The purpose of the study was to identify the basis of the aspiring principal preparation program (appp) components florida school districts provide to their aspiring principals and their relationship, if any, to the state and isllc standards. A total of 50 school districts in florida participated in this study. The research was guided by the following questions: to what extent do the florida school districts provide a formal appp to their current assistant principals? (b) upon what are the formal appps for current assistant principals based: the florida principal competencies (fpcs), the interstate school leaders licensure consortium (isllc) standards, or another source? (c) to what extent do the school district appps in the 67 florida districts have component requirements that include professional development, mentoring, and a performance-based experience? and (d) are there differences among the appp components provided by florida school districts of various sizes? the findings of the study were found through an examination of quantitative and qualitative data that were collected from the florida aspiring principal program assessment (flappa) survey and the school districts' appp brochures located on their websites. This study supported the following conclusions: (a) 75% of the school districts in florida do provide an appp for their aspiring principals, (b) the fpcs and the isllc standards are a part of the bases of the components found in appps provided by florida school districts, (c) florida school districts do provide appps that include components of a mentor principal, a performance-based experience, and professional development, (d) very large-sized school districts with a population over 100 thousand students contained the largest percentage of standards-based components in the appp; small-sized school districts with a population of under 7 thousand students contained the least percentage of standards-based components in the appp, (e) school districts in florida recognized the need to modify and were in the process of modifying their appps according to the new florida leadership standards, especially the component of technology, and (f) a lack of funding, time, and assessment were identified as appp weaknesses and components in need of improvement. Recommendations of this study included: (a) further research on florida school districts redesign of their appp components to identify whether or not the components are based upon the new florida leadership standards, especially technology; and the isllc educational standards; and (b) further research on florida school districts providing a mentor principal and support team; professional development, and a performance-based experience to their current assistant principals who participate in an appp, thus ensuring best practices in the appp and improving the quality of their future principals

Some school divisions find themselves with a limited number of qualified applicants for administration positions. Aspirants require suggestions of and guidance toward effective leadership training programs and supports. A clear understanding of essential leadership skills may create an incentive for classroom teachers to apply for administration positions and potentially decrease the strain on school divisions. Selection and suitability of qualified candidates applying for vacancies will diminish school boards struggles to fill administrative vacancies. <p>The purpose of this case study was to describe what administrative personnel superintendents, principals, and vice principals in one Saskatchewan urban school division consider essential skills for classroom teachers to develop as a means to position themselves as future school administrators. Furthermore, the case study set out to identify appropriate leadership development programs and supports to assist aspiring administrators in leadership development. This study aspired to isolate programs that practicing administrators in the school division posited as most useful in their own skill acquisition and development.<p>A mixed-methods survey questionnaire was administered to 117 administrators of one Saskatchewan urban school division. The administrators insights and expertise as to the essential skills required to be an effective administrator will assist classroom teachers prepare for the potential of becoming formal leaders. Forty percent of this group responded to the survey. Data from this case study were compared to a similar case study conducted by John Daresh (1994) in the United States.<p>Participants believed aspiring administrators must develop self-awareness skills to be effective educational leaders and must be offered appropriate leadership programs and supports through which aspirants could develop essential leadership skills. Even though the majority of respondents suggested self-awareness skills were essential to develop for effective leadership, they posited the importance of also developing technical and social skills. This case study found that while a commonality of skills were identified by participants as essential, it was extremely important for aspiring administrators, with the assistance of their school board, to build on their own personal leadership strengths.

Some school divisions find themselves with a limited number of qualified applicants for administration positions. Aspirants require suggestions of and guidance toward effective leadership training programs and supports. A clear understanding of essential leadership skills may create an incentive for classroom teachers to apply for administration positions and potentially decrease the strain on school divisions. Selection and suitability of qualified candidates applying for vacancies will diminish school boards struggles to fill administrative vacancies. <p>The purpose of this case study was to describe what administrative personnel superintendents, principals, and vice principals in one Saskatchewan urban school division consider essential skills for classroom teachers to develop as a means to position themselves as future school administrators. Furthermore, the case study set out to identify appropriate leadership development programs and supports to assist aspiring administrators in leadership development. This study aspired to isolate programs that practicing administrators in the school division posited as most useful in their own skill acquisition and development.<p>A mixed-methods survey questionnaire was administered to 117 administrators of one Saskatchewan urban school division. The administrators insights and expertise as to the essential skills required to be an effective administrator will assist classroom teachers prepare for the potential of becoming formal leaders. Forty percent of this group responded to the survey. Data from this case study were compared to a similar case study conducted by John Daresh (1994) in the United States.<p>Participants believed aspiring administrators must develop self-awareness skills to be effective educational leaders and must be offered appropriate leadership programs and supports through which aspirants could develop essential leadership skills. Even though the majority of respondents suggested self-awareness skills were essential to develop for effective leadership, they posited the importance of also developing technical and social skills. This case study found that while a commonality of skills were identified by participants as essential, it was extremely important for aspiring administrators, with the assistance of their school board, to build on their own personal leadership strengths.

In many markets for cultural goods, gatekeepers select the cultural goods, relatively few cultural goods are selected, and the criteria for selection are unclear to both artists and gatekeepers. Not knowing whether cultural goods are of the 'right' quality to be selected, artists and gatekeepers become preoccupied with handling quality uncertainty. This thesis studies such handling of quality uncertainty before, during, and after aspiring writers attempt to succeed in the publishing market. Drawing on eighty interviews with mainly aspiring writers and publishers in Sweden, three papers investigate three phases of handling quality uncertainty in the publishing market. First, in attempting to get published, writers handled uncertainty about how the quality of their work would be evaluated in the publishing market by using appraisal devices: trusted, knowledgeable appraisals of their work’s chances of success or failure on the publishing market. Second, publishers responded to uncertainty about the quality of manuscripts by learning to consider means before ends, such that certain qualities of their reading experience became the necessary means for realizing that the manuscript might be publishable. This realization moved the manuscript from the discovery phase to justification phase, in which publishers made a final decision to select or reject the manuscript. Third, for the rejected writer, the uncertainty of not knowing how the publisher had determined the quality of the manuscript made it possible to excuse the course of events. Writers gave reasons why their manuscript had been rejected based on how they imagined publishers had determined its quality. They accepted the occurrence of failure but dismissed the responsibility for having failed. Writers also engaged in justifications, refusals, and concessions of the perceived failure. These concepts for analyzing the publishing market are based on a perspective that takes into account subjectivity, temporality, and the condition of quality uncertainty. The perspective and concepts are useful for understanding other market situations in the cultural industries, wherein the successful hiring of cultural workers and the acquisition of cultural goods are rare relative to the number of aspirants, and wherein assessments are conditioned by quality uncertainty that needs to be handled. / ERC 263699-CEV

The aim of this thesis was to find out if and why aspiring preschool teachers who study science and technology in their undergraduate courses show a greater interest in biology than the other subjects. The investigation was conducted on 64 students who during the time of this investigation, wrote thesis as the final step in their education. The to-be preschool teachers in the survey showed the greatest interest in the subject of biology, while interest in chemistry and physics turned out to be very low. Early childhood experience from preschool age can affect the view on a topic that a person later develops. It is therefore important that there are teachers in preschool that can help give children a positive image of all the natural sciences and technology.

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-perception of leadership styles of practicing female superintendents in Texas and how their preferred leadership style affected their performance. The study posed the following questions:(1) What are the preferred leadership styles of the practicing female superintendents in Texas as measured by Bolman & Deal’s (2003) four frames of leadership? (2) What are the predominant behaviors that female superintendents in Texas identify within each frame of leadership? (3) How do the preferred leadership styles and behaviors influence the superintendents’ every day performance? This study was relied on a mixed method approach, quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative component involved surveying 50 female superintendents, using the Leadership Orientations (Self-Report) survey (Bolman & Deal, 1990). The qualitative component included a semi-structured interview which asked follow up questions with six selected female superintendents (two from rural, two from suburban, and two from urban districts) who consented to the interview regarding the influence of their leadership preferences. The findings suggest participants’ preferred leadership style relates to the Human Resource frame which include: being an inspirational leader, utilizing interpersonal skills, making good decisions; as well as, coaching and developing people. Findings also suggest that predominant behaviors include: supporting others, building trusting relationships through collaboration, and being participative. The preferred leadership styles and behaviors’ influence on female superintendents’ everyday performance resulted in embracing collaboration, being transparent, sharing a vision, being passionate, and building trusting relationships. Additionally, beliefs and behaviors that lead to success include: being honest, depersonalize the situations, education makes a difference, adopt flexibility, and power to make decisions. The characteristics that lead to success are: being spiritual, being organized, being committed, and willing to help others. Furthermore, the following advice was offered: learn to cope with high level of visibility, become knowledgeable of the district’s needs and characteristics, and develop a professional image. Finally, implications for aspiring female superintendents, superintendent preparation programs and school boards members are also presented. / text