This study focused on the relationship between communicator style and leadership style of a select sample of principals. The primary research question addressed was whether a relationship existed between the self-perceived communicator style used by a principal and the leadership style teachers perceived that educational leader utilized. The second research question allowed for a comparison of the self-perceived communicator style used by a principal and perceptions by teachers of that same communicator style. Additionally, extraneous variables were tested for possible explanation of results. / The study involved an ex post facto or correlational research design. In order to investigate the relationship between communicator style and leadership style of principals, surveys were conducted in a sample of public schools in three Florida counties. / The principals rated themselves as being friendly, impression leaving and having a good overall communicator image. The principals did not perceive themselves as being dominant or contentious. The teachers perceived their respective principals primarily used a selling style of leadership and secondarily a participating style. Teachers rarely perceived their principal as using a delegating style of leadership. / Two communicator style variables in this study, friendly and impression leaving, appear to be linked with the principal's perception of communicator image--the overall impression of being a good communicator. / The following conclusions were reached: (1) A relationship exists between the principals' self-perceived communicator style and the teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership style. (2) It can be concluded that a relationship does exist, although not strong, between the self-perceived communicator style of principals and the perception of that same style by subordinates. (3) The extraneous variables having the most influence on the relationships of communicator style were the length of association between the principal and teachers and the number of years the subjects had worked in education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-06, Section: A, page: 1458. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze: (1) the main types of absenteeism in two selected Florida middle schools; (2) the characteristic responses of middle schools to those types; (3) the intervention strategies utilized; (4) how these intervention strategies were implemented; and (5) the school site personnel's perceptions of effectiveness of the intervention strategies. / Two middle schools were selected for study. These two intact cases (middle schools) met the criteria for site selection for analysis. Controlled variables in the framework of this study were school size, family income levels, geographic location and ethnic composition. / The major findings of the study were: (1) a combination of intervention strategies was effective in improving middle school attendance; (2) principal leadership is a key factor in improving attendance and implementing the strategies; (3) an effective attendance policy for middle schools reflects clear policy, consistent enforcement, and immediate follow-up emphasized parent-student responsibility; and (4) the responses to the types of absenteeism included intervention strategies and additional efforts made by schools. The two main types of absenteeism were directly attributed to the lack of student interest or motivation and lack of parental cooperation. / The intervention strategies identified were: (1) home visits, (2) parent-student-school conference, (3) school-home-contact, (4) student attendance materials sent home, (5) in-school suspension, (6) law enforcement agency and school joint efforts, (7) group counseling, (8) teacher recognition of behavior improvement, (9) alternative education program, and (10) juvenile court referral. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-09, Section: A, page: 2220. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the possible links between natural cycles and Indonesia's five-year development plans in education in terms of historical policies and leading economic indicators that may be useful to decision makers in forecasting for policy planning. / In this study, cycle analysis was applied to the data. The historical-educational policy data were recorded by year from 1945 to 1984 (40 years). The leading economic indicators were in the form of records by year or by month. For the annual data, four categories were from the years 1957 to 1984 (28 years), and eight categories were from the years 1952 to 1984 (33 years). The monthly data comprised four categories from the years 1952 to 1984 (33 years). / The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) computer program was used for spectral analysis to investigate cycles in both the historical-educational policies and leading economic indicators. The computer printouts provided a harmonic analysis and the Bartlett's Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic test. This test was compared to Siegel's critical values. Shimshoni's adaptation of Fisher's harmonic analysis was used to test for statistical significance for the existence of cycles in the periodograms. / This study produced seven statistically significant cycles: four in the historical-educational policies, one in the four principal crops, and two in the three principal mining products. They were consistent with 33 cycles reported by Dewey and Mandino, Lamb, and others which were real and documented. The study also revealed 18 suspected cycles. Also, 50 cycles found in Dewey and Mandino, Lamb, and others which were real and documented were consistent with those 18 suspected cycles. The seven investigated cycles would be useful indicators, in some circumstances, of the most appropriate time period to initiate national development plans. The outcome of this study has also provided information on the roles of natural cycles and their potential links to five-year development plans in education in Indonesia. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-12, Section: A, page: 3026. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The purpose of this study was to broaden our understanding of what makes for an effective instructional leader. More specifically, the study attempted to examine and better understand what teachers perceive and understand as important knowledge upon which principals must draw in order to carry out their responsibilities as instructional leaders. / The research strategy utilized in the study was one that facilitated open and naturalistic inquiry. The scope of this study was controlled by using the constant comparison method as explicated by Glaser and Straus (1967). / Two school sites were selected because they presented obvious contextual differences (organizational structure and size). The sample of fourteen teachers was selected to represent a cross section of the subject matter areas offered by each school. The teachers were interviewed using the open-ended interview technique (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982). These interviews, along with contextual data collected at each site, provided the data base for this study. / The findings of the study were: (1) The principal should be the instructional leader of the school. (2) Instructional leadership is a multi-dimensional behavior consisting of several interrelated categories of skills and/or knowledge. (3) Instructional leadership is more conceptual in nature than technical or human (Katz, 1955) yet all the categories making up these skills areas are closely related. (4) Instructional leadership is more generic than context specific. (5) Although instructional leadership was found to be more generic than context specific, the actual practice of instructional leadership may be determined by contextual variables (organizational structure and size). (6) There appeared to be some relative importance or priority given to certain dimensions of instructional leadership, yet the interrelated nature of all the dimensions necessary for the effective practice of instructional leadership made all the dimensions important to the understanding of teacher opinions of the concept of instructional leadership. (7) In addition to task and consideration, there was a third dimension, the conceptual dimension (the vision of the organization as a whole) which was equally important to the concept of leadership as it relates to principals. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-03, Section: A, page: 0399. / Major Professor: George Papagiannis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of performance-based certification in Georgia as it impacted upon the instructional supervision provided to beginning teachers participating in the on-the-job performance assessment phase of certification. Specific information was sought concerning the supervisory tasks of assessment and staff development through a case study approach, using a structured interview schedule. The study proposed to answer the following questions: (1) Does the assessment of beginning teachers involve a cyclical process of planning, observation, analysis, and feedback? and (2) Does staff development for beginning teachers address strengths and weaknesses identified during teacher assessment? / A sample school system representative of Georgia school systems was selected for this study. The population sample consisted of 59 participants. / From the data obtained, the following conclusions were generated. Beginning teachers received orientation to the performance-based certification program from the Regional Assessment Center yet more than half were not sure of half or more of the teaching competencies to be assessed. Beginning teachers received little if any assistance in planning for assessment. Assessment procedures for the interviews and observations were implemented according to guidelines. Analysis and feedback to the beginning teacher concerning teaching performance was much more detailed and specific if the original Regional Assessment Center data collector conducted the post-observation conference. The school system had no definitive staff development framework and policy for beginning teachers. Staff development addressed the needs of individual school faculties and was usually conducted by Cooperative Educational Service Agency consultants. Beginning teachers had to find out about staff development opportunities on their own initiative. There was confusion regarding the responsibilities of each supervisory group in the assessment process as well as in staff development efforts. Supervisory personnel were not sensitive to the needs of beginning teachers participating in the performance-based certification program. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, Section: A, page: 0333. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This dissertation examines the dynamic of metropolitan governance in terms of interlocal contractual arrangements that govern the delivery of collective goods by local government. It views a metropolitan area as buzzing with contractual activities and observes that these activities are nested at different levels in a web of interlocal relations in an action arena. That is, local governments involved in contractual activities are connected through their contractual arrangements--forming what we refer to as institutional ties. An interconnected network of institutional ties represents a pattern of relations between local governments. Such a network structure is not static but evolves over time. These changes can be purely structural--explained by an endogenous mechanism such as a transitivity form of network structure, or exogenous, explained by such factors as a local government's political institutions (form of government or levels of government), geographical proximity, and demographic characteristics. In order to understand the different forms of formal and informal institutional arrangements that directly influence the formation of institutional ties, and indirectly, the formation of metropolitan governance, this dissertation is guided by four research questions: (1) what are the many forms of institutional arrangements used by local governments to govern their transactions? (2) through what process do institutional arrangements become acceptable by involved parties? (3) how and why could the stability of institutional arrangements in governing interlocal relations be undermined? and (4) how would a new form of institutional arrangement be established? While the first two sets of questions attempt to identify and examine the many types of interlocal contractual arrangements, the last two sets explain how the established institutional arrangements might be changed. The substantive focus of this dissertation is in the realm of public safety which, once produced, will be consumed by others at no additional marginal cost. There are a range of interlocal contractual arrangements found in the area of public safety, and Florida provides a research opportunity to examine the extent by which these arrangements have been used by local governments. To capture the multiple types of interlocal contractual arrangements used by local governments to govern their transactions, we classify them into two general forms: restrictive and adaptive contractual arrangements. The first analysis of this dissertation explores factors that explain local governments' institutional choice. The empirical results show that vertical intergovernmental relations involving municipal and county governments generally employed a restrictive rather than adaptive form of interlocal contracting. The analysis also shows that the characteristics of goods and services as the product of transaction costs influenced the forms of interlocal contractual arrangements in the provision of public safety. Functional service area and the number of collaborators involved also play an important role in explaining a local government's decisions to enter into particular forms of interlocal contractual arrangements. We then focused on the adaptive and restrictive forms of contractual arrangements as distinctive action arenas in the provision of public safety. Each form of contractual arrangement is treated as a distinctive form of metropolitan governance; and we seek to analyze their formation over a period of time using the network software for longtidudinal data sets called SIENA. For this particular analysis, four major metropolitan areas in Florida were selected: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA, Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, Orlando-Kissimmee MSA, and Duval-Jacksonville MSA. The analysis is designed to test two general propositions: the credibility-clustering and the information bridging hypotheses. The empirical results suggest that localities generally prefer to form a set of densely-connected institutional ties in the provision of public safety presumably for their ability to enforce credible commitment in the implementation of contractual activities. When outcomes of goods and services are difficult to measure requiring local governments to establish institutional ties based on the adaptive form of contractual arrangements, the empirical evidence supports the prediction of the credibility-clustering hypothesis that such metropolitan governance structures would be influenced by a dense network structure. On the other hand, the evidence seems to refute the information-bridging hypothesis that a sparse network structure exists in metropolitan governance that is based on a restrictive form of contractual arrangements. A set of institutional ties that consists of a restrictive form of contractual arrangements generally would display a densely-connected network structure rather than a sparse network structure. Other findings include the importance of multilateral agreements in influencing the dynamic process of institutional ties. That is, the transaction costs of multilateral agreement can lead to a crowding-out of bilateral agreements. The political institutions and local community characteristics also have an impact on the dynamic development of metropolitan governance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2006. / Date of Defense: August 1, 2006. / Regional Governance, Interlocal Agreement, Network Analysis, Institutional Collective Action / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard C. Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; John T. Scholz, Outside Committee Member; Frances S. Berry, Committee Member; Ralph S. Brower, Committee Member.

Numerous studies have concluded that retention provides little benefit to students. Yet it is estimated that half of all students have been retained by the time they reach ninth grade. This study was undertaken to examine the process through which retention occurs. Explicit focus was placed upon the timing and salient student characteristics that were an integral part of the classroom teachers' retention decisions. The research was guided by the following questions: What is the process whereby students are retained in grade? In what time frames are decisions made that assign a student to a second year at a specific grade level? Is the timing of a retention decision influenced by the factor upon which it is based? / The ethnographic study focused on one grade level of teachers in one school for a full school year. First grade was chosen because it typically has the largest number of retentions for this school. Data for this study were collected through interviews, observations, and examination of documents. / A number of trends seemed to emerge from the data. This school used retention conferences that included the teacher, administrator, counselor, learning disabilities teacher, and Chapter 1 teachers. While all the participants could raise questions and discuss the case, the administrator made the decision based primarily upon the input of the teacher. However, all members of the conference shared responsibility for the decision. When the teacher's main reason for retention was based upon immaturity, the decisions seemed to be made early in the year. Transfer students often were viewed as having moved from a school that provided an inferior academic background, and the teacher's decision to seek retention was made soon after the child's entry into school. In the relatively few cases that seemed to predominantly involve academic standing, decisions appeared to be made much later in the term. / Additional factors that seemed to enter into the retention decisions were: parental approval, maintenance of teacher's standing with teacher peer group, family factors, previous retentions, classroom conduct, student age, fear that the child would not be fostered by teachers in the next grade, protection from difficulty in later grades, and belief that it was better to retain in first rather than later grades. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 0769. / Major Professor: Virginia P. Green. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 28-12, Section: A, page: 4860. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1967.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 28-12, Section: A, page: 4865. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1967.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 29-05, Section: A, page: 1400. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1968.