This study of rural schools in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas focused on self-reported characteristics of secondary school principals as well as their leadership style. A total of 592 surveys were mailed to the identified population, of whom 462 returned completed forms. It was found that the Great Plains rural…

To explore themes previously identified among successful schools from the perspective of the school district, this report organizes its discussion of the nine themes developed by T.B. Corcoran and B.L. Wilson (1986) around the role of the central office administration and the ways in which it might cooperate with schools in supporting secondary…

This report summarizes a two-year study of supervisory officers in Ontario. The research focused on what supervisory officers do, what skills they need, how they are prepared and selected, and how they experience the job in terms of satisfaction and effectiveness. A stratified sample of 25 boards and 4 ministry offices was selected for indepth…

A study compared the similarities and differences among human resource training and development (HRT&D) programs in U.S. colleges and universities. To gather data for the study, researchers constructed a questionnaire that focused on 15 roles and 31 competencies identified as necessary to the job performance of an HRT&D specialist. The…

Literature is reviewed and research is proposed on the supervision of teaching. The literature review on administrative theory in business and education reveals three periods of thought: a period when theories of supervision focused on the producer (the worker or teacher), a period when theories focused on the supervisor-producer relationship, and…

A study was made of the crucial role of the college dean in implementing curriculum changes in schools of education. With the passage of the Education for Handicapped Children law, reform in teacher education programs became necessary. College deans were given federal grants along with the responsibility of overseeing major educational…

A study was conducted to determine the following: the characteristics of state-level administrative structure for vocational education within state departments of education; the current role and the expected role of state supervisors of vocational agriculture as perceived by high school teachers and state supervisors of vocational agriculture, and…

The Instructional Support System for Occupational Education (ISSOE) Dissemination Project was initiated to conduct research on the roles of individuals associated with the management of ISSOE. The goal was understanding the management concerns surrounding ISSOE dissemination. Phase 2 activities were designed and carried out to fulfill four major…

Today's schools are faced with a new challenge--namely, how they can be managed more effectively. This book evaluates concrete management plans such as Management By Objectives (MBO) and Zero-Base Budgeting and explains the principles that different systems work on, where they have been tried, how they have succeeded or not succeeded, and why.…

Four deans of instruction in small, rural junior colleges and four deans of instruction in large, urban junior colleges were interviewed, and faculty members from the small junior colleges were surveyed, in order to ascertain their opinions regarding faculty development procedures. It was found that: (1) deans felt in-service workshops to be…

Addressing the underlying tension that generally exists between school-level autonomy and systemwide uniformity, the author's nine commandments include recognizing the school as the key organizational unit in public education, selecting and nurturing first-rate principals, and granting more budgetary authority to the school level. (JBM)

This report describes a study of the effects of environmental complexity on managers of semipublic organizations, in particular, school principals. Although some previous empirical studies do estimate relationships between principals' management activities and individual elements of schools' immediate organizational contexts, researchers have yet…

Since many first line managers (FLMs) have not participated in formal learning, how they make sense of their roles and the training they are doing is significant. A relationship between inadequate literacy skills and ability to do a job is assumed. Language, literacy, and numeracy must be understood in terms of social practice and creation of…

Survey feedback can be applied as an organization development (OD) technique in public school systems. The technique, if suited to goals of an OD effort, can result in multiple positive outcomes. In addition to improvements characteristic of OD, the results of survey feedback can be utilized in making strategic decisions. (Author/MH)

A rating scale operationalized a model for the adoption and implementation of educational innovation. Phases were designated: creating a climate for change; analyzing antecedent conditions; generating alternatives; initiating change adoption; implementing change; and evaluating change outcomes. Principals' decision-making behavior was the best…