The primary purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the role and accomplishment of selected urban School Councils in pursuing the mandated goals and objectives of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. The study investigated the effectiveness of current policies and practices of School Councils in accomplishing the projected goals and objectives of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act in their school districts. Further, the study evaluated the perceptions of School Council members regarding the extent to which they are successful in pursuing the projected goals and objectives of the educational reform as a result of involvement in the development of a School Improvement Plan. The sample for the study included Council members of randomly selected elementary schools from four urban school districts in Massachusetts. The data for the study were collected through the use of a questionnaire validated by a panel of experts in the field of education and by conducting a follow-up personal interview with six of the respondents who volunteered to be interviewed. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were conducted to analyze the data collected for the study. The quantitative analysis was achieved by providing answers to the research questions through the use of certain descriptive statistics, as well as testing the research hypotheses through the use of appropriate inferential statistics. The qualitative analysis was pursued by classification and interpretation of the responses provided by the participating Council members to the open-ended items of the questionnaire as well as the resulting interviews. With regard to the scope of the study and in accordance with the resulting analyses, several conclusions emerged from a number of significant findings. Finally, in compliance with the significant findings of the study, a number of recommendations were made to those who are interested in evaluation of the role and accomplishment of School Councils. Future investigators are encouraged to replicate the study with a special focus on sampling representation and other methodological approaches to secure the generalization of the results.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-1532 |
| Date | 01 January 1997 |
| Creators | Robinson, Bryant |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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