Support Personnel: Attitudes Toward Functions and Training Responsibility

This study was conducted to determine (a) if the heads of counselor education programs agree on what functions are appropriate for support personnel assisting secondary school counselors, and (b) who should take the responsibility for their training. Questionnaire replies were received from 128 (64.0 percent) of the 200 heads of counselor education programs queried. The respondents were asked to examine a list of 17 functions and (a) indicate if they were appropriate, and (b) specify if counselors, counselor educators, or city/state directors should be responsible for training support personnel to perform each appropriate function. There was significant agreement (X², d = .01) among them on both questions. Ten of 17 functions were considered appropriate; the counselor was perceived as having the major responsibility for training. A small segment of the sample (11.7 percent) was engaged in training support personnel.     

Iowa College Students' Attitudes Toward Official English Legislation: An Exploratory Study

In Iowa, overwhelmingly White and monolingual, 11 counties have declared English their official language, and a statewide law has been under consideration by the legislature. Against a backdrop of changing language and racial demographics, why do some Iowans perceive the need for "official English" legislation or English-only workplace rules? Why do others reject such measures? To what extent are the attitudes of Iowans reflective of the national debate on official English laws? To what extent are they grounded in local realities? In an exploratory survey of 745 undergraduate-student Iowans, attitudes toward the need for an official English law and the reasoning behind those opinions are examined. Challenges and opportunities for language educators are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.     

Middle School Student Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Synthetic Biology

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Synthetic biology is a field that leverages design, biology, engineering, and computation to genetically engineer organisms to make usable products...     

School Finance in Iowa

Abstract

This study examined the effect of pupil reading miscues and achievement levels on the prompting decisions of their tutors. Tutors were randomly assigned to high, medium, and low level readers. Subsequent analyses of tutor prompts revealed that the poorer readers received disproportionately more prompts than the better readers. Furthermore, teachers differentially responded to pupil errors on the basis of each miscue’s semantic acceptability. These results suggest that teachers were actively engaged in the process of decision making, and that pupil traits affected teacher behavior and teacher prompting decisions.     

中学生对科学的态度影响因素研究

选取来自城市和农村学校的1546名初一到初三学生作为被试,对初中生科学态度发展的一般特点及影响学生科学态度因素进行研究。结果显示:(1)各年级学生在"对科学的态度"量表各维度上得分存在显著的年级差异,年级越高,对科学的态度越积极;性别差异显著,在科学价值维度上,女生得分高于男生,科学探索及科学学习维度上,男生得分高于女生;城乡差异显著,各维度上城市学生得分均高于农村学生;(2)教材因素是影响学生对科学态度最重要的因素,其次是教师、学生的自我效能感。     

Friendship and Attitudes Toward School Among Children of Two Muslim Communities in Marseille

Immigrants from the Comoros Islands constitute a closely-knit community in Marseille, where they interact in the Quartiers Nord with the North African community, which is larger in number, which arrived generally a generation earlier, and whose children continue to underachieve at school. It is commonly expected that the Comorians will adjust better to school because of their tight communal organization and because of their specific needs for educational achievement. These needs are thought to relate to the money needed to return to the Comoros and to finance their children's marriage ceremonies there. In our study, pupils of Comorian origin in the senior primary school years displayed more positive attitudes toward the academic aspects of schooling than did pupils of North African origin. For both Algerians and Comorians, positive aspects of friendship quality were associated with better attitudes toward school. In-group friendships were more common than friendships with members of other ethnic groups. In-group friendships were of higher quality than friendships between members of different groups. Comorian children whose best friends were from outside their ethnic group were those with more negative attitudes toward school; the reverse applied to Algerians.     

Friendship and Attitudes Toward School Among Children of Two Muslim Communities in Marseille

Immigrants from the Comoros Islands constitute a closely-knit community in Marseille, where they interact in the Quartiers Nord with the North African community, which is larger in number, which arrived generally a generation earlier, and whose children continue to underachieve at school. It is commonly expected that the Comorians will adjust better to school because of their tight communal organization and because of their specific needs for educational achievement. These needs are thought to relate to the money needed to return to the Comoros and to finance their children's marriage ceremonies there. In our study, pupils of Comorian origin in the senior primary school years displayed more positive attitudes toward the academic aspects of schooling than did pupils of North African origin. For both Algerians and Comorians, positive aspects of friendship quality were associated with better attitudes toward school. In-group friendships were more common than friendships with members of other ethnic groups. In-group friendships were of higher quality than friendships between members of different groups. Comorian children whose best friends were from outside their ethnic group were those with more negative attitudes toward school; the reverse applied to Algerians.     

The Multidimensionality of Adolescents' Beliefs About and Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian Peers in School

This study investigated tenth- and twelfth-grade adolescents' ( N = 264) beliefs about homosexuality, their attitudes about gay and lesbian peers in school, and their evaluations of the treatment of gay, lesbian, and gender non-conforming peers. The results revealed differences in adolescents' beliefs about homosexuality and their attitudes toward gay and lesbian peers in school. Further, age-related and context differences in adolescents' attitudes were obtained. The results also revealed age-related difference in adolescents' evaluations of the treatment of gay, lesbian, and gender non-conforming peers. Finally, the results provide some evidence that gender non-conformity and sexuality independently and interdependently impact adolescents' evaluations of the treatment of others. The implications of these results for educators and others interested in creating schools that are safe for all students are discussed.     

A Comparison of Rural Elementary School Teacher Attitudes Toward Three Modes of Distance Education for Science Professional Development

Distance education is a significant topic of discussion among faculty at all levels of education. This study produced evidence regarding the attitudes toward three distance education delivery modes for science professional development. The study involved 94 elementary school teachers who were participating in a professional development project. The three distance education strategies studied were live, interactive television (Live); videotape presentations with live wrap-around discussions (Video); and asynchronous, Web-based sessions with streamed video presentations supported by interaction through discussion boards (Web). A repeated measures design was used to analyze the attitudes of the study participants. Data on the participants’ attitudes toward their distance education involvement were collected through the CTLSilhouette™ instrument.

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A Q-Sort measure of beliefs about abortion

Debate over the availability and use of induced abortion continues in the US. The author introduces a Q-sort procedure for assessing beliefs about abortion and presents results from its application. The measure permits the assessment of reactions to a fuller list of beliefs than has been employed in many previous studies, while being person-centered instead of more variable-centered with regard to the analyses of reactions to the abortion issue. 119 university respondents of mean age 19.6 years in a range of 18-46 years from an introductory psychology class sorted 41 items, derived in part from open-ended responses of a large community sample, into a seven-category forced distribution. 55.5% of the sample was male. Cluster analysis of respondents' sorts yielded two types reflecting pro-life orientations toward the issue and two representing pro- choice orientations. Significant differences were found among the types on eight scales of the California Psychological Inventory, including scales assessing interpersonal effectiveness, intellectual competence, and flexibility. The types did not, however, differ on scales assessing respondents' orientation toward norms. These results demonstrate the strong feasibility and utility of employing the Abortion Beliefs Q-Sort in additional studies on the issue.     

Measuring Teacher Attitudes Toward Instructional Technology: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the TAC and TAT

In this article the authors present a confirmatory factor analysis of the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) and the Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Information Technology (TAT) scales by Christensen and Knezek (1996, 1998) using large samples from three states. The TAC was reduced from 98 items and nine factors to 35 items and eight factors, while maintaining superior psychometric properties. The TAT was reduced from 50 items and five factors to 20 items measuring five factors, similarly maintaining excellent psychometric properties. The authors also developed a combined short form of both instruments using 42 items to measure 11 factors for use in situations where parsimony is critical.     

基于部门利益下的集体决策与投票博弈——兼论人事管理中的集体决策逻辑

部门利益下的集体决策与投票由于影响因素的不同可能会得出许多不同的结果。在建立基于利益相关部门之间、利益相关部门与其他部门之间、利益无关的各个部门之间视角下的假设基础上,讨论了这三种情况下对集体决策与投票的影响模型,分析其在实际运行中的可能性。通过对三种博弈模型的分析与归纳,探讨了公共部门人事管理中的集体决策逻辑。     

Endurance of Undergraduate Attitudes Toward Older Adults

This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate attitudes toward older adults and attitude endurance 3 to 18 months after aging coursework. Survey respondents included 349 students who took an aging elective and 430 comparison students. Aging-elective students indicated more positive attitudes than comparison students. Attitudes did not vary across 3 groups staggered by time elapsed from completing the course until testing (3 to 18 months). 4 variables accounted for the variance in attitudes toward elders at a statistically significant level: majoring in biology, having frequent or occasional contact with unrelated older adults, taking an aging course, and post-course knowledge of aging.     

Attitudes of Elementary Classroom Teachers Toward Mainstreaming

The purpose of this study was to investigate attitudes toward mainstreaming issues of elementary classroom teachers undertaking an introductory course in special education. Subjects were also queried about how they felt P.L. 94‐142 was perceived by other interested groups and indicated their estimates of the manageability of students with special needs within the regular classroom. Findings support the need for comprehensive in‐service training programs designed to modify attitudes of regular teachers.