<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine considerations that a sample of parents identified as influential when deciding to open enroll their children into a specific Wisconsin school district. Under Wisconsin Act 27, parents have the right to choose their children's public school through so-called open enrollment. This act also provides for state funding of public schools based in part on student enrollment. If a public school district's student enrollment increases, state funding increases. In recent years the district in this study experienced significant net loss in student enrollment and funding. As a result, programming, salaries, curriculum, facilities, and more were adversely affected. A survey was administered to a convenience sample of 64 families out of a target population of 117. Results indicated school culture and relationships were reportedly primary influences on parents' decisions to open enroll into the study district. Additionally, quality of academics was reported as an influential consideration. Stakeholders may incorporate these considerations when planning marketing and public relations strategies. Findings from this study may provide stakeholders with ways to attract and maintain students in the study district, and may also assist policymakers.</p>

This study tested the hypothesis that “SuperLeaders” impact other leaders. Thirty-two Superintendents and Principals from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts participated in this study. Superintendents were nominated by their peers as demonstrating “SuperLeadership” characteristics according to (Manz, 1996). Each superintendent completed a Superintendents' SuperLeadership Style Inventory. This was a 48 item self-rating questionnaire regarding their SuperLeadership Style. Responses to the questionnaire range from (Definitely not true – to Definitely true). These correlated at 1. Principals received the following instrument: The Principal Perception of their Superintendent SuperLeadership Style Inventory, a Job Satisfaction Inventory (JDI), a Principal Job Efficacy, and Principal Job Effectiveness instruments. In order to perform data analysis, pairs were formed to include a Superintendent and Principal from the same school districts. The data results show that there was no direct correlation between Superintendents' SuperLeadership Style and their Principals' perception of their Style influencing principals' behavior. There was a direct correlation between Job Effectiveness and Job Efficacy. This demonstrated a 30% shared variance between the two variables Job Effectiveness and Job Efficacy, and it suggests that the higher a Principal's performance, the higher the level of efficacy the Principal style does not differ whether they were grouped in the high, middle or low group. However, there was significant statistical difference in how the Principals perceived their Superintendents' SuperLeadership Styles among the three groups. The results also show no statistical differences in their ratings of Principals' Job Self Efficacy and Job Effectiveness. However, regarding Job Satisfaction as measured by Supervision and People at Work, there was a statistical difference. The results do show that according to Principal self-rating that Superintendents with SuperLeadership characteristics can have employee who will have greater job effectiveness, greater job self-efficacy, and higher job satisfaction. Leadership skills can be acquired when a person studies, understands or engages in the various elements of this model. When incorporated into an individual's leadership role, these yield the greatest effectiveness. While the aforementioned statement addresses a work environment, this does not preclude leaders' development in home or family situations, and or its impact on personal relationships. Effective leaders understand that empowerment of subordinates to develop a strong sense self-leadership has its cost and its benefits. The benefits may be stronger task commitment, increased opportunities for leadership development, reduced administrative cost, and better customer service. On the other hand, the cost could decrease productivity when agreeable objectives and priorities are not clearly defined. In essence, SuperLeadership and its constructs are useful for practical purposes that can be used to enhance a person's life. In regards to Training and Development, it is estimated that organizations spend an enormous amount of money on leadership training—$3.5 billion, according to ASTD www.astd.org. While training may vary from one organization to the next, Super-Leadership and its constructs can be used as a fundamental component in Management Development training and for organizational effectiveness. It can be also be customized for the following areas to yield the greatest optimal performance: Superintendents' training, Principal training, Managerial training, Parent Effectiveness training, Life Skills training, Counselor Education training, Teacher training, Executive Coaching, and Career Development. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Interpretations of the causes of famine vary according to the political philosophy or to be more implicit the political ideology of the observer. This study explored the various interpretations and perceptions of famine along the spectrum of ideologies. These include classical economists and neo-classical economists such as Adam Smith, demographic theorists such as Malthus, the famous proponent of the population explosion theory, and the Marxist perspective of the theory of labor value and the capitalist appropriation of the ownership and distribution of wealth. Also, Amartya Sen's concept of entitlement and the postmodern approach to famine will be examined. In a stark contrast to the western intellectual aberration and the observer approach is the victim/sufferer's approach to famine. Despite the fatalistic attitude embedded in both secular and religious societies that is prevalent in the daily lives of the rural populace, there is a strong cyclical and erratic concepts engrained in the indigenous culture. The first chapter dealt with the indigenous coping mechanisms of famine, the quick fixes approaches of the western concepts of crisis management rendered during the famines of 1970's and 80's, in Africa were criticized and the danger of that approach in further eroding the capacity of societies in coping with famine was discussed. Also, indigenous survival strategies will be discussed at length. The final chapter of this document will focus on the economic constraints envisaging the African continent and the factors augumenting to these underdeveloping trends. Obviously, emphasis will be made on redirecting development discourse and the deconstruction of famine. This will highlight the erroneous western and donor agencies' approach to the international development discourse and the imperative acknowledgement of the indigenous knowledge and the peasant centered development. In the case of recent famine in Somalia, war preceded famine, and in many cases according to tradition in all ages famine was mostly caused by wars in the past histories. Surrender or starve is the slogan for most of the recent famines to siege or blockade the enemy as a tactic developed by the warring factions in either governments at war or in civil wars like Somalia. The siege of Paris in 1871 and the siege of Leningrad in 1942 are all examples of the role of war to starve the enemy. The phenomenon of “scorched earth” as in the case of Somalia is another important factor to lay waste to many communities and starve them to death. Similarly in the case of civil wars, its mere presence exacerbated the nature of starvation and turned it to famine. War interrupts the activities of peasants to sow and harvest and worst of all, communities loose manpower to civil wars imposed on them either voluntarily or involuntarily. War disrupts the communication and transportation systems and even relief operations at times.

Supervision has arguably been one of the most heavily debated and well-researched topics in education. By 1994, 47 states had made some form of recommendation regarding supervision and evaluation and their links to student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of classroom teachers and supervisors to better understand supervision and evaluation. Specifically, the study sought to describe the perceptions of teachers and supervisors regarding their current and ideal teacher supervisory system, the differences between teachers' and supervisors' perceptions of current and ideal supervisory practices, and any variation that exists between public, private/non-religious, and religious schools regarding perceptions of ideal and current systems. A questionnaire consisting of 43 closed response items and three open response questions was distributed with 345 teachers and 58 supervisors responding. The results of this study indicate that there was a significant difference between teachers' and supervisors' perceptions of supervision on the current scale in the areas of clinical supervision, mentoring, use of a variety of observation methods, the relationship between the teacher and supervisor characterized by trust and collaboration, and teachers being a part of the process of developing the methods by which they are supervised. The supervisor reported a higher mean in all cases. The study revealed congruence on the ideal scale between teachers and supervisors with both groups indicating that effective supervision consists of a collaborative approach involving a variety of models as well as more frequent visitations and a more trusting and open relationship between the supervisor and teacher. Lastly there was a significant difference between school types in the areas of the differentiated supervision models, clearly articulated performance standards, and teachers being a part of the process of developing the methods by which they are supervised.

The Malawi Ministry of Education's Policy and Investment Framework (PIF) (1999–2009) on Basic Education highlights four major areas, as targets for educational reform. These areas are access, equity, efficiency and quality. One of the strategies identified to help improve quality is the provision of professional development support services to teachers. However, it is not clear as to what conditions in the teacher-learning milieu facilitate effective professional development of teachers. This study investigated such conditions. Ethnographic approaches were used to investigate the problem in two districts, of Chiradzulu and Balaka, in the Southern Region of Malawi. Focus group discussions (FGDs), individual interviews, and case studies were principal research methods. Forty teachers, eleven head teachers, one Primary Education Adviser (PEA), four Assistant Center Coordinators (ACCOs) and six education officials participated in the study. Overall findings show that Malawi has structures and opportunities necessary for teacher-learning purposes. However, these structures and opportunities are neither well developed nor effectively coordinated to facilitate efficiency in the implementation of the teacher-learning programs. Consequently, the teacher-learning system is fragmented, incoherent and quite contradictory. Specific findings of the investigation include the following: (1) Teachers are interested in professional development, but they are not consulted enough on matters concerning their professional development. (2) Implementation strategies of some teacher-learning programs are perceived as redundant and overloaded. (3) Teachers and heads who participated in the study did not demonstrate knowledge of policies regarding their professional development; and, (4) numerous systemic problems abound that compromise the provision of professional development opportunities to teachers. These issues call for a rationalization of the teacher-learning system, and the institutionalization of the teacher-learning programs. To that effect, the researcher recommends that (1) A national strategy for teacher education, now being developed, needs to be faithfully implemented, in order to provide professional development to teachers in a systematic and concerted manner. (2) Ministry should create a forum for providers of teacher-learning programs and services, where issues pertaining to teacher learning can be thrashed out, on a regular basis; and, (3) ways of consulting and targeting teachers directly, for professional development, need to be sought.

As in other developing countries, students' access to secondary education in Malawi has been a growing problem. Yet secondary education is crucial for human resource development. That is, the way people are allocated into the educational ladder directly influences human capacity building. This study analyzed how policies constrain the transition of rural primary school students to secondary school. The study answered two major questions: what do standard eight (grade eight) repetition, selection, and community day secondary school policies mean to teachers, students and parents? And what is the relationship between standard eight repetition, knowledge of the policies, and students' aspirations for secondary education? These questions were explored through a concurrent mixed methods design. Using purposeful sampling, data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaire, and document review. The results suggest that secondary school selection at standard eight is problematic and that participants showed ignorance of the policies guiding the selection process. Consequently, they behaved contrary to the policies' demands by encouraging students who are not selected to repeat, hence affecting their access to secondary education. Assessing repetition and selection policies, participants felt the policies are not beneficial because students' repetition does not necessarily result from the students' own problems. In addition, implementation of the policies was found to be negatively affected by failure to track repeaters in the education system. It was also found that policy communication to rural schools is not effective and there is lack of grassroots stakeholder participation in the policy formation process. As a result, participants felt powerless to influence policy change. Because of the many problems in rural areas, participants felt rural schools should have special policies to facilitate students' access to secondary education. On the conversion of Distance Education Centers to Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs), participants felt the conversion did not solve pre-existing problems and has decreased students' access to secondary education. CDSSs still offer low quality education and the communities are not empowered to run them. Due to problems in CDSSs and rural areas, participants requested the government to help their children attend better conventional schools with boarding facilities, qualified teachers, and adequate resources. The study ends with policy recommendations.

Efficacy is your personal belief that you are able to accomplish the task before you, and teacher efficacy has been correlated with increased student achievement. School reform policies that mandate interventions in under-performing schools may have an impact on teacher efficacy. This study investigates a mandated school reform policy called Performance Improvement Mapping, and the possible effect it may have on teacher efficacy. This study was conducted over two years, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The nine teachers in the study completed a baseline Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TES) in 2005, and a second think-out-loud administration of the TES in 2007. All thirteen participants of the study, including nine teachers, two district/DOE liaisons, the principal and the school counselor participated in several interviews over the course of the study. Data from the efficacy scales and the interviews were triangulated with information from researcher observations and a review of pertinent documents from the Department of Education, the district and the school. Efficacy is a personal belief, and the results of this study represent the perceptions of educators as they reflected upon the experience of writing a School Improvement Plan while participating in the Performance Improvement Mapping process. The findings of this study will be informative for those who write school reform policies, administrators at the state, district and school level, and for the educators who teach our children. The findings of the current study indicate that the PIM process did affect teacher efficacy for the people who participated in the PIM training. The process did not, however, have a generalized effect on members of the staff who did not participate in the training. It appears that for PIM to be effective in facilitating whole-school improvement, all faculty members in the school need to experience PIM training. This study also documents the many factors that influence school reform, teacher efficacy, and student achievement. The results of this study will provide valuable information for the Massachusetts Department of Education as they review the Performance Improvement Mapping process, and as they implement future school reform policies.

This dissertation is a study of school administrators' perspectives on leadership behaviors associated with the role of the school principal. It is guided by five research questions: What behaviors do the participants, as a group, find most/least characteristic of effective principals given contemporary demands of the role; (2) How can the attitudes or perspectives of the participants, as a group, toward effective principal's behaviors be described; (3) Are there any clusters of persons within the group who ranked the descriptors of effective principal behavior similarly; (4) How can the attitudes or perspectives of these clusters of individuals who ranked the descriptors of principal behavior similarly be described; and (5) How are the rankings related to demographic and district characteristics? Thirty principals and other school administrators from eleven (11) Massachusetts school districts and one (1) educational collaborative participated in a q-sort involving 21statements that had been validated in a previous study and completed a follow-up questionnaire that provided an opportunity to comment upon individual statements and to explain why they prioritized the statements as they did. The sorts were subjected to factor analysis to identify any similarities among the sorts. A single factor was carried forward for analysis. Based upon the rankings of statements by the individuals whose sorts loaded on this factor and the qualitative data they provided to explain how they completed the q-sort, the labels "goal-oriented" and "schoolhouse-bound" were applied to this factor. This study then investigates the interaction of education policy and leadership models to connect the findings of this study to the work several prominent researchers and theorists in the field of educational leadership including Blase and Blasé, Sergiovanni, Leithwood, Spillane, and others. Based upon the principal's perspectives it seems likely that this group will continue to refine the teaching and learning processes at their schools to attain higher levels of student achievement, but they are not likely to initiate radical transformations of their schools' cultures. The current policy context of education reform, and for the foreseeable future, reinforces a notion that school leadership is based upon formal authority and technical decision-making.

The purpose of this study was to record the perceptions of seven new superintendents of schools who are participating in the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents' (M.A.S.S.) Mentoring Program. The study explores these seven superintendents' ideas and thoughts about leadership and their own evolution to the position of school superintendent. Furthermore the study investigates how each of these superintendents believes his/her background, experience, and career path has influenced him/her in the role of school superintendent. Finally the research documents the stories of these seven superintendents, resulting in conclusions and recommendations about the evolution of school leaders and how M.A.S.S. may assist in developing new school leaders. An exploratory case study method was used to gather data and document the stories of seven newly appointed school superintendents. The case study methodology was influenced in part by I. E. Seidman's model of the in-depth phenomenological interview. The data was analyzed for common categories and recurring themes resulting in three broad categories for analysis: personal background; continuing education and work experience; and on-the job dynamics. Each of these broad categories was further divided into three subsets, resulting in an analysis of the data into nine specific subdivisions. Analyzing and categorizing the data resulted in eight conclusions as well as four recommendations, which are presented in Chapter VI of the study. One of the major conclusions of the study speaks to the extraordinary influence of families, particularly parents, in shaping the values, attitudes, and leadership styles the participants brought to, and manifested in, the position of school superintendent. A major recommendation suggests that school leadership models reflected in the literature, e.g. Fullan's four components of leadership development and sustainability, be incorporated into leadership development programs provided by school superintendents at the local level. Suggestions for further study include replication as well as in-depth investigation of specific leadership programs in operation at the local school district level as well as those in partnership with professional associations and higher education.

This study explored the conditions of competition that are implicit in the idea that market-based school reform will improve schools. The research was conducted in Washington, D.C., which provides three theoretically competing schooling options to its public students: the traditional, publicly managed public school system; publicly financed but privately managed charter schools; and the D.C. voucher program, which pays private-school tuition with public funds. Based on interviews with high school principals directing the three types of schools, the study found minimal competition among the types of schools. While all the principals were committed to school choice, there actually was little rivalry among the three types of high school principals. The majority of the principals actually knew little about and felt minimal impact from the other types of high schools. While recruitment of families and students is a major measurement of competition, the study could not find a connection between the level of enrollment and the recruitment efforts of the principals or the quality of information they provided potential families and students. The study also focused on structural issues that could explain the minimal competition among the three types of schools and concluded that, during the period of the study, they were not designed to compete and did not perceive strong incentives to do so.