This study investigated the implementation and impact of Reading First programs in 8 elementary schools across the state of Mississippi. The study assessed how principals, literacy coaches, and kindergarten through third grade teachers perceived the implementation of the Reading First program at their respective schools. Data from these three groups of research participants were analyzed to determine if there were differences in perceptions regarding program implementation. This study also examined if there was a relationship between participants’ judgment about implementation and second and third grade students reading scores on the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT). This study employed descriptive, survey, causal-comparative, and correlational research. Descriptive data were used to describe research participants’ gender, years of professional experience, highest degree held, and type of license held. Survey data were used to determine the perceptions of principals, literacy coaches, and teachers regarding the implementation fidelity of the Reading First program at their respective schools. An analysis of variance was used to determine if there were differences in the perceptions of the groups. Correlational statistics were used to analyze the possible existence of a relationship between principals’, literacy coaches’, and teachers’ perceptions about implementation and second and third grade students’ MCT reading scores. The study found that principals and literacy coaches perceived that the Reading First program was being fully implemented, but teachers believed that the program was being moderately implemented. There were no significant differences between the perceptions of principals, literacy coaches, and teachers. However, the study did reveal that principals, literacy coaches, and teachers had similar ratings regarding the implementation of specific Reading First program components. There was no correlation between perceived implementation fidelity of the Reading First program and students reading test scores on the MCT. Survey results revealed that most schools had fully implemented: (a) the uninterrupted, 90 minute reading block, (b) the 5 core elements of reading, (c) instructional strategies, and (d) support for struggling readers. Additionally, survey results indicated that schools need to strive toward fully implementing: (a) appropriate assessment strategies, (b) professional development activities that focus on reading instructional content and (c) instructional support activities.

Research into the interrelationship between firm strategy and firm performance is fairly common. Not as common is the examination of firm behaviors as an intermediate construct between strategy and performance. Additionally, the construct of adaptability, found in previous research to be highly correlated with performance, has been inadequately examined as an important macro-level construct. This study develops a theoretical model of the interrelationships among these variables and individually tests each of the links in that model with data drawn from the hosiery industry and its experience with the adoption of Electronic Commerce. The use of the Strategic Orientation of Business Enterprises (STROBE) construct (Venkatraman, 1989a) and a rigorous development of an adaptability index are important components of this research. The STROBE construct has been used only twice before for comparative analysis of firm characteristics. Specification of adaptability has been inconsistent and non-rigorous in past research. Specifically, the study model hypothesizes relationships between (1) strategic orientation and adaptability, (2) strategic orientation and firm performance, (3) adaptability and firm performance, (4) strategic orientation, adaptability and the adoption of Electronic Commerce, and (5) the adoption of Electronic Commerce and performance. To assess the model a field study of executives and managers from twenty-one firms in the sock segment of the hosiery industry was conducted. Results of the study point to several important conclusions. STROBE appears to be a useful strategic construct with which to compare firms in an industry and to identify valid strategic groups. Adaptability was found to be insignificantly correlated with any individual STROBE dimension and a potentially useful managerial variable. Additionally, as in past research, adaptability is correlated with general measures of firm performance. Although the adoption of Electronic Commerce appears to be related to specific indicators of firm performance, the interrelationship among strategic orientation, adaptability, and the adoption of Electronic Commerce yielded ambiguous results. Further research is indicated to more clearly sort out these complex relationships. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a classroom observation inventory as a formative program implementation tool. This formative study of a district's primary (kindergarten through second grade) literacy program implementation was conducted in an effort to provide information that will improve and hopefully strengthen the program and serve as a tool for other districts that are implementing similar programs. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act by Congress in 2002 (Public Law 107-110) signaled the beginning of a renewed emphasis on the impact of educational programs, specifically literacy instruction and assessment. All states that accept NCLB monies must create standards and design an assessment system that will measure adequate yearly progress (AYP) for all students, with the goal of all students being proficient in reading by the 2014 fiscal year. In an effort to meet this federal mandate, school districts will continue to pour even more money into programs that promise to escalate the literacy achievement of all students. The general concepts of program evaluation are reviewed as they relate to the context of this study as well as several studies that have been designed to determine the effective components of specific literacy programs that focus instruction and ultimately improve student achievement. The classroom observation tool that was used in this study, while unobtrusive, is highly structured with protocols for recording specific attributes focused around five domains of effective literacy instruction. A quantitative rating for each item on the instrument was assigned. Results of the observation are reported using descriptive and inferential statistics that compare the observation instrument elements by grade level and school type within each of the instrument's domains. / Ed. D.

This research study provides a conceptual framework to understand how public managers strategically engage ambiguity and translate the complexity associated with ambiguity to manageable objectives to control complex work within federal programs. A central assumption for this study is that ambiguity is an organizational reality due to the social nature of administrative systems, influencing how managers approach and understand problem sets. This research study demonstrates the impact of management strategies in combating organizational ambiguity, at a strategic level, as well as mitigating and reducing uncertainty at more tactical levels of an organization. Theoretically, this study engages the current divide between organizational theory and public management scholarship by providing an empirical perspective on the management and execution of a key national security program. Through examination of the Container Security Initiative (CSI) program within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP), this research explores how ambiguity and uncertainty, within bureaucratic settings, is managed on an ongoing basis in the pursuit of defined goals and objectives. Examination of how public managers strategically engage ambiguity and implementation pressures, which manifest as a result of systemic external and internal pressures, to translate complexity associated with the ambiguity into manageable program objectives, provides valuable insight into the impact of managerial processes within public organizations. Through this managerial process and by setting priorities and objectives, public managers decompose and translate ambiguity and complexity in order to more actively and effectively utilize strategies and resources in support of those defined objectives. Central to the translation process is managing the interface between the strategic and tactical dimensions of programs, through goal setting and priority definition, enabling the execution of key program activities and operations. This study's findings build upon existing research that examines the role of management within public organizations, as well as challenges several assumptions within the extant literature regarding the influence and consequences of ambiguity within public organizations. Addressing the need to empirically demonstrate how management matters, this research emphasizes the role public managers play in actively engaging and managing organizational and program complexity in order to accomplish the objectives of public bureaucracies. / Ph. D.

Performance measurement (PM) systems are commonly known for both their potential to enable significant improvement in organizational performance and success as well as the difficulty of actually obtaining these results. A review of the literature suggests that most applications of PM systems prove to be less effective than the design suggests or, in some cases, may fail to be institutionalized. While there have been many recent advancements in this area, the focus from researchers has been primarily on the design and use of these systems. More recent research suggests that the problem with these systems may be the execution and implementation of the system rather than the design. In response, researchers have investigated both enablers and barriers (more generally referred to as success factors) for PM systems. They generally assert that being aware of these factors and attempting to mitigate their effects increases the likelihood of system success and enables practitioners to realize the full potential benefit from these systems. While significant research has been conducted in this area, review of the literature suggests that there is little consistency among the studies with no consensus among researchers concerning terminology or definitions of factors. Analysis of the published literature suggests that this area is at a relatively early stage of maturity with many significant opportunities for further advancement of the research area. In this work, the existing published literature was synthesized and a comprehensive set of 29 potential success factors was identified, along with corresponding definitions. In addition, five distinct dimensions of PM implementation success were identified from the literature synthesis. These literature review results were used to design a survey questionnaire to assess actual organizational practice in an empirical field study. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to refine the constructs corresponding to potential success factors and implementation success outcomes. The resulting final variables were investigated using regression analysis to identify the factors most strongly associated with each dimension of implementation success. / Ph. D.

A key purpose of federal job training policy is to ensure that the workforce has the skills necessary to obtain and retain gainful employment. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare key elements of Virginia’s fourteen service delivery area (SDA) plans in order to determine how they would deliver programs to achieve the stated purpose of JTPA Title II-A, which targets disadvantaged adults. In addition, the plans were evaluated as to their potential to guide successful program implementation. The plans were reviewed to describe and analyze who is trained, how they are trained, and what objectives the plans establish. The plans were ranked as to their fulfillment of eight criteria drawn from JTPA studies on successful program strategies and from education program planning literature. Though the plans provided basic descriptions of SDA efforts to train disadvantaged adults, they did not reflect full use of successful strategies or education program planning techniques, especially in the areas of linking training to the local labor market and using overall evaluation. The SDAs did not use the plans to distinguish their local level activities, opting most often to meet minimal compliance with plan guidelines as to the information provided. The individual being trained is underrepresented in most of the plans. A few plans did meet many of the criteria and demonstrated how these strategies and planning tools can be reflected at this early stage of program implementation. The plan preparation guidelines themselves were found to be a factor in the limitations of the plans. Changes in policy requiring plans to better detail their programs could enhance their effectiveness as planning tools. / Master of Science

No

This dissertation uses theoretical and empirical tools to answer applied questions of design with an emphasis on issues relating to safety and crime. The first essay incorporates safety in implementation theory and studies when and how safe mechanisms can be designed to obtain socially desirable outcomes. I provide general conditions under which a social choice rule can be implemented using safe mechanisms. The second essay is an empirical study of how criminals respond to changing profitability of crime, a question that informs the policy debate on the most effective crime fighting methods. I find that the price elasticity of theft is about 1 in the short term and increases to about 1.2 over a seven-month horizon, suggesting that policies that directly affect crime profitability, such as policies that shut down black markets or those that reduce demand for illegal goods, can be relatively effective. The third essay shows that any standard implementation problem can be formulated as a question about the existence of a graph that solves a graph coloring problem, establishing a connection between implementation theory and graph theory. More generally, an implementation problem can be viewed as a constraint satisfaction problem, and I propose an algorithm to design simple mechanisms to solve arbitrary implementation problems. / text

In 2012, federal legislation introduced a requirement for formal transportation asset management (TAM) in transportation agencies. The law specifically requires agencies to develop TAM plans and implement TAM programs in their decision-making processes. The history of national policy development for (TAM) and research in policy implementation and organizational theory have shown that program sustainment is not easily achieved. Often, agencies can respond to this kind of legislative mandate with ineffective efforts to achieve legitimacy that reduce the likelihood for the program to be sustained in the long-term. This presents a challenge because without sustainment, the benefits of TAM, which are mostly long-term, may not be fully realized. The objective of this work was to develop a conceptual framework to guide transportation agencies to review their TAM implementation practices and identify opportunities to enhance long-term program sustainment. The conceptual basis for the framework comes from a synthesis of transportation, policy and program implementation, and change management literature, supported by insight from a panel of practitioner and academic experts. The TAM Implementation Review Framework (TIRF) incorporates seven themes of implementation factors that can promote sustainment of TAM practices impacting the social, organizational, and programmatic elements of implementation. The TIRF was applied in case studies to review the TAM implementation processes of three Departments of Transportation (DOTs) resulting in different kinds of information on how implementation activities address factors related to program sustainment. These results can steer future implementation activities in DOTs towards increased probabilities of achieving long-term program sustainment. The primary contributions of this work lie in the development of the conceptual framework and approach to enhance TAM implementation by emphasizing the people and organizational elements of TAM, alongside with the technical. In practice, the TIRF offers agencies a review and planning tool to support TAM implementation decision making and to promote program sustainment. The output is being proposed as a foundational element in the development of an evidence-based catalog of TAM implementation strategies. This can facilitate inter-agency knowledge sharing by providing a platform for systematic documentation of implementation experiences to support broader adoption of strategies that can contribute to increased program sustainment.

ABSTRACT The increasingly competitive nature of the manufacturing industry has forced manufacturers to examine alternatives to traditional management philosophies. Although lean's success had been proven it was not uncommon for companies that opt to implement lean concepts to meet with mixed results and sometimes even outright failure. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between organizational characteristics and issues associated with lean implementation. The study identified the following organizational characteristics (a) organizational leadership, (b) organizational culture, and (c) organizational change and examined the role each played in lean implementation efforts. The study also looked at sixteen individual (d) intrinsic organizational characteristics to determine the extent to which each impacted lean implementation efforts. The study utilized both qualitative and quantitative research tools. The qualitative component utilized both document analysis and interviews. The interviews were conducted with area business leaders who were members of the Department of Technology's Industrial Advisory Committee at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The quantitative component utilized a separate on-line survey that was developed and administered to members of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. Results indicated highly capable leadership was the number one indicator of success for organizations that made the transition to lean. Other key factors included communication channels with an effective feedback system, the development of collaborative relationships between management and employees, being well versed in the practice of change management, and understanding how to effect change of cultural mores within an organization. The implications of understanding how the organizational characteristics discussed in the study affected lean implementation empowered organizations to effect change more successfully. The goal of implementing lean successfully required much more than a step by step process of implementing the lean tools in a particular order. It required a broad understanding of the things which cannot be seen; things such as, what constitutes highly capable leadership, knowing how to change the mores of organizational culture, and understanding how to overcome the barriers to successful change management. Understanding these complex relationships provided the basis upon which to advance lean implementation theory where it had been only marginally successful.