The primary purpose of this study was to identify variables that influence teachers' commitment and job satisfaction among both general and special educators. A secondary purpose was to determine the extent to which these commitment and satisfaction variables influence teachers' intent to stay in teaching. A questionnaire using primarily extant measures was sent to a random sample of 558 special educators and 589 general educators in Virginia. Completed questionnaires were received from 83% of both samples. Crossvalidated regression results suggest that workrelated variables, such as leadership support, role conflict, role ambiguity, and stress, are better predictors of commitment and job satisfaction than are demographic variables. Generally, the findings were similar for general and special educators. Implications for educational agencies are addressed.

primary reasons cited for leaving special education suggest that teachers transfer from special to general education because of administrative factors and the stress involved in working with special education students. Implications for educational agencies are addressed.

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO IDENTIFY SPECIAL AND GENERAL TEACHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF PRINCIPAL SUPPORT. TEACHERS INDICATED THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY RECEIVED VARIOUS TYPES OF SUPPORT AS WELL AS THE IMPORTANCE OF EACH TYPE OF SUPPORT. WE ALSO INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED PRINCIPAL SUPPORT ON TEACHER STRESS AND PERSONAL HEALTH, JOB SATISFACTION, SCHOOL COMMITMENT, AND INTENT TO STAY IN TEACHING. QUESTIONNAIRES INCLUDING MEASURES OF SUPPORT, STRESS, JOB SATISFACTION, SCHOOL COMMITMENT, PERSONAL HEALTH, AND INTENT TO STAY WERE RECEIVED FROM 385 SPECIAL AND 313 GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN VIRGINIA. GENERALLY, RATINGS OF SUPPORT WERE SIMILAR FOR GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATORS. CROSS-VALIDATED REGRESSION RESULTS INDICATE THAT WORK-RELATED VARIABLES ARE BETTER PREDICTORS OF EXTENT OF SUPPORT THAN ARE DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES. FURTHER, SPECIFIC TYPES OF SUPPORT ARE SIGNIFICANT PREDICTORS OF JOB SATISFACTION, SCHOOL COMMITMENT, AND PERSONAL HEALTH.

No abstract

Minimum standards were established for the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) area examinations in mathematics and in elementary education by independent panels of teacher educators who had been instructed in the use of either the Angoff, Nedelsky, or Jaeger procedures. Of these three procedures, only the Jaeger method requires that normative data be provided to the judges when evaluating the items. However, it was of interest to study the effect such information would have upon the standards obtained using the other two methods. Therefore, the design incorporated three sequential review sessions with the level of normative information different for each. A three‐factor ANOVA revealed significant main effects for methods and sessions but not for subject area. None of the interactions was significant. The anticipated failure rates, the psychometric characteristics of the ratings, and other factors suggest that the Angoff procedure, as modified during the second session of this study, yields the most defensible standards for the NTE area examinations.