The study was designed with a dual purpose. First, the study was designed to develop and assess a systematic decision making procedural 'model which would aid in the resolution of critical issues. Second, the purpose of the study was to assess the decision making procedures of the school's chief executive officer when dealing with critical issues. The study was conducted by interviewing ten chief executive officers of Indiana school corporations. The data generated was reported in narrative and table form. The data was used to assess the developed model for comprehensiveness and adaptability and to assess the decision making procedures of chief executive officers for comprehensiveness and systematization.The findings reported herein were based on the evaluation and analysis of the data reported by public school chief executive officers and a review of related research.1. The Decision Support System model was found to be comprehensive and provided a thorough description of the processes needed by the chief executive officer in the decision making processes.2. In all cases, the Decision Support System model processes adapted to the processes of the chief executive officer.3. The chief executive officers selected and analyzed a limited amount of data to support the identification of impacts, options, and alternatives in the decision making process.4. The chief executive officers identified a limited number of impacts, options, and alternatives in the decision making process.5. The process of decision making by the chief executive officers was arranged in a form which was not consistently orderly, methodical, or well organized.6. The data in the table has shown that twenty-four of thirty-eight identified critical educational issues concerned financial problems.7. Eighty percent of the interviewed chief executive officers utilized the trade-off processes of the Decision Support System model as the option for the solution of the 8. The trade-off processes of eighty percent of the chief executive officers utilized the option of exchanging qualitative resources for quantitative resources or deleted qualitative resources in the absence of adequate funds.9. The trade-off processes of eighty percent of the chief executive officers resulted in problems involving attitudes and motivation.

No description available.

No description available.

This documentary study sought to determine the relevance of the James Bay Cree's cultural values and practices to their policy-making process as school committee members. The Cree's formal school system, for which they have full responsibility, is based on the values and practices of non-native society. / Using the historical method, both primary and secondary sources were searched for relevant information concerning Cree culture and its distinguishing characteristics. Evidence of a distinct egalitarian society, practicing consensus, reciprocity and communal land use was found. Sources also indicated the continuing existence and adaptability of Cree values and practices despite prolonged interaction with non-native society. / This thesis proposes that these cultural values and practices predispose the Cree to be effective school committee members. The study provides data for a possible future ethnographic study of Cree school committee participation. Further research could also focus on the policy-making process required of Cree school board members.

Coinciding with a rebirth in South Africa, new education legislation has given considerable more power and responsibility for making decisions. While assuming a degree of autonomy, schools are also expected to resource themselves with the minimum support from their respective provincial departments. The extent to which schools will be able to make the transition depends a great deal upon the nature and quality of their internal management. (Department of Education 1996). The Task Team on Education Management Development (1996) says that a move to self-management does not mean that you are guaranteed positive change. It is the nature and quality of internal management that will influence real transformation. So, a self-managing school is accompanied by an internal devolution of power and by a leadership style that is transformational. It is here that an attempt is made to look at the extent to which transformational leadership is practiced in a Durban Secondary School. Seeing that transformational leadership is linked with school effectiveness, (Coleman, 1994) it is the aim of this research project to evaluate the principal's leadership style. Does the way the school is managed contain any evidence of transformational leadership? Is the principal's perception of his leadership style parallel with the staff's perception of how he leads the school? The findings of this research have shown that there is no evidence of transformational leadership at this school. The recommendations have highlighted ways in which the principal can begin to transform the school so that they too may improve to such an extent that the school is seen as being effective. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

The purpose of the study was to create a differentiated staff paradigm for a new senior high school with a prescribed learning program but without a designated faculty. The paradigm was designed by identifying elements of a viable differentiated staffing pattern from a review of related literature and research, and incorporating the elements into a predetermined learning program for the selected school. The school selected for the study was a new senior high school in Elkhart, Indiana, which was under construction at the time the study was being conducted. The school was scheduled to open in September of 1972.The review of related literature and research included an examination of existing theory related to differentiated staffing and a description of three models of existing differentiated staffing programs. A review of the planning history and basic foundations for the school being studied was presented. Concepts upon which were developed the educational specifications for the high school, and which related directly to staffing considerations for the school, were described.A rationale for the paradigm explained why the selected school appeared to be an appropriate one to consider a differentiated staffing arrangement. The rationale reviwed process considerations for development of a differentiated staff paradigm. From the review essential elements of a differentiated staffing plan were identified and these elements were used as a framework for presenting a paradigm for the selected school.General conclusions drawn from the study included:1. Sufficient research on differentiated staffing programs does not exist to draw absolute conclusions about the concept.2. The process of relating a review of research and literature to a defined learning program for an impending high school can be utilized to design a differentiated staffing paradigm for that school.3. A functional differentiated staff will be founded on specialization of job responsibilities while insuring flexible utilization of individual competencies.4. Teachers must be intimately involved in the planning and implementation of a differentiated staffing program.5. The existence of a differentiated staffing pattern in one school will affect administrative and decision-making functions on a system-wide basis.6. Individuals accepting differentiated staffing positions with broader job scope than traditional teaching assignments accept, concurrently, a greater degree of responsibility.7. The greater the responsibility in a differentiated staffing position the greater should be the remuneration and involvement in decision making in that position.8. Evaluation of performance within a differentiated staff should be based upon measured achievement of described tasks.9. The role of the principal cannot be an autonomous one in a school which employs a differentiated staffing pattern.10. Both pre-service and continuous in-service training activities are vital to success of a differentiated staffing plan.11. In order to relate specialized positions to defined goals and individual skills, periodic evaluation and resultant restructuring of a differentiated staff organization is called for.Recommendations for further study were as follows:1. If a differentiated staff plan should be implemented within the selected high school a study of the actual plan vis-a-vis the pattern posed in the paradigm should be made.2. Successes and limitations of differentiated staffing programs in achieving stated objectives should be measured.3. Contrasting methods of evaluation of performance in a differentiated staff should be compared and analyzed.4. The effect of a differentiation of assignment on staff performance and morale should be assessed.5. The effect of implementing a differentiated staffing pattern in one school on the system-wide educational program should be studied.6. The relationship between differentiated teaching assignments and a concept of accountability in achieving educational goals and objectives should be reviewed.7. The role of the principal in a differentiated staff should be analyzed and reported.

The purpose of the study was to determine sources Indiana secondary principals used to gather and utilize information to comply with eight selected mandates associated with school improvement during the years 1983 through 1988. In addition, the study was to determine the most frequently used information sources, and to examine the judgments of principals regarding the quality of the various resources. Further, the study was to survey what relationships existed, if any, between selected demographic factors and the sources used and the time spent implementing selected policy decisions.Five research questions were developed to analyze the judgments of principals about information sources used to implement the eight selected mandates. Seven categories of information sources were listed on a questionnaire sent to selected Indiana secondary school principals. Respondents recorded the sources most frequently used among the categories, rated the quality of each information source, and selected the amount of time required to implement each mandate in relation to time spent on other administrative tasks.Selected Findings1. Principals identified seven categories of information as being most useful in developing strategies to implement eight state-imposed mandates. The sources of information were Department of Education, Professional Journals and Newsletters, Superintendent's Office, Colleagues, Personal Resources, Professional Consultants, and Other, a category for specific individual preferences.2. The Department of Education was the most frequently used resource for the greatest number of mandates and was judged most valuable in quality by the respondents.The Superintendent's Office, Colleagues, and Professional Journals and Newsletters also were judged frequently as important resources.3. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated no relationship between selected demographic factors and the sources used in gathering information to implement selected policy decisions with one exception. A subsequent univariate analysis and a Scheffe multiple comparison test showed respondents of schools of 1000-1999 students used the Superintendent's Office significantly more as an information source to implement mandates than did respondents of schools under 1000 students. Respondents of schools over 2000 students were found to use Professional Consultants significantly more as an information source to implement selected mandates than did respondents of schools of 1000-1999 students.

Thesis (M. Ed)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 102-105).

Thesis (M.Ed)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-105). Also available in print.

This study is motivated by growing concern among teachers and principals about who controls the learning process and was conducted in the Chatsworth/Phoenix area of KwaZulu-Natal among selected primary and secondary schools from the former House of Delegates. The findings are thus applicable to these schools only. Since both groups lay claim to this control, a clash between them becomes inevitable. Principals have been blamed for "objectifying" teachers. Level-1 educators accuse these autocratic principals of treating them as pawns in a public service chess game. Teachers desire stability and security in the classroom and want to be appreciated. Like other professionals, they tend to regard suggestions about how they should do their work as reprimands. Teachers want to control their destinies and influence their working conditions. Instead of growing in their jobs, teachers complain of being "locked-in". Topdown bureaucratic principals prevent these educators from developing their decision-making skills. With these conditions prevailing in the teaching profession in the early nineties, the researcher set out to examine the effect of management styles on teachers in the classroom. Furthermore, he wanted to gauge the extent to which teachers were allowed to participate in decisionmaking, especially in those areas which affected their efficiency and job satisfaction. With the gradual empowering of level-1 educators as a result of the teacher's trade union (SADTU) and the resultant decline of the prescriptive role of superintendents, principals have had to rapidly adjust their management style to become more democratic and recognise teachers as the key personnel in the education process. At present principals have a high regard for their staff and view them as dedicated and motivated. Their managerial style show a strong bias towards participative decision-making, and they encourage teachers to initiate and implement new ideas. These principals have come to realise that if education in general is to benefit, they will have to adopt the "bottom-up" approach. Teachers dislike prescription and supervision of their work and cited these factors as a major cause of increased stress levels. However, it is important for level-1 educators to understand that if they expect to enjoy the confidence of educational managers and to be part of the decision-making mechanism, they need to show a high degree of professionalism and a deep sense of responsibility - both of which they undoubtedly have in abundance. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)