Browsing by Author "Brewster, Thomas M."
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- The Attitudes of School Principals Toward the Inclusion of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder in General Education Setting: Virginia Superintendent's Region 7Workman, April Michelle (Virginia Tech, 2016-07-21)The placement of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the inclusive general education setting has become a challenging task for public school principals. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify and measure the attitudes of principals and assistant principals toward the inclusion of students with ASD in a rural region of Virginia. One hundred and twenty five participants across Superintendents Region seven of Virginia completed the Principals Autism Inclusion Survey (PAIS). Data were collected and analyzed using descriptive, correlational, and multivariate analysis of variance. The overall results conclude that principals have a very neutral attitude toward students with ASD. However, they do tend to favor a more inclusive placement for these students within their schools. Additionally, the challenges faced by principals in rural schools do not seem to impact their attitude toward the students with ASD in their buildings.
- An Historical Coal Mining Community and Its School: A Study of Pocahontas High School, 1908-1991Brewster, Thomas M. (Virginia Tech, 2000-10-27)Pocahontas High School, the smallest of four Tazewell County high schools, is presently located in the historic town of Pocahontas, Virginia. From the school's establishment in 1908 until 1955, the high school was located at the top of Water Street within the town limits. In 1955, students were moved to a new building at its present site just inside the town's corporate limits. The school today serves the communities of Abbs Valley, Boissevain, and the Town of Pocahontas, Virginia. This study included an examination of the role of the school in the mining community, and the relationship between the coal company and the school. Thus, the researcher reviewed literature-surrounding life in mining industrial towns to determine whether Pocahontas conformed to the conventional interpretations of such mining-industrial communities. The researcher also considered the life of the school and community following the cessation of mining operations in Pocahontas. An examination of the reasons for the school having remained open despite declining enrollment and the importance of the school to its communities was examined through the eyes of local community leaders, residents, and graduates of Pocahontas High School. This study employed conventional historical research methods in order to document the history of Pocahontas High School. The data collected from documents and interviews were handled qualitatively, with some data appearing in the form of numbers and graphs. Data gathered for this study were derived from both primary and secondary sources. This study used written, pictorial, and oral sources. Oral materials included oral history interviews with local historians, public officials and individuals involved with Pocahontas High School during the period of study. Triangulation verification techniques were used to accurately describe the impact of coal mining and the closing of the mine on the development, growth, and decline of the school and community.
- Historical Study of Burke's Garden High School: 1915 to 1960Workman, Eric R. Sr. (Virginia Tech, 2012-06-27)Burke's Garden High School was a small school established in 1915 that was located in a fertile farming community in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. The uniqueness of the geography of the area promoted a communal-based society whose citizens worked together for educational prosperity. This historical study documents the establishment of public education in Virginia, the demand for a public school in Burke's Garden, the establishment, operation, and closing of the school, as well as identifies the two career and technical education programs offered at the school, agricultural and home economics education. The remoteness of the community presented challenges to operating a school. Issues such as maintaining student enrollment numbers as well as qualified teachers required the school system and the community to work with neighboring communities for the benefit of the school and community. The practice of boarding students and teachers was employed to increase the number of students as well as to provide additional support for teachers. Eventually, due to improved transportation methods, construction of a new high school in the neighboring community of Tazewell, Virginia, and the modernization of the farming industry, there were fewer children in Burke's Garden, which led to the closing of the high school in 1960. Burke's Garden High School was one of five high schools operated in Tazewell County Public Schools from 1915 to 1960. Tazewell County, Virginia, has two distinct areas of economic dominance, the mining of coal and the production of agricultural products. Two historical studies of public schools in Tazewell County outline the relationship between specific communities and their schools: A Historic Coal Mining Community and Its School: A Study of Pocahontas High School 1908-1991, by Thomas Brewster (2000) and A Coal Camp and Its Classroom: A Historical Study of a Virginia Coal Camp and Its School 1888-1987, by Terry Mullins (1996). The two schools in these studies were both located in coal mining communities compared to Burke's Garden High School that was located in the agricultural section of Tazewell County.
- Stages of Concern in the Implementation of the Virginia Credentialing Initiative in Rural Southwestern VirginiaStacy, Christopher B. (Virginia Tech, 2012-07-02)The purpose of this study was to describe the needs and concerns regarding the Virginia Credentialing Initiative (VCI) of career and technical education (CTE) stakeholders in rural southwestern Virginia. These stakeholders included central office CTE administrators, high school principals, guidance counselors, and high school CTE teachers. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire (George, Hall, & Stiegelbauer, 2008) was sent to 355 participants with 260 responding for a return rate of 73%. All of the respondents were employed in Superintendents' Region Seven. There are seven Stages of Concern: 0 Unconcerned, 1 Informational, 2 Personal, 3 Management, 4 Consequence, 5 Collaboration, and 6 Refocusing. Results revealed that when categorized by occupational areas, central office CTE administrators and teachers had primary concerns that ranged from Unconcerned to Personal. Guidance counselors had primary concerns that ranged from Unconcerned to Informational. High school principals had primary concerns that ranged from Unconcerned to Personal. All groups had lowest concern levels at the Consequence and Refocusing stages. Results for each group varied slightly when the number of years of experience was used as a reporting category. The primary level of concern was at the Unconcerned stage for each group when the respondents had 5 or fewer years of experience. CTE teacher groups were also categorized by subject area as those with long-standing licensing history (cosmetology, nursing, welding) and those newer to credentialing (agriculture, business, family and consumer sciences, marketing). The fields of nursing and welding had primary concerns at the Unconcerned level, while those in the agriculture, business, cosmetology, family and consumer sciences, and marketing subject areas peaked at the Personal level. Further research is recommended in relation to CTE stakeholder concerns and the implementation and use of the VCI. The implementation of new state legislation will affect CTE stakeholders as they adapt to the new graduation requirements for students pursuing a standard diploma. It is also recommended that qualitative research be conducted to ascertain specific avenues for addressing stakeholder needs and concerns, such as professional development.