This study is an intensive examination of the role, position, and perceptions of women school board members in Texas as they perceive them. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions which women school board members have concerning their role, function, and relationships as they serve on school boards in Texas and to determine if sex prejudice does exist. There were eight basic questions to which the study sought answers. The findings indicate that the perceptions of women board members are not influenced by age, marital status, parental status, educational level, and years of experience. They also revealed that only a small minority of the Texas school board women responding had experienced instances of sex discrimination. Doubt was expressed through the responses of the women as to whether or not superintendents encourage the election of a man as board president. Size of the school district was found to have no effect on the number of women board members serving. It was found to be a factor in whether or not a woman was designated chairman of a board committee as only the larger districts were likely to have women serving in this capacity.

This paper attempts to shed light into the realm of school boards, a frequently overlooked topic in political science literature. This study examines the relationship between a school board electoral structure and voter turnout levels. In particular, the author hypothesizes that ward-based elections due to their inherent smallness have higher voter turnout levels than at-large elections. In crafting such a relationship a mixed-method approach was used combining elements found in case studies with an intervention analysis. The paper describes voter turnout levels from 1989 to 2007 for a single, medium-sized school district in Illinois that had switched its style of elections from at-large to ward. It was found that following the switch to ward elections turnout actually decreased. However, the results were not statistically significant. The variable of competitiveness was also tested as it was thought that the more competitive elections were the more voter turnout increases. Here again, the author found no relationship between competitiveness and the election structure in ward and at-large elections. In concluding, the author states that some unseen intervening variable such as information costs may be influencing the relationship and significance between voter turnout and election structure. / Master of Arts

No description available.

<p>This project examines integrated curricula and whether teachers have received enough time and money to implement such programs and whether the changes initiated by them will be long-lasting. Long term change involves numerous factors. There must be a consistent belief that integrated curricula are valuable for improved student achievement. Ontario Ministry of Education documents and various board policies must be unified in their approaches to integration and should not change these views in a rapid succession. Fluctuation in opinion about the value and delivery of integrated studies causes educators to suspend implementation of such initiatives. Schools and boards of education need administrative stability. Many times innovation is disgarded when new administrators show a lack of support or understanding of new curriculum initiatives. Staffing must be constant. Too much time, money, and training are wasted when staff are moved for external reasons. Adequate leadership must be provided by the government and the boards of education to facilitate the delivery of integrated curricula. Timetables must be made to accomodate integration and must be consistent through all grades in the school. This project provides a brief historical context for integrated curriculum document trends, contains definitions of integration, and an overview of integration as it appears in For the Love of Learning (1994), The Common Curriculum (1995), and Draft #2 of the Secondary Policy Document for Interdisciplinary Studies (1998). Possible models of integration are reviewed. A brief look at integration initiatives in other provinces is included as well as an observation of the geographical movement of trends in Canadian education. The project describes the development, over six years, of a grade nine destreamed integrated curriculum and its difficulties in effecting lasting change in teacher practice. Possible solutions to problems are given. Finally, the implications of integrating curriculum for educators without sufficient time or funding are evaluated.</p> / Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)

Statement of Problem: This research project was designed to study the policies and procedures used in the Commonwealth of Virginia to evaluate the public school superintendents from the perspective of the School Board chairperson. Specifically, the purposes of the study were: (1) to collect and summarize information describing the superintendent's evaluation policies, procedures and instruments utilized in Virginia Public Schools; (2) to compare existing policies and procedures in Virginia public schools for evaluating the superintendent of schools with those in the literature considered "best practice," (3) to determine if Virginia School Superintendent evaluation policies and procedures vary based on selected variables such as: size of school district, wealth of school district, and the gender of the school board's chairperson. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was threefold: to assess the knowledge of school board members pertaining to PL 94-142 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (PL 93-112), to investigate the attitude of local school board members regarding handicapped children and to ascertain the source and methodology from which school board members receive their information regarding PL 94-142 and Section 504. Mailed survey forms were sent to local school board members selected from the subscribers list of the American School Board Journal. The survey forms consisted of a demographic section, an author-made knowledge index, an author-made attitude scale and information sources identification section. The size of the school district which a member represents made a significant difference in both knowledge and attitude scores. No significant relationship was found between knowledge or attitude with geographic area or type of district. Significant differences were found between knowledge and reading about education of the handicapped. Attitude scores reflecting favorable attitudes toward education of the handicapped increased with the experience of due process hearings in the school district. Seventy-two percent of the respondents correctly answered ten or more of the twenty knowledge questions correctly. The mean for knowledge was 10.86. The mean score for attitude toward the education of the handicapped was 62.66 from a possible score of 100 which would be the most positive attitude toward a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. The author concludes that school board members are knowledgeable about the education of handicapped children under the regulations for the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. The attitude of school board members toward the education of handicapped children is neither highly positive nor is it notably negative. The size of the school district the board members represents affected both attitude and knowledge scores. School board members from very small and very large school districts scored lower on the knowledge portion of the survey than those from medium-sized districts. Board members from small school districts had a more negative attitude about education of handicapped children than those from larger districts. The survey of knowledge and attitude of board members on PL 94-142 and Section 504 and the education of the handicapped has serious implications for the need of continuation of federal and state support of the rights of handicapped children to be educated at public expense in the public schools. Further, there are implications to give direction to advocates of education of handicapped children in areas of inservice and public relations. / Ed. D.

Community participation has increased over the last twenty years. The states of California, Florida, Hawaii and South Carolina have mandated representative community advisory councils. The purpose of this study was to investigate on a national level the attitude of local school board members toward community participation-community control within the selected areas of curriculum, finance, personnel and student affairs, and the relationship of this attitude to selected demographic and personal data. The population for this descriptive research was school board member subscribers to The American School Board Journal. A stratified random sample of 17% received the National Questionnaire on Attitudes of School Board Members. Responses were analyzed according to frequency distribution and crosstabulation procedures to determine significance between respondent's attitude and demographic and personal variables. Respondents reported that there were six areas in which the community should be involved, are presently involved, and to which they would be willing to delegate decision-making responsibility. These areas were: Education Objectives; Construction, Renovation or Closing of Schools; Curriculum Evaluation; Determination of Local Tax Rates; Student Discipline; and Expenditures for School Operation. The respondents differed in attitude toward the six areas mentioned above across demographic and personal variables. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to report on policy changes implemented by school boards in the past two school years (1982-1984) in the areas of graduation requirements, financial incentives for teachers, instructional time, and homework. The survey also obtained information on program curtailment and or elimination. A stratified random sample (4,134) of 17 percent was drawn from the population of subscribers to the American School Board Journal who are local school board members. A return rate of 24.8 percent (1,027) was realized. The survey used in this study was designed to accomplish two purposes. One was to collect demographic and personal data to be treated in the study. The data employed concerned state, region, and school district population; school district classification; family income; marital status; occupation; race; age; educational attainment; and years served as a board member. The second purpose of the survey was to gather data involving changes implemented by school boards in the last two years in the selected areas. Respondents reported significant increases in graduation requirements in mathematics, language arts, computer technology, and science. In the area of course curtailment, music, driver education, art, industrial arts, and health/physical education were most frequently cited as being reduced. Secondary driver education was most frequently cited by the respondents as being eliminated. In the category of instructional time, the respondents' first choice for policy changes was increasing class time. Second most often cited was lengthening the school day. Increasing the school year was the area least cited by the respondents. Suggestions for further research include (1) the further exploration of the long range fiscal impact of the changes and (2) the investigation of a more comprehensive sample of demographic and personal variables that might be related to policy changes implemented by school boards. / Ed. D.

Forty-seven of the fifty states had some form of state-level board for higher education in 1981. Critics have expressed concern that the level of those boards' involvement in institutional affairs has steadily increased, while others have observed that administrative costs at the institutional level have gradually risen. It is not known if there is a relationship between the cost of operation of state-level boards and their level of involvement in the affairs of the institutions under their purview; nor, is it known if there is a relationship between the cost of operation of state-level boards and the cost of administration at the institutional level. The purpose of this study was to investigate these relationships. The population for the study consisted of twenty state-level boards for higher education, eleven governing boards and nine coordinating boards. The population further consisted of 216 public, four-year bachelor degree and higher degree granting institutions located in twenty-three states, including Delaware, Vermont, and Wyoming which had no state-level board for higher education in 1980-1981. Seven variables were hypothesized as factors either influencing the cost of administration in public, four-year institutions, the cost of operation of state-level boards for higher education, or the relationship between the two. These variables were formulated with data obtained from a survey of State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) member agencies and from Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) financial and enrollment tapes. Pearson product-moment correlation and one-way analysis of variance were used to test for significance of relationships between pairs of variables. An analysis of each of the research questions was presented in textural and tabular form. / Ed. D.

MEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / The aim of the study was to investigate the capacity-building of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in the area of policy interpretation and implementation. The research was carried out in schools under Klein Letaba Circuit in the Mopani Education District, in the Limpopo Province. This was a qualitative study where the researcher used purposive sampling to select schools and participants and interviews and document analysis to collect requisite data. In analysing data collected, content analysis was used. On the basis of data analysed and interpreted, the research findings revealed that SGBs do not have the necessary capacity to interpret and implement policies in schools. This is as a result of the inadequate training that they receive during their term of office, high level of illiteracy among them and lack of monitoring and support by the Department of Basic Education (DBE). The study therefore recommends that SGBs be adequately trained in their home languages and encouraged to form cluster committees to share experiences to develop their capacity. The DBE should continuously monitor and support SGBs in the execution of their duties.