| Texas middle and junior high schools implement the Odyssey of the Mind School Program in a wide number of settings. OM prepares students by means of divergent-thinking techniques, coach facilitation, and teamwork to solve long-term problems in order to develop creative problem-solving abilities. The purpose of the study was to describe the program implementation at three points of interaction: administrators, OM coaches, and team members. Three separate surveys addressed specific features of the program. The principal's survey focused on data collection related to the extent of the program, funding, staffing, use of facilities, participation in competition, and instructional framework. The OM coaches' survey addressed team size, selection, gender participation, meeting configuration, the coach's role, training, and needs, and perceptions about how the program was regarded by administrators, parents, and students. The team members' survey addressed long-term problem selection, decision-making and problem-solving strategies, individual skills, use of technology, involvement in other school and community activities, and perceptions of how team members and non-team members in the school regarded OM.; The majority of responding coaches and OM team members perceived that OM was regarded as a G/T program by administrators, parents, and those students who were not actively involved. The majority of administrators perceived OM as an extracurricular activity that attracted students looking for a challenge. The majority of coaches and team members reported that friendship and peer group identity attracted students to OM. The majority of responding principals reported that their schools took part in the competition sponsored by the OM Association, and coaches perceived this competition as a element of the program that motivated team members.; Approximately half of the responding teams had chosen one of the two long-term problems that emphasized skills in the area of fine arts. Teams chose the other three long-term problems that focused on skills related to engineering, mechanics, and invention less frequently and regarded them as difficult. Recommendations for further study included further examination of metacognitive coaching, trial and error processing as it applies to creative problem solving, and comparisons with other programs that offer academic competition. |
