Theses and Dissertations

Correlations from a survey of 125 Catholic secondary school principals and 1001 of their teachers indicated that both principals and teachers share the same perceptions about the leadership style of the principals on six of nine leadership constructs. Both principals and teachers believe that the principals inspire their teachers to high standards, hold up a vision for the school, instill a sense of mission in their teachers, and support them as individuals. Teachers do not perceive that their principals are charismatic or that they motivate them intellectually.

The purpose of this study was to examine the transfer of teaching strategies from a professional development workshop to the classroom using study groups.

The primary intention of this study was to conduct a thorough investigation of interdisciplinary curricula at the high school level through a comprehensive questionnaire utilizing Heidi Hayes Jacobs' (1989) six level continuum of options for content design. The study had two purposes: to determine the current level of curriculum integration in high schools throughout the nation, and to identify the factors influencing the design and development, maintenance, and evaluation of interdisciplinary curriculum projects.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between sixth grade students' 4Sight Benchmark Assessment scores and their sixth grade PSSA scaled scores in both reading and mathematics. The secondary purpose of the study was to determine whether participation in the 4Sight Benchmark Assessments led to greater improvement on PSSA scores from fifth to sixth grade.;The sample for this study consisted of a total of six school districts.

Although a substantial body of literature exists defining physical restraint procedures and describing parameters for its use, particularly in psychiatric settings, little has been published on the extent to which educators use physical restraint procedures in school settings. The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency of the use of physical restraint in day treatment and residential schools. Concomitantly, the study investigated school leader behaviors and attitudes associated with physical restraint.

The purpose of this study was to assess teacher and principal perceptions of the use of the teacher portfolio in facilitating growth-oriented teacher evaluation. Growth-oriented teacher evaluation systems are more effective since they can provide information on the strengths of teachers and the areas in which they may need improvement.;The study research questions focused on teacher and administrator perceptions of the teacher portfolio's effect on the quality of evaluation.

This cross-sectional, explanatory study integrated three complex social processes, democratic community, trust, and organizational learning into one model, for the first time. A new principle-based measure of democratic community allowed for this larger scale quantitative investigation of democratic community in schools, thus extending the qualitative research base. The review of the literature demonstrated substantial evidence for the two proposed models.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among educational expenditure and achievement; socioeconomic status and achievement; and educational expenditure, socioeconomic status, and achievement, at the district level in Pennsylvania. To study the relationships, two different causal models based on divergent theories of the relationships among the variables were tested. The 2000 district-level score on the state standards-based assessment, Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), measured student achievement at grades 5, 8, and 11 in mathematics and reading.

The use of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) in education is in its infancy; it could be compared with the state of CBA 100 years ago in other government operations, when such practices were infrequently and inconsistently applied. Today the demand for accountability for both student achievement and fiscal resources has increased with the recent No Child Left Behind legislation (United States Department of Education, 2002), and as a result data-driven decision making has become more important.

Teacher leadership is a promising practice that is having an impact on school reform. Traditional hierarchical styles of leadership are being replaced with distributive leadership models which redefine the roles of teachers. While some schools are practicing teacher leadership, the reasons for their success or failures are not well documented. There is little research that examines teachers' experiences as they develop into leaders and even less on teacher leadership in international schools.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between role conflict, role ambiguity and the level of fob satisfaction experienced by school superintendents. A survey was mailed to 428 New Jersey superintendents, with 214 (50%) of the surveys returned and usable. Regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the separate constructs of role ambiguity, role conflict, and superintendent job satisfaction. Stepwise regression examined the combined effects of role ambiguity and role conflict and job satisfaction.

The ninth grade year is a hallmark for adolescent youth. The purpose of this empirical study was to nationally explore the transition of adolescents to ninth grade. The study examined 30 transition practices recommended by experts, current use and perceived importance of transition practices by middle school and high school principals, and factors influencing the use and perceptions of the transition practices.;The random sample consisted of 500 principals.

The effective schools line of research has been growing for over twenty years and been employed by schools across the nation as a framework for school improvement. Assessment of academic achievement has expanded during the past decade to include measures of students' ability to think critically and solve problems, in addition to mastery of basic skills.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between middle-level principals' instructional leadership behaviors and student achievement.

Total spending per student in Pennsylvania public schools varies from {dollar}4340 to {dollar}13346. The disparity of spending is greatest in the outer deciles of wealth, and strongly correlated with wealth in the middle deciles. Local wealth explains about 50 percent of the overall variation in spending.

Agility is an organizational response to the emerging mass-customization paradigm associated with economic, political, and cultural globalization. Agile organizations are said to: (1) be solutions providers, (2) be knowledge-driven, (3) partner as a first choice strategy, and (4) master change.