during the years from 1938 to 1947. One consequence of the investigation was a composite picture of the group which was presented in the preceding chapter. Another result of this endeavor was the list of causes for termination which appear in Chapter IV. Prominent among these were (1) economic drives, (2) shifting of interest from school to vocational pursuits, (3) incapacity for the kind of work the school was offering, and (4) indifference to school on the part of parents. The relative dominance of each of these causes, as it appeared in the study, is indicated by the order just given. As the work progressed the impression grew that some of the children might have overcome the other negative factors in the situations if they had been able, somehow, to cope with their economic disabilities; this, despite their somewhat low intelligence as indicated by test results. If it be further assumed that the subjects not only could but should have profited by enrolling in high school then it seems inescapable to conclude that their failure to go on was a double misfortune both to the terminators and to society, caused by forces over which they had little or no control. / M.S.

The geology of Roanoke and the country adjacent is conceded to be one of the most complicated structures in Virginia. On this account it has been consistently avoided in geological investigations; surveys that normally would have included Roanoke having stopped at or omitted this vicinity. It would be presumptions for the author of this paper to attempt to do what many better geologists have avoided. This paper does not attempt to give a thorough discussion of the complicated problem that the vicinity of Roanoke presents, but rather aims to condense and bring together information that has been gathered on the subject and supplement this with such additional data as could be obtained in the brief time allotted to this investigation. / M.S.

M.S.

The prevailing purpose of this dissertation is the preparation of an historical account of public schools in Roanoke County from 1870 to 1920. The primary focus rests with the cultural, economic, political, and geographic factors that affected the evolvement of public schools in Virginia relative to Roanoke County Public Schools, a system in southwest Virginia. Within this framework the system is described as part of a valley-wide setting, where citizens, educators, events, funding, curriculum, and other components played an integral part in the shaping of the current system. The methodology employed in this study is qualitative in approach and utilizes recognized historical and ethnographic techniques. The Guba model, which allows for periods of discovery followed by refinement and verification, is suited to the nature of this study. The researcher initially conducts inquiry designed to discover data and generate ideas. After the initial inquiry period, the researcher refines and corroborates data. The cycle of broad inquiry followed by more critical analyses of specific occurrences can repeat itself several times. Verification is accomplished through the validation of sources based on triangulation, a method of cross-checking in which three or more sources are used to corroborate findings. Data is collected in an eclectic fashion, using the nature of the research questions to determine appropriate techniques. Primary sources are used when available, supplemented by secondary sources. Outcomes have not been predetermined but evolved as the research progressed. General interview guidelines have been used, but remained felxible enough to allow for probing and expansion of relevant topics. It is anticipated that the history of Roanoke County Public School from 1870- 1920 will -provide an accounting of historical developments within this time frame; -enrich the legacy it leaves to future generations; -develop an appreciation for the obstacles and trials that people overcame; -create as accurate an interpretation as possible from available data; -develop a sense of the past as a precursor to the present; -provide an avenue for practical use of this knowledge in developing a better future plan; -provide an historical account of public school education in Roanoke County that has heretofore been meager; -contribute to a broader body of historical information on Roanoke County / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two career orientation and exploratory programs on the vocational maturity level of seventh grade students. Two independent variables involving type of program and length of program were manipulated by the researcher by using a 2 x 3 factorial design to analyze adjusted treatment effects upon the dependent variable of vocational maturity. The experimental groups were composed of seventh grade students participating in the"Careers and You" and"Interest Block" programs, while the control group consisted of students in band and/or choir who did not receive instruction in either of the two treatment groups. The participants selected for the study were students from four junior high schools within the local school division. Each participant was pretested on both the Career Development Inventory and Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale test instruments. Results of the pretest mean scores for the groups indicated significant differences on the CMI Attitude Scale scores between the"Careers and You" and"Interest Block" groups. Inasmuch as the strength of the difference was small (R² = 0.04), valid posttest comparisons were felt to be statistically appropriate. One-half of the participants in the three groups were posttested on the CDI and CMI Attitude Scale at an 18-week time interval, while the remaining participants were tested at the end of a 36-week interval. Posttest analysis was conducted using a two-way analysis of covariance, with the pretest scores being used as a covariate to adjust for group bias and to add sensitivity to the dependent variable measure. Nine hypotheses were tested at alpha equals .05 with the following results: The first six hypotheses dealt with comparisons among the three groups on the Total Scale of the CDI and the Attitude Scale of the CMI. Because the F values showed no significant group effect, hypotheses one through six failed to meet the rejection criteria. Null hypotheses seven through nine pertained to effects of the length of program within the various groups. Results indicated by both the CDI and Attitude Scale of the CMI were not significant. Therefore, hypotheses seven through nine failed to meet the rejection criteria. / Ed. D.