Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / One of the most significant influences on the quality and character of a school is the school principal. With principals as the driving force behind their schools, evaluation of their performance is detrimental to their success as school leaders. Until very recently, however, school administrators have eluded the same level of scrutiny and intervention that teachers have undergone for years despite their high profile status in terms of leadership and instruction. The neglected area of principal evaluation, therefore, must be revisited. With the historic passage of Article 31, Rhode Island's Student Investment Initiative and S.A.L.T.- School Accountability for Learning and Teaching, increased attention has been placed on the effectiveness and quality of Rhode Island's schools. With this legislative mandate in mind, along with the extensive educational literature placing principals at the forefront of school effectiveness, this study investigated the various evaluation systems used to assess the performance of Rhode Island principals and the attitudes principals had toward these appraisals. Interviews were conducted with principals from each of Rhode Island's 36 school districts in order to examine current evaluation practices used to assess them and to uncover individual perceptions regarding the process. The study also included the collection of evaluation instruments, follow up questionnaires, and other artifacts such as contracts and job descriptions as a means of triangulation. This study confirmed that while Rhode Island principals indicated their desire to be held accountable for their work, they did not possess the necessary authority to carry out many of the duties and obligations inherent in their role as instructional leader. Staff selection and budget appropriations are key examples of the diminished authority they possess. The results of the study coupled with recommendations will be presented to Rhode Island's State Department of Education so that it can begin exploring administrative assessment procedures that can eventually be developed and implemented at the state level. With Rhode Island's many initiatives and mandates targeting accountability, it is recommended that Rhode Island retain a uniform method of assessing principal performance since a school's success or failure is often attributed to the school's principal. / 2031-01-01

Thesis. 1979. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 173-176. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1940. / Bibliography: p. 179-181.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1940. / Bibliography: p. 179-181.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

This dissertation argues that, in Rhode Island, the institution of slavery, the process of emancipation and circumscribed black freedom was fundamentally influenced by the businesses of slavery. The businesses of slavery include the West Indian rum and slave trade, the Atlantic slave trade and the negro cloth industry. Specifically, I contend that in Rhode Island these businesses led to the legalization of race-based slavery, buttressed the local economy, and helped to maintain the institution of slavery throughout the Americas. Academic scholarship and public knowledge of northern slavery and emancipation in the United States remains relatively slim. American slavery has become almost synonymous with the American South, disregarding the fact that it was an institution that was socially accepted, legally sanctioned and widely practiced in the North. Furthermore, most emancipation studies focus on the Civil War era, rather than the decades of freedom struggles in the post-revolutionary North. This dissertation argues that the history of slavery and freedom in North American is fundamentally skewed without a full accounting of the northern experience. Historians have long noted the importance of the Atlantic slave trade and trade with the West Indies to the survival and maintenance of the northern North American British colonies. This project studies the origins of race-based slavery, the process of emancipation and circumscribed black freedom within the context of the development of the businesses of slavery.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The story of Baptist beginnings in Rhode Island through Roger Williams and John Clarke is a familiar one. The writer of this dissertation, while reviewing the early and familiar chapter of Baptist beginnings in America, concentrates upon the more recent and neglected period from 1825 to 1931. The result of the research is the first state history of Rhode Island Baptists. The principal primary sources for this study have been the annual minutes of the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention; the yearbooks of the Warren, Providence, Narragansett, and Roger Williams associations; and the minutes of seven representative Baptist churches. State, city, and town histories have also been consulted as well as Rhode Island newspapers and contemporary Baptist magazines and journals. [TRUNCATED]

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University