The purpose of the study was to examine retirement decision making of certificated employees (N = 284 respondents N = 241) of the Beaverton School District in a near retirement age category. The Beaverton School District is a large suburban school district near Portland, Oregon. It currently serves over 25,000 students and employs approximately 2,600 certificated and classified employees. The study answered the following questions: Can psycho-social factors be identified that will enable the Beaverton School District to help potential retirees make an informed decision to retire? What personal factors affect a person's decision to retire? Does it matter, in the ranking of variables, if a person is either vested or not vested in his or her retirement fund? What demographic factors (gender, age grouping, education, position and marital status) affect a person's decision to retire? Discriminate analysis enabled this researcher to conclude that finance and job satisfaction were significant factors in predicting retirement decision making. Other factors listed (health, activity time, support system, degree of control, personal identity as it relates to the job, and availability of medical benefits) were significant but did not add appreciably to predictive capability. Personal factors effecting a person's decision to retire were obtained through self- reports and were grouped into two categories: Directly stated informational requests, and Implied informational needs. Responses were grouped according to their common themes and each fit well within the parameters of the previously identified psycho-social variables. Directly stated informational requests related to concerns about finances and the availability of medical benefits. Implied needs were primarily related to the need for relief from job stress, pressure, and burnout. Concerns were also expressed regarding a perceived lack of administrative competence and/or support and a lack of personal control relative to the job. Respondents were asked if they would be vested at the point of retirement. This question was asked to assess if being either vested or not vested would make a difference to one's decision to retire. Though the findings were significant, the sample size for individuals who would not be vested was too small (1%) to constitute a valid sample. Gender, the first demographic variable examined, was found to be significant. Males reported less job satisfaction than their female counterparts. Job satisfaction was the most significant psycho-social variable affecting retirement decision making. Other demographic variables (age, marital status, education, and position) were not found to be significant predictors of retirement decision making. This study was clearly exploratory. Therefore, recommendations for further research include replicating this study in other school districts. Additional variables might be identified that impact one's decision to retire. There was clear indication for the need for further study in the area of job satisfaction. In addition, a longitudinal study would enable a researcher to determine the congruence between pre-retirement perceptions and post retirement "reality."

The purpose of this study was to examine provisions of the Constitution of West Virginia, enactments of the West Virginia Legislature, decisions of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, policies of the West Virginia Board of Education, opinions of the: Attorney General, and interpretations of the State Superintendent of Schools to ascertain the legal status of West Virginia public school personnel in the employment process, in liability cases arising from tort actions, and in other areas; where legal questions often arise. Federal Constitutional provisions, statutes, and court cases were also considered when of overriding importance or when West Virginia legal references were inadequate. Legal research of the process of employment of public school personnel focused on the following areas: nomination for employment, discrimination, substantive and procedural due process, certifieation, probationary and continuing contracts, assignment and, transfer, suspension and dismissal, resignations, employment term, and compensation. Tort cases were classified by the author as either traditional or constitutional torts. Traditional torts reviewed included strict liability, assault and/or battery, defamation, and negligence. Of particular concern were assault and battery cases related to corporal punishment, the use of qualified privilege as a defense in defamation cases, and negligence cases alleging abridgement of the duty of school personnel to provide proper supervision, proper instruction in performing dangerous activities, and proper maintenance of equipment. Tort actions arising from abridgement of a person's constitutional rights by state or governmental authorities were classified as constitutional torts. lt was found that successful plaintiffs have. been able to secure injunctive relief as well as damages. from school officials and boards of education, both now considered "persons" under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Other legal provisions studied in relationship to West Virginia public school personnel included the following: curriculum and instructional matters, academic freedom, assignment of duties, personal leave and leaves of absence, fringe benefits, retirement, grievances, employee organizations, and collective bargaining. / Ed. D.

This study investigated the present status of classification/salary administration of office support personnel employed in the public schools of North Carolina. Although this study was limited to office support personnel positions, it had implications for all classified positions within the public schools. The purpose of the study was to provide information and develop recommendations for planning and establishing classification/salary administration policies for classified personnel. The recommendations addressed concerns identified through the review of literature, a questionnaire which was completed by administrators across the state, and interviews with administrators from five school systems. The results from this study indicated that superintendents, more often than other administrators, were responsible for classification/salary administration of office support personnel. The majority of office support personnel were classified in the lowest state classification levels. The criteria most often used for determination of classification levels was matching job description with state job classification level descriptions. The interview and observation methods were the two methods most often used for collecting job classification information. The majority of administrators believed: the local school systems should determine classification status, there should be a standardized performance appraisal instrument, there should be performance-based pay, and salaries of office support personnel were slightly lower than the local business community. Uniformity issues were perceived to exist both internally with the respective school system and externally by comparison of school systems. As a result of this study, recommendations for school systems to follow in their classification/salary administration policies and procedures for classified personnel were developed. The ultimate aim of these recommendations was to eliminate some of the inconsistencies found to exist. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

The purpose of this study was to examine provisions of the Constitution of West Virginia, enactments of the West Virginia Legislature, decisions of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, policies of the West Virginia Board of Education, opinions of the Attorney General, and interpretations of the State Superintendent of Schools to ascertain the legal status of West Virginia public school personnel with respect to their employment rights. Federal Constitutional provisions, statutes, and court cases were also cited when of overriding importance or when West Virginia legal references were found to be inadequate. Legal research of the employment process and rights of public school employees focused on the following areas: nomination for employment, discrimination, substantive and procedural due process, certification, employee classifications, probationary and continuing contracts, assignment and transfer, suspension and dismissal, resignation, employment term, and compensation. Other legal provisions reviewed in relationship to West Virginia public school personnel included academic freedom, assignment of duties, personal leave, leaves of absence and other absences, workmen's compensation, unemployment compensation, insurance benefits, retirement, seniority, reductions in force, grievance procedures, employee organizations, and collective bargaining. / Ed. D.

The aim of this essay was to gain a deeper understanding about how school employees interpret and practice school law regarding cyber-bullying that occurs between pupils on the internet. To examine this we used a qualitative method. We completed eight interviews with five teachers, one headmaster, one school welfare officer and one special educationist. These eight school employees were from four different high schools. In our interviews we found that the school employees thought it was difficult to define different concepts within the school law such as in association with the occupation and offensive behaviour which prohibits them from interpreting the school law in the same way. These concepts were what seemed to make the law unclear when it came to situations involving cyber-bullying. We also found that they regarded the equal treatment plan as their most important tool when working with cyber-bullying even though they were uncertain about whether it was practiced when a situation emerged. This because of the school employees´ discretion that seemed to dominate more than what the school law states in most situations when it came to assessing how serious a cyber-bullying situation was and how it should be handled. We also understood that the school employees required more discussions and education regarding cyber-bullying in order to gain a deeper understanding of how to handle the problem. It seemed that cyber-bullying was not a prioritized matter due to that the employees had a lot of other things to attend too.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1995. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 10, 2006. Dissertation Committee: John R. McCarthy (chair), Marcilene Dutton, Edward R. Hines, David L. Tucker. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-153) and abstract. Also available in print.

One role of an administrator is to provide and assess staff development programs. The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of a 120-hour standards-based, technology-connnected staff development program on participating teachers' instruction.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to analyze ways in which the roles of instructional support staff as perceived by principals and instructional support staff members in a large, suburban school district have been affected by the implementation of site-based decision making (SBDM). Research questions focused on changes which have occurred in the roles of instructional support staff and in the services provided to schools by support staff since the implementation of SBDM, the roles which support staff members believe they have in SBDM, the perceptions of principals regarding the roles of instructional support staff in SBDM, and a comparison of the views of instructional support staff and principals regarding the district's implementation of SBDM.