Smith, Lawrence E.

There is no question that the percentage of women in administrative positions is disproportionate to the number of women who make education their career. That this number is declining is well documented. External factors blamed for this disparity are many; school board prejudices, community attitudes, and the organization of school systems, are but a few. This study is important because it investigates the intrinisic motivation of women. The question considered is, Are women motivated to seek administrative jobs? The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motivation and employment of women in education. The data was collected by giving David Winter's Power Motive test to both sexes of administrators and teachers. Winter's instrument assesses power motivation from stories subjects make up to describe a series of ambiguous pictures. Stories were scored using Winter's scoring system. It was determined that there was no significant difference in the power motive of men and women, whether they were teachers or administrators. There was, however, a very significant difference between the power motive scores of teachers and administrators, with teachers having a higher power motive score.

This study was undertaken in an effort to discover whether or not there is a relationship between sinistrality, or lefthandedness, and right cerebral hemisphere cognitive functions, specifically, divergent thinking. Subjects for the study consisted of a random sample of male and female college students taken from both two-year and four-year institutions. The sample included both sinistral and dextral subjects and it was limited to non-art majors who were tested in non-art courses. The null hypothesis being tested was that no relationship exists between the independent variable, handedness, and the dependent variable, divergent thinking. Using an Analysis of Variance, the null hypothesis was tested. Scores of sinistrals and dextrals were compared which were obtained from tests employing the Minnesota Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance's Picture Construction Task) and the Falletta Test of Divergent Thinking. In all cases, no significant difference was found at a .05 level of confidence. As a result of the findings, several possible conclusions may be considered: (1) There is no relationship between the variables of sinistrality and divergent thinking; (2) The sample size was too small to be a substantial representation of the population; (3) The instruments used were not sensitive enough to measure the degree of divergent thinking of each subject tested; (4) A combination of these three factors may have contributed to the findings. A follow-up study altering one or more of the above mentioned variables may result in a different set of findings.

Procedure. The Ideal Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (ILBDQ) was the instrument used with 516 respondents in this study. The ILBDQ provided an Initiating Structure score and Consideration score for each respondent. Findings. On a statewide basis, among participants, no significant differences in perception were observed at the .05 level of confidence except for high school principals on the Consideration dimension. Also, certain significant differences were observed between some regions and within some regions. Differences were noted by years of academic experience, degree earned, age of respondent, and/or position held. Recommendations. (1) Incorporate variables of administrative level, region, years of experience, degree, and age in the development of principal competencies. (2) Initiate follow-up studies using the same methods to determine the impact of competency training. Include elementary and middle school principals and compare results. (3) Investigate the regions that are most widely divergent and explore the cause(s) of divergence. (4) Initiate a follow-up study of a comparison of the items on the ILBDQ with the Florida principal competencies.

Problem. The purpose of this study was to assess principals and exceptional education teachers of Broward County, Florida, as to their perceptions of the problems in complying with Public Law 94-142. Also of interest was the comparison of the four sets of perceptions that were investigated. Findings. (1) More statistical disagreement than agreement was found among principals and exceptional education teachers in regard to their self perceptions and perceptions of the other group; (2) Principals perceived the following items "difficult" for themselves: (a) evaluating students as soon as possible after referral; (b) providing individual evaluations by a multidisciplinary team; (c) conducting IEP meetings at a time convenient to parents; (3) Exceptional education teachers perceived the following items difficult for themselves: (a) evaluating students as soon as possible after referral; (b) conducting IEP meetings at a time convenient to parents; (4) Principals perceived "lack of funds" as being their biggest obstacle in successfully implementing Public Law 94-142; (5) Exceptional education teachers perceived "class size" to be their biggest obstacle in successfully implementing Public Law 94-142

The purpose of this study was to trace the historical events that influenced the retention of Dillard High school as a functioning four-year comprehensive educational center during the desegregation process in Broward County, Florida. Individuals, organizations and procedures were identified that permitted Dillard to survive as the only original black high school in the county. Nine black community leaders closely identified with Dillard were interviewed and their responses summarized. Much of the black history was of an oral nature since most original documents about Dillard are not now in existence. Desegregation in the 1970s saw the closing of most predominantly black education facilities. The main issue in Broward County was then, and remains today, "where the school bus stops." As a result of this study, it was concluded that: (1) Black citizens of Broward County believed in neighborhood schools in black areas; (2) Busing in Broward County must involve whites and blacks; (3) Dillard was a symbol of black pride; (4) The Dillard alumni, area residents plus important segments of the white community combined efforts to save the school; (5) W. George Allen's lawsuit was a major factor in saving the school; (6) Federal Judge Cabot's decision saved Dillard; (7) Dillard's principal, Mr. Charles B. Morton, provided the leadership to insure racial harmony from 1964 to 1973; (8) A school center that does not actively relate to its community does not grow in excellence and may even cease to exist.

This study was undertaken because of the increased role of the building level administrator in the administration of special education programs at the school level. The essential purposes of the study were to assess the special education competencies of regular elementary, middle, and high school principals or designees, in a school-based managed public school system in Florida, and to locate sources of knowledge/training contributing to the attainment of competencies. As a basis for the study, eight competencies previously delineated by Nevin in Vermont in 1977 were utilized. A portion of the present study sought to validate the eight competencies as essential for implementation of special education programs in Florida. A predominantly closed form type questionnaire was used to obtain the following data for each of the eight competencies: (1) determination of essential vs. non-essential, (2) level of possession of the competency (level 0 = no competency, level 1 = level of awareness, level 2 = level of understanding, level 3 = level of mastery or application), and (3) sources of knowledge/training in the past contributing to competencies possessed and desirable sources of knowledge/training for further training on competencies not yet mastered. Sources included university coursework, in-service by the district, special conferences, on the job experience, and reading professional literature. Major findings were that most respondents: (1) considered all eight competencies to be essential, (2) have not mastered all eight competencies but possessed each to a degree of understanding, and (3) obtained knowledge/training most often from on the job experience and wished to receive further training by in-service provided by the district. Competencies not mastered tended to be those requiring specific knowledge in special education involving due process, student records, federal and state mandates, programming policies, and staff functions/qualifications. Several implications relative to competency status, pre-service and in-service training, and future research with building level administrators are discussed.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the positive contributions of community social agencies and institutions outside the home and school on the literacy and academic success of black youth members. Recent assessment at the State's level indicates that 37 percent of the state's 11th graders failed Part II of the Florida State Student Assessment Test (formerly termed the Functional Literacy Test) during the Fall of 1977. Evaluation of the Fall, 1978, testing revealed that 26 percent of the State's 11th graders failed to show mastery of skills necessary to be considered functionally literate. A closer exploration of these statistics revealed that a particular segment of the 11th graders--specifically, black youth--performed in a reverse order: 78 percent of black 11th graders failed in the Fall of 1977, and 61 percent failed again during the Fall of 1978. This data indicated that black students at the 11th grade level failed twice as often as their white counterparts. The Fall of 1979 testing showed some gain on the part of all 11th graders, however, black 11th graders continue to fail at a disproportionate rate. The sample in this study was drawn from the four high schools situated in the north and central-mainland areas of Brevard County, Florida. The sample includes only those black students who had attempted the State Student Assessment Program during their residency in Brevard County, Florida. There currently is no well-defined methodology relating to the informal learning of children. This study attempted to develop a model which scaled a child's participation in activities which may foster informal learning. Scaled participating was based of membership, office held, committee chaired, and the number of hours per week of involvement in community-based activities. The data compiled and analyzed for the subject population yielded a correlation between community institutional participation and demonstrated literacy on the State Student Assessment Test. The scores were tabulated for each respondent. The data were transmitted to IBM computer cards and submitted for statistical analyses through the use of the Florida Atlantic University's Computer Center. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to compute Pearson's product-moment Correlation, in addition the Fisher t-test was used to verify the level of significance in deciding to reject or accept the research hypothesis at the .05 level of confidence. Conclusions and Recommendation. In testing the hypothesis, there were no significant differences at the .05 level of significance in students who participated in community institutions' activities and those students having little or no participation in community institutions' sponsored activities. Based on the statistical analysis of the responses, the previously stated hypothesis should be rejected. However, a very interesting phenomenon appears when females who participated in headstart programs are compared with females who had not participated in the headstart programs. The female students with headstart exposure experienced a higher degree of success in passing the SSAT. There was not a significant difference in the achievement of black male students with headstart exposure as compared with the black male students without headstart exposure. It is concluded from the results of these analyses that a variety of variables, outside of the home and school, do play a role in the general literacy of our youth. If educational systems are to become more effective, all segments of the community must be provided ways to become involved in the creation of proper learning environments. It is recommended that a replication of this study be made utilizing a large urban district. It is also recommended that replication of this study be made using the white counterpart to this study.

In this dissertation three studies were implemented to investigate the differences in distributive justice development between lower and middle class children. In Study 1, conducted on all white children in a rural Florida school, twenty-eight middle and twenty-eight lower class children from kindergarten and third grades were given the Distributive Justice Scale (DJS) and the vocabulary section of the Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The results of this study showed that regardless of grade level, the lower class lagged behind the middle class in distributive justice development. There were not significant differences found between the social classes in verbal ability. Since Study 1 was the first study to investigate this topic, it was thought necessary to replicate the findings in a different part of the country on a different population. Study 2 was conducted on all black children from an inner-city Midwestern school. Thirty-two middle and thirty-two lower class children from kindergarten and third grade were given the above measures. A new dimension was added to Study 2 in that a sociometric peer-rating scale was given to investigate the interactional pattern between the social classes. The distributive justice and verbal ability results replicated Study 1. The peer ratings showed that the lower class kindergarten children segregate themselves, while third grade children do not. The findings also showed that in both grade levels, the lower class children were chosen significantly more often for negative social characteristics. Study 3 was conducted in the same school as Study 1, the following school year, on different children. Study 3 was concerned with replicating the distributive justice results in a time-sequential research design. This study was also concerned with replicating the sociometric results of Study 2 in a different part of the country on a different population. In Study 3, twenty-eight middle and twenty-eight lower class children from kindergarten and third grade were administered the three previously mentioned instruments. The distributive justice and vocabulary results replicated Studies 1 and 2. The sociometric results showed that middle class and lower class children chose in the same way. Lower class children were consistently chosen for negative social characteristics, while middle class children were chosen for the positive social characteristics. A social reality and social dominance hypothesis are presented and discussed to explain this phenomenon. Implications for future research are presented and discussed.

One of the key aspects of any administrative program
is the forwarding of appropriate information to personnel who
must use that information in the context of their work. The
historical study provides the educational administrator with
an instrument which will assist him in considering an information
management concept, the selective dissemination of
information (SDI). So that the educational administrator may
judge whether SDI is suitable for his own unique purposes, an
overview is given of SDI's various components, its development,
its application in a myriad of diversified fields, its trends,
and its issues. Since SDI's formalization, certain trends have emerged
in its use. These trends have included its expansion into
diverse fields, its coping with a proliferation of machine
readable data bases, an increase in subscriberships to SDI
systems, an increase on the use of group profiles by researchers,
the use of SDI in information networks, and the use
of microforms in SDI systems. There have been issues raised in the use of SDI, issues
which the educational administrator should be familiar with in
determining the applicability of SDI to his unique situation.
The issues explored relate to cost evaluation, quality evaluation,
user evaluation, data base problems, and limitations
due to copyright law.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors
serving as deterrents to deviant school behavior as perceived by students. Emphasis was placed on the identification
of factors students perceived as:
1. Having prevented non-deviant students from deviating
from the school's code of conduct
2. Deterrents which may have prevented deviant students
from violating the school's code of conduct
Questions explored and answered in this study
were:
1. How do middle school students perceive deterrents for
deviant school behavior?
2. How do parents', teachers', and administrators' efforts
affect student school behavior?
3. What can schools do in the area of deterring deviant
behavior?
4. What effect, if any, do the fa mil y and/or significant
others have on deterring deviant behavior of students?
5. What can students do in the area cf helping themselves
and others to practice good behavior?
6. What are some of the causes of deviant school behavior
and delinquency?
Conclusions: 1. Data from this study revealed that middle
school students believe schools can deter deviant behavior
by the practical application of good school-home communication, group counseling, good teaching, teacher-student conferences,
individual counseling, and extra-curricular activities
2. Deviant school behavior is indicative of many
factors: curriculum, teacher performance, administrative
performance, horne conditions, emotional disabilities,
learning disabilities, in-school management, and extracurricular
activities