The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the factors that influence the decisions of local school boards concerning redistricting, and (2) to determine if the factors influencing redistricting decisions-are more instructional or non- instructional in nature. The study employed a case study methodology, examining a specific school board involved in a redistricting process that occurred in 1996.;Data for the study were collected utilizing the following: interviews with school board members; interviews with staff members; interviews with members of the media who covered the redistricting process; interviews with community members; newspaper articles; school board meeting minutes and other internal documents about the redistricting process; and correspondence from the public to the school board about the redistricting process.;The study's conclusions were as follows: (1) The superintendent and the recommendations he made were a very strong influence. (2) Interest groups had an influence on the board, but not an overwhelming one. (3) Individual values influenced the board's decisions as members weighed the various alternatives. (4) Cultural/normative factors influenced the board's decision, especially in terms of the process to reach a decision. (5) The high level of emotion present during the process and the lack of viable alternatives influenced the board's decision. (6) The board was influenced by several concrete measurable criteria, including: building capacity/projected growth; cost effectiveness; feeder patterns; minimizing numbers redistricted; neighborhood schools/proximity of schools; socioeconomic/ethnic diversity; and travel distance and time. These factors served as a buffer against the high level of emotion in the process. (7) Non-instructional factors were the strongest influences on the board; however, instructional factors also played an important role.;Major implications of these conclusions included the need for accurate information on measurable instructional and non-instructional criteria; the need for establishing community and board consensus on priority redistricting criteria; the need for adequate time for decision making; the need for alternative means of gathering public input; and, the importance of process.

Today, public school administrators have the responsibility to provide a safe and secure educational environment for all who enter the school building. Amid continued drug use by students and a proliferation of weapons at school, principals at all levels face the unenviable task of maintaining an environment conducive to learning. In order to do so, principals often must balance the need to preserve individual student rights against the need to make schools safe.;The present study was conducted to determine if public school principals in Virginia meet minimum competency levels with respect to their knowledge of search and seizure law, and to compare the knowledge of search and seizure issues by Virginia public school principals with respect to their organizational level (elemcntary/middle/high). The study was designed also to examine theoretical perspectives by administrators as applied to search and seizure issues.;The study involved responses from surveys received from 91 public school principals in Virginia (37% of the 246 randomly sampled elementary, middle, and high school principals). Analysis of data revealed that one-third of the respondents fell below the mean, that 64.8% failed to achieve minimal competency, with no significant difference between building levels. Pragmatism was selected by 92.3% of the respondents as their legal perspective.

The purpose of this study was to investigate: (1) the relationship between the leadership style of an elementary school principal, as second-level manager, and the mathematics achievement of the students, and (2) the relationship between the degree of leadership style congruence of the elementary principal, as second-level manager, and the teacher, as first-level manager, and the mathematics achievement of students. Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership Effectiveness provided the conceptual framework for the study.;Measurements were recorded for a sample population of 28 principals, 245 teachers, and 5373 students of grades four, five, and six drawn from an urban district in southeastern Virginia with a student population of approximately 35,000.;Four hypotheses were tested for statistically significant (p (LESSTHEQ) 0.05) findings: (1) pupil gains in mathematics would be greater where principal leadership style and situation favorableness were matched, (2) pupil gains in mathematics would be greater where principal leadership style and teacher leadership style were congruent, (3) pupil gains in mathematics would be greater where principal leadership style and situation favorableness were matched and where principal and teacher leadership style were congruent, and (4) pupil gains in mathematics would be greater where teacher beliefs about mathematics and its instruction were informal and teacher competence in mathematics was high.;An analysis of variance for unequal cell size resulted in the rejection of each of the hypotheses. Significant findings, however, were found using student achievement as the dependent variable for the interaction between principal leadership style and situational conditions, for teacher leadership style, and for teacher attitude toward mathematics and its instruction.;It was concluded that there appeared to be a relationship between first- and second-level managers, teachers and principals, and the mathematics performance of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. The matching of principal leadership style and situational conditions as postulated by Fiedler appeared to be partially supported. Further, certain teacher-related constructs did strongly relate to student achievement in mathematics.

The Problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of written job descriptions for the position of elementary assistant principal and to measure the observed role behavior, preferred role behavior, and effectiveness of assistant principals as perceived by principals, assistant principals, and teachers. It was hypothesized that the three study groups differed significantly in their perceptions of observed role behavior, preferred role behavior, and effectiveness of assistant principals; that there was a significant relationship between the rated effectiveness and the congruence of observed and preferred role behavior; and that there was a significant relationship between the rated effectiveness and the quality of the job description.;Research Procedure. The subjects were the principals, assistant principals, and 25% of the teachers of 54 randomly selected Virginia public elementary schools. A 66-item Role Analysis Questionnaire developed by the investigator was used to collect data. One-way analysis of variance procedures were used to test the hypotheses regarding differences in perceptions. Pearson Product Correlation procedures were used to test the hypotheses regarding relationships between effectiveness and congruence of role behavior scores, and between effectiveness and the quality of the job description.;Findings. There appear to be significant differences among principals, assistant principals, and teachers in their perceptions of observed role behavior and effectiveness of assistant principals; however, the three study groups do not appear to differ significantly in their perceptions of preferred role behavior. There appears to be a significant relationship between the rated effectiveness of assistant principals and the congruence of their observed and preferred role behavior. There was not a significant relationship between rated effectiveness and the quality of the job description.

No description available.

This study was directed toward the discovery of a grounded theory that identifies the variables that influence and interact to influence resource management decision making in an institution of higher education. The constant comparative methods an inductive approach to generating theory, was used to study resource management decision making. The study consisted of an indepth case study of a medium sized public university. The study was a naturalistic inquiry of the resource management decision-making process.;The design of the study included three phases of research. Each phase employed different data gathering techniques, and each had its own purpose for obtaining various types of data. In Phase 1, a broad information base was developed through library research. From this base initial categories of variables were formulated. Phase 2 consisted of indepth open-ended interviews with top administrators of the subject institution. These interviews were used to guide data collection and analysis throughout the investigation. From the interview data and observations, propositions were formulated which reflected emerging interrelationships among the variables. In phase 3 the propositions were refined and subjected to field verification by constantly returning to the data.;A theory of heuristic decision making was developed which expands on existing models of decision making in higher education. The theory specifically addresses resource management decision making and identifies the variables which influence and those that interact to influence decision making. Appropriate responses to decision situations are discovered through three overlapping phases: (1) Predecisional, (2) Process, and (3) Resolution. Constitutional decision and delegation define decision-making structures which are modified by substructures which emerge. Leaders present tentative decisions which are subjected to an open political process and are modified until a degree of acceptance is developed. The political process is stimulated by advocates pressing for a particular solution. In brief, authoritative leadership sets the general direction, and through an open political process stimulated by advocacy a decision evolves that has a level of acceptance sufficient to allow implementation of the decision.

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This dissertation focuses on a case study of the multi-lateral trade and commercial networks that flourished between the United States and the Spanish colonial provinces of Venezuela, especially during and immediately after the crucial era of comercio neutral (neutral trade) between 1797 and 1808. It argues that trade between late-colonial Venezuela. and the United States was a forge of transcultural relations, and explores how commercial networks of traders, government officials, and diplomats influenced the decisions of policymakers in both regions.

No description available.

No description available.