The purpose of the study was to develop a model of strategic planning which was fitted to the specifics of the planning need of public schools. In order to develop such a model certain questions were addressed:1. What administrative procedures are suggested prior to the initiation of a formal strategic process in a public school district?2. What school district organizational structure facilitates a strategic planning process?3. What are the mayor variables that should be included in a strategic planning process for public schools?4. What information is included in a strategic planning document and what format is suggested for such a plan?5. What procedural methods can be used in the public school district to transfer a strategic plan into strategic action?6. What factors tend to restrict the use of a strategic planning process?Significance of the StudyThe significance of the study was based on the the factor of accelerating change in today`s environment with the resulting impacts on the realm of public education. While the public school systems are not competitive in the same essence as are businesses, school districts are in constant competition for resources and the maintenance of educational goals which will assist the United States in maintaining a competitive status in the global environment.The above cited challenges require tools for planning that go beyond the traditional introspection of long-range planning or the programming, planning and budgeting system (PPBS). The required tools must embrace the total environment and those forces therein that impact on the pursuit of elementary and secondary schooling by the U. S. populace.Shirley (1981, p. 1) concluded that most planning guides stop short of full paradigm development. That author also indicated that the non-profit sector represents a new and virtually untapped area for research and writing in strategic planning. The absence of published articles and only one book on strategic planning for public schools sustains Shirley's position.If public school superintendents and district school boards were to be influential in meeting the opportunities and threats of the future environment, the need for tools to assess and plan for those enterprises was imperative. The development of a strategic planning model for public schools could provide such a tool.Limitations of the StudyThe limitations of this study were:1. The analysis and recommendations were based on limited research related to strategic planning for public school administration.2. The study was limited to analysis of selected strategic planning models used in private profit and non-profit environments with a resulting new model tailored for the public school situation.3. The new model was developed using the concepts of strategic planning in the private and non-profit sectors. Components were refined to consider the public school environment with a new archetype. A panel of experts in the fields of strategic planning and public school administration were used to verify the appropriateness of the new model and its various components.4. The model's usefulness was restricted to use in planning for public educational institutions.5. A field test of this model was beyond the scope of this research.Definition of TermsThe following terms were applied and used throughout this study to insure clarity and consistency (Lewis, 1983).Problem-solving planning. This type of planning is of short duration (one to two months) and is used to restore performance back to a routine level. (p. 9)Operational planning. This type of planning is of a duration of up to one year and is used to improve on routine performance or to reach an aspirational performance level. (p. 9)Long-range planning. This type of planning is of a longer duration of three to five years and is used to determine performance gaps and resources needed to remedy these gaps. A prime characteristic of this type of planning is its focus on the internal or microenvironment. (p. 11)Strategic planning. This type of planning is of longer duration usually three to ten years and is used to improve performance in order to reach the mission and educational goals of the school district. A prime characteristic of this type planning is the recognition of both the internal or microenvironment and the external or macroenvironment in the planning process. (p. 10)Critical analysis. The role of the critical analysis is to identify, analyze, and evaluate the key trends, factors, forces, and phenomena having a potential impact on the formulation and implementation of the long-range goals and strategies. (p. 35)MethodThe model was developed using the following procedures:1. A comprehensive review of selected literature in the field of strategic management was conducted. Findings from this review were analyzed to provide a basis for the development of an initial strategic planning model for specific application to public school systems.2. The initial model was developed and presented to the doctoral committee of the researcher for review and recommendations.3. A working draft of the revised model was presented individually to a panel of public school experts. Interviews were conducted to seek opinions on the completeness of the model and its application to the public school environment.4. A review was made of the information and opinions received from the experts. Such information provided the basis for refining the model.5. Upon completion of the refinement process, the model was again presented to the doctoral committee of the author for a final review of the findings.Organization of the StudyThe study was developed into five chapters and a selected bibliography. Chapter I includes the introduction, purpose of the study, significance of the study, definition of terms, methodology, and organization of the study.Chapter II contains a review of the literature related to strategic planning in the private and non-profit sectors of the environment and planning in public school administration.Chapter III contains the presentation of the methods and procedures used in this study.Chapter IV contains the report of the results of the study and the findings regarding the research model.Chapter V contains a summary, conclusions and recommendations which resulted from the study.A selected bibliography is attached as the concluding section. / Department of Educational Administration and Supervision

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Leadership

For the past several decades, school districts have faced an increase in challenges which include trying to improve student achievement with restricted or reduced educational funds. Schools are faced with attempting to fill in financial gaps with funds derived from non-traditional sources with help from partners, including public education foundations. The purpose of this study was to determine the following: (1) The goals established by Indiana public education foundations, (2) whether these public education foundations have been able to achieve their goals, and (3) how the public education foundations successfully secure funding to support their K-12 public schools. The researcher employed a two-phase, explanatory mixed-methods research design (QUAN-Qual Model). The model uses an initial quantitative study to establish a baseline of knowledge about the subject and follows up with a qualitative study to gain a deeper insight into the quantitative results. The first phase involved analyzing the results of a questionnaire administered as part of the study. The researcher used the membership of the Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations (INAPEF) for the accessible population. Current membership includes sixty-six foundations. The final data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, analysis of covariance, and regression analysis to identify significant or interesting relationships between variables. The second phase of the study engaged three education foundations in a case study review. The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide deeper insight into foundation goals and level of support to schools from the perspective of public education foundation officials. A majority of the foundation officials that were surveyed believe that school foundations in Indiana have been effective in supporting the educational programs in their school districts. Foundation officials believe that they are able to provide positive support to schools mostly through district initiatives, classroom grants, and community involvement. The results of this research may provide public schools with the impetus to create public education foundations to support their programs or determine how to improve upon their current foundation’s support. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may have influenced the decision to implement tablet technologies within classroom environments. These factors were grouped and limited to three distinct areas: social and political influences, perceived benefits of implementation, and influence of varying types of hardware, software and operating systems. Results indicate that if technology leaders felt external pressures to keep pace with technological advancements of other corporations, they were more likely to report pressures from the other social political factors being studied. Multiple perceived educational benefits were identified including improvement to classroom instruction, increased differentiation of instruction, enhanced collaboration, better communication and positive public responses. Hardware preferences were found to describe the characteristics found in the Apple line of products. Despite the identification of these perceived educational benefits, a majority of those responding felt that tablet devices did not impact student testing achievement. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to determine at the school district level, what relationships exist, if any, between Indiana school corporation SAT mean scores (a limited output measure of student achievement and aptitude) and six intervening input variables: (1) operating expenditures per pupil, (2) instructional expenditures per pupil, (3) per capita income, (4) corporation enrollment size, (5) degree of population density, and (6) at-risk index characteristics.The study provided a review of the research and related literature on relationships between high school SAT scores, public school expenditures and other intervening input variables. The study addressed questions about relationships and effects of expenditures and other input variables upon SAT scores. The need to examine individual district variation in SAT performance was motivated by the influence comparisons of SAT scores have on public perception of education and the resultant impact on state and local education policy.A principal goal of the study was to add to the understanding of the relationships between public expenditures directed to education, specific demographic and compositional student characteristics, and education performance as measured in SAT mean scores.The study incorporated Pearson product moment correlations and stepwise multiple regression procedures to determine the existence of variation in outputs accounted for by variation in the specific inputs. Initially a Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to test each of the six null hypotheses. Statistical significance was sought in each instance at the .01 level. Stepwise multiple regressions were then used to examine the SAT output relationships with compounded variables.The following conclusions were drawn from the findings and the summary tables reported in the study: 1. Low per capita income is associated with a decline in SAT scores and higher per capita income to associate with higher SAT scores.2. Increased performance on the SAT is not dependent upon the amount spent in total General Fund expenditures per pupil, however, an increased amount spent on instruction tends to raise SAT scores.3. A high at-risk index presence is associated with lower SAT scores whereas a low at-risk index tends to be associated with higher SAT scores.4. Urban density does not effect SAT scores in a statistically significant manner.5. The size of the school corporation has no relationship to SAT scores.Overall total General Fund expenditures were not shown to significantly affect SAT scores, although such costs were not shown to be detrimental in the multiple regression analysis. More importantly, instructional expenditures per student were demonstrated to be one of three significant factors affecting higher SAT scores. The other significant variables were poverty and high at-risk factors, which were shown to be associated with lower SAT score levels.The data and the study strongly suggest that, if school authorities, legislatures, private business and parents continue to use the SAT scores as a prime barometer and target for educational success, we should immediately begin to compensate dramatically for the atrisk and per capita income deficits in individual students and impacted schools, and maximize financial resources into proven classroom instructional strategies. If the public wishes to narrow the gap in SAT scores, then policy makers need to examine the educational-environmental liabilities of low income, single parent home, and the appropriate level of instructional cost which will generate acceptable SAT results. / Department of Educational Leadership

The major intent of the investigation was to determine the existing level of cost differentials for selected education program categories in the state of Indiana. The categories of prekindergarten and kindergarten, grades one through six, grades seven through-twelve, mentally handicapped, physically handicapped, compensatory and vocational education were selected as program categories for study. Secondary concerns were to describe the patterns of 1971-72 public school funding for the state of Indiana by government level and to recommend a new concept for distribution of state funds to Indiana local schools based on the developed program cost differentials.Sources of revenue were taken from Report of Statistical Information for Indiana School Corporations 1971-72 School Year for the 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971-72 school years. Percentages as to major categories of revenue were computed for the above years.The Education Cost Differential Basic Data Instrument was developed for collecting data to achieve the major purpose of the study. Seventy-four Indiana school corporations were sampled from a population of all Indiana reorganized school corporations which had grade organizational patterns of 6-6, 6-2-4, or 6-3-3 for the school year 1971-72. Eighteen responded with timely usable data. State cost differentials for each program were computed by dividing reported net current operating expenditures for each program area by total full time equivalent pupils in ADM for the program. State cost differentials were computed by dividing the average cost per full time equivalent pupil in ADM for each program by the cost per pupil for the basic program, grades one through six.Conclusions of the study included:1. The major fiscal support for public school corporations in Indiana is provided from localsources.2. Percentage of the total revenue from local sources has constantly increased for the public school systems from July 1, 1967 through June 30, 1972.3. The Indiana General Assembly has not provided fiscal support commensurate with the rising costs of public education.4. Federal support as a percentage of total fiscal support of public education in Indiana is below the national average.5. Elementary programs, grades one through six, have the lowest net current operating expenditure and were assigned a cost differential index of 1.000.6. Secondary programs, grades seven through twelve, represent the second lowest net current operating expenditure with a cost differential index of 1.095.7, The cost differential index for vocational education programs is 1.256.8. Prekindergarten and kindergarten have a cost differential index of 1.271.9. The cost differential index for compensatory education is 1.633.10. Mentally handicapped programs have a computed cost differential index of 2.559.11. The cost differential index for physically handicapped programs is 2,821.In comparing Indiana cost differential indices with cost differential indices developed in similar studies but different populations, the vocational index of 1.256 is indefensibly lower and, therefore, questioned. Only five of the 18 respondents supplying data may account for the variation.The Indiana General Assembly should enact legislation which would provide a distribution formula for state aid to local school districts which weights per pupil allocations based upon program cost indices. The weighted pupil concept could be effectively employed to determine state allocations by multiplying the number of weighted pupils in ADM by a uniform dollar allotment for pupils with an index of 1.000. The cost of the state guaranteed program, to avoid built-in inequities, should be defined as net current operating expenditures.

This thesis is entitled The Mediation of Market-Related Policies for the Provision of Public Second Level Education: An International Comparative Study of Selected Locations in England, Ireland and the USA. The two key words in this thesis title are 'mediation' and 'comparative'. The focus of this thesis is on the phenomenon of mediation. The market-related policies that are being examined in the light of mediation are choice policies or open enrolment policies for the provision of second level public schooling. However, this is not a thesis about school choice but rather on the factors and stakeholders that affect the mediation of a policy. As the focus is on mediation, and not on policy analysis, this study is therefore, of necessity, a qualitative one. The researcher used semi-structured interviews, combined with documentary evidence, to understand both the contexts and the interactions in which mediation of various kinds takes place. The second notable feature is that this study is a comparative one. The researcher chose three countries where market related policies were being implemented, albeit to different effect. The countries chosen were England, Ireland and the USA (Massachusetts). The comparative dimension enabled the researcher to challenge ethnocentric assumptions about the modus operandi of policy at the grass- roots level. In order to understand the operation of the market, the researcher selected comparable locations in all three countries. As 'markets' are intrinsically local, the researcher examined how policy is mediated at the local level. The three conurbations were selected on the basis of their comparability, none of which are capital cities. Research was conducted in all three locations in three separate phases: pre-pilot to ascertain their suitability; pilot work to prepare the groundwork and then the main study. In all, over sixty interviews were held at local, regional and national levels, although the focus was primarily on the local. Documentary sources were collected simultaneously. The analysis of the data was ongoing during the entire research process and progress was presented at conferences in the host research countries where useful feedback was obtained. The researcher used Bereday's comparative methodology and, by taking a factor approach, insights were gained into the cultures and contexts affecting the mediation of policy. The researcher hopes to add to comparative methodological theory through the use of multiple cross-national studies. The insights gained from the research questions: how, if at all, do the factors and stakeholders identified affect the mediation of policy, confirmed that this was indeed an area worthy of study. The outcomes, displayed in matrices in chapters 8 and 9, show that different combinations of factors affect how policies are mediated by the stakeholders and indirect factors involved in the immediate implementation of open enrolment policy. The cases also yielded idiosyncratic variants based on their particular educational histories and current circumstances. However, similar features were noted in all three countries in relation to enrolment issues. In brief, these were: increased political interaction at the local level; demographic changes on the rolls of high schools; de facto social segregation; differential funding mechanisms relating to enrolment; and different attitudes to public education on the part of interest groups in each location; and the significance of regulated space. This area is ripe for research, and there is a call in the literature for more in-depth analyses on such social interactions at the local level that affect different policy outcomes. It is hoped that this study will contribute to understanding the factors at work, both direct and indirect, which mediate policy in such a way that explain the potentially different outcomes of similar policies.

The focus of this work is on how the educational elements that made up the institution called the British public school developed to form an "imperial mentality" among its students, and how these elements were transported, albeit with some modification, to the periphery of Empire. The existence of a broad and varied curriculum worked to form an imperial mentality that supported the aims of the British Empire from the mid-eighteenth century through the First World War. The use of a case study featuring Upper Canada College, one of the oldest Canadian "public" schools, further illuminates the influence and legacy of the public school model. Throughout the research, references to Upper Canada College will serve to focus the attention of the reader to the manner in which the British public school shaped the curriculum and the ethos of the College.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Dept. of Education, University of Adelaide, 1966. / Cover title: Success and failure of first year university students with special reference to the school attended. Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-96).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Köln, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. xix-xlvi).