The purpose of the study was to examine the existing similarities and differences in the organizational and operational structure among the eight school study councils currently in operation in the state of Indiana. The operational structure for the eight school study councils was described by means of personal interviews and a search of existing study council files.The first School Study Council in Indiana was founded in 1961; the most recent became operational in 1977. Presently, eight councils are operational in Indiana. Six study councils are headquartered at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana; the remaining two are headquartered at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.The School Study Councils in Indiana claimed a combined membership of 135 public school corporations and represented slightly over 44.5 percent of all the public school corporations in the state. The smallest study council consisted of 10 school corporations whereas the largest study council was composed of 27 school corporations. Decisions made in a School Study Council setting in Indiana potentially affect over 549,000 students and more than 23,700 teachers.Membership in a School Study Council in Indiana was determined by one of three factors: (l)-geographical proximity of member schools; (2) student enrollment of the applying school corporation; or (3) a combination thereof.Yearly operational needs of school study councils were largely subsidized by the school corporations annual dues. Annual school corporation membership dues for Indiana councilsvaried from $200.00 to $500.00 a year. The most popular means for determining membership assessment was the flat assessment fee.Each School Study Council in Indiana functioned according to an established constitution and a formal set of by-laws. The major components contained in each constitution were: (1) Name; (2) Purpose; (3) Membership; (4) Officers and Executive Committee; (5) Nominations, Elections, and Appointments; (6) Finances; (7) Amendments and/or Revisions; and (8) Effective Date.The constitutions were more uniform than the by-laws; however, the majority of the study councils accepted the following articles: (1) Duties of Officers; (2) Terms of Office; (3) Vacancies in Office; (4) Executive Committee; (5) General Meetings; (6) Quorum; (7) Committees; (8) Publications; (9) Rules of Order; and (10) Amendments and Revisions.Ball State University and Indiana University agreed to support school study councils by providing, without cost to the councils, the following services: (1) an Executive Secretary;(2) required stenographic services; (3) one part-time graduate assistant or doctoral fellow; and (4) office facilities.The responsibilities of the Executive Secretary was a major difference between Ball State University and Indiana University. A professor serving as Executive Secretary at Ball State University received a one-third reduction from the normal teaching responsibility. No such reduction was agreed upon at Indiana University.At both universities, a graduate assistant or doctoral fellow was assigned to work with the Executive Secretary. The graduate assistant or doctoral fellow served in the following capacity: (1) assisting the Executive Secretary in planning and implementing school study council programs; (2) conducting necessary research as requested by the study council membership; (3) correspondence on behalf of the study council; and (4) the preparation of reports and minutes of the council business meetings. The stipend received by the doctoral fellow or graduate assistant was approximately $3,000 for an academic year.Conclusions drawn from the study are:1. The basic purpose for the establishment of School Study Councils in Indiana was the improvement of education in member school systems by providing an opportunity to: (1) share and pool vital information; (2) discuss approaches to sound educational management; (3) participate in professional growth through in-service workshops.2. The support and affiliation offered to the School Study Councils by the universities were judged to be the most crucial consideration affecting the overall development of the councils.Recommendations for further research are:1. Consideration should be given to evaluating and researching the variables of success in school study councils as viewed by: school administrators; teachers; and students.2. Research should be conducted to investigate the impact school study councils have upon educational programs and curriculum of member school corporations.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of flood control reservoir construction on public school enrollments, assessed valuation, leisure time activities, and residential housing and business enterprises. Flood control reservoirs studied in Indiana included Cagles Mill, Mansfield, Monroe, Salamonie, Mississinewa, and Huntington. Construction was completed on all six reservoirs during the years between 1952 and 1968.Local school enrollments were compared with the total state public school enrollment to determine if differences existed in yearly enrollment trends.The assessed valuation of townships affected by a flood control reservoir was compared with the total county assessed valuation to determine if differences existed in yearly trends.The data for attendance at state recreational areas were used to show yearly trends from the time of reservoir completion to 1969.Interviews with residents of the reservoir community were used to gather information regarding the physical changes which had taken place in the community since reservoir construction began. These physical changes include leisure time facilities, residential housing, and business enterprises.The major findings from this study were:1. Public school records in corporations affected by a flood control reservoir revealed changes in enrollment, but these changes did not indicate unusual patterns when compared to yearly public school enrollment figures of the total state.2. School districts located in the immediate flood control area involved did not appear to be abnormally affected because of changes in student population.3. Every township affected by reservoir construction decreased in total assessed valuation at the beginning of the project. The loss was reflected in either a reduction of the townships total assessed valuation or a lower rate of increase compared to the total county valuation.4. Where reservoirs have been completed three or more years, the townships involved reflect a higher assessed valuation than they did before construction.5. Surrounding property values in all reservoir areas were higher when reservoir construction was completed than they were before construction.6. More people are making use of all types of recreational facilities located at reservoirs. Camping in tents and trailers has increased more than any of the other leisure time activities investigated.7. Major new business consisted of marinas, combination grocery and bait stores, and private campgrounds.8. Business establishments throughout the state are being influenced by campers and fishermen because of the need for supplies when using the reservoir facilities. The lack of business in the immediate reservoir community and the convenience when boating, fishing, or camping to stock up on supplies were reasons for the influence throughout the state.Major conclusions included:1.If more permanent residents do not move into the reservoir communities, public school pupil population trends will not be altered, and school corporations will not be adversely affected by a reservoir being constructed in their school district.Unless permanent residents move into the reservoir communities and increase public school pupil.Population, the tax rates are very likely to decrease because of the increasing value of land around the reservoir. Property values around a flood control reservoir tend to increase during the time between the beginning of construction and two years after completion of the reservoir, because of its potential use by people for recreation and business.Unless adequate lodging facilities and restaurants are provided in the reservoir communities the areas will remain campgrounds for tents and trailers, or a one day outing facility.The Indiana flood control reservoirs will supplement and influence businesses in Indiana and adjoining states.Systematic community planning by interested local leaders should help to provide for the orderly residential and business development of the reservoir community.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the type and extent of control exercised by local boards of education in Indiana school districts, determine whether selected discriminatory criteria used to identify the extent of local control in Colorado school districts were applicable to Indiana school districts, and compare the extent of local control exercised by school boards in large, medium, and small Indiana school districts.

For the past several decades, school districts have faced an increase in challenges which include trying to improve student achievement with restricted or reduced educational funds. Schools are faced with attempting to fill in financial gaps with funds derived from non-traditional sources with help from partners, including public education foundations. The purpose of this study was to determine the following: (1) The goals established by Indiana public education foundations, (2) whether these public education foundations have been able to achieve their goals, and (3) how the public education foundations successfully secure funding to support their K-12 public schools. The researcher employed a two-phase, explanatory mixed-methods research design (QUAN-Qual Model). The model uses an initial quantitative study to establish a baseline of knowledge about the subject and follows up with a qualitative study to gain a deeper insight into the quantitative results. The first phase involved analyzing the results of a questionnaire administered as part of the study. The researcher used the membership of the Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations (INAPEF) for the accessible population. Current membership includes sixty-six foundations. The final data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, analysis of covariance, and regression analysis to identify significant or interesting relationships between variables. The second phase of the study engaged three education foundations in a case study review. The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide deeper insight into foundation goals and level of support to schools from the perspective of public education foundation officials. A majority of the foundation officials that were surveyed believe that school foundations in Indiana have been effective in supporting the educational programs in their school districts. Foundation officials believe that they are able to provide positive support to schools mostly through district initiatives, classroom grants, and community involvement. The results of this research may provide public schools with the impetus to create public education foundations to support their programs or determine how to improve upon their current foundation’s support. / Department of Educational Leadership

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The study involved an examination of the function of the Attorney General of Indiana as legal adviser to public school authorities in Indiana.The purposes of the study were (1) to present information concerning the legal basis upon which the Office of Attorney General was founded; to describe: (2) the organization of the Office of the Attorney General of Indiana; (3) the procedure for requesting and rendering opinions from the Office of the Attorney General of Indiana; to ascertain: (4) the effect of such an opinion once said opinion has been rendered; (5) the relationship between the Office of the Attorney General of Indiana and local school corporation authorities with respect to the function as legal adviser; and (6) the relationship between the Office of the Attorney General of Indiana and local school corporation authorities with respect to the function as legal adviser.

By 2014, Indiana public schools are required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and Public Law 221, the state's K-12 comprehensive accountability system, to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) by assuring that all students achieve proficiency in mathematics and language arts, demonstrate high attendance and graduation rates, and under the direction of a broad-based school/community steering committee submit an improvement plan to the Indiana Department of Education and a state-approved accrediting agency. According to various school improvement models, the school/community steering committee should include all stakeholder groups: administrators, licensed and non-instructional staff, parents, community members, and when appropriate students. However, non-instruction staff members are many times excluded or under-represented in the school's efforts to improve. This descriptive study was conducted to investigate the extent to which non-instructional public school employees are included in school improvement efforts. A survey was emailed to randomly selected public elementary, middle, and high school principals in Indiana. The researcher sought to understand the degree to which non-instructional staff participate in school improvement groups and activities, the tasks assigned and completed by non-instructional staff that participate, factors that limit participation in school improvement activities, and principals' perceptions regarding the value added by non-instructional staff to school improvement efforts. Responses from the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The researcher found few studies in the current literature that investigated the role non-instructional staff play in school improvement. The findings from this study were discussed and used to establish new understanding in the area of stakeholder involvement, specifically with non-instructional employees, in the school improvement process. Recommendations were made to administrators and school improvement teams for ways to include non-instructional staff in efforts to achieve the school's goals as well as a recommendation for additional research in this area. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of the study was to determine at the school district level, what relationships exist, if any, between Indiana school corporation SAT mean scores (a limited output measure of student achievement and aptitude) and six intervening input variables: (1) operating expenditures per pupil, (2) instructional expenditures per pupil, (3) per capita income, (4) corporation enrollment size, (5) degree of population density, and (6) at-risk index characteristics.The study provided a review of the research and related literature on relationships between high school SAT scores, public school expenditures and other intervening input variables. The study addressed questions about relationships and effects of expenditures and other input variables upon SAT scores. The need to examine individual district variation in SAT performance was motivated by the influence comparisons of SAT scores have on public perception of education and the resultant impact on state and local education policy.A principal goal of the study was to add to the understanding of the relationships between public expenditures directed to education, specific demographic and compositional student characteristics, and education performance as measured in SAT mean scores.The study incorporated Pearson product moment correlations and stepwise multiple regression procedures to determine the existence of variation in outputs accounted for by variation in the specific inputs. Initially a Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to test each of the six null hypotheses. Statistical significance was sought in each instance at the .01 level. Stepwise multiple regressions were then used to examine the SAT output relationships with compounded variables.The following conclusions were drawn from the findings and the summary tables reported in the study: 1. Low per capita income is associated with a decline in SAT scores and higher per capita income to associate with higher SAT scores.2. Increased performance on the SAT is not dependent upon the amount spent in total General Fund expenditures per pupil, however, an increased amount spent on instruction tends to raise SAT scores.3. A high at-risk index presence is associated with lower SAT scores whereas a low at-risk index tends to be associated with higher SAT scores.4. Urban density does not effect SAT scores in a statistically significant manner.5. The size of the school corporation has no relationship to SAT scores.Overall total General Fund expenditures were not shown to significantly affect SAT scores, although such costs were not shown to be detrimental in the multiple regression analysis. More importantly, instructional expenditures per student were demonstrated to be one of three significant factors affecting higher SAT scores. The other significant variables were poverty and high at-risk factors, which were shown to be associated with lower SAT score levels.The data and the study strongly suggest that, if school authorities, legislatures, private business and parents continue to use the SAT scores as a prime barometer and target for educational success, we should immediately begin to compensate dramatically for the atrisk and per capita income deficits in individual students and impacted schools, and maximize financial resources into proven classroom instructional strategies. If the public wishes to narrow the gap in SAT scores, then policy makers need to examine the educational-environmental liabilities of low income, single parent home, and the appropriate level of instructional cost which will generate acceptable SAT results. / Department of Educational Leadership