This study determined the degree of implementation of the State mandated and approved Leon County Administrator Assessment to assess its impact on the elementary, middle, high, vocational and district administrators in a supervisor-supervisee role in the district using it. The study utilized the Concerns-Based Adoption Model so a greater understanding of the factors that affect successful adoption of an innovation can be studied. / The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the performance appraisal process, the Leon County Administrator Assessment, is being used (Levels of Use) by the Leon County administrators and their specific concerns (Stages of Concern) associated with it. / One major finding of the study was that Levels of Use for the performance appraisal process, the Leon County Administrator Assessment, were higher than the Stages of Concern for administrators in the study. A second finding was that administrators with previous experience using the process of performance appraisal had higher Levels of Use in the study than other administrators. / It is concluded that most administrators either by choice or external influence, are using the performance appraisal process on a routine basis with changes based on individual or group needs. Their concerns indicate the need for more awareness or information about the process and an understanding of their personal status in relation to it. / The need for more awareness and information about the process, the experience administrators have with performance appraisal and how they view themselves as users should be utilized by the change agent(s) to prescribe specific interventions and strategies to improve implementation of the performance appraisal process in the district. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0671. / Major Professor: Richard Kraft. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purpose of this study was to assess the Escambia County Performance Appraisal System in both design and process. The study incorporated naturalistic methods of inquiry and was reported in a narrative format. This format was selected in response to the complexity and variety of activities and operations performed by a school principal. / Four principals participating in the appraisal system were studied. Fieldwork was conducted at each school site over a year and a half period of time. Evidence in this narrative case study was derived from documents, interviews, and from direct observations made by the investigator. / The study provides a chronological narrative of the assessment process, and the role relationship between principals and the supervisor. It further provides an interpretive analysis of the documents, interviews, and observations collected during the study of the four principals. / The study supports the research findings of effective leadership and principal competencies used to develop the Escambia County Performance Appraisal System. Using the constant comparison methods, the study identifies specific characteristics of an effective appraisal system. / The study findings define the need for training, district level support, and a clarification of the role of the supervisor. The study concludes with recommendations for improving the appraisal performance of the principal. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0673. / Major Professor: Joseph C. Beckham. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

Restructuring is the latest educational reform initiative in the nation. The "first wave" of educational reform began in 1983 with the publication of A Nation at Risk, which resulted in top-down, state-initiated reforms that raised standards in order to emphasize educational excellence. The "second wave" of reform began three years later with the publication of the Carnegie report, A Nation Prepared, which proclaimed the need for a restructuring of the basic educational system itself. In 1989, Florida became the first state in the nation to have a state-level policy specifically aimed at school restructuring, the District School Site Restructuring Incentives Program. / This historical study recounts the issues and events surrounding the development, implementation, and effectual end of this bill, beginning with the 1988 Professional Educators Act and concluding with the Accountability Act of 1991. Most of the information was gathered from personal interviews with state-level policy actors, legislative committee files, and personal correspondence from the files of FEA/United, the teachers union which effectually sponsored the bill. / The District School Site Restructuring Incentives Program was an optional bill whereby districts could apply for state grant money to implement a district-level restructuring plan. The plans were reviewed by an advisory committee consisting of one representative each from the four major state educational lobbies. The committee gave districts much flexibility to design and implement their plans, believing that it couldn't mandate bottom-up reforms. However, district plans were generally "weak" and revealed that much training was needed. / The Accountability Act of 1991 was designed to speed up the process of district restructuring, but it adopted a different methodology of implementation which mandated timelines and performance standards. The bill was strongly contested by FEA/United, which believed that progress toward district restructuring would all but cease under the new Accountability act. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0687. / Major Professor: James Robarts. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The second Corps Member Training Institute, (CMTI-II), sponsored by the National Teacher Corps is studied as a temporary system, using an ethnographic participant/observer methodology. / Preceded by a review of the relevant literature and a discussion of the participant observer methodology, the chronological evolution of CMTI-II is examined. Particular attention is given to the achievement of tasks, linkage with the Lewin/Sche in change model, and the observed level of effort and emotional intensity displayed by staff and participants. Also included is an analysis of the consistency between the processes used to accomplish tasks at CMTI-II and the temporary systems model. In addition, a study of the feelings of the leadership and participants in terms of their respective roles is reported. / Like other anthropological research, the findings of the study are primarily reflected in the body of the ethnography itself. However, a summary of the data shows that twenty-one of of twenty-seven tasks specified by the model were achieved at CMTI-II, linkage with the Lewin/Sche in change model was partial, the observed level of effort among staff and participants was generally high, there was partial consistency between the processes used to achieve tasks and the model, and the feelings of staff and participants generally reflected enthusiasm for and ownership of the system. It is suggested that future research focus on the importance of the following up stage of the temporary systems model in relation to change of the permanent system. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-07, Section: A, page: 1591. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The Ministry of Education in Yemen has encountered problems in recruiting Yemeni youth into the teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to survey Yemeni secondary school students' career motives and their attitudes toward the teaching profession. A five-part questionnaire was used to gather data from a stratified random sample of 515 students; these were drawn from the population of third level students in the secondary schools of Sana'a City, the capital of Yemen. / The major findings of the study were the following: (1) It appears that students' choice of a career would be strongly motivated by (a) respect of their fathers for the profession; (b) its importance to the country; (c) its significant contribution to society; (d) its requiring the use of intellectual abilities; and (e) respect of the closed community for the profession. (2) The five most important factors which might encourage students to be teachers were (a) the country's need for teachers; (b) a desire to impart knowledge to others; (c) opportunity for teachers to pursue higher studies; (d) provision of incentives to College of Education students; and (e) love of teaching itself and opportunity to contribute toward building the society. (3) The five most important factors which might discourage students from entering teaching were (a) the low salary for teachers; (b) lack of appreciation for teachers' sacrifices; (c) lack of effort made to interest students in teaching; (d) working conditions in schools; and (e) the poor advertisement teachers present for their profession. / Based on the study findings, several recommendations were generated, such as the need for information and occupational guidance to be directed toward students, parents, and the whole community; raising current teachers' professional, social, and economic status; and evoking public appreciation for the teachers' role and contribution. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4242. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

Issues at the local, state and national levels support the need for study into the conditions affecting increased cooperation among all levels of public education. Enrollment declines throughout most of the nation have heightened interest, if not activity, related to cooperative activities and have served as an impetus for studies into the nature of cooperative agreements. / According to the literature, attitudes of those involved in the cooperative process were the key variables in determining the success or failure of joint efforts. A questionnaire was developed to investigate the perceptions of selected administrators in public school districts and community colleges concerning levels of cooperation in existence and attitudes towards levels of cooperation felt to be desirable. / Administrators from districts reporting large numbers of cooperative activities were contrasted with those from districts reporting fewer activities. Attempts were made to assess the overall climate for increased cooperative activity as well as specific areas where cooperation may have the greater chance for success. / Findings. The overall climate for increased cooperation in selected districts in Florida is very positive. Administrators surveyed had similar perceptions of the current levels of cooperation in existence. Administrators from districts reporting the fewer number of cooperative activities expressed significantly greater interest in more attempts at cooperation. When looking at administrators both within and across occupational categories, few differences were noted in either perceptions or attitudes. Administrators from districts reporting the fewest number of activities had significantly greater interest in increased cooperation in the areas of personnel and facilities. / Subjective commentary indicated that top level administrative support and strong organizational and communications networks may be as significant as attitudinal variables in the districts surveyed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4257. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The completion of a preservice internship is becoming a common requirement for obtaining a principal certificate. Research concerning the outcomes of internships has been scant. Little effort has been made to determine the internship experiences common to high performing principals. / The purpose of this study was to determine the differences, if any, between the internship experiences of high performing and moderate performing principals in selected Pennsylvania school districts. / Although Pennsylvania had required an internship be completed for principal certification since the 1930s, the requirement was not enforced until 1984. The resultant small number of respondents was a contributing factor in the lack of conclusive data available to answer the research question: "Are high performing principals more likely than moderate performing principals to have completed formal internships?" / Evaluation of the skills observed, performed, and discussed by principals during an internship in the areas of: (a) purpose and direction, (b) cognitive skills, (c) consensus management, (d) quality enhancement, (e) organization, and (f) communication indicated that high performers had opportunities to observe, perform, and discuss skills while moderate performers had opportunities to perform but relatively few opportunities to observe or discuss skills. / Moderate performers had the least opportunity to observe, perform, or discuss skills related to the area of purpose and direction. / Investigations into the relative worth of types of internships need to be conducted. Although this study did not yield conclusive results, there were indications that the quality of internship experience is a factor in the development of high performance in principals. Since increases in both the types and numbers of internships offered by educational institutions are projected, the role of the internship in the development of high performance in principals should be the subject of further study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4247. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

This study presented the possibilities of the use of stock market cycles in the management of educational endowments. The literature review delineated the scope of cycles in research, and presented an explanation of technical and fundamental analysis techniques for security investment. / The statistical treatment of the data included a computer simulation for the derivation of cyclic effects. A Fourier transform routine was run on various sets of smoothed and detrended data. Weekly averages of the daily closing prices of the Dow-Jones Industrial Averages comprised the data. Fourier transforms and periodogram ordinates were calculated from the data set, and statistical tests were performed. / To validate the statistical method, a validation test was run on cycles well documented; these were the 4.0, 9.2, and 18.3 year cycles. The results from the validity tests confirmed the existence of these cycles and the validity of the statistical method. / As expected, cycles appeared in the smoothed data sets. The 11.0 year smoothing yielded a significant result at approximately 11.0 years. However, the cycle generated from this run is not as useful as cycles appearing at shorter periods. / Cycles which might be used in the formation of forecasting models for time series data were derived from data sets smoothed for cycles in the 6.0 year to 5.0 year time frame. The cycles derived from these data could be combined with other known cycles such as the 9.2 year and the 4.0 year along with long-range trend and short-range random effects. / Shorter cycles discovered in the 2.5 and 2.0 year smoothing runs produced results that could be used for the development of trading models. These models would be based on screening strategies derived from the amplitude and period of these cycles. / Recommendations for further research included the investigation of trading and forecasting models and their consequent testing. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4250. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purposes of this study are the development of a proposed site analysis process, the assessment of the acceptability of the process to school superintendents, and the subsequent modification of the process for practical application at the local level. The site analysis process provides the site information necessary for matching the site and the potential principal. The actual matching process, however, is not part of this study. / Based on the review of literature, a proposed site analysis process was developed that included sections on conceptual framework, instructions for users, analysis of specific factors (with 84 factors), and analysis of general factors (with 6 factors). These four sections, plus the potential application of the process, were assessed by means of a questionnaire mailed to 40 superintendents in Northwest Florida and Southwest Georgia. The questionnaire was designed to elicit responses that would indicate the level of acceptability of the site analysis process to the subject group and 11 subgroups. / Based on the analysis of the results, it was determined that the proposed site analysis process was acceptable to the subject group and to all 11 of the subgroups. The level of acceptability can best be described as moderately acceptable. Use of t-tests showed that these levels of acceptability were not a chance occurrence nor was the level of acceptability significantly affected by situational differences between school districts. The acceptability of the proposed site analysis process is closely tied to the belief that site analysis improves the principal selection process by making it more objective. / Based on these conclusions, the proposed site analysis process was revised slightly, with the specific factors reduced to 57 and the general factors to 4. The revised document is entitled the Comprehensive Operational Procedure for Site Analysis. This document provides a method of site analysis that can be useful not only in the improvement of the principal selection process, but also in the overall school improvement process. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, Section: A, page: 0048. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

The purpose of this study was to identify those factors that caused doctoral students to discontinue their enrollment in the Florida State University and The University of West Florida Cooperative External Doctoral Degree Program. This study proposed to answer the following questions: (1) What were the personal factors that caused students to withdraw?; (2) What were the institutional factors that caused students to withdraw?; and, (3) What other factors neither directly controlled by the students nor the institutions caused students to withdraw? Additionally, this study determined various demographic characteristics of the surveyed population. The population for this study consisted of sixty-five former students who enrolled but subsequently withdrew from the Florida State University and The University of West Florida Cooperative External Doctoral Degree Program. Thirty-four or 52%, of the former students responded to this study. A questionnaire was developed from previous research studies which were described in the review of literature. From the findings of this study, the following conclusions were determined: (1) Personal attrition factors were found to be most responsible for student attrition in the Florida State University and The University of West Florida Cooperative External Degree Program; (2) Personal, or family, illness was frequently cited by the former students as the cause of their withdrawal; (3) The vast majority of dropouts held full-time jobs; (4) Most former students began the program for greater job opportunity; (5) Institutional attrition factors contributed minimally to student attrition; (6) The majority of former students were satisfied with the institutional factors; (7) The former students' families supported their enrollment; (8) The vast majority of students have not re-enrolled in other doctoral programs; and (9) Only a few / students withdrew because of attrition factors that were neither personal nor institutional in nature. The major demographic findings were that most students withdrew from the program during the instructional stages; almost half of the students who withdrew had a master's degree in educational administration, and the majority of the students who withdrew were employed in the field of education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0383. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.