An alternative to American bureaucratic philosophy of management came to the United States from Japan during the decade of the 1970s. The philosophy of the Japanse style of management was based upon the use of creativity and talent of others, including the following concepts: (1) Everyone is knowledgeable and wants to share and contribute something; (2) Management does not know all the problems; (3) Management does not know all the answers; (4) The employee has his own way of doing something and is closer to the problems; (5) Workers can contribute their ideas for effective problem solving. The implementation of these ideas is through the use of quality circles. Quality circles are the medium through which workers share management responsibility for locating, analyzing, and solving problems related to their work area. A quality circle is composed of six to ten or eight to twelve volunteers who meet with their supervisors every week. In this situation the supervisor serves as a circle leader. Initially, they receive training in techniques of problem solving, data gathering and problem analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential effectiveness of implementation of the quality circle concepts and processes to administration of educational systems. In the language of educational researchers recorded by Bellanca, the word "productivity" equated with "effectiveness." He pointed out that effective schools were (and still are) those that produced students who had mastered the required knowledge and skill to move to higher education or to work successfully in a trained vocation. The effective schools, as defined by Harvard's Ron Edmonds, achieved this mastery equally for all students regardless of race, national origin or social class. A participative decision making process should be adopted. Decision making by consensus was the subject of a great deal of research in Europe and the United States of America over the past twenty years, and evidence strongly suggested that a consensus approach yielded more promising and incentive decisions and more effective implementation than individual decision making. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

The problem of the study was to determine the perceived leadership behavior of female superintendents as compared to male superintendents. An instrument was constructed from American Association of Secondary Administrators' recommendations for superior performance of school administrators and subsequently validated. A demographic data sheet accompanied the survey instrument. The subjects were selected from southern states in which there were more than five women superintendents officially listed by the State Board of Education. The states included Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The survey instrument was forwarded to 350 subjects; 172 subjects responded from the five states. The sample was drawn from small school districts. The research design was a classic 2 x 2 tested by a one way ANOVA with Newman Keuls applied to determine the source of interaction. The hypotheses were stated in the null. There was a notable difference between the findings for the four selected southern states and Tennessee. Significance at the .10 level of confidence was revealed in male professionals' positive perception of the female superintendents' performance in policy making. The male professional rated the female superintendents at a level significantly different. (.05 level of confidence) than did women professionals who rated the male superintendents below average on the ability to suggest regulations. A similar pattern was revealed on the ability of the superintendent to communicate (.0005 level of confidence), preparation and defense of budget (.05 level of confidence), ability to select personnel (.05 level of confidence), perform leadership tasks (.05 level of confidence) and utilized human resources (.005 level of confidence). In Tennessee the null hypothesis was not challenged except in one category. Significance was found at the .10 level of confidence on the superintendents' ability to formulate evaluation policies. Female professionals rated male superintendents significantly lower than male professionals rated female superintendents. Female superintendents' behavior was consistently rated higher by both male and females in the four selected southern states. In Tennessee, the respondents showed a similar finding by rating the ability to formulate evaluation policies to favor the female superintendents. The divergence in findings was attributed to cohort bias.

The problem of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference between expressed perceptions of selected community college faculty and administrators concerning the extent to which faculty "actually are" involved in decision making and the extent to which they "ought to be" involved in decision making. This was a descriptive study, which utilized a survey methodology. Faculty and administrator perceptions were studied in six decisional areas: appointment, promotion and tenure decisions, academic decisions, administration, student affairs and advisement, system/state control, and general (overall faculty involvement). The study was conducted in the University of Kentucky Community College System, made up of fourteen 2-year institutions. The statistical analysis of data for hypotheses 1-12 warranted the following conclusions: (1) Faculty want to be involved more in all aspects of decision making; this desire is greatest among instructors and assistant professors. (2) Administrators want faculty to be involved more in decision making, although the desire is not as great among directors, associate directors, and assistant directors as it is with division chairs. (3) The variable of sex has little influence on perceptions of faculty and administrators concerning faculty involvement in decision making. (4) The decisional area where faculty exhibit the least decisional deprivation is Academic Decisions, indicating that they have greatest involvement with activities related to instruction. (5) Faculty and administrators are less satisfied with faculty involvement in System/State Control than in any other decisional area.

This study investigated the characteristic of chaos theory called sensitive dependence on initial conditions or butterfly effect in schools and school systems. The purpose of the study was to develop insight into school systems by determining if categories or factors of behaviors or decisions have been observed in school systems which are sensitive to initial conditions and are therefore likely to produce exponential effects. A modified critical incident technique was used to collect data from experienced principals in three moderate sized regions in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. Participants reported incidents that were sensitive to initial conditions during interviews. The data were analyzed by summarizing incidents reported in interviews and sorting to determine factors in schools and school systems which were sensitive to initial conditions. Six factors of schools were identified from data reported by principals that generated butterfly effect incidents. Those factors included curriculum, discipline, extracurricular activities, personnel, school community, and transportation/facilities. School system levels of origination of incidents were also identified with most incidents beginning at the school level. Also principals reported more incidents were precipitated by decisions than by behaviors. Categories of ripple effects of incidents also emerged from the data analysis. These included initial, communication, emotional, mediation, news media, coercive and outcome ripple effects.

Statement of the problem. The central problem of this study was twofold: (1) to determine whether the educational research preparation offered by selected colleges and universities bore out the findings of critics, and (2) to synthesize and synergize opinions and facts regarding educational research, as expressed by men active in the field, into a flexible proposal whereby individual student's programs in research preparation could be "custom-made" to suit their most obvious research needs. (Abstract shortened.)

The problem of this study was to determine if significant differences existed between groups from selected segments of the university community in their expressions of "is" (actual) and "should be" institutional goals and of "real" and "ideal" leadership behavior and to determine if significant relationships existed between their expressions of "is" (actual) institutional goals and "real" leadership behavior and "should be" institutional goals and "ideal" leadership behavior. The sample was composed of the Board of Regents, the university President and his Cabinet, the Faculty Senate, the Graduate Council, the Student Government Association officers and delegates, and thirty randomly selected Faculty. The Institutional Goals Inventory (IGI) was used to assess "is" (actual) and "should be" institutional goals and the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) Real and Ideal instruments were used to determine "real" and "ideal" university leadership behavior. When "should be" institutional goals were compared with "is" (actual) institutional goals, significant differences were found on the goal dimensions of Academic Development, Intellectual Orientation, Individual Personal Development, Traditional Religiousness, Advanced Training, Meeting Local Needs, Democratic Governance, Community, Intellectual/Aesthetic Environment, and Innovation. The Board of Regents' responses were significantly lower than the other five groups when the "real" Initiating Structure dimension of university leadership behavior was compared with the "real" Consideration dimension of university leadership behavior. Significant relationships were found on all twenty of the "is" (actual) institutional goal dimensions when the "real" Initiating Structure and Consideration dimensions of university leadership behavior were compared. Significant relationships were not found for each group on every dimension but there was at least one significant relationship by a group on each of the twenty goal dimensions. Significant relationships were found on eighteen of the twenty "should be" institutional goal dimensions when the "ideal" Initiating Structure and Consideration dimensions of university leadership behavior were compared. Only on the Democratic Governance and Community goal dimensions was there a failure to find significant relationships. Again, significant relationships were not found by each group on the eighteen dimensions in which significance was shown. However, there was at least one significant relationshp by a group on each of the eighteen goal dimensions.

The problem of this study was to identify the leadership behaviors of principals that affect teacher morale positively and negatively. Elementary schools containing a combination of kindergarten through eighth grade were included in this study. The study was conducted during the spring semester of the 1991-92 school year. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII was the instrument used to assess principals' perception of their own leader behavior. The Purdue Teacher Opinionaire was the instrument used to measure teacher morale. After the population was clustered by system, a random sample of 24 schools was used. A total of 433 teachers (83%) returned opinionaires and a total of 24 principals (100%) returned questionnaires. A significant difference was found to exist between the following leader behaviors and teacher morale. The principal's leadership behavior representation revealed a significant relationship with teacher rapport with the principal, teacher salary, and curriculum issues. Tolerance of uncertainty affected teacher morale dimensions, teacher salary, rapport among teachers, community support of education, and community pressures. Leader behavior demand reconciliation revealed a significant relationship with teacher load. Persuasion affected teacher rapport with principal. Initiation of structure also affected rapport among teachers, teacher salary, teacher status, and community support of education. The score for tolerance of freedom indicated a significant relationship with teacher salary, teacher status, community support of education, and school facilities. The dimensions of teacher morale, teacher rapport with principal, rapport among teachers, teacher salary, and school facilities were affected by role assumption. Teachers, likewise, indicated the leader behavior consideration affected community support of education. A significant relationship did exist between production emphasis and rapport among teachers, curriculum issues, and school facilities. Leader behavior predictive accuracy positively affected school facilities and services. Teacher rapport with principal, curriculum issues, and school facilities and services were positively affected by leader behavior integration. Also, superior orientation affected teacher salary and status. Conclusions were based on the findings in this study. It was concluded that total teacher morale was positively related to the principal's leadership in maintaining a closely knit organization and in resolving inter-member conflict. Total teacher morale seemed to be related to the principal's leadership in allowing initiative, decision-making, and action. Other conclusions relating to the individual dimensions of teachers morale and the individual dimensions of leader behavior were drawn.

The problem of this study was to determine differences between parent perceptions of the actual and ideal amounts of involvement of parents, teachers and principals in decision-making at the elementary school level. This study was conducted in conjunction with two parallel studies that considered principal and teacher perceptions with the same hypotheses. The last chapter (six) presents a summary with conclusions and recommendations of all three studies. A questionnaire, designed to examine parent perceptions of the actual and the ideal levels of involvement of teachers, parents, and principal in decision making in elementary schools in the areas of budget, personnel, and curriculum, was distributed to 1325 parents of elementary school children in East Tennessee. Five hundred three parents (38%) responded. Based on the significant differences found, the conclusion was derived that parents desire more active involvement in decision making at the elementary school level for themselves and for the other stakeholders. Recommendations were made for improvement in the decision-making structure at the elementary school level and for further study.

The problem of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference among the expressed perceptions of selected school board members, principals, and students as related to specific aspects of the student activity program. The sample size of this study consisted of 359 participants in the following groups: school board members, principals, and students. School board members and principals were treated as intact groups while the students were randomly selected and stratified based on sex and rank in class. Each group was described based on demographic data. The t-test for independent samples and analysis of variances were used for statistical analysis. Eleven research questions, with six responses each, were analyzed according to six aspects of student activities: (a) athletics, (b) academic-class related activities, (c) performing arts, (d) student government, (e) career-oriented activities, and (f) social-oriented activities. A mean score for each group on each activity was calculated for test purposes. Significant differences were found between (a) school board members and students as related to academic-class related activities, and (b) school board members and students as related to social-oriented activities. Other important findings included the following: (1) Sixty-seven percent of students lived in the county, not towns or cities. (2) Career-oriented activities were the most popular among students. (3) Middle-ranked students had more favorable perceptions of the student activity program than top-ranked or bottom-ranked students. (4) There is general agreement among school board members, principals, and students concerning the student activity program.

The problem of this study was to determine some similarities and differences in selected Tennessee elementary principals' perceived allocation and ideal allocation of time for curriculum related activities. A questionnaire, consisting of the most prevalent curriculum activities, was developed and mailed to a randomly selected sample of 300 elementary principals. The t-Test was utilized to determine differences between perceived allocation of time and ideal allocation of time. Differences were determined for the four stages of curriculum related activities of studying, planning, implementing, and evaluating. Significant differences were found in perceived allocation of time and ideal allocation of time by principals for curriculum related activities. The respondents indicated a significant difference in perceived allocation of time and ideal allocation of time for each of the four curriculum phases of studying, planning, implementing, and evaluating. Significant differences were also recorded for perceived allocation of time between female and male principals, between female and male principals in the studying phase, between female and male principals in the implementing phase, and for ideal allocation of time between female and male principals in the implementing phase. In each case female principals indicated they spent more time and should spend more time than male principals on perceived allocation of time and ideal allocation of time in each phase of curriculum related activities. Certain conclusions were based on the findings in this study. It was concluded that principals feel more time should be spent for curriculum related activities. Principals believe more time should be spent in the studying, planning, implementing, and evaluating phases of curriculum related activities. Female and male principals disagreed on the amount of time spent and the amount of time that should be spent on curriculum related activities. The gender of the principal influences the amount of time spent in the studying and implementing phases of curriculum related activities. Several factors that did not have any influence on the amount of time spent or should be spent on curriculum related activities were the type of school system and the size of the school in which the principal was employed and the number of years since the principal had taken a graduate curriculum course.