Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Based on the position that perceptions about roles and functions within organizations affect the operational goals of those organizations, this study vas conducted to determine differences in perceptions among educational personnel in large Texas school districts as to the operation of purchasing departments. The data generated by the present study support the conclusions stated below: 1. All employee groups questioned feel that there is a significant discrepancy between current and ideal practices in purchasing departments. 2. Any tendency to protect the status quo appears to be limited to those involved with the purchasing system in its design and operation. 3. Being more closely associated with classroom operations causes a greater discrepancy in how purchasing department practices are viewed. 4. Secondary Teachers were either more intensely in favor of change or more willing to express opinions. 5. There exists the tendency to lose rapport with teachers the more removed one is from the classroom. 6. Communications gaps exist between purchasing departments and those in classroom operations.

The Fairfax County Public Schools and neighboring business/industry have perhaps one of the oldest and most satisfactory school/business partnerships in Virginia. A case study was made of the Fairfax County Public Schools School/Business Partnership to identify factors that make a partnership work and to provide information to assist a school system or business/industry interested in the establishment of a partnership. The population for this case study research was made up of school system and business/industry persons who had first-hand knowledge of the partnership. To begin the study a document search of the files and program was made. This document search resulted in a set of interview schedules which were then administered to the stakeholders. Data resulting from these schedules were coded and reported in narrative form. Results indicated that commitment from top level management from both the school system and business/industry to the partnership, a project of major proportion, and a program designed in a way to permit mutual pursuit of the goals of the partners are important if the partnership is to work. / Ed. D.

Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive analysis of cooperative purchasing in the public schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia with attention to any effects brought about by enactment of the Virginia Public Procurement Act. Questionnaires were sent to each division superintendent of public schools in Virginia with follow up done on those public school divisions who have or are utilizing cooperative purchasing. The majority (63 percent) of public school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia do not utilize cooperative purchasing. Public school divisions utilizing cooperative purchasing are almost universally involved with their local governmental body rather than other school divisions. Saving money is the rationale given for utilizing cooperative purchasing and it is the factor most often named as the major success attained in such an agreement. The bidding requirements and attendant need for specifications enumerated in the Virginia Public Procurement Act resulted in a minority of school divisions electing to employ cooperative purchasing and utilize the State Department of Purchasing and Supply as two means of ensuring compliance with the law. Enactment of the Virginia Public Procurement Act has had a marginal effect on procurement practices by public school divisions in Virginia. Public school superintendents reported that a concern about a potential loss in autonomy was the major reason for not purchasing cooperatively. This was consistent with other studies done on this topic. School divisions most likely to utilize cooperative purchasing are characterized by large enrollments and budgets, the employment of professional full-time purchasing agents, and a superintendent who has had prior experience with cooperative purchasing agreements as well as perceiving enactment of the Virginia Public Procurement Act as a concern. School divisions are utilizing cooperative purchasing despite the absence of the above characteristics cited in the literature as standard requirements. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to explore the participatory management system used by the Tulsa Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Due to the size of the system and interest of the researcher, the middle schools were chosen as the units for investigation. A total of 535 (82%) of the teachers in the 17 middle schools responded to the survey. The major variables investigated were participatory management, job satisfaction, job-related tension, intention-to-leave the school or the profession, absenteeism, sex, and years of experience. Additional observations were made which were used as supporting qualitative data. The data were analyzed by using several statistical procedures: mean scores, analysis of variance, Pearson product-moment correlations, and t-tests. The findings not only confirmed participatory management to be the perceived mode of middle school governance in this system but determined that this management style was related to the majority of variables in the study. When the variables were analyzed separately, it was found that, in general, teachers were satisfied with their job, rarely felt tension related to their job, infrequently considered leaving their school or the profession, and maintained a high attendance rate. When these variables were examined in conjunction with participatory management, the variables of teacher job satisfaction and job-related tension were found to be correlated positively with teachers' perceptions of shared governance. In addition, teacher intent to leave and teacher absenteeism were lower when greater participation in the school's management was perceived. However, the sex of the teacher and the years of experience had no relationship with teachers perceived degree of involvement in the decision-making process. It can be concluded that participatory management practices may enhance teacher attitudes as noted by the analysis of the variables investigated in this study. Future research is needed to substantiate further these results by comparing the management system used by the Tulsa Public Schools with other educational systems throughout the nation. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

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