School administrators are required by law to report suspected cases of child abuse. They create serious legal and moral consequences for their school districts when they fail to report suspicions of child abuse occurring in the school setting. Studies consistently find that child sexual abuse is under-reported and that allegations of sexual abuse by school personnel are increasing. School administrators may not be responding effectively to the abuse that does occur in schools because they have not been trained to recognize indicators of abuse nor to effectively investigate allegations of abuse. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether specially designed training would significantly improve school administrators' performance on child sexual abuse case simulations. Subjects were from a convenience sample of 40 practicing administrators from five school districts in Yamhill County, Oregon. A one-group pretest-intervention-post-test (A-B-A) design was used, and data were collected using three instruments: (1) an administrator questionnaire developed through a Delphi Process, (2) a pre-evaluation case simulation, and (3) a post-evaluation case simulation. The t test of alpha was used to examine the correlated means and determine the significance in changes in performance between the pre- and post-test results. A standard level of significance (p<.05) was employed throughout the study. This study confirms that the administrators in this sample were lacking in knowledge in the six areas addressed by the training modules and that the gains they made were significant in each of the six training areas and on the overall post-test. No significant differences were found among the subjects on the basis of gender, age, experience level, and longevity in their current positions. This study concludes that school administrators may lack sufficient knowledge about child sexual abuse to adequately protect children in their schools. It also suggests that specially designed training sessions will increase reporting and reduce the number of child sexual abuse cases occurring in public schools. Districts may better fulfill their moral and legal obligations to protect children and reduce their legal costs and exposure to liability by providing specialized training in child sexual abuse for administrators. / Graduation date: 1997

The study was based on examination of four selected methods of administrator-to-student body communication utilized in twenty central Indiana high schools. Student handbooks, school newspapers, special bulletins, and daily announcements were the methods examined. The study was designed to yield empirical data with regard to the effectiveness of the four selected methods as perceived by administrators and students.Parallel instruments were given to all administrators and to a sample of tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students in each of the twenty schools. Personal interviews were conducted with each of the principals.Findings in the study were based on data obtained from the administrator and student surveys and from the interviews with principals.1. On each of the survey items administrators and students generally agreed on which method was most effective to distribute a particular type of information.2. School newspapers were not a primary method of administrator-to-student body communication in any of the schools.3. Reading announcements twice daily rather than once made little or no difference in the amount of information received by students.4. Little or no difference existed in the reported amount of information received from daily announcements in schools where students did the reading compared to schools where administrators read.5. In the one school where daily announcements were read in the classrooms by teachers rather than over the public address system, the reported amount of information received was clearly less than in those schools using the public address system.6. No one method of communication produced student reports of information received which were clearly higher than the other methods.7. Administrator estimates of the amount of information received by students were consistently higher than the amounts actually reported by students.Conclusions1. No one method of communication is consistently more effective than the others.2. Administrators are inclined to overestimate the amount of information received by students.ImplicationsWhile conclusions based on empirical data were limited, several implications were generated as a result of conducting the study. In the course of visiting twenty schools and interviewing administrators in the twenty schools, several observations were made about situations and patterns which were present when students reported high amounts of information received. The patterns were consistent even when communication methods differed.The effectiveness of administrator-to-student body communication does not appear to be controlled by chance or luck. In schools where students reported high amounts of information received, the principals viewed the communication process as important to the success of the school. The principals, through planning and attention to detail, set a communication tone which was clear to teachers and students alike. The methods differed from school to school but in those schools where student responses indicated effective communication was being achieved, more attention to the process by administrators was observed as a general condition.In schools where student responses indicated that less information was received, principals often stated the position that communication was important but when the total process was studied, communication efforts lacked coordination and direction.In summary, planning commitment, and coordination appear to be necessary ingredients regardless of which communication method is used. Without such ingredients, none of the methods is likely to succeed.

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the nature of change, relative to the roles and responsibilities of personnel administrators in selected Indiana public school corporations, resulting from mandated teacher collective bargaining.Personnel administrators with seven or more years of experience were selected to insure that participants in the study had had experience both before and after the enactment of Public Law 217. In-depth taped interviews were conducted with nine personnel directors.The responses of personnel directors participating in the study were compared, correlated and contrasted with statements made by authorities in the field relative to private and public sector personnel administrators. Major findings were:Additional Time Requirements1. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to record keeping activities, such as:a.Formulating reduction in force lists and call back lists.b. Reviewing and revising student enrollment by building and class as necessary.c. Developing expanded salary schedules which reflect broader range of teacher educational preparation.d. Maintaining information relative to the number of graduate hours taken and advanced degrees earned by teachers.e.Maintaining information relative to teacher fringe benefits.f.Maintaining information relative to compensation for extracurricular responsibilities.g.Maintaining information relative to number and type of leave days taken by teachers.h.Maintaining teacher requests for transfers.i.Maintaining detailed information relative to teachers holding temporary contracts.j.Maintaining information relative to teacher seniority by school system and building.2. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to activities required for the collective bargaining process, such as:a. Collecting and organizing financial and personnel information.b. Providing and explaining financial and personnel information to the chief spokesman.c. Preparing salary schedules to determine cost of various teacher group and board proposals.d. Compiling and analyzing statistics relative to the number of various teacher leave days taken and days on which leaves occurred.e. Developing expanded salary schedules which reflect broader range of teacher educational preparation as required by the agreement.3. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to consultation, such as:a. Providing guidance to building administrators relative to teacher evaluations.b. Advising building administrators regarding granting of teacher leave days.c. Discussing the status of negotiations with building administrators, superintendent and board members.d. Providing guidance to building administrators relative to contract implementation.4. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to grievance activities, such as:a. Reviewing teacher evaluations to prepare for grievance hearings.b. Meeting with union officials to hear grievances.Preparing for grievances and arbitration hearings.5. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to inservice training activities, such as:a. Explaining evaluation procedures and instruments to building administrators.b. Explaining the intent of contract language to building administrators to insure uniform contract implementation.6. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to cooperative activities with union officials, such as:a. Providing personnel and financial information relative to teacher seniority, salaries, and fringe benefits.b. Developing and revising teacher evaluation instruments.c. Hearing grievances and jointly determining equitable settlements.7. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to other activities, such as:a. Considering leave requests of teachers.b. Planning for staffing needs and teacher vacancies.Changed Organizational Relationships1. The majority of personnel directors have been placed in the grievance structure and now represent the superintendent, usually at the second or third step of the grievance procedure. Therefore, personnel directors now have more line authority to make binding decisions regarding grievances.2. Because personnel directors now have line authority in the grievance structure, personnel directors may support or reverse the decisions of building administrators regarding grievances. Therefore, building administrators are now consulting more with the personnel director relative to the handling of employee grievances at the initial step of the grievance structure.3. Building administrators are now seeking advice and approval of personnel directors regarding teacher evaluations and granting of leaves.4. The majority of personnel directors participate in the negotiation process either as chief spokesman or members of the negotiating team. As the administrative representative in the collective bargaining process, personnel directors are now the main communication link between the teacher union, superintendent and board of education.5. As the administrative representative in the collective bargaining process, personnel directors have been given the additional responsibility of insuring that principals understand the intent of contract language and implement the contract accordingly.Direct Participation in the Negotiations Process1. The majority of personnel directors participate in the negotiation process either as chief spokesman or members of the negotiating team.a. As chief spokesmen, new roles and responsibilities of the personnel director include:(1) Consultation with the superintendent relative to the selection of negotiating team members.(2) Consultation with the superintendent and other administrative personnel concerning the collecting, organizing and writing of board proposals for negotiations.(3) Consultation with the superintendent and other administrative personnel relative to the development of a negotiation strategy.(4) The presentation of school board proposals.(5) Receiving teacher union proposals during negotiations.(6) Communications between the teacher union, superintendent and school board.(7) Consultation with the superintendent and board members concerning the development of school board counterproposals.(8) The equitable and expeditious conclusion of negotiations.b. As members of the negotiating team, new roles and responsibilities of the personnel directors included:(1) Providing relevant and necessary personnel and financial information to the chief spokesman.(2) Explaining and describing pertinent conditions surrounding negotiations, personalities of the individuals involved in negotiations, and attitudes within the community.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-170). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Ed.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000. / Bibliography: leaves [39-40].

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-94). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-94). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-122). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-122). Also available on the Internet.

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