Two factorsrole duality and school sizeimpact teaching principals abilities to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. Principals with significant teaching loads experience role duality a situation in which one person fills two distinct roles. Teaching principals experience role tension and conflicts between professional teaching concerns, leadership demands and management issues. Further tensions are created when policymakers demands fail to recognize complexities around the roles of a teaching principal working in a unique context (Dunning, 1993; Wilson & McPake, 2000). Specifically, though the tensions of role duality are known to be more challenging in small schools, exceptionally small schools are a different context altogether. My autoethnographic study examined the complexity of my teaching principals role in an exceptionally small rural school. It was guided by a central question: How does the context of an exceptionally small, rural school impact upon a teaching principal's role(s)? Sub questions included: (a) How do stakeholder expectations (school staff, community, division, Ministry) impact a teaching principals roles and responsibilities in an exceptionally small rural school? and (b) What challenges and opportunities does a teaching principal face in an exceptionally small rural school? Documentation from two daily personal journals and my what I do log during the 2009 2010 school year provided research data. My analysis focused on three themes: fractured roles, capacity to meet expectations and establishing relationships. This study added to current research rich narratives describing the impact of an exceptionally small school on a teaching principals role.

Two factorsrole duality and school sizeimpact teaching principals abilities to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. Principals with significant teaching loads experience role duality a situation in which one person fills two distinct roles. Teaching principals experience role tension and conflicts between professional teaching concerns, leadership demands and management issues. Further tensions are created when policymakers demands fail to recognize complexities around the roles of a teaching principal working in a unique context (Dunning, 1993; Wilson & McPake, 2000). Specifically, though the tensions of role duality are known to be more challenging in small schools, exceptionally small schools are a different context altogether. My autoethnographic study examined the complexity of my teaching principals role in an exceptionally small rural school. It was guided by a central question: How does the context of an exceptionally small, rural school impact upon a teaching principal's role(s)? Sub questions included: (a) How do stakeholder expectations (school staff, community, division, Ministry) impact a teaching principals roles and responsibilities in an exceptionally small rural school? and (b) What challenges and opportunities does a teaching principal face in an exceptionally small rural school? Documentation from two daily personal journals and my what I do log during the 2009 2010 school year provided research data. My analysis focused on three themes: fractured roles, capacity to meet expectations and establishing relationships. This study added to current research rich narratives describing the impact of an exceptionally small school on a teaching principals role.

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the personnel responsibilities and preparation of the person responsible for the personnel function in 60 out of 83 school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia with 5,000 students or less that responded to the survey. The primary objective was to ascertain who had the responsibilities, if they were delegated or shared, and if so, to whom. Other objectives were to determine the relationship between who performed the personnel responsibilities and the size and wealth of the school divisions. Finally, the role that technology played in handling the duties and the extent the responsibilities would increase, decrease, or remain the same over the next three to five years were explored. The superintendent was more often responsible for the personnel function in small Virginia school divisions with 5,000 students or less,. The study revealed that the assistant superintendent or directors of personnel were frequently designated as the persons with primary responsibility for the personnel function. Other employees in the division who either performed, shared, or were designated the responsibility for certain job responsibilities held one of the following titles: principal, secretary, administrator, administrative support person, director of instruction, person holding multiple titles or consultants. The study indicated technology does not play a major role in small divisions except in the job responsibility areas of planning and compensation. Minimal change is anticipated over the next three to five years in the job responsibilities except for planning and staff development. / Ed. D.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Includes tables. Sponsor: Frank W. Cyr. Dissertation Committee: John W. Polley, . Includes bibliographical references.

The primary purpose of the study was to determine if the funding and revenue conditions which existed prior to the passage of the Tax Relief Amendment of 1978 continued after the enactment of public school finance legislation by the Sixty-Sixth and Sixty-Seventh Texas Legislatures. Analyses of four research questions were used to accomplish the purpose of the study.

The purpose of this investigation is to make a study of practices in the purchasing of school supplies in small school systems of Texas. The specific purposes are to measure the efficiency of supply purchasing in these school systems, and, secondarily, to develop purchasing procedures that can be used as a handbook in the purchase of school supplies.

This study examined the effect of school size on a set of indicators related to input and outcome variables from high schools in the state of Virginia. Research suggests that the size of high schools may be related to school effectiveness. Is there a difference between educational inputs and outcomes of small and large high schools in the state which is related to size? The study examined ten measures of inputs and outcomes to determine if there is a significant difference in the indicators of school success which can be attributed to school size. The study focused on the following ten indicators: The percentages of students earning advanced studies diplomas, the percentage of students who go to a four-year college after graduation, the educational background of teachers in the school, the level of teacher experience in the school, the number of courses offered to students in the school, the percentage of students who are at or above the 75th percentile on the composite score of the 11th grade standardized test, the percentage of the 11th and 12th grade students who took the SAT test and scored at or above 1100, the percentage of students who miss ten or fewer days of school in a year, and the percentage of students who dropout of school. Separate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) tests were used for each indicator of educational input or outcome. A socioeconomic status index was used as a covariate in all of the tests. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was utilized for all computations. The study produced evidence that small high schools and large high schools are significantly different over a range of indicators of school success. In seven of the ten indicators compared, large schools were found to have an advantage over small schools. No significant difference was found between small schools and large schools in only three of the indicators tested, teacher experience, attendance, and dropout rate. Large high schools were not found to be at a disadvantage in any of the indicators included. / Ed. D.

The diploma thesis deals with the importance of small schools for municipalities and their inhabitants. It focuses on the views and memories of individual residents who attended a small school in their village. The theoretical part of the thesis is divided into two main chapters, the first one deals with mixed-grade education and the other with a teacher in the classroom with mixed grades. The first chapter defines the concept of a small school, it also takes into account the history and distinguishes between the types of small-class schools. This chapter also discusses small-scale schools in the countryside, it examines the climate and environment in the small schools, and their advantages and disadvantages. Last but not least, it sees the small school as an alternative school, and also takes into account alternative schools with mixed grades structure abroad. The second chapter focuses on the teacher in the small school, his attitudes, values, personality, authority, as well as his professional knowledge and skills. The research part of the thesis was realized by semi-structured interviews. Qualitative research has shown that even though former pupils often remember at school in a good way, they do not always trust that system of teaching so much that they entrust their children to school unconditionally. The biggest surprise of the thesis was the finding that the memories of a particular small school are largely influenced by the memories of a particular teacher, his personality, behavior and manners, not the school itself. On the other hand, most of the respondents have had bad memories about their transition, it was stressful for most of them, they have been badly integrated into a new collective and a new environment, some of them have also encountered bullying. These facts discourage some people from putting their children in a small school.

The dissertation Potential of Small Scholl deals with specific features of this kind of schools. The paper presents the role of small schools in the school system, mutual interaction at schools, distinctive forms of organization and methodical approaches aiming at defining particularities of this kind of school. We have drawn a comparison of a small school and an ordinary primary school based on two case studies. Differences which have been found out can define potential of both types of schools. The results of the research have brought us recognition that the potential of a small school is conditioned by its size and low numbers of pupils in classrooms. These conditions enable creating such learning environment that provides a pupil with specific performance of school attendance. Other significant aspects are mutual cooperation among pupils themselves as well as among teachers and parents within a small social group or implementation of schooling in mixed age groups which leads particularly to respect and acceptance of otherness and of pupils with specific educational needs. KEY WORDS small school, mixes aged education, cooperation, school environment, potential

本研究旨在了解偏遠小校面臨整併危機時所實施的再生策略、遭遇的困境與其解決之道，因此乃選擇一所積極尋求再生的某小學進行個案研究，透過實地觀察、訪談與文件分析等方式，瞭解個案學校實際實施情形，並進而探尋置落於現今整併政策下，偏遠小校實施再生策略所展現的意義。本研究結果如下： 一、個案學校所實施的再生策略大致分為三層次，即：（一）以「回歸教育本質、展現辦學特色與績效」為再生策略的核心；（二）以「建立雙語特色學校、實施課後輔導」為再生策略的發展主軸；（三）以「學校走出去、資源引進來」為再生策略的手段，幫助主軸策略順利實施。 二、個案學校實施再生策略之影響因素有四面向並交互影響，即：（一）「官方部門」：政治承諾與整併政策方向，影響政策穩定性與再生策略之實施；（二）「家長與社區」：家長對保留學校的決心與對學校特色的認同，左右校方辦學態度與再生策略實施方向；（三）「校長」：校長危機感、校長辦學理念與其領導作風，影響再生策略之推動；（四）「教師」：教師的專長與興趣、教師參與意願，影響再生策略之實施成效與永續。 三、個案學校實施再生策略遭遇之困難與解決之道：（一）整併政策與學校再生策略有人去政息之慮，對此學校積極建立制度與組織文化，以增加再生策略的穩定性；（二）提供家長資源取捨間不易拿捏，因此學校提高篩選的嚴謹度並對學生、家長進行機會教育，以維護補助的品質；（三）偏遠地區學校本身的限制，因此學校向上級反應並增加與他校合作的機會。 四、個案學校實施再生策略之意義：（一）體現在地草根的意志與限制（二）解構中心，開展學校發展的多元視野；（三）重新省思教育部門齊頭式政策與消極角色。 由上述研究結果，針對三部分提出本研究建議如下： 一、行政部門而言：（一）應扮演積極角色，規劃長期偏遠小校發展方向與配套，並立法保障以保持政策的穩定性；（二）針對整併政策進行全面性研究。 二、個案學校而言：（一）雙向溝通、建立共識；（二）轉型為「理念型學校」或複合式的「英語村」模式，提供東部地區英語學習據點；（三）引進農會人力、物力資源，賦權地方以增加再生動能。 三、民間團體而言：（一）協助方式需切合學校所需；（二）提供學生多元表現與體驗的機會。 / The research aims to understand what problems remote small schools in Taiwan face and how they can resolve the problems by carrying out regeneration strategies. The selected case study is a remote elementary school . Through collected data from observation, interview, and document analyses, we not only understand the actual implementation of the regeneration strategy of Case School, but also realize the meanings of regeneration strategies under the threat of merger in Taiwan. The main findings of the study include as follows： 1. There are three levels of the regeneration strategies of Case School：1) “According to the essence of education” and ”lighting the specialist and performance up” is the core；2) “Showing the specialties by building a bilingual school” and “providing homework counseling” is the main；3) “Out of the wall” and “ bringing in the resources” is the means. 2. There are four factors that have influence on the strategy：1) Government affect policy stability；2) Parents & Community：3) Principal；4) Teacher. Factors interact each other to affect policy stability, attitude, the direction and implementation of the regeneration strategy. 3. There are two difficult situations, and following strategies may overcome them：1) It’s difficult to keep the merge policy and the strategies sustainable, so the principal establishes a system and organizational culture to enhance stability；2) Due to the limit of the remote school, principal should report to the executive authority and increase the opportunity to cooperate with other schools. 4. There are three meanings of the regeneration strategies：1) Express the willpower and the limitation of the local place；2) Deconstruct the center explore the pluralism and possibilities of school development.；3) Rethink the negative role of the government. According to the results of this research, three suggestions were proposed as follows： 1. Case School：1)Two-way communication& Consensus-building；2) Transform to the Charter School or the model of English Village；3) Bring in the resources of Famers’ Association to empower the local vitality. 2. Administration：1) Be a positive role to plan the direction of the long-term development of remote small schools and set laws to maintain the stability of the policies；2) Carry on comprehensive researches. 3. The public：1) Correspond to the needs of remote small schools；2) Give various opportunities to let students show themselves off.