Reforms that expand school choice have been the focus of considerable policy interest, not least as a possible means of improving public school performance. According to the standard argument, increased choice will intensify competition, forcing public schools to improve quality in order to retain enrolment. Yet in principle, increased choice need not always raise performance, pointing to the need for careful empirical analysis. A key challenge in measuring the effects of greater choice on school performance is that convincing variation in choice is often hard to come by, especially in cross-sectional studies. And while school choice policy experiments have the advantage that choice increases in a clear way, few large-scale school choice policies have been implemented in North America. An important exception is the 2002 Ontario tuition tax credit, which eased access to private schools throughout Canada's most populous province. Analyzing the effects of the tax credit reform provides the focus of this thesis. The thesis begins by presenting the literature and gaps in existing research. The next chapter presents a model to clarify the link between increases in competition and school performance, and to motivate the empirical identification strategy. To set the stage for the main empirical analysis, I also provide some relevant institutional background relating to the Ontario education policy environment and the Ontario tuition tax credit as well as a descriptive analysis on the Ontario private school market. I then present an initial examination of the possible performance effects of the Ontario tuition tax credit using a difference-in-differences setup, before turning to the main empirical analysis, which exploits the differential competitive effects for public schools in districts with relative to those without a significant private school presence. The empirical results indicate that public school performance improved for schools facing the greatest competitive pressures following the introduction of the policy, controlling for a host of other relevant factors. To assess whether the effect is due primarily to increases in productivity, the analysis controls carefully for a series of alternative mechanisms. Overall, the Ontario findings are consistent with increased choice giving rise to productivity improvements in public schools.

The study was designed to facilitate the development of a set of guidelines which could be used by administrative personnel at Kokomo-Center Township Consolidated School Corporation (KCTCSC) in planning and implementing a program of administrative evaluation. A review of literature and research concerning administrative evaluation programs was made to identify principles and desirable practices relative to the development of evaluation philosophy and activities. The review of literature also was intended to focus upon the purpose of evaluation, responsibilities for making evaluations, criteria for evaluation, and acceptance of evaluation procedures and techniques by the administrative team members.The study included a review and analysis of evaluation programs conducted within the nineteen member school systems of the Indiana Public School Study Council as of January 1979. Twelve superintendents of the member school systems provided written descriptive materials. Selected materials were analyzed in order to determine the nature, scope, and procedural characteristics of practical, ongoing evaluation programs.The study also included a KCTCSC team survey. The survey was designed by a committee of representative administrators to solicit the opinions of all administrative team members of KCTCSC on eight specific areas affecting an evaluation program.Conclusions drawn from the findings of a review of the literature, the Indiana Public School Study Council Member Superintendent's Questionnaire, and the Kokomo Administrative Team Evaluation Survey Questionnaire were as follows.A. Administrative performance can and should be evaluated on a regular basis.B. Authorities are not in agreement that only one process of evaluation is correct.C. Evaluation may include two main purposes: the first, to help the evaluatee establish relevant performance objectives and work systematically toward objective achievement; and secondly, to assess the evaluatee's present performance in accordance with prescribed standards.D. Evaluation should require the evaluator(s) to assess the. performance of the evaluatee by rating the evaluatee on a value scale that may have varying degrees of excellence.E. Management by Objectives (MBO) should be a supplement to evaluation procedures that stress rating. Self-evaluation should always be encouraged.F. Formal evaluation of administrative team members should be conducted annually within the time framework of individual state laws. Informal evaluation should be a continuous process, on a day-to-day basis supplementing the formal process.G. The superior or supervisor should conduct the formal evaluation with informal documented evaluation input from peers, staff, students, parents, community, and evaluatee as situations and/or time warrants.H. Particular attention should be paid to amassing specific documentary evidence regarding each behavioral characteristic to be assessed.I. Evaluation should be supported by data, records, commendations, and critical comments, work achieved, spotchecks, special activities and awards.J. Little new information, if any, should be saved for the formal appraisal. Evaluation should concentrate on guidance and counseling, not solely on checking up on the evaluatee.K. The evaluator should enter the evaluation process with a mutual, unprejudiced, and unbiased attitude with respect to the evaluatee.L. The best evaluation system is of no value if the information is simply gathered and stored or ignored.M. Improvement of evaluatee performance involved two processes, assessment of evaluatee and in-service or job development.Guideline recommendations for planning and implementing an administrative evaluation program touch on the following considerations: the responsibilities of the board of school trustees, the superintendent of schools, and the evaluation committee which has been established by the superintendent of schools. Implementation and follow-up recommendations are also a part of the guideline recommendations made as a result of the study.

Reforms that expand school choice have been the focus of considerable policy interest, not least as a possible means of improving public school performance. According to the standard argument, increased choice will intensify competition, forcing public schools to improve quality in order to retain enrolment. Yet in principle, increased choice need not always raise performance, pointing to the need for careful empirical analysis. A key challenge in measuring the effects of greater choice on school performance is that convincing variation in choice is often hard to come by, especially in cross-sectional studies. And while school choice policy experiments have the advantage that choice increases in a clear way, few large-scale school choice policies have been implemented in North America. An important exception is the 2002 Ontario tuition tax credit, which eased access to private schools throughout Canada's most populous province. Analyzing the effects of the tax credit reform provides the focus of this thesis. The thesis begins by presenting the literature and gaps in existing research. The next chapter presents a model to clarify the link between increases in competition and school performance, and to motivate the empirical identification strategy. To set the stage for the main empirical analysis, I also provide some relevant institutional background relating to the Ontario education policy environment and the Ontario tuition tax credit as well as a descriptive analysis on the Ontario private school market. I then present an initial examination of the possible performance effects of the Ontario tuition tax credit using a difference-in-differences setup, before turning to the main empirical analysis, which exploits the differential competitive effects for public schools in districts with relative to those without a significant private school presence. The empirical results indicate that public school performance improved for schools facing the greatest competitive pressures following the introduction of the policy, controlling for a host of other relevant factors. To assess whether the effect is due primarily to increases in productivity, the analysis controls carefully for a series of alternative mechanisms. Overall, the Ontario findings are consistent with increased choice giving rise to productivity improvements in public schools.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the first time emphasized an increase in daily whole grain consumption in children, adolescents, and adults, and identified a recommended intake of 3 one-ounce servings per day. Despite national dietary policy recommendations and current scientific evidence encouraging an increase in whole grain intake, most Americans are consuming less than one whole grain serving per day. Therefore, a need to determine methods to increase whole grain intake in Americans does exist. One identified method would be to increase whole grain intake in children through the incorporation of whole grain foods into school meals. This study was designed to determine, through the creation of an online survey, methods utilized by school food service professionals overseeing HealthierUS School Challenge Gold rated elementary schools to successfully incorporate whole grain food products into school meals. Data collected from the online survey indicated school food service professionals that incorporated whole grains into their school meals by slowly modifying recipes and gradually incorporating new whole grain foods onto their existing menu were the most successful. Survey results also indicated that students preferred partial blend whole grain products compared to those made from 100% whole wheat. Additionally, survey participants reported barriers to whole grain food incorporation which included: product acceptability, whole grain product identification, whole grain product availability, and cost. There is a need to further understand measures that can be taken to successfully introduce more whole grain food products into elementary school lunches without causing a decrease in consumption of the school meals by students. Data gathered from this survey will be shared with the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (USDA-FNS) to provide technical assistance to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program on how to successfully menu whole grain food products in their schools and maintain alignment with current national dietary recommendations.

The research employed the questionnaire survey. We recruited Ping Tung primary school educational stuff, including directors, coordinators, homeroom teachers and subject teachers, to complete the ¡§Questionnaire on Ping Tung Primary School Educational Staff¡¦s Awareness of School Marketing and the Levels of Identification¡¨. 404 valid samples were collected. The relevant data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed with the statistical program, SPSS for Windows. The result¡¦s which discussed the divergences of variables under different background.Examined via statistical methods such as frequency distribution, percentage, ranking, T-test, One-way ANOVA, and correlation coefficient. Furthermore, the comparison of the groups was compared by employing the Scheffé test. The major findings of the present study are summarized as follows: 1. Among all the variety of types of school marketing awareness of the Ping Tung county primary school teachers. Our study showed , the level of the ¡§staff perception awareness¡¨ is of the highest,while the level of the ¡§value awareness¡¨ is of the lowest. 2. From the viewpoint of the Ping Tung county primary eductors stuff, the ¡§perceptual awareness ¡¨ of school marketing is considered to be crucial. 3. Educators of displayed remarkable variations toward the identification levels of school marketing led to educators.The three facts:different positions, school sizes, and admission conditions. 4. The result demonstrates a positive correlation between the awareness of school marketing and the levels of identification.

This study aims to explore the relationship among school brand, parents¡¦ educational attitude and school choice of junior high schools in Kaohsiung City. The study was conducted by means of questionnaire survey with self-edited ¡§Questionnaire on School Brand, Parents¡¦ Educational Attitude and School Choice.¡¨ 413 junior high schools¡¦ parents were randomly sampled in Kaohsiung City. The collected data was analyzed by statistical methods, including t-test, One-Way ANOVA, Pearson Product-Method Correlation and Multiple Regression. Based on the analyzed results, the followings were concluded: 1.The junior high schools¡¦ parents in Kaohsiung City could hold the positive attitudes toward school brand, parents¡¦ educational attitude and school choice. 2.The attitudes of the parents with different background have no difference on school brand. 3.The attitudes of the parents with different background have no difference on parents¡¦ educational attitude. 4.The attitudes of the parents with different background have no difference on s school choice. 5.School brand and parents¡¦ educational attitude have moderate related; school brand and school choice has moderate related.

The aim of the research is to explore the impact factors that the students of the private high school may consider. By so doing, we can understand the significant points that the private high school students may consider on the one hand and whether there exists any differences among the impact factors of choosing school from their diversity of backgrounds on the other hand. The survey is used in the research as the methodology; a survey tool is designed as ¡§The Impact Factors of the 12th and the 13th Grade Students in School Choosing.¡¨ The participants of the research are the 12th and the 13th grade students in a private school in Kaohsiung City. The data obtained would be further analyzed in terms of descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and so on. The research discovers that: I. The ¡§curriculum and teaching factor¡¨ is the most significant among the impact factors of the private high school students in their school choosing. II. In the item of ¡§key person¡¦s factor¡¨ of the private high school students in their school choosing, ¡§my own choice¡¨ is the most significant. III. In the item of ¡§curriculum and teaching¡¨ of the private high school students in their school choosing, ¡§teacher¡¦s hardworking¡¨ is the most significant. IV. In the item of ¡§school counseling factor¡¨ of the private high school students in their school choosing, ¡§the peers¡¦ good relationship¡¨ is the most significant. V. In the item of the ¡§environmental equipment factor¡¨ of the private high school students in their school choosing, ¡§the air conditioning in the classroom¡¨ is the most significant. VI. In the item of ¡§the school marketing factor¡¨ of the private high school students in their school choosing, ¡§the reasonable tuition¡¨ is the most significant. VII. The science-majored private high school students consider the ¡§counseling factor¡¨ and the ¡§school marketing factor¡¨ more than the humanities-majored students do. VIII. The male private high school students consider the ¡§curriculum and teaching factor¡¨ and the ¡§counseling factor¡¨ more than the female students do. IX. The private high school students whose father¡¦s education is ¡§more than graduate school¡¨ consider the ¡§counseling factor¡¨ more than those whose father¡¦s education is ¡§college or university¡¨ do. X. The private high school students whose mother¡¦s education is ¡§college or university¡¨ consider the ¡§key person¡¦s factor,¡¨ ¡§curriculum and teaching factor,¡¨ and ¡§counseling factor¡¨ more than those whose mother¡¦s education is ¡§less than the (vocational) high school¡¨ do. XI. The private high school students whose mother¡¦s education is ¡§less than the (vocational) high school¡¨ consider the ¡§school marketing factor¡¨ more than those whose mother¡¦s education is ¡§more than graduate school¡¨ do. XII. The private high school students who live in ¡§the suburban area¡¨ in their school choosing factors consider ¡§the environmental equipment factor¡¨ more than those who live in ¡§the urban area of Fongshan District¡¨ do. According to the results, the research attempts to propose student recruiting strategies for the private schools.

The comprehensive high school is one of the tremendous reforms in the post-secondary education of our country to withstand the shift of times. The Ministry of Education adopted the suggestions from the seventh meeting of National Education and started to work intensively on the experimental curriculum of the comprehensive high school in 1996. Therefore, take National Lungtan vocational senior high school as an example to explore this kind of transformation of the formal education system. The aim of this study was to take Lungtan vocational senior high school as an example, and used action research to investigate the process of performing the transform of the comprehensive high school, to find out the difficulties and problems, and to solve its related problems. The findings are as follows: After the comprehensive high school has become one of the formal education systems, for the case of National Lungtan Vocational Senior High School of transforming to the comprehensive high school, this really corresponds with the mainstreams of education. The suitable and best transforming model is for the case of National Lungtan Vocational Senior High School: Under negotiating in advance and getting the common consensus with the faculty in a formal meeting, there are some valuable experiences we got, as follows: (1)The difficulties and policies of curriculum design: (a) The change of teaching hours and the problems of arranging the curricula¡Xto make the teachers who teach the vocational programs instruct the related subjects in order to meet the basic requirements. (b) According to the arrangement of the programs, it is necessary to divide the students into some groups so that it will meet the needs of students, parents, and the school. (2)The problems and solutions for the faculty: (a)Performing the plan of retirement will solve some problems of the faculty. (b)No sufficient teachers are in the academic subjects. To solve this problem, it is efficient to make use of resources around the school-community or hire more teachers from other schools. (c) It is important to solve the surplus for the teachers of professional and vocational subjects. For example, it will work out to make the teachers have advanced studies. (3)The plan and the way to handle the equipment: (a) Because there are no enough facilities to offer the current needs, increasing some professional classrooms reduces the deficiency. (b) The limitations of funds for operation. Thus, presenting a series of improving plans solves the insufficient problems. (c) Actively engaging in the related affairs or plans to get the funds and then to improve the equipment. According to the conclusions, there are some suggestions as follows: A. The strategies of transforming model for the case of National Lungtan Vocational Senior High School can provide some references for both the public and private high schools implementing the comprehensive high school. (1) The conductor¡¦s leading style (especially the principal) will be the key to success in implementing the transforming model. (2) How to transform is a crucial question so it is necessary to have a complete discussions and arrangement before making decisions. (3) With the suitable transforming model, it will reduce the number of the opposite teachers. (4) The suitable and best transforming model for the case of National Lungtan Vocational Senior High School will be more competitive among schools. (5) It is better to tend to the direction of community-united comprehensive high school. B. How to continue to impel the project of comprehensive high school for the case of National Lungtan Vocational Senior High School in the future. (1) For those performing the comprehensive schools, it is essential to get funds for operation in order to enlarge staff¡¦s allocation. (2) Schools should offer many opportunities of selecting classes and then students will have more room for developing their potential ability. Above all, it is better to adopt the middle curriculum. (3) Continue to advocate the ideas to parents and junior high school students. Meanwhile, pay attention to the evaluation for the performing process, and chase the common prospect. (4) Remain to explore the adjusting situation after graduating from the comprehensive high schools entering University.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the restructuring of the administrative organization in Kaohsiung City¡¦s elementary schools. It further analyzes the perception of educators with different independent variables toward the workload of elementary school administrative units, adjustment of business coverage of different units, adjustment of organization structure of school administration, and the adjustment of staffing. This study randomly samples 660 subjects, including 44 elementary school principals, 88 unit directors, 176 section chiefs, and 352 teachers without administrative duties. A total of 502 questionnaires were returned and 498 were evaluated as valid. The method of questionnaire survey is adopted in this research to collect data with the help of the tool: ¡§A questionnaire for exploring the restructure of the administration organization in Kaohsiung City¡¦s elementary schools¡¨. Data obtained in this study are analyzed by the descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and two-way ANOVA. The major findings of this study are as follows: I.Most school educators consider that the workload of differentadministrative units is heavy. II.Most school educators consider that the organizational adjustment ofadministrative units and sections is not necessary. III.Most school educators consider that the policy about the adjustmentof school staffing is not necessary. IV.The effect of background variables on the school educators¡¦ perception toward the workload of different administrative units is significant. V.The effect of background variables on the school educators¡¦ perception toward the organizational adjustment of different administrative units and sections is significant. VI.The effect of background variables on the school educators¡¦perception toward the policy of adjusting the school staffingis significant. VII.Over 60% of the school educators admit that the wordload of ¡§Computer Equipment Maintenance¡¨ of Information Section is too heavy and should consider the way of labor outsourcing.¡@ VIII.All subjects believe that the Section Chief of General Affairs Office should be taken charge by the clerks; among 30% of all subjects, the most urgent need to be appointed are listed in order: General Affairs Section and Cashier¡¦s Section. The next in order are Section Chiefs of Information Section and Equipment Section. VIIII.On the premise that the total number of the staffing quota keep to the status quo, the subjects believe that the most urgent need to be increased is the number of teachers, while the most urgent need to be reduced is the number of janitors. Finally, several specific suggestions based on the research findings are proposed to the educational administrative authorities, school administration system, and the further studies in the future.

Abstract The purpose of this study aims to analyze the relationship among school-based management, organizational climate and school effectiveness in elementary schools, so as to provide reference for carrying out school-based management, improving organizational climate, and promoting school effectiveness to the education authorities and elementary schools. The purposes of this study are as follows a) to understand current status of school-based management, organizational climate and school effectiveness in elementary schools in Kaohsiung City,b) to discuss the discrepancy of school-based management, organizational climate and school effectiveness through examining the backgrounds of each school,c) to investigate the relationship among school-based management, organizational climate and school effectiveness, and d) to offer suggestions for schools, principals and teachers. Questionnaire survey was adopted as the research method of this study. The samples are 915 elementary school teachers in Kaohsiung City. Data were analyzed by item analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analysis. The findings of this study are as follows: 1.The elementary school teachers in Kaohsiung City have high appreciation of school-based management. 2.The elementary school teachers have positive perception of school organizational climate, of which ¡§the open climate¡¨ comprises 34.38¢Mand ¡§the closed climate¡¨ comprises 30.75¢M. 3.The teachers¡¦ perception of school effectiveness in elementary schools is good now. 4.Teachers¡¦ perception of school-based management is affected by gender, work experience, posts, school locations and school ages, but not by levels of education they have received or school size. 5.There were significant differences in the teachers¡¦ perception of organizational climate with gender, work experience, administrative posts, school sizes, levels of education, school locations and school history. 6.There were significant differences in the teachers¡¦ perception of school effectiveness with gender, work experience, posts, school sizes, school locations and school history, but no difference with levels of education. 7.There is a positive relationship between school-based management and school effectiveness. 8.The more open the school¡¦s organizational climate is, the higher school effectiveness the school has. 9.The higher the school-based management is, the better the school has organizational climate. 10.The school organizational climate has better prediction of school effectiveness than the school-based management. The most significant prediction is the principal¡¦s supportive behavior. Based on the results of the study, suggestions for educational authorities, principals, teachers and future research are proposed. keywords¡GSchool-Based Management, Organizational Climate , School Effectiveness