Personnel directors of 42 Fortune 500 companies responded to a questionnaire designed to elicit information on (1) the predominant communication-related job titles in those companies, (2) which of those positions communication majors were qualified to fill, and (3) what academic preparations were most useful for such positions. All respondents…

Specific competencies that practicing sociologists and sociologists in academic settings believe are most needed to prepare students for non-academic careers were identified. A total of 504 questionnaires were sent randomly to members of 5 sub-groups of non-academic and academic sociologists. The response rate was 65.8 percent (315 usable…

This paper presents two propositions: (1) that extensive knowledge of subject matter is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective teaching; and (2) that teacher education is a legitimate professional preparation which should be improved rather than circumvented. Six rationales for the validity of the above propositions, based on…

This study examined the relationship between reading ability and attitude toward reading of 81 undergraduate education students enrolled in either elementary or secondary reading methods courses. Subjects' scores on the Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure indicated a positive attitude toward reading, but subjects' scores on the…

Licensing and certifying boards cannot be effective without a definition of the meaning of competence in psychology, particularly as this concept is used in psychotherapy. Research has shown that reliance on academic credentials to define competence is not the answer. Most definitions of pyschotherapy are too broad and vague, and consensus about…

Conditions of illiteracy and functional illiteracy frustrate the intent of laws like the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) that provide job training and employment opportunities for the economically disadvantaged, unemployed, or underemployed. The Adult Education Act of 1978 should provide the basic educational skills needed by CETA…

According to the 1980-81 edition of the "Occupational Outlook Handbook," the market for graduates of technical communication programs is good and likely to get better during the 1980s, especially in the areas of electronics and computer and environmental science. The first step in setting up a technical communication program at a college or…

A common assumption is that women do not aspire to become public school administrators, but a two-part study in Oregon on women who have actively pursued careers in public school administration contradicts this supposition. The data were collected from questionnaire responses and in-depth interviews. The typical female aspirant in Oregon possesses…

Assessment centers offer a way to solve the problems of validity and reliability in personnel selection. An assessment center conducts tests of administrative skills in which trained assessors observe and record candidates' job-related behaviors and reach a consensus assessment of each candidate's performance. To apply the assessment center model…

Attempting to integrate the papers in this series on the preparation of educational administrators, this paper first reviews the conditions and critical issues that were presented in each paper. The author then proposes four models to describe the way school administrators are selected and trained, and applies these models to the countries and…

This paper describes a university-developed teacher training program that was based on the idea that the regular neighborhood school should accept greater responsibility for teaching children with special educational needs. Various sections of the paper describe the background and philosophy of the program, which was developed from a model of…

This paper points out that students who earn a Ph.D. in English in a conventional literary curriculum are often totally ignorant of linguistics, rhetoric, and current research in the teaching and learning of composition. Yet such knowledge is invaluable for many reasons. Graduate students can become more accurate critics of their own writing, if…

The focus of this descriptive study was on the perceptions of participants in a program for Training Minority-Group School Administrators at the Superintendent Level (STP). The purpose of the study was to identify those administrative skills that program participants perceived to have developed; to identify some opinions of the value of the STP…

A survey of 60 managing editors of daily newspapers was conducted to determine the qualities editors look for in the reporters and copy editors they hire, the specific academic preparation they would like reporters and copy editors to have, and specific problems editors have with their present staff members. This paper describes the methodology of…

This paper describes an instructional unit that prepares students as job seekers. The five-session instructional unit employs a team-teaching approach in which a technical writing instructor stresses format, content, and mechanics, and a counselor emphasizes decision making, intrapersonal communications, and interview techniques. The following…