Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This study measures to what extent students of Al-Dharra Madressor (ADM), a private school in Kuwait, achieve American, Western "cultural proficiency," defined as the ability to understand and function in another culture. ADM operates as its own self-contained bilingual school system with a kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school. Native speakers of English and Arabic conduct subject and language classes in both languages, and cultural proficiency forms an implicit, if not explicit, part of school design. ADM graduates attend American, British, and Arab universities, and many eventually run Kuwaiti businesses that have a multi-cultural work environment, so American cultural proficiency holds instrumental value. The study's first half, building on the cultural and organizational theories of Hofstede, Ali, and Patai, develops a model of Arab culture in general and that of Kuwait. A historical and social survey of Kuwait focuses on the role and position of the Asil, a cohesive, affluent, long established, merchant group. The study depicts the Asil as politically and economically liberal but socially conservative. ADM functions as a representative Asil institution. The study's second half uses qualitative research and a mixed methodology to measure Arab and American (Western) cultural proficiency. The study triangulates the results of three instruments: the KATWII, adapted from the ARSMA II (Arnold, Cuellar, and Maldonado, 1995), an accepted measure of biculturality; the AWSIT, interviews of ADM students, Arab teachers, and Western teachers to access their reaction to American and Kuwaiti cultural situations; and the AGS, a general cultural survey. A series of student observations provides supplementary means of analysis. The study concludes that, though ADM students remain fundamentally Arab, most obtain an important, secondary American, Western cultural proficiency with some arguably "bicultural." While students show an awareness of some Western social norms and beliefs, when forced to choose, they typically choose Arab norms over Western. All design methods reach similar conclusions. This supports the findings of other studies of Arab groups in similar situations of cultural contrast. / 2031-01-01

This study offers a better understanding of the reasons why parents from six different countries across the Western hemisphere chose private, non-denominational schools for their children’s education. The findings deepen the knowledge in what is currently an underdeveloped field of research in education. The overarching research question was: What are the primary reasons why parents chose a private nondenominational school in Mexico, Spain, Costa Rica, United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa for their children’s education? To explore this question in depth, the researcher considered five sub-questions and employed a grounded theory qualitative research design. Data were collected twofold through focus groups and individual interviews and analyzed iteratively to develop a fresh theoretical perspective on the topic of parent school choice. Extant literature explains that the most frequent reasons to choose a private school include quality of education, location, participation of parents and being able to be heard, financial resources, and parents’ prior educational experiences. Contributing to the literature, this study revealed four major reasons for private school selection: consideration of private education as an investment for the future, smaller class size, the opportunity for students and their families to establish social contacts, and the academic quality of the school. In addition, three reasons specific to certain countries were identified: importance of learning the English language, quality of the facilities, and extended school day. Finally, eight additional secondary reasons were found including: international character of the school, happiness of the students in the school, distance from parents’ home, quality of the environment, prestige or tradition of the school, private management and organization, values and ethos of the school, and the non-denominational nature of the school. These findings can help private—and public—school administrators make better decisions to improve the quality of their educational offerings in knowing what parents most value. Parents may also find value in understanding the factors for consideration when evaluating public versus private school options. Finally, recommendations for practice and research for the field of education are offered. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis supervisor: Steve McGuire. Includes bibliographic references (p. 141-144).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Today’s contemporary challenges of educating students place responsibility on school principals that may be unmatched by any other generation. Principals in their early years of the portfolio face an even greater task as they become comfortable with the portfolio and the school community which they lead. Drawing from the leadership literature that emphasized the importance of trust for effective school leadership and improvement, this qualitative study examines the formal and informal leadership practices of seven principals/ headmasters with less than eight years of experience in private high schools in Ontario. The study focuses on the practices that these leaders identify as being crucial to building trust. Their responses reveal that trust building includes personal and professional honesty, transparency and clear communication and a sharing of decision-making powers which all help to minimize the micropolitics that arise in a school, engenders better relationships with faculty members, increases capacity of faculty members more effectively, and ultimately provides support for the principal and decreases personal stress. This study contributes to the Canadian literature on school leadership and the literature on private school leadership and concludes with recommendations for both research and practice.

Today’s contemporary challenges of educating students place responsibility on school principals that may be unmatched by any other generation. Principals in their early years of the portfolio face an even greater task as they become comfortable with the portfolio and the school community which they lead. Drawing from the leadership literature that emphasized the importance of trust for effective school leadership and improvement, this qualitative study examines the formal and informal leadership practices of seven principals/ headmasters with less than eight years of experience in private high schools in Ontario. The study focuses on the practices that these leaders identify as being crucial to building trust. Their responses reveal that trust building includes personal and professional honesty, transparency and clear communication and a sharing of decision-making powers which all help to minimize the micropolitics that arise in a school, engenders better relationships with faculty members, increases capacity of faculty members more effectively, and ultimately provides support for the principal and decreases personal stress. This study contributes to the Canadian literature on school leadership and the literature on private school leadership and concludes with recommendations for both research and practice.

One of the unique aspects of education in Quebec is a strong private sector. It is well rooted in the province's history and tradition. This study offers a preliminary examination into the historical development of policies in the area of private education in Quebec. / The first two pieces of legislation governing private schools provided subsidies of 100% at par with the public sector. These early laws were repealed and replaced by the Act respecting Private Education. / In August 1991, the government proposed a new and comprehensive piece of legislation. Following the first reading of this Bill a parliamentary commission was established to study the proposed law. Over 15 groups expressed their reactions in briefs to this commission. The Bill was harshly criticized by those opposed to public funding of private schools. It was also criticized by those in favor of the private sector. Given the negative reactions from groups opposed and groups in favor, government ministers decided that the Bill must be changed. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This study is a multi-level analysis of the pervasive phenomenon of what is termed here as low-fee private (LFP) schooling in India focusing on Lucknow District, Uttar Pradesh. The significance of the study is its focus on a private sector uniquely characterised as one targeted to a clientele traditionally excluded from private education. The study follows a single-case embedded case study research design of the type explained by Yin (1994). Its guiding framework comprises theoretical levels of analysis which are the individual, organisational, and institutional, corresponding to the case sub-units of household, school, and state respectively. The research design is structured through a new institutional paradigm which is also used to analyse results at the institutional level. Data were collected through interviews, observations, documents, and field notes. Direct household data sources were 60 parents/close family members at two focus schools (one urban and one rural); school sources were owners/principals of 10 case study schools (five urban and five rural); and state sources were 10 government officials. Analysis of the 100 formal interviews, informal interviews, observation events, and field notes followed a qualitative approach through an inductively derived analytic framework. Structured portions of household and school interviews were analysed through descriptive statistics providing data on household and school background characteristics. Documents were analysed using a modified content analysis approach. Implications of individual-level results lie in highlighting the schooling choices and patterns of a group that is otherwise regarded as homogenous, i.e. children are not sent to school because parents are uninterested in schooling and fail to see its relevance. In fact, results indicate that disadvantaged groups accessing the LFP sector in the study are active choosers who made deeply considered and systematic choices about their children's education. A model to explain their school choice processes is empirically derived. Data suggest that households employed the strategies of staying, fee-bargaining, exit, and fee-jumping to engage with LFP case study schools. Organisational-level results focus on case study school profiles, their organisational structures, and the strategies they employed to operate in the new schooling market. Results also focus on a qualitative understanding of the challenges case study schools faced as LFP schools, both by the institutional context and household demands. Finally, data point to the mechanisms instituted within the schools to deal with household needs and demands and the changing household-school relationship. The implications of institutional-level analysis He in exposing inconsistencies in the application of the formal institutional framework (FIF) for schooling to case study and other LFP schools by institutional actors. Differences in the FIF in principle and in practice are linked to perverse incentives embedded within it. The results strongly indicate the existence of what is termed here as, the shadow institutional framework (SIF), employed by case study schools to mediate the FIF to their institutional advantage. The SIF comprises internal institutions common across the set of case study schools, allowing them to form linkages with other LFP schools and exchange institutional information; and external institutions or higher order institutions governing how case study schools interacted with the FIF for basic and/or secondary education and private schooling. The SIF tied together an otherwise independent set of LFP schools as a de-facto sub-sector of the greater private sector. The study's main contributions are its analysis of an emerging local model of formal private schooling for disadvantaged groups; extending new institutional theory's application to education; and the methodological contribution of mediating the researcher's positionality through currencies.

Thesis (MEd)--University of South Australia, 1996