M.Ed. (Education Management) / Taking up the first principalship is a demanding career transition involving emergency professional development, not only for the new principal to move from the role of teacher and administrator, but for him to successfully diagnose a new culture. The degree of success that a new principal -has in discovering, understanding, developing further and managing a new school culture within the first year of his appointment, will determine his overall effectiveness in managing the new school. Against this background, the focus of this research paper will be to identify and define school culture. Included here will be a discussion of what constitutes culture, the process of acculturation, the influence of sub-cultures and the impediment of culture on both management and change. The role of the new principal in managing and where necessary changing existing culture in a school is described in this paper. The problem areas likely to be encountered and the solutions to these problems are also discussed. A strategy is proposed to assist future new principals with the problem of managing existing culture in the school. Divided into three parts, the strategy assist the new principal to read the existing culture of the school. Secondly, it proposes that the new principal follows a collaborative process for the review of and transformation of existing school culture. The final part of the strategy is to revise and establish innovative communication networks to ensure the strategy's overall success.

The purpose of this study was to (1) gather information regarding knowledge of TAAS and perceptions (attitudes) about TAAS (excluding the current battery of End of Course Tests) from teachers and administrators; (2) relate teacher and administrator knowledge and perceptions of the test to student test performance as reported in the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) Reports. Answers to the following questions were sought: 1. To what extent do teachers and administrators possess different levels of knowledge regarding TAAS, and different attitudes toward TAAS about its purpose and usefulness? 2. Are differences in teacher and administrator knowledge of TAAS related to student performance? 3. Are differences in teacher and administrator attitude toward TAAS related to student performance? Information was collected, by means of a twenty-six-item survey measuring teacher and administrator knowledge and attitude toward TAAS. The selected schools were chosen from schools rated as either exemplary or low performing by the state accountability system. The data were examined using Descriptive Statistics (Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). ANOVA was performed to determine if a significant variance existed between the responses of teachers and administrators and also between exemplary and lowperforming schools. Exemplary and low performing schools were chosen to determine if there were differences in teacher and administrator responses from these two groups. The results of this study attempt to show what, if any differences there are in attitudes toward and knowledge about TAAS based on responses from teachers and administrators from both exemplary and low performing schools. Based on the analysis of the data, there is no evidence from this study that indicates that there are significant differences in knowledge between teachers and administrators regarding TAAS. There is evidence that administrators possess a more positive attitude toward TAAS than do teachers. There is no evidence presented in this study that differences in teacher or administrator knowledge significantly impact student performance.

No description available.

No description available.

This study examined the need for, and interest in, preretirement preparation programs for educators (teachers and administrators) in Nakorn Nayok Province, Thailand. All educators were between 46 and 60 years of age and were working in elementary and secondary schools in Nakorn Nayok Province, Thailand. The sample consisted of 333 teachers and 101 administrators. Data were collected by questionnaire survey. Of the returned questionnaires, 81.33% were usable. The results were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results of the study show that elementary and secondary school teachers and administrators in Nakorn Nayok Province, Thailand, would benefit from preretirement preparation programs, but that few programs exist for educators. With all things taken into consideration, individual Thai educators have to be responsible for their retirement preparation knowledge, because the Ministry of Education does not consider preretirement preparation programs important enough to require that they be provided for educators.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between collective bargaining for public school principals and principals' perceptions of their working conditions. Specifically, this study examined the perceptions of working conditions for a sample of principals who had statutory authority to bargain collectively (Washington) and a sample of principals who did not have such authority (Oregon). This type of study can make a contribution to the knowledge base for educational leadership, administrative behavior and governance dynamics within educational organizations. Methodologically, this descriptive study utilized a survey research design. Survey research permits data gathering from a relatively large number of cases at a particular point in time. This research strategy focuses primarily upon the generalized characteristics of a population rather than individual characteristics. The population for this study were principals in Oregon (908) and Washington (1102). The instrumentation for data collection was The School Principal's Working Conditions Questionnaire which was mailed to a sample of one hundred principals in Oregon and one hundred in Washington. The return rate for Oregon was sixty seven (67) percent and eighty (80) percent for Washington. Seventy-three and one half (73.5) percent of the principals responded to the questionnaire. Nine sub-scales were used to measure determinants of principal's working conditions: 1) salary, 2) existence of formal written contracts, 3) autonomy, 4) power and authority, 5) job security, 6) fringe benefits, 7) role definition, 8) communications with superintendents, and school boards, and 9) involvement in decision making. The data analysis compared responses of two principals groups; an analysis of variance was used to identify significant differences between the two groups means. A major conclusion of the study was that there was no significant difference in perceptions of working conditions for the two groups of principals. Of the nine determinants of principals' working conditions, only autonomy was found to be significantly more positive for non-bargaining principals. Non-bargaining principals (Oregon) perceived that they have greater autonomy in their management roles than do the bargaining principals. An explanation for this finding may be that Oregon Principals, although they have no impact on district collective bargaining processes, have a considerable amount of discretion in managing their schools and they have an impact upon teaching behavior and student learning outcomes. A secondary data analysis compared the level of bargaining - formal, informal, and unilateral decision making to nine determinants of principal's working conditions. This analysis found salary (.001), involvement in decision making (.03), job security (.013), and fringe benefits (.016) to be statistically significant. The group of principals who indicated they formally bargain had a significantly higher mean score than the informal collective bargaining or unilateral decision making groups. This finding suggests there may be a positive relationship between adequacy of salary, formal collective bargaining, and higher levels of job satisfaction. With regard to involvement in decision making, job security and fringe benefits, the informal bargaining principals' group had a significantly higher mean score than the formal bargaining and unilateral decision making groups. The informal bargaining group perceived that they were involved in decision making processes more often or to a greater extent than principals in the formal and unilateral decision making groups. These decisions include policies and procedures which effect job security and fringe benefits. Consequently the higher scores for principals in the informal decision making group may be reflective of their participation in an inter-active "administrative team" model. This study's findings have implications for legislative bodies who are developing and/or amending collective bargaining statutes. In addition, the study's findings can inform local policy makers as they develop policies and practices for involvement of principals in matters which relate to working conditions. School district officials who have the responsibility for policy implementation can benefit from the knowledge that formalized collective bargaining (with the exception of possible salary issues) may not be as important as establishing structures and processes for including principals in decision making. In summary, the major finding that there is no significant difference in perceptions of working conditions for the non-bargaining and bargaining principal groups, has powerful implications for the collective bargaining movement and for principals in the Northwest.

The first purpose of this study was to determine from the positive and negative factors identified by Jones and Montenegro (1982), which factors Oregon female administrators perceived had influenced upward mobility in their careers. Study of this topic reveals added information and direction to administrators of university administrative programs, school board members and school personnel administrators involved in hiring and providing training or staff development. As a result, the commonalities and differences among female school administrators in Oregon are identified. Identifying the factors that relate to upward mobility of tenured and nontenured female administrators provides insight and hopefully will promote further investigation. A second purpose of the study was to provide, from the demographic data concerning upward career mobility of nontenured and tenured female administrators, a profile that identifies those practices which have proven to be effective when considering career decisions in school administration. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify the data recovered from a research instrument given to 218 female administrators and of the tests resulted in a written description of the similarities and/or differences between the tenured administrators' and the nontenured administrators' perception of the factors that influenced their upward career mobility. Additionally, the demographic data were analyzed, and profiles of the two groups were developed, again to show similarities and/or differences. The conclusions of the study supported the research hypotheses that: (1) there is no difference between the perception of identified positive and negative factors to upward career mobility between nontenured and tenured female school administrators, and; (2) there is no difference in the profile of the nontenured and the tenured female school administrator in Oregon. A synthesis of the conclusions was made from the analysis of positive and negative career factors as well as the profiles of Oregon women school administrators which basically stated that the group of nontenured administrators is much like the group of practicing tenured administrators. Recommendations were made to women aspiring to be administrators for the application of the conclusions and study of identified characteristics or elements of positive and negative factors which lead to upward mobility. Profiles of the administrators were also made for use in self assessment for both groups of female administrators. Suggestions for additional study were made based upon the findings and experience in conducting the study. Similar study or replication of the study is encouraged in order to provide further insight into the reasons for more women not achieving administrative positions, especially that of principal.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires schools to make reasonable accommodations to allow students with disabilities equal access to the educational process without providing any funding to implement the statute and establishing no compliance mechanism. A survey of 47 elementary school site administrators was conducted to determine their attitudes and perceptions regarding implementation of Section 504. The responses received reflected a generally positive attitude about Section 504 with stated concerns about the lack of funding for implementing it. A discrepancy was noted between larger and smaller school districts regarding whether Section 504 was a burden to implement, with the larger districts indicating that Section 504 was less burdensome than the smaller districts. Administrators generally indicated they believe their knowledge of Section 504 to be superior to that of teachers. It was concluded that recommendations for administrators include enhancing the role of teachers and parents in identifying students that would benefit from Section 504 Plans and in creating said plans. It was also suggested that combining Section 504 training for administrators and teachers with training for the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular educational settings would be a means for reducing the costs of special education services and at the same time improving the educational process for students with disabilities.

No description available.

No description available.