To no one man can go the full credit for establishing and building the free public schools of California, any more than can any single individual be given full credit in any complex community undertaking. But in any communal activity, one man usually stands out, and in the case of the schools of California, John Swett is that individual. Much has been written about Swett, the man, but little has been written about his contributions to the school structure of his adopted state. The latter is the problem with which this paper deals. In view of an ever increasing interest on the part of the public in the schools of California, it was felt that a study dealing with their beginnings, and with the man who was chiefly Instrumental in organizing and developing them, would aid in overcoming this omission.

The natural result of this increased population was to place an abnormal strain on the Merced City School facilities. In the last ten years the enrollment of the schools in this city has increased from a peak of 1773 to 3566 pupils. The administrators of Merced City schools, in attempting to provide adequate facilities for the mounting enrollments, have in the last three years, with the support of the patrons of the district, financed and constructed six new school buildings. Four of these are additions to the total number of district buildings and have been located at new sites because of the transfer of minor population to different attendance areas. Of the other two, one is a replacement and enlargement of an inadequate building, and the other is a replacement located at a new site to accommodate a shifted zone of attendance. In spite or this effort, once again for the school year 1953-1954 there are arrangements being made for three more temporary buildings for classrooms, making a total of seventeen temporary structures being used. The overloaded attendance at one school without space tor expansion probably indicates that consideration should also be given to establishing an additional attendance center on the south side of town. To add to these problems there is a feeling among patrons that added facilities such as cafeterias and multipurpose rooms should be planned. New constructions always further strain the finances of a school district for equipment and improvement of grounds. Out of this situation arises a question of just what are the building needs in the Merced City School District as indicated by the population trends? This question resolves itself into other related questions which will be used as a guide for this investigation: What does a study of the community indicate as to its growth within the last ten years and its probably growth? What does the present educational program of the Merced City schools reveal regarding the optimum usage of the facilities already provided? What are the trends in school enrollment and what future enrollments may be expected within the next six years? Do evaluation scores of present buildings and their utilization indicate a need for additional facilities? What is the recommended school plant as indicated by an analysis of scientific data?

The 13,000 school districts in the United States are important institutional sites where consequential educational policy decisions – from school zoning to local funding initiatives– are contested and implemented. Despite their importance as institutions, there is very little quantitative research on school district leadership and governance. We do not currently know if the identity of school district leaders has any effect on the academic performance of school districts, or if school district leaders from different backgrounds tend to advance different educational policies for their districts. In this dissertation, I leverage new longitudinal datasets on superintendent and school board tenures, matched to data on district-level achievement and policy variation, to examine how school district leadership may matter for students’ educational experiences. This dissertation consists of three empirical papers that examine different aspects of school district leadership and governance. Chapter 1 uses a novel dataset of superintendent employment histories in 26 states, matched to student achievement data, to estimate variation in superintendent effectiveness. I use data on superintendents who move between multiple school districts as an estimation strategy to separate superintendent effects from other district-level factors that affect student achievement. To estimate superintendent effectiveness, I adapt value-added modeling strategies from the principal and teacher effects literature, and use simulation analyses to further justify my modeling approaches. Across model specifications, I find that the standard deviation of superintendent effects ranges from 0.03-0.10 SD on student achievement. These are moderate effect sizes, and indicate the importance of studying school district leadership as a factor that can have important implications for student-level outcomes. Chapter 2 examines the superintendent appointment process using mixed methods data from California and Florida over the past decade from 2009-2019. Given that superintendents serve important political functions within school districts, I examine whether school board members tend to appoint superintendents who share their own partisan political affiliations. During this period, I do not find any evidence that school boards prefer to hire co-partisan superintendents. Instead, school boards prioritize superintendent candidates who show strong social-emotional intelligence, and who demonstrate the capacity to develop relationships with a broad range of community stakeholders. I conclude the chapter by examining how these results may be shifting in light of an emergent conservative movement to polarize school board politics. Chapter 3 examines whether the partisan political characteristics of school districts affects the likelihood that school districts hold tax and bond elections, or vote to approve these local educational funding increases, conditional on elections being held. It also uses data from California and Florida over the past decade from 2009-2019. With appropriate statistical controls, I find no evidence that school board or voter partisanship affects the probability of districts holding or passing tax or bond measures. Taken together, the three papers make important contributions to our understanding of how school districts function as organizations, and how the attributes of school district leaders shape students’ educational environments.

This manuscript contains discussion and analysis of the growing number of public schools in the state of Florida that are increasingly more segregated than at the height of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Further discussion and analysis on the influence that standardized testing, like the FCAT, has on the resegregation of public schools and the economic conditions of our Florida schools are also included. Interviews, field observations, and research data are provided and illustrate the burden that high stakes testing has on Florida's K-12 public schools, its teachers, principals, and the students who attend those schools. For the purposes of this study, I have explored the realms of Florida's deteriorating public education system through direct field study and observation in public schools across the state of Florida, as well as collecting published available data regarding funding, race, ethnicity, gender, and standardized test scores. I have visited schools in Miami-Dade County, Orange County, Seminole County, as well as Broward County, Florida, in order to better analyze the gap between the "have's" and the "have not's," across Florida's public schools. This research project has permitted my investigation to further dissect the linkage between school funding, standardized testing, school environments, and cultural conditions and roles played by economics, race, demographics, family income, social environment, and standardized testing.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to determine if the Educational Planning and Resource Management System (EPRMS), implemented by the Orange County Public Schools, increased parent and/or teacher involvement and communication in the school level decision making process. The study surveyed parents, teachers, and principals about their perception of the communication and involvement at their school during 1982-83 and 1983-84 (the year EPRMS was fully implemented). It was assumed that any increase in communication and/or involvement would be due to the Educational Planning and Resource Management System. A questionnaire was developed after an extensive literature review and input by a panel of experts. Separate questionnaires were administered by mail to a random sample of parents, teachers and principals. The data were analyzed with analysis and variance and cross-tabulations. Since three surveys were administered, three separate univariate analysis of variance designs were used. In each case, the analysis of variance was a repeated measures design including a factorial between subjects and a within subjects component. The data analysis revealed that parents, teachers and principals reported an increase in communication and involvement during the 1983-84 school year. These increases, while statistically significant, were relatively small. It also showed that principals and high school respondents gave the highest ratings to communication and involvement while teachers and junior high respondents gave the lowest ratings. The study did, for the most part, support the assumption that there was more perceived communication and involvement at the school level since the implementation of EPRMS. Even though the statistically significant increases for the various groups and levels were small, question 34 provided substantial support to the finding of increases school-level involvement. Almost three-fourths (74.7%) of the respondents reported that more opportunities for involvement existed during the 1983-84 school year than during the 1982-83 school year. Recommendations included additional monitoring of EPRMS with regard to staff and parent involvement and extensive management training in group dynamics and managing group interactions.

This quantitative study analyzed the relationship between district characteristics, the educational environment and the administrative organizational structure in public schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania between the 1996-1997 school year and the 2006-2007. More specifically, this study conducted an assessment of the changes and stability that have occurred in the Commonwealth's 501 public school district's administrative positions and structures and determined the trends or relationships that exist between the administrative structure in comparison with district characteristics and the educational environment. Pennsylvania public schools have increased in total number of administrators across the Commonwealth from 5,734 in the 1996-97 school year (Database 1996-97) to 7,348 administrators in the 2006-07 school year (Database 2006-07). This is an increase of 1,614 administrators across the 501 public school districts. These increases have not been consistent from one year to another or across districts. Little is known concerning the relationship between internal district characteristics, the external educational environment and administrative changes or stability. In addition, little is known about that combination of characteristics that have allowed some districts to remain stable in a changing educational environment. In an effort to provide more information on these issues, this quantitative study analyzed public school administrative positions and structures in the 501 Pennsylvania school districts over time in relation to the district's characteristics and educational environment. By assessing combinations of district characteristics and the educational environment, this study sought to find similarities and differences in how districts administratively respond to forces and pressures on the organization. / Educational Administration

The purpose of this study was to determine if certain variables could discriminate between those school systems that do and those that do not have employee assistance programs. Using six variables identified in the literature, superintendents across the nation were surveyed to determine the status of these variables in their school systems. Discriminant analysis was used to test how well the variables predicted the existence of employee assistance programs. The results of the analysis indicated that two variables can be used to predict EAP presence. These variables are the superintendent's perception of the benefits of employee assistance programs and the superintendent's perception of the popularity of employee assistance programs in other organizations in the community. / Ed. D.

The grounded theory presented in this study describes how the supervision of special education instruction occurs in public elementary schools in rural settings. Grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) was employed in this study. Nine elementary schools in three rural districts in the state of Virginia participated in the study. Interview data were collected from 34 participants, including special and general education teachers, principals, and directors of special education. Observations were made in the schools and documents pertaining to the supervision process were collected. Data analysis allowed identification of categories and subcategories, processes, influencing conditions, strategies, and outcomes related to supervision, which contributed to the articulation of the theory. The grounded theory suggests that the supervisor's role is assigned to the principal. The principal negotiates among competing priorities and contextual factors while providing supervision. Competing priorities exist in three areas: (1) management and administration versus supervision; (2) monitoring for legal compliance versus supervision of instruction for students with disabilities; and (3) evaluation of teachers versus supervision of instruction. Contextual factors include systemic conditions such as enrollment size of school, time, and number of administrators. Contextual factors also include personal conditions such as knowledge of special education, definitions of special education instruction, and perceived competence of teachers. The outcome of negotiating competing priorities and contextual factors is a dispersal of responsibility for supervision to three groups of educators. Principals, as the primary supervisors, utilize three strategies to address supervision: (1) the observation/evaluation process; (2) supervision by wandering; and (3) open communication. Directors of special education have a supportive role in supervision through communication and collaboration with teachers and principals. Teachers provide some supervision when they mentor new teachers and serve as special education coordinators. / Ph. D.

In this study, the topic of K-12 public school online learning is addressed in the context of the pandemic-related circumstances of 2020 and 2021. The study used a qualitative analysis of data sources in the form of one-on-one interviews. The study examined teachers' input regarding factors they believe impacted academic outcomes for students in the online learning environment in 2020-2021. A total of 15 K-12 public school teachers who volunteered to provide instruction in the online learning environment during the 2020-2021 school year participated in a one-on-one semi-structured interview. The questions asked during the interview were organized in sections according to themes that were reviewed in the review of literature and existing research components of this study: professional development, pedagogy, learner engagement, and equity in the K-12 online learning environment. Findings and conclusions from this study offer multiple considerations for future planning and implementation of K-12 public school instruction in the fully online learning environment. Instructors need adequate and advanced preparation and professional development that is intentionally focused on the fully online learning environment. Parents and students need to have an understanding of the expectations of active engagement in the fully online learning environment. Consistent and clear communication about expectations of learners is a predominant factor in ensuring increased student achievement in the K-12 public school fully online learning environment. / Doctor of Education / In this study, the topic of K-12 public school online learning is addressed in the context of the pandemic-related circumstances of 2020 and 2021. The study examined teachers' input regarding factors they believe impacted academic outcomes for students in the online learning environment in 2020-2021. A total of 15 K-12 public school teachers who volunteered to provide instruction in the online learning environment during the 2020-2021 school year participated in a one-on-one interviews. The topics of professional development, pedagogy, learner engagement, and equity in the K-12 online learning environment were addressed by the interview questions. The results of this study offer multiple considerations for future planning and implementation of K-12 public school instruction in the fully online learning environment. Instructors need adequate and advanced preparation and professional development that is intentionally focused on the fully online learning environment. Parents and students need to have an understanding of the expectations of active engagement in the fully online learning environment. Consistent and clear communication about expectations of learners is a predominant factor in ensuring increased student achievement in the K-12 public school fully online learning environment.