This study investigated the relationship of job satisfaction and organizational and religious commitment among full time workers at Akra University (a pseudonym) based on a number of demographic factors. Analysis of variance using the Games-Howell procedure revealed that workers who were older than age 46 years had higher job satisfaction and organizational and religious commitment than younger employees. It was also noted that workers holding doctoral degrees had higher levels of job satisfaction and religious commitment than individuals with a high school diploma only. It was evident that the longer employees stayed at this institution, the higher the levels of organizational commitment and extrinsic job satisfaction, and administrators and sector managers had higher levels of intrinsic job satisfaction and religious commitment than those in other occupational areas.

No abstract

A needs analysis conducted as part of the foundation-based education (FBE) innovation on the island territory of Sint Maarten indicated the need for additional training of early primary teachers (PK-2) in mathematics and science education. Seven in-service workshops, designed around the Joyce-Showers' Training Model, were implemented over the course of an academic year. Participants included teachers from all five school types: Adventist, Catholic, Methodist, Christian non-denominational, and public schools. Pre-and post-measures were collected via tests given the teachers. Results showed that teachers demonstrated real gains in all domains that were tested: mathematics content, science content, mathematics and science methods, and FBE methods. Additionally, the number of teachers reaching the minimum competency score increased dramatically. While differences in scores existed by school type on the diagnostic assessment, these differences were smaller on the post-treatment assessment measure. The study results show the use of the Joyce-Showers' Training Model for teacher development can work in a specific Caribbean context. Results also support the idea that systemic innovation is possible in Sint Maarten with careful planning and appropriately designed support.

No abstract

Problem. Science education has long been a great concern in the United States, where less than one-third of the students perform at or above the proficient level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of the science program in a selected Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist school system. Specifically, this study investigated the perceptions of teachers and students regarding the extent to which the science program meets the criteria of the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st century and to what extent these criteria are related to academic performance as indicated by Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) science scores. Method. Two questionnaires designed by the researcher were used to get responses from 424 students in seventh and eighth grades and 68 teachers to see how this school system compares to the criteria of National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st century. Three classroom configurations were investigated in this study, namely: (a) multi grade, (b) two-grade, and (c) single-grade. Crosstabulation, one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, and linear regression were used to analyze the four research questions of this study. Results. The single-grade classroom configuration received a better rating for the science criteria (p < 0.01), and students from single-grade performed significantly better than two-grade/ multi grade (p < 0.01) classroom configurations on their science achievement (ITBS). There were significant relationships among science achievement and the factors that measured the criteria of the National Commission for Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st century. Conclusions. The differences in teaching practices explained the discrepancies in the three classroom configurations. Schools can therefore develop policies and strategies to improve the practices in the teaching and learning process in science education that were identified as being deficient by the criteria of National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st century.