This study examines the effectiveness of a site-based staff development program as one component of a Chapter I Schoolwide Project. The study utilizes and fully implements an Action/Descriptive research model, a participatory model which implements self-reflective cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The setting of the study is an elementary school in Quincy, Massachusetts with over ninety percent of the children from predominantly white low income families. A large proportion of the children are at-risk. The purpose of the Schoolwide Project is to upgrade the entire educational program of the school. The most important feature of a Schoolwide Project is that Chapter I personnel, as well as educational hardware and software, can be utilized by all children, not only those qualifying for Chapter I remedial services. Other instructional initiatives to enhance the program of at-risk students also were utilized. A review of the "Effective Schools" literature was accomplished in order to determine the essential key ingredients necessary for a staff development program for upgrading the entire educational system. The key ingredients for effective schools from the literature are: Leadership, Environment, Curriculum/Instruction, Teachers and "Total School" ingredients. Reactions to Effective Schools research was also included. The study's purpose was to establish a school-based staff development effort, based upon the "key ingredients" for Effective Schools, for total school improvement. The measurement instruments used in the study included the: Parent Opinion Inventory, Effective School Battery, Measuring Stages of Concern About an Innovation, Open-Ended Stages of Concern Questionnaire, and an Informal Student Survey. The study details the variables of an educational environment and provides suggestions for improving the total educational setting.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-8111 |
| Date | 01 January 1991 |
| Creators | DeCristofaro, Richard |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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