Developing trusting relationships and reducing teacher burnout are two pressing issues that principals and superintendents confront on a daily basis in public schools. With the increasing demands of state mandated testing, No Child Left Behind, and improving standards for all students, principals and superintendents need to understand the relationship between the factors that influence student performance and a positive learning environment. The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher trust in the principal and teacher burnout as identified by teachers in selected Texas public schools. In this study, a cross-tabulation of teacher burnout by teacher trust in the principal indicated a moderate to strong association between the two variables. The Pearson product-moment correlation produced a strong, positive correlation of 0.61 (p<0.01) between teacher trust in the principal and teacher burnout. In addition, teachers who indicated low trust in the principal are about 28 percent more likely to experience high teacher burnout. In fact, out of the 315 teachers who completed this survey, not one teacher who reported high teacher trust in the principal scored high on teacher burnout. Next, the researcher explored how selected demographic variables influenced the teacher trust-burnout relationship. According to this study, the number of years that the teacher has worked with the principal has a strong influence on the teacher trust-burnout relationship, and the teacher’s age and the teacher’s experience have a moderate effect. In addition, teacher gender appears to have a slight effect on the teacher trust-burnout relationship, and principal gender, principal age, and principal race appear to not affect the teacher trust-burnout relationship at all. The researcher was unable to draw any conclusions on the influence of teacher race on the teacher trust-burnout relationship due to the small number of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and other race teacher respondents. Finally, the multivariate regression analysis suggested that teacher trust in the principal and the demographic variables in this study account for nearly 40 percent of the variance for teacher burnout. The results of this study suggest that principals must focus on developing trusting relationships with their teachers to reduce teacher burnout.

The purpose of this study was to identify leadership characteristics of highperforming Texas high school principals that positively affect student performance. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine the degree of agreement between conceptualizations of leadership presented in existing research and those of successful practitioners. A Delphi panel of sixteen high school principals participated in the study. Over the course of three rounds, the members of the expert panel provided feedback to both the researcher and other members of the panel as to which leadership characteristics they felt were of critical importance to student success. The characteristics presented in the questionnaire were based upon a sound theoretical framework resulting from a thorough review of existing research. At the completion of Round Three, it was decided that consensus had been reached among the members of the panel and the data collection period was ended. Each of the questionnaires used in the study, as well as the relevant statistical analysis and frequency distributions, can be found in the appendices of this document. The major findings of the study affirm the importance of leadership and its positive impact on student achievement. First, there seems to be agreement between the body of research on leadership and the viewpoint of successful practitioners as to which leadership characteristics are essential for student success. Second, vision for goal achievement, response to diversity, and ethical practice head the list of critical leadership attributes for high school principals. Third, leadership characteristics presented in the literature base are, at least in the opinion of the high-performing high school principals involved in this study, comprehensive and are not missing any major components for student success. The conclusions and recommendations of this study could affect the performance of high school principals’ leadership in school improvement. Its major significance can be found in its potential effect on the daily practice of individuals currently serving as school leaders, the professional growth plans of practicing administrators, and the components and focus of principal preparation programs.

School leadership provides a critical bridge between student success initiatives and their impact on students in Texas schools. This study, which was one of four cohort studies conducted concurrently in Region V Education Service Center (ESC), Texas, examined the relationship between student performance, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), and leadership practices of elementary school principals in Region V ESC schools. The investigation procedures for this study involved an analysis of the responses from principals and site-based decision making (SBDM) committee members from their respective campuses to the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) developed by Kouzes and Posner (2003) which evaluates the use of five identified leadership practices: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. Student performance information for the participating elementary campuses was obtained from the Texas Education Agency Academic Excellence Indicator System database. This study found no linear relationship between perceived leadership practices of elementary principals and the academic success of students as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). However, a relationship between these variables is strongly supported by the literature. The data were an indication that Region V elementary principals embrace the leadership practices identified by Kouzes and Posner at least moderately (between the 30th and 69th percentile) or at a higher level (70th percentile or above). As a group, the principals in this study rated themselves higher overall in regard to perceived leadership practices than did their observers, but only significantly higher on three of the five individual practices. Principals and their observers agreed that the practice Enable Others to Act was the most frequently noted followed by the practices Model the Way and Encourage the Heart. The practices with the least reported frequency were Challenge the Process and Inspire a Shared Vision. Further analysis of the data showed that the demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, age, and years of experience in the field of education did not have an effect on survey responses of the study participants.

<p>Begreppet ansvarsredovisning har många olika meningar, och har fått en allt större betydelse för företagens kommunikation. Samhället ställer krav på organisationernas och företagens etik, sociala ansvar och miljöansvar enligt litteraturen. Trots dessa krav är företagens och organisationernas ansvarsredovisning till stor del frivillig. Den lågkonjunktur som råder i Sverige och i övriga världen kan också antas ha påverkat kraven på företagen, att ta ett större samhälligt ansvar. Allmänheten ställer också större krav på att informationen redovisas på ett korrekt sätt, och att informationen är tillförlitlig.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att utifrån studiens frågor beskriva innebörden av begreppet ansvarsredovisning. Resultatet visar att ansvar har en teknisk innebörd som kräver tekniska färdigheter och kommunikation, men har även en social dimension som blir allt viktigare. Hur kan ansvarsredovisning beskrivas i ett organisatoriskt sammanhang, samt den tekniska dimensionen av ansvarsredovisningen? Vi har studerat organisationen ur ett organisatoriskt perspektiv. Studiens resultat karakteriseras genom två olika former, den sociala och den tekniska.</p><p>Studien är baserad på det induktiva perspektivet. Undersökningsstrategin är deskriptiv och explorativ. Vi använder en multipel teoretisk referensram för att berika analysen av insamlade materialet.</p><p>Tillämpning av multipla teorier resulterade i en i en klar koppling mellan teori och praktik. Företag och organisationer vill framstå i ”god dager” i media som en ansvarsfull enhet.Ansvarsredovisning balanserar förhållandet mellan intressenters krav och företagens och organisationernas ansvar.Ansvarsredovisningens betydelse ökar stadigt, trots att lagkravet för ansvarsredovisning är minimalt. Vi tror att ansvarsredovisningen har kommit för att stanna.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-114). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-114). Also available on the Internet.

The study is an exploratory and illuminative case study of a principal’s leadership of a cross section of his students. It is situated within an11-18, comprehensive school in a semi- rural, coastal town in the southwest of England. This predominantly white British school, with above national average levels of economic and social deprivation, has a recent historical context of rapid and sustained improvement in examination results at all levels over the period just before and during the study: two Ofsted inspections during this time judged the school to be good with outstanding features, following a previous judgement of ‘satisfactory’ just before the arrival of the principal. The study offers an insider perspective in the field of principal effectiveness, which is more usually dominated by research from the outside, as the principal in question is also the researcher. Equally unusually in this field, the study explores the principal’s leadership from a student’s perspective by operating at the level of student voice and collecting their personal stories and opinions using six student focus groups. The groups were constructed and facilitated by a co researcher with the purpose of protecting students’ identity, aiding reliability and adding a collaborative level of interpretation. A social constructionist approach is adopted for the study which is situated in an interpretivist methodological paradigm. The data were analysed thematically and viewed from a socio cultural perspective. The research suggests that students are able to describe and recognise the concept of the principal’s student leadership. Some, more than others, place a value on this in terms of it having an instrumental effect on their school experience and many view it from a relational perspective. These data support the findings of another piece of research from a similar perspective that suggests students value personal affirmative and affiliative qualities and traits in the leadership they experience from the headteacher (Moos et al 1998). From the socio cultural perspective of this study and the definition of social capital as being “relationships matter” (Puttnam 2000) then it may be suggested that a principal’s student leadership is likely to contribute, either positively or negatively, to students’ social capital. Although it is not possible to suggest generalisablity from these findings, due to the very limited scope of the case study and small number of participant students, practitioners may nevertheless find the study of some value. This detailed and illuminative interrogation of the principal /researcher’s specific context, may provide reflective colleagues with examples of good practice, that can be applied to their own context, when seeking ways to ensure that all students feel valued and empowered.

Between 1998 and 2000, seventy principals were named in the Austin Independent School District to succeed other principals. Several schools had two or more principals in that period. Not only is there an immediate cost when a principal is not successful, but there is also a cost associated with repair or replacement. Knowing what is necessary in the induction experience to make a principal succeed is critical. We have an obligation to these principals, their teachers, the taxpayers, and most of all, the students, to maximize their success. This study explored the experiences of elementary principals in the Austin Independent School District who recently succeeded other principals. Issues addressed included the principals' perceptions of their experiences and the impact of those experiences on their effectiveness. Findings will be offered as recommendations that may better inform principals who step into the succession role in the district. Questionnaires were sent to elementary principals named between 1998 and 1999 and still in those same schools in 2001-2002. Based on responses, principals were invited to participate in focus groups. Based on written responses and participation in focus groups, three principals were selected as case studies. Data revealed that succession principals had positive experiences including communication with others, establishment of procedures and routines, relationship building, and knowledge of district policies and procedures. Negative experiences included the effects of prior school leadership, challenging relationships, communication issues, and lack of support. As a result of these experiences, principals developed inner strength and powerful relationships with peers. It was recommended that support for succession principals continue beyond the induction year and include: trained mentors; time to dialogue with mentors and peer principals; quick responses to questions or requests for support; and receipt, early in the process, of critical information regarding role definition, expectations, district policies, and district procedures. Recommendations for further study included: investigating the succession experiences of secondary principals; comparing the succession experiences of principals named from within the district to those named from outside the district; and studying the relationship between the rate of principal retention and teacher retention.

In this dissertation, we investigate three different questions that are related to information asymmetry and principal-agent problems. The first question is whether principal-agent conflicts lead executives to influence the design of their own employment contracts to exploit the shareholders; the second is the question whether conflicts of interest hamper the effectiveness of affiliated analysts in detecting and curbing earnings management; and the third is whether small investors are at an informational disadvantage. The three studies provide evidence on the existence of information asymmetry and principal-agent problems in various contexts. In particular, we find that the benchmarking process of executive compensation observed is a remedy of the agency costs incurred; that analysts from independent research firms monitor firms they cover more effectively than analysts affiliated with investment banks; and, strikingly, that small investors actually may have better information regarding firms’ financials even when compared to professional equity analysts. Together, these studies provide new insights into the cornerstone problems of the finance literature. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-29 14:19:56.636

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