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Dissertation Information for Brenda H. White

NAME:
- Brenda H. White

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (1980)

ADVISORS:
- E. Blanche Woolls

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Patrick R. Penland
- Margaret M. Kimmel
- Frank B. Sessa
- Roland Barnes

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF ESEA TITLE II FUNDS ON THE PUBLIC SCHOOL MEDIA CENTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA

Abstract: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act had been passed in 1965 with the expectation of increasing educational opportunities for American youth. This study has been undertaken to describe the effect of Title II of the Act on the public school library media centers in Pennsylvania.
Four research questions were posed. The first concerned the infusion of federal aid in the form of ESEA Title II funds and Title IV B funds and its effects on the amount of local funds designated to support media programs. The second concerned the effect of the change from Title II funds to Title IV B funds on spending as reflected in local school district budgets. The third question asked how the provision of Title II funds affected media programs as seen in an expansion of additional staff, additional facilities, additional students served by school libraries. The final research question concerned the development and growth of school media collections.
A sample of 20 school districts was selected from the public school districts of Pennsylvania. The sample was stratified geographically by selecting in each of eight regions. School districts were also typed according to metropolitan or rural nature into four divisions. An attempt was made to include one school district of each type in each region. In some cases this was impossible. Therefore, the sample numbered twenty.
Five data gathering instruments were developed. They were the Library Administration Questionnaire which was based on the original Title II applications submitted by school districts; the Financial Data Summary which was used to collect information from official records of the school districts, the DECO-500; the Superintendents' Interview Schedule, and the Librarians' Interview Schedule.
The data was collected on visits to each of the twenty school districts in the sample. Superintendents, budget managers, and librarians were interviewed. Local records were inspected.
From the data gathered and analyzed, the following findings were drawn. Spending for library resources increased during this time period at a faster rate than spending for salaries or teaching supplies. Superintendents attributed this to ESEA Title II. The numbers of librarians increased during this time period, as did the number of libraries and the size of the collection. Circulation policies were liberalized in some cases because of the improved collections, according to the librarians interviewed. Book collections had increased to an average of 11.02 books per pupil. Audiovisual materials became accessible through central cataloging and housing.
From the above, it can be concluded that ESEA Title II had a demonstrable, positive effect on the development of school libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Several other conclusions can be drawn from the study. First, the inclusion of audiovisual materials in a collection did not guarantee that the library became a media center. Guided use of these materials through the program is necessary for this transformation to occur. Second, the absence or presence of a coordinator for the library program affected the development of the program and the status of the program within the school systems. Third, there is a profound need to systematize the collection of statistics. There is little uniformity of records maintained.

MPACT Scores for Brenda H. White

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:22:20

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Students under Brenda H. White

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None