There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The study was designed to examine the leadership style of principals in two ways: (1) by synthesizing the available research on effective schools and the leadership involved; and (2) by determining the relationship of good management in America's best-run companies with the principals in America's most effective schools. The study described teacher perceptions of leader behavior in nationwide public schools recognized for excellence. Additionally, principals' self-perceptions of leader behavior were examined.A Leadership Behavior Questionnaire was developed to indicate which of the eight basic characteristics of good management, proclaimed by Peters and Waterman's book, In Search of Excellence, effective schools utilized.The population for the study was comprised of schools recognized for excellence by the Secretary of Education or the Kappa Delta Pi society. Eighty-two nationwide public schools participated in the study.One null hypothesis was generated for the study. The multivariate hypothesis was tested using the Hotelling T2 statistical method and a significance level of .001 was reported. The mean average response of teachers in the eight categories differed from the hypothesized vector of scores (3.5) rejecting the null hypothesis. Teacher and principal mean ratings were above 4.0 on all subscales. Each of the eight subscales helped to explain the overall rejection. Therefore, agreement existed between managers of best-run companies and principals of effective schools as to the eight basics of good management.General agreement existed among teachers and principals about leadership style in schools recognized for excellence. Principal leader behavior was one factor that influenced school climate. The high ratings by both teachers and principals in the exemplary schools gave some clues as to what good leadership entails. Teachers perceived principals as highest in SIMULTANEOUS LOOSE-TIGHT PROPERTIES. Principals perceived themselves highest in PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH PEOPLE and CLOSE TO THE CUSTOMER.The Pearson product-moment correlations were substantial and positive between all eight subscales. This information, along with the synthesis of research on effective schools and the relationship to industry, will provide a guide to leaders who are truly trying to make school a better place for kids.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The major purpose of this study was to examine the implications and potentials of program budgeting for public schools. Several goals and objectives pursuant to the major purpose of the study were developed. They were: (1) to further the usage of program-budgeting concepts and terms as described and defined by Harry J. Hartley, author of Educational Planning-Programming-Budgeting: A Systems Approach; (2) to identify budgeting practices common to both conventional and program-budgeting concepts of public school budgeting; and (3) to determine whether or not selected public school superintendents used specific program budgeting practices and to determine the soundness of the specific program-budgeting practices as judged by the public school superintendents. The procedures used in the study included the following: (1) the selection of the population, (2) the development of the data-gathering instrument, (3) the collection of the data, and (4) the presentation of the data.The population of this study was comprised of seventy selected Indiana public school superintendents who administered school corporations which were of various sizes and which were located in various geographic areas in Indiana. Two criteria were used to select the superintendents: (1) that their school corporation be one of the ten school corporations having the largest average daily attendance as reported by the Indiana State Department of Instruction; or (2) that their school corporation be a member of one of the five public school study councils with headquarters at Ball State University.Data for the study were obtained from the responses to a questionnaire which included a list of statements pertaining to program-budgeting practices. The sixty statements were derived from thirty theses postulated by Hartley as a concise description of program budgeting as it should operate at the public-school level. Definitions from the glossary of Hartley's book were used to clarify the statements.The superintendents were asked to react to the statements by checking a multi-column scale, indicating whether or not they used the budgeting practice in their school' corporation and then judging the soundness of the practice whether or not they used the practice.The data were treated in two major categories. Each statement was treated separately, and the sixty statements were treated as a whole. In both categories the data were presented in raw numbers and percentages to show responses as well as similarities and differences of responses, and narration was used to report general relationships and inferences as perceived by the writer. The findings indicated the following major general conclusions to be appropriate: 1. The majority of the superintendents participating in the study indicated they used many of the program-budgeting practices described and defined in the inquiry instrument. 2. Most of the superintendents participating in this study considered most of the program-budgeting practices described and defined in the inquiry instrument to be sound budgeting practices. 3. Many of the superintendents participating in the study judged specific program-budgeting practices to be sound even though they did not utilize those practices in the operations of their schools. 4. Program-budgeting practices more directly associated with systems-analysis procedures, such as utilizing management-information systems, developing simulation techniques, programming by systematic task-sequence network diagrams and constructing behavioral-theoretical models, were not often used by the school corporations participating in this study. 5. Many budgetary methods, policies, and procedures identified as being characteristic of program budgeting were being practiced in the public schools. There is considerable overlapping of conventional and program-budgeting practices.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

One purpose of this study was to identify the relationship, if any, that existed between method of scheduling and achievement in reading and mathematics. A second purpose of this study was to identify the relationship, if any, that existed between method of scheduling and student attitudes toward school and learning. A third purpose of the study was to identify what teachers using parallel block scheduling perceived as positive and negative aspects of parallel block scheduling.Data from ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) scores, student questionnaires, and teacher interviews were used to compare the parallel block scheduled school and the surface scheduled school. ISTEP scores were compared using One Way Analyses of Variance to check equivalency of the two schools at the beginning and at the end of the study and Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance to test the hypotheses. Student questionnairesmeasuring student attitudes toward school and learning were compared for the two schools using Repeated Measures Analyses of Variance. Teachers at the parallel block scheduled school were interviewed to analyze their perceptions of parallel block scheduling.Statistically significant differences were found in mathematics achievement in favor of the parallel block scheduled school. No statistically significant differences were found in reading achievement between the parallel block scheduled school and the surface scheduled school. Statistically significant differences in students' attitudes toward school and learning between the two types of scheduling were found in three out of the four categories. Differences were found in students' beliefs about how well they were learning, students' attitudes toward themselves as learners, and students' beliefs about how others see them as learners in favor of the parallel block scheduled school. No difference was found in students' attitudes toward school. Responses from interviews of teachers using parallel block scheduling indicated that the teachers felt parallel block scheduling had benefitted students in terms of achievement, attitudes toward school and learning, and in their effectiveness as teachers. / Department of Educational Leadership